Luisa Martinez

Luisa (Knuckles) Martinez is a Portland Oregon union official. Lives in Vancouver Washington.

2023/25 NPC

Ahmed Husain, Alex Pellitteri, Amy Wilhelm, Ashik Siddique, Cara Tobe, Colleen Johnston, Frances Gill, John Lewis, Kristin Schall, Laura Wadlin, Luisa Martinez, Megan Romer, Rashad X, Renee Paradis, Rose DuBois, Sam Heft-Luthy.

2023 DSA NPC candidate forum

Laura Wadlin, Rael Almonte Reyes, Rashad X, Jesse Dreyer, Frances Gill, Jorge Rocha, Megan Romer, Luisa Martinez

For a Political, Prolific and Democratic DSA Editorial Board

In May 2023 Luisa Martinez signed a resolution "For a Political, Prolific and Democratic DSA Editorial Board" as one of the MUG and R&R's Joint Resolutions for the 2023 DSA National Convention in August in Chicago.

2023 PDSA Convention Delegate Nomination List

Luisa Martinez is a 2023 Portland Democratic Socialists of America delegate nominee for the biennial DSA national convention to be held in Chicago, Illinois August 4-6, 2023.

I have thirteen (13) years of community organizing experience including having served two terms on the PDSA Steering Committee (IOC and chapter co-chair). I am a formerly undocumented Latin American immigrant and full-time union organizer. I have organized around homeless rights, immigrant justice, anti-war, workers rights, international solidarity with the global south, and helped build seven (7) successful union strikes that have resulted in 12% pay increases on average for workers. I would love the opportunity to represent Portland DSA at National Convention.

Venezuela

In June 2021 Blanca Estevez, Marvin Gonzalez, Carrington Morris, Luisa Martinez,Jen McKinney, Austin Gonzalez, Tom Wojcik, Kristian Hernandez, were part of a Democratic Socialists of America delegation organized by the Simon Bolivar Institute to Venezuela. Went there for 14 days. First 3 days were at Congreso. Met president Maduro and former Bolivian president Evo Morales.

May Day Portland events

Demonstrators gathered for a series of 2021 May Day events Portland, setting out on marches and distributing literature in Peninsula Park.

Tad O'Connell, 24, spoke as an organizer from the environment group Sunrise Movement, as well as the Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack!. As a registered citizen of the Jamestown S'Klallam tribe, O'Connell said it was important to organize in solitary with other oppressed groups.

“Capitalism stole land from my people,” O'Connell said. “Only these communities allow us to keep our sovereignty.”

The march arrived at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building around 4 p.m., growing steadily throughout the afternoon to more than 150 people. Speakers from the International Migrants Alliance rallied the crowd in front of a boarded-up building.

Johnny Olson, an organizer with Filipino migrant workers organization Migrante Portland, said it was important to mobilize at the detention center to raise awareness around the deportation of undocumented Filipino immigrants such as Larry Nicolas, who was arrested in 2018 in Washington County and detained at an ICE facility.

Jennelle Barajas, a coordinator for Bayan, an alliance of progressive Filipino organizations that supports the national democratic movement of the Philippines, said she wanted to honor the long history of May Day by marching alongside workers and other progressive organizations.

Lani Felicitas said she joined the march to show her support for migrant workers who have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier Saturday, several dozen people marched from Northeast Portland’s Holladay Park to the nearby offices of U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-OR, to call on the senator to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act and end the filibuster — something Wyden is unable to do on his own.

“When workers are under attack, what do we do?” Luisa Martinez, co-chair of Portland Democratic Socialists of America, asked the crowd as they stood outside Wyden’s office.

“Stand up. Fight back,” the crowd responded.

Martinez, a full-time union organizer, said she thinks the passage of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act would help bring more equality to the workplace and level the playing field for women and people of color.

“We are hoping to pressure Ron Wyden to end the filibuster,” Martinez said. “That will help us pass the PRO Act at the Congressional level.”

A group of about 75 people also gathered at North Portland’s Peninsula Park, where roughly a dozen groups handed out literature, stickers and other gear. Among the groups present were the Portland Socialist Rifle Association, Oregon DA for the People, Corvallis Antifa and Cascades Abortion Support Collective.