D'Artagnan Collier

D'Artagnan Collier is a member of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), a Trotskyist political party in the United States, one of several Socialist Equality Parties around the world affiliated with the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). Collier, 44, is a city worker and lifelong resident of Detroit. The son of a Chrysler worker, he joined the Workers League, the predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party, in 1984, when he was 16, and has spent his entire adult life as a leading member of the socialist movement. Collier also reports for the World Socialist Web Site, the news organ of the Socialist Equality Party.

Collier comments that he seeks to organize the massive opposition among working people and youth in Detroit to cuts in education, social services, jobs, wages and pensions into a movement directed against the bankers and the politicians of both big business parties.

In 2013, Collier gained ballot access to the Detroit Mayoral Election, and is running as a candidate for the Socialist Equality Party, explicitly against the emergency manager Kevyn Orr.

Break with the two big business parties and the unions
Collier is running against both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. As a representative of workers, Collier also is against the standing trade unions such as the UAW, AFSCME, the American Federation of Teachers, and the AFL-CIO. Collier points to rising poverty and unemployment in Detroit as a result of policies carried out with the trade unions.

Previous Candidacy

 * Collier ran in 2010 for House of Representative in Michigan's 9th congressional district.


 * Collier ran in 2009 for Mayor of Detroit - 1,265 votes out of 93,000 votes, amassing 1.36% of the total primary votes.

Causes
Collier has been an active leader in a number of community organizations.
 * Committee Against Utility Shutoffs is a Detroit rank-and-file movement of citizens to end utility shutoffs by DTE and other energy providers. Collier was a leading member of the Citizens Inquiry into the Dexter Avenue Fire, and has provided voice to neighborhoods, citizens, and firefighters that are affected by fires that are caused by utility shutoffs.
 * Organized a letter writing campaign and amassed hundreds of thousands of signatures in defense of the innocence of Gary Tyler and the demand for his release throughout 1984.