Marianne Williamson officially announced her presidential campaign in Los Angeles on Monday, January 28, after which she sat down with CNN's John Berman to discuss her political agenda. During the network's "New Day" program on Thursday, the aspiring democratic nominee emphasized her belief in the need for a "moral and spiritual awakening" for the nation, an ideal that serves as the backbone of her crusade. A notable element of her plans relates to reparations.
She cites the country's "amoral economic system and systematic racism" to justify the need for a reparations budget. "We need a moral and spiritual awakening in the country," Williamson said. "Nothing short of that is adequate to fundamentally change the patterns of our political dysfunction... I have had a 35-year career in naming and transforming those dynamics. That's my qualification for the presidency.”
Williamson suggests that reparations for slavery and other socio-economic injustices be paid out in yearly installments of $10 billion over the span of one decade. The funds would be donated to educational and economic projects. "I believe $100 billion given to a council to apply this money to economic projects and educational projects of renewal for that population is a debt to be paid," she added.
When asked about her campaign strategy, Williamson said she doesn't have a typical plan. "My strategy is that I seek to speak as deeply, articulately and passionately as I can," she told Berman, "I'm not trying to figure out what to say to get people to vote for me. I'm seeking to have the conversation that I believe we need to be having. These are very serious times. We need to be very serious, deep thinkers."