ELAINE BROWN WITHDRAWS FROM GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Elaine Brown

by Diane White diane@dlighten.com

In an open letter to the Green Party, highly respected author, lecturer , and champion for black, brown, poor and oppressed people all over the world, former Black Panther Chairperson Elaine Brown withdraws from the Green Party Presidential Race.

Elaine Brown was an irreplaceable asset to the Green Party. During her 2005 campaign for Mayor of New Brunswick, GA Brown inspired an influx of black and brown voters into a political party marred by a reputation for being a bunch of "white tree hugging hippies" out of touch with "urban" America. Announcing her intentions to seek the Green Party presidential candidacy in February of this year, Brown was poised to bring about a much needed change. Her commitment to the disenfranchised, her organizing experience, her reputation and her belief in the 10 key values espoused by the Greens were a perfect match for the party, so it would seem. But alas, there are the "Greens" and there's the "Party", not necessarily one in the same.

The failure of party leadership to properly deal with a slanderous letter written and circulated to the Steering Committee by a paid staff member and subsequent attacks on Brown supporters who were appalled by the racially inflammatory contents of the letter was surely the "straw that broke the camel's back".

For the record, Elaine Brown is well known to the "grassroots", she is an icon with a proven track record. It was Elaine Brown who called for the debate in California. Elaine Brown is to the third-world as Ralph Nader is to this country. The Green Party is a "big" head without a body.

Renounces Green Party Membership
_____________________________

OPEN STATEMENT TO THE GREEN PARTY

As of today, I am no longer a candidate for the Green Party nomination for president of the United States, and I hereby resign from all affiliation with the Green Party. I believe the leadership of the Green Party of the United States has been seized by neo-liberal men who entrench the Party in internecine antagonisms so as to compromise its stated principles and frustrate its electoral and other goals. They have made it impossible to advance any truly progressive ideals or objectives under the umbrella of the Green Party, and, thus, rendered it counterproductive for me to go forward as a Green Party candidate or member.

I believe this small clique that has captured control of the Party has transformed it into a repository for erstwhile, disgruntled Democrats, who would violate the Party’s own vision and sabotage the good will and genuine commitment of the general membership. Indeed, these usurpers foster a reactionary agenda, supporting partisans in and backers of the Bush wars and disavowing the Party’s more progressive tenets in favor of promoting high-profile participation in the politics of the establishment.

This became clear to me almost from the moment I announced my candidacy in February of 2007. I intended using my campaign to bring large numbers of blacks and browns into the Party, particularly from the hood and the barrio—as would come to be reflected in the lists of supporters and delegates I’ve submitted in connection with my candidacy. As I asserted I would use the respect I enjoyed as a former leader of the Black Panther Party to do so, some in the hierarchy seemed utterly fearful of the prospect of a massive influx of blacks and browns into the Green Party. Soon, there was wide circulation of false rumors that I was a one-time “government agent,” which was intended to discredit my history in the Black Panther Party so as to undermine my potential influence.—And, since then, I have had to devote significant time and energy to addressing these lies.—What this effort revealed, though, was how the Green Party, while advocating “diversity,” remains dominated by whites. Indeed, the Party is able to count less blacks, browns and natives in its membership than our national population percentages and certainly less than the Democrats themselves.

In effect, the present Green Party leadership promotes a kinder, gentler capitalism, a moderated racism, an environmentally-sustainable globalism, which I cannot support. They are dedicated to the underside of the Party’s platform, which falls short of repudiating the capitalist state, source of all the social ills the Party would address. They equivocate by promoting “an economic alternative to corporate capitalism and a socialist state,” advocate a “re-formulation” of the IMF, NAFTA, so forth, and advance the institution of “stakeholder capitalism.”

On the other hand, they demonstrate a willingness to override the best of the Party’s platform. My sharp criticism of high-profile Party members’ support for the “three-strikes” crime laws, the sole basis for the inhumane mass incarceration of people in the United States, particularly blacks—the repeal of which the Party’s platform advocates—has been met with outright enmity. And, to divert attention from this and other critical issues, the leadership has employed chicanery in their promulgation of defamatory lies about me—which they finally extended to character assaults on my supporters and critics of their unscrupulousness.

It is my sincere belief that the Green Party as it now exists has no intention of using the ballot to actualize real social progress, and will aggressively repel attempts to do so. To remain in the fray or in the Party, then, would require a betrayal of my lifelong and ongoing commitment to serving the interests of black and other oppressed people by advancing revolutionary change in America.

---

Cynthia McKinney Announces she's seeking the Green Party Nomination for President.

See Video on Youtube

YouTube

http://youtube.com/watch?v=03cOM9r51Nw

Read here on Cynthia McKinney Campaign Page. You'll also find Windows Media Video and MP3 Audio version here.

http://www.runcynthiarun.org/

Read about supporting the campaign

http://supporters.runcynthiarun.org/supporters.cgi

Green hip- hop politico to appear at SLO Senior Center

Jared Ball

Green hip- hop politico to appear at SLO Senior Center
BY KYLIE MENDONCA

Date: 12/12/2007

Locals may not have heard of Green Party presidential candidate Jared Ball, or his campaign manager Head Roc--known as "the Mayor of D.C. hip hop"--but their ideas about social equality and reform have been told before through the voices of Martin Luther King Jr. and Black Panther Fred Hampton.

Ball seeks to be a new kind of presidential candidate, with a message delivered in a language of the underrepresented majority: hip hop. The 36-year-old professor of communications and father of two hopes to inspire African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans to vote. At the same time, he wants to rebuild the Green Party into a unifying and powerful force.

To do this, Ball and his staff have taken a novel approach to politics. On Dec. 17, Ball will share his vision for a third party at the SLO Senior Center. He promises that this won't be a standard political speech with accompanying photo op--Ball is equal parts performance artist and social commentator, with the aspirations of a social revolutionary.

Ball's hip-hop campaign is a new idea, and he says that's exactly what politics needs. Hip hop, he said, is a modern language of the oppressed and will be the key to uniting ethnic groups who are generally marginalized and overlooked within the two-party system.

"We use hip hop, being that that's what we've been raised in and are practitioners of," Ball said. "So we use that as a point of departure to talk about any number of different things. We don't want to confuse people by saying a hip-hop campaign means that we aren't serious, or that we aren't committed to solidarity with a number of different groups of people, but that is our natural and most immediate cultural form, and we feel, why not embrace that?"

Music and performance aside, Ball delivers a message that rejects militarism for social growth, and would replace corporate perks with a focus on human rights.

"Whether we're talking about politics, or hip hop, or anything else for that matter," Ball said, "we like to get people to think critically and to challenge what they think they know about or what they think they know about that which is popular."

Ball's main message is a call for all types, and all ages, of people to unite.

"I don't necessarily see age as being related to conservatism or progressiveness," Ball said. "So I think the struggle is only: Can we galvanize those who consider themselves progressive into taking the challenge, and taking the leap and to creating a new party?"

He ends the conversation with a nod of hope, goodwill, and a challenge, if you will--quoting the words of Hampton: "I wish you peace, if you're willing to fight for it."

Ball's hip-hop presidential performance is from 7 to 10 p.m., Dec. 17, at 1445 Santa Rosa St., in the senior center.

Hope and Leadership in Elaine Brown Presidential Campaign Causes Surge in New Young Activists Registering Green

Elaine Brown

by Henry Duke henryduke2004@yahoo.com

Be positive, read a book, register a new green, change a diaper, and ask Cynthia McKinney to join a Green Party Presidential Debate before the California deadline to register voters on Martin Luther King Day, January 21, 2008.

Cause word on the streets of Watts, Watsonville, Santa Ana, Oakland/Berkeley is that despite the cages, or the acts of the grinches, the birds are singing, and singing, and singing...

With hardly any money at all, a new generation of youth -- alienated by war, incarceration, violence, and all the sequelae of anarchistic, valueless privatization and free trade -- have found in the senior 60's Black and Peace movement spokesperson, not defeated by the US War and Terror machine, not duped by the shock doctrine, not dead from disaster capitalism, no not this Woman of Our Time, but rather sharpened like a sickle, and made flexible not hard by the hammer of corporate big money and COINTELPRO, HER canary song announcing that we CAN win, and that human needs and the crisis of human suffering WILL trump private profits, if we stand up.

This wise voice which has endured beatings, continual harassment and threats, and a willful refusal by the mainstream media and even our party to allow her to have the same platform built for others, is inspiring a most electrifying and empowering movement of disenchanted non-voters to take charge of their lives and to register green and become delegates for Elaine

Brown.

We don't have the money of the democrats, and we're not asking for the money funding the other candidates.

We are just registering voters and inspiring them to see their power.

To the GPUS both within California and in the Central GPUS entities, we only ask you to ask Cynthia McKinney to present herself for a debate with the other major candidates for the Green Party nomination before the deadline to register to vote in California January 21st MLK day, especially with the leader who leads with no money but with her heart, spirit, and un-silenced voice, Elaine "Green Party" Brown!!!!!

Thanks to all the people running and inspiring,

Elaine Brown's book, A Taste of Power, about her earlier life as she became the top leader and only-ever Womyn Chair of the Black Panther Party, can be purchased in soft cover or borrowed from me, if 'ya can't find it in your local B and N.

http://www.freespeech.org/videodb/index.php?action=detail&video_id=10741&browse=0

Keynote: Elaine Brown

Former Black Panther Party leader, noted author, community and prison justice activist Elaine addresses students at Regis University as a part of women’s history month. Ms. Brown has recently announced that she intends to seek the Green Party's nomination for a presidential bid in 2008.

Series: Keynote
Episode: Keynote: Elaine Brown

Viewing options
Play RealMedia format (55m 33s; for broadband users)

Producer: Kevin Price (www.freespeech.org)

PS Join us! Off of the listserves and into the screen door porches and
streets!

GP RELEASE: Green Party's Thornton awarded for work on drug policy reform

Clifford Thornton

Mr. Thornton, co-founder of the drug law reform organization Efficacy, Inc. http://www.Efficacy-online.org, is a national co-chair of the Green Party of the United States.
In 2006, he ran on the Green Party ticket for governor of Connecticut.

"Cliff Thornton's work for the reform of US drug policy is in line with Green opposition to the War on Drugs, unjust and draconian drug laws, and the use of drug laws to fill up prison cells with black, brown, poor, and young Americans.


Alfred Molison

We're proud that Cliff is a member of the Green Party," said Alfred Molison, co-chair of the Green Party's national Black Caucus http://gpblackcaucus.blogspot.com.

Excerpts from a November 29, 2007 Drug Policy Alliance press release announcing the award:

"Longtime Connecticut drug policy reform advocate and activist Clifford Thornton will receive the Robert C. Randall Award for Achievement in the Field of Citizen Action from the Drug Policy

Alliance. The award honors citizens who make democracy work in the difficult area of drug law

and policy reform.

Thornton will be among leading advocates that work courageously to promote and implement more sensible drug policies who will be honored at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference, in New Orleans, December 5-8. The conference is organized by the Drug Policy Alliance and dozens of other organizations. The Drug Policy Alliance is the nation's leading organization working to end the war on drugs and promote new drug policies based on science, compassion, health and human rights. The winners will be honored during an awards ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 8....

Thornton is the primary speaker for Efficacy, Inc. -- a non-profit organization that has

concentrated on drug policy reform. Thornton ran for governor in Connecticut in 2006 on the Green Party ticket. His campaign centered on drug policy reform. Thornton has done over 400 radio shows on drug policy. Thornton has spoken to over 300,000 people in some 450 venues about the drug war as it relates to health, economics, race, class, and white privilege. Efficacy is

partially responsible for the removal of D.A.R.E. from the Ocean City, NJ school system in 2001.

Thornton gave a presentation to the board of education that received great reviews and helped

facilitate its demise. Thornton taught a graduate-level course, "Illegal Drugs and Public Policy" at Trinity College in Hartford, CT in 2002."

Media contacts for Drug Policy Alliance
http://www.drugpolicy.org: Tony Newman,
646-335-5384; Tommy McDonald, 646-335-2242


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

. Green Party News Center
http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml

. Green Party Speakers Bureau
http://www.gp.org/speakers

. Green candidate database for 2007 and other
campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml

"War on drugs is a war on youth, people of color
Green Party press release, May 16, 2007
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2007_05_16.shtml

"Green Party says racially biased US justice
system needs drastic overhaul"
Green Party press release, July 25, 2007
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2007_07_25.shtml

Donna Warren publicly slammed by some greens in an election scenario; Supported by others

Donna Warren

by Diane F White diane@dlighten.com

In “An Open Letter” written by Jack Lindblad and signed by a group of long-time Green Party members and other independent community activists who are running for KPFK's Local Station Board Election, Lindblad claims he and the group led by Mike Feinstein are exposing anomalies about the candidacies of California Green Party members Donna Warren and Jack Wenger.

I do not know all the characters in this CA/Pacifica Radio story, but somehow, this dig on Donna Warren is way out of line. Donna Warren, a long time member of the California Green Party, two-time Green Party of California candidate for Lt Governor and a founding member of the Green Party Black Caucus, is still a respected Green.

Apparently Donna Warren is being unfairly targeted for standing up to Mike Feinstein and Jack Lindblad.

According to California sources Feinstein, a trust fund baby who may have really needed money when he was accused of misappropriating green money in the thousands, now the beneficiary of lots of money, has never had a real job, unless part-time work on the Santa Monica City Council is considered work.

Jack Lindblad, sources tell us, is an archetect who hasn't worked in a long time and can't seem to get a job. Yet Donna Warren, a single African American, mother and grandmother is being slammed for being a "Pentagon auditor". Go figure.

Donna Warren has never denied that she retired from the DoD as a supervisory auditor. She has paid her own way since the age of 19, supported her mother for the last five years of her life, supported her children even when they were grown, and is supporting her two granddaughters right now.

"When possible, I supplement my retirement income with contract jobs", says Warren - "lately for the California Personnel Employment Retirement System (CalPERS) and with Families to Amend California's Three Strikes (FACTS). At present, I am doing work for FACTS for free trying to raise $1.5 million to put an initiative on the November 2008 ballot to amend California's horrible 3 Strikes Law."

So what have Feinstein or Lindblad done for anyone except themselves? Why are independent greens and official representatives from the Green Party of California following them in cult like fashion?

At the Riverside, CA Plenary in July, Feinstein went to the mike and said two times "we cannot let Ralph Nader have a free ride again". Imagine that. Now he's slamming Donna Warren. Is there a pattern here? Both Ralph Nader and Donna Warren made major contributions to the Green Party, a fact that can't be denied no matter which side of the fence one chooses to sit on. Now Feinstein wants to publicly bash them both? Why? At one time he endorsed and supported them both.

The people of Santa Monica know Mike Feinstein. He didn't get re-elected to the Santa Monica City Council even after serving on the council and rotating into the mayor's spot. Feinstein was the second highest spender in the last election and still he came in 7th. Could it be that Feinstein is the one who is causing the problem? Could he be trying to take-over the Los Angeles County council with the help of others by ignoring the mandate of the legitimate Los Angeles County council and trying to destroy the green party at the state level.

Cynthia watch your back.

Follow up story:

Los Angeles Independent Media Center

Original article: http://la.indymedia.org/news/2007/12/211090.php

VOTE FOR WARREN AND WENGER FOR KPFK BOARD
by Mike Wyman Monday, Dec. 03, 2007 at 6:15 PM
mswyman@comcast.net 415-785-3448

Supporters of Donna Warren and John Wenger for KPFK Board Reply to
Swiftboating Attack on their Candidacies

Dear KPFK members,

It is regretable that some Greens have attempted to bring internal GreenParty conflicts into the KPFK election. It is unfortunate enough that ourparty has such problems, without having Green Party members bringing ourinternal disputes into an election as important as that to the KPFK board.

The charges made in their letter are, of course, completely without foundation.

You may be unaware, but the Green Party of Los Angeles County has been involved in a years-long struggle over internal democracy, democratic accountability, political and financial ethics, and the future of Green Politics.

Donna Warren and John Wenger have been in the forefront of the struggle by the majority of Los Angeles County Greens to preserve and protect grassroots democracy, and high standards of ethical behavior and democratic process in the Green Party both locally and statewide.

Because of the stands they have taken to protect, preserve and promote all that is decent and honorable in the Green Party today, they have angered those Green Party members who feel threatened by any semblance of rank and file democracy or political morality in our party.

The struggle Donna Warren and John Wenger and others have waged in our party to preserve, enhance and protect the values of our party has been nothing short of heroic, and demonstrates precisely the strength of character KPFK needs on its board.

Please vote for Donna and John with an open heart and a clear conscience. You will be voting for the best the Green Party has, and you will never regret it.

Signed,

-Peter Camejo - Green Party Candidate for Governor.

-Nativo. V. Lopez “ National President, Mexican-American Political
Association (MAPA) and Hermanidad Mexicana Latinoamericana;

-Ceil Sorenson - Female Co-Coordinator (with John Wenger, Male
Co-Coordinator) of the County Council of the Green Party of Los Angeles
County;

-Ellen Maisen “ At-Large Representative to the Coordinating Committee of the
Green Party of California; Member, County Council of the Green Party of Los
Angeles County

-Jim Odling - County Councilor of the Green Party of Los Angeles County and
Green Party of California Regional Representative, Los Angeles County;

-Will Yeager “ Green Party of California Regional Representative, Los
Angeles County; Green Party Nominee 38th Congressional District, 1996;
Treasurer, Southern California Green Assembly, 1988-1989; Corresponding
Secretary, Green Party of Los Angeles County County Council, 1992-1994;

-Matt Leslie “ County Council of the Green Party of Orange County, Former
Regional Representative for Orange County, San Bernardino County, and
Riverside County, Green Party of California State Coordinating Committee;

-Lynda A. Hernandez - Chair, Green Party of Orange County 2002 Council
member and Treasurer 2003-2004;

-Todd Van Etten - County Council of the Green Party of Orange County;

-Mike Wyman - Former Treasurer, Green Party of California; Candidate for
Attorney General of California; Second Alternate for North Bay Region, Green
Party of California State Coordinating Committee;

-Shane Que Hee - LA County Green and Co-Coordinator, Green Party of
California Platform Committee

- Carole and Andre LaFlamme“ Member and Supporter of Women in Black

***

From Cynthia; Thank You Illinois

Cynthia: Thank you Illinois, Delivering Fifty-One ballot Lines and Beyond

Submitted by Cynthia McKinney on Tue, 11/06/2007 - 13:28 on www.runcynthiarun.org

Greetings:

We're going to have to do things we've never done before if we're to have things we've never had before.

Democracy, authentic representation, human needs prioritized, universal access to health care, bringing our troops home, making peace with the world's nations, making peace with our home planet, making peace in our own communities, funding schools over jails, . . .

Each of these alone is something we've never known before. Anyone of them alone would be worth doing things we've never done before. And all of them can be achieved when we get engaged and make democracy our own.

I want to thank those Greens from throughout Illinois and beyond who made it possible for me to offer myself to the voters of illinois in the upcoming February 5th Presidential Preference Primary. I especially want to thank Walter Esler, Charlie Howe, Patricia Hill, J. Michael Carr, Rich Whitney, Phil Huckleberry, and in addition those dozens of activists, Green Party and otherwise, I have not yet met who saw the possibility and made it real.

I also want to thank those supporters of Jared Ball, Howie Hawkins and Kent Mesplay, whose help carrying our petitions, as our supporters helped carry theirs, made possible our collective success. Together we offered the people of Illinois meaningful choices in the upcoming Illinois Primary. Just as we will continue to offer them in the General Election as well.

As late as the final weekend we did not know if we would make it. But then voters, ready for things we've never enjoyed before, through the simple if sometimes arduous process of collecting their neighbors signatures put me and three other candidates on Illinois' Presidential Preference Primary ballot. While they were at it, they also put a peace slate of nine candidates for Congress, multiple candidates for state assembly, county office and internal party seats on the ballot as well.

With yesterday's victory, Greens and other supporters have now placed me on the Primary ballots in California and Illinois. We still have the Primary ballots of Arkansas, Dictrict of Columbia, Maine and Massachusettes to go. And we still have thirty states left where with your help on our ballot access work, I can appear on the general election ballot as well.

I've spent the past week doing events with Green Party candidates in multiple communities across fifteen hundred miles of highways. Our Party is Green and its Growing and with this evening's election we stand poised to celebrate several new election victories across this country.

Thank you to those in Illinois who made yesterday's victory possible. Thank you to all the donors and volunteers who supported our work for our local victories this election day evening.

As the polls close tonight, I'm asking for your help.

With that help, we can deliver fifty-one ballot lines, access to the debates, public financing for our Party in 2012 and Green seats in the halls of power.

With your help we can deliver things we've never had before, perhaps even an opportunity for me to serve you as your next President of the United States.

Yours,
Cynthia McKinney

Related Posts: HELP CYNTHIA QUALIFY FOR MATCHING CAMPAIGN FUNDS

The World Conference of Mayors / National Conference of Black Mayors Conference

Haiti - The World Conference of Mayors, the Government of the Republic of Haiti, Ministère de l’ Intérieur et des Collectivités Territoriales, in collaboration with the, NCBM, City of Florida City, and GALATA are pleased to present the 23^rd Annual Convention of the World Conference of Mayors. This historic event will be held November 28 – December 2, 2007 in Haiti.

The primary objective of the World Conference of Mayors is to stimulate positive and constructive relations between mayors internationally, based on interlocking interests and concerns. Through a network of international municipal associations, mayors and units of local governments, the World Conference of Mayors plans, designs and manages an international, intergovernmental communications system, promoting trust, trade, tourism, technology, treasury, training and twin city programs and services between mayors and cities of the world. www.worldconferenceofmayors.inc

The organizing committee is asking for the support of for profit and not for profit organizations operating in the United States that provide services in the cities highlighted during this conference. The Haitian Government has initiated a pilot project that will showcase these six (6) cities and spotlight investment opportunities and other needs that will aid in the development of these cities and improve the quality of life for their residents. The cities that have been selected include:

City of Fond des Negres, Mayor Achille 774-1088

City de Dessalines Mayor Emile 764-3112

City de St Marc Mayor Charles 608-6745

City of Cabaret Mayor Thomas 447-5374

City of Milot Mayor Paul 603-7657

City of Danne Marie Mayor Jambon 826-9890

Organizations and investors that are interested in attending the Convention of the World Conference of Mayors or would like information regarding vendor or sponsorship opportunities should contact: Ms. Vanessa Williams, N.C.B.M at (404) 765-6444, Honorable Mayor Johnny Ford, World conference of Mayors at (334) 558-1808, Joseph G. “Billy” Louis, NLCHM at (786) 306-7060, Sabrina Mowlah-Baksh Trinidad Tobago- World Conference of Mayors Secretary (868)-318-6373, or Ministere de L’interieur et des Collectivites Territoriales at 011 -509- 222-1273

* This event is not affiliated with any political party in Haiti, and is designed as a non-partisan event for the betterment of all Haitians.

10,000 Women; Lewis Harris Jr. & Alan Krigman Seek Change Over UCD Part 1

Pictured in the photo above: Lewis Harris Jr., former employee for the Office of Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell and Alan Krigman, West Philadelphia businessman. Krigman is in a battle for poor black and white neighbors. Krigman feels that neighbors whose lives are invested in West Philadelphia believe that neighborhood safety and improvement initiatives should originate at a grass roots level by those most directly impacted, and should be moved forward by leaders who are members of the community and share its collective vision. Krigman and Harris Jr. are against some of the so-called community associations who really represent just a few very atypical residents.

10,000 Women; Lewis Harris Jr. & Alan Krigman Seek Change Over UCD Part 1
by Van Stone vspfoundation@yahoo.com (215) 747-8746

This past Sunday in Philadelphia marked the beginning of the number 10,000 being used by a positive community for the meaning of men ending crime and unclean environments in the city. Taking the lead for the men is the Islamic leadership. The number 10 or any number leading off by the digit 10 in a spiritual sense means earthly completeness. So, black men can completely make a city safe and clean regardless if individuals disagree. What may soon follow this call for 10 is a call for 10,000 women. Having local 10,000 women using leadership roles will project that men will be able to aid abused women and children from abusive men in Philadelphia. And these loving women will help to identify abusive women that abuse the court system going on to wrongfully incarcerate positive black men. Taking the lead for the women should be the Christian leadership.

In other news concerning safe and clean environment: In West Philadelphia Alan Krigman, a businessman living in the section of University City, has taken the battle to make good change for poor folks to heart. First, Krigman has written about the company University City District (UCD) and its work to eliminate property from the poor. Second and most recently, Alan has meet with Lewis Harris Jr., likely winner of the 3rd Voting Commissioner seat come November 6, 2007 over incumbent Joe Duda, to discuss getting help to dismantle UCD so that the poor can keep themselves from becoming homeless in University City. Lewis Harris Jr., a former employee of the Office of Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, is one of the originators of successful proposals that helped both the poor and the homeless in Blackwell’s district. Alan uses a poetic format to explain it.

“Make believe you head-up a civic organization of some kind,” says Krigman. “Being a right-minded person, your goal is to use your resources – your time and that of the others in the group, any influence you may have with the powers-that-be, and whatever money you can find – to improve the quality of life in the area. While we’re playing “let’s pretend,” say that you’ve found a combination of public and private sources of funds willing to donate $855,000 to support a big project – one that will really make a difference,” says Krigman. Krigman is concerned that UCD projects hurt the poor.

“What would that project be? Some kind of educational program, perhaps to keep kids in school or to teach useful skills to adolescents who’d already dropped out and were heading nowhere but toward trouble? How about jobs in the neighborhood that would not only serve useful purposes but also provide sources of income while giving people a sense of accomplishment and experience that will help them build a work ethic? Maybe setting up a day care center to bring seniors who have time on their hands and love in their hearts together with youngsters who need supervision, decent meals, and a safe place to play – while their adult family members are earning a living,” says Krigman.

“You can probably think of a lot of other worthwhile ideas. I’ll bet, however, that installing new sidewalk lighting in front of the stores on 52nd St, Baltimore Ave, or 46th & Spruce doesn’t come to mind. You’d have to be totally out of touch with reality, or to have an agenda you’d rather nobody knew about, to think this was the best way to use such a vast sum of money. Yet that’s exactly what’s happening. The University City District (UCD), which dances to the tune of the University of Pennsylvania, got $855,000 from the state’s Department of Transportation, the city’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, and the private William Penn Foundation for lights on Baltimore Avenue from 45th to 50th,” he says. A project with this kind of dollars really needs to be probed. Krigman wants to be sure it is a “bottom-up rather than top-down development” mission.

Lewis Harris Jr. is the Green Party candidate for City Commissioner in Philadelphia, PA.

Ahmad Mitchel-El's visions and reflections on immigration and race:

Green Party of Suffolk - www.gpsuffolk.org

Ahmad Ali Mitchel-El, Green Party member, and write-in candidate for Suffolk County Executive, has released his vision for addressing immigration issues in Suffolk County, New York.

"Both President Bush's guest worker program, and Governor Spitzer's driver's license issue, show more progressive leadership than the current attitude of our county administration," notes Mitchel-El.

Mitchel-El states, "Hiring Centers should be part of an overall plan to make the immigration process work. You don't have to maintain a hostile, illegal status for undocumented people. We can work towards a naturalization process that can really make sense, by registering day laborers, paying them fair wages, and letting them pay taxes, in order to pay for all this."

Ahmad Mitchel-El's reflections on immigration and race:

I find it so hypocritical that the people who control politics and thus government are predominantly descendants of Europeans who did not have to face the racist bureaucracy that Latinos face today. We do not hear complaints about the Canadian border or about Russian and Irish undocumented immigrants--only these Latinos, who can’t seem to physically just assimilate and disappear into the work force.

When is America going to wake up and recognize its own evil history? Here on Long Island, we can’t even allow the Shinnecock the sovereignty over their own land. Can we still be in denial about crimes committed against the native population? As an African American, I believe that we are fools to continue supporting political parties that are only interested in power not progress. How can it be that we still face nooses in 2007?

All of us need to stop and fight the policies of exclusion and preservation of privilege, level the playing field, make it fair for all humans.

When a company sponsors an immigrant, he actually becomes indentured to that company for the term of his process at a rate of pay inferior to his domestic equivalent. He can’t leave to compete for a higher paying job. And, the companies get away with hiring employees off of the street, who are non-union workers, who they can pay less than scale, give no benefits and no fair compensation. Yet, the company is not penalized.

Mitchel-El is a lifelong resident of Suffolk County, a professional musician, and a producer on progressive radio station WBAI 99.5 FM. Mitchel-El is also a peace and justice activist, who has performed at the PeaceSmiths Coffeehouse in Amityville. Mitchel-El's campaign has already received coverage in the media, including: the opinion page of Newsday; "Noticias" newspaper; "Wake Up Call with Jim Krivo" and "In The Moment" on WBAI radio; and "'Tis Treason" on WUSB radio.

The Green Party is an alternative to the Democrats and Republicans. The Green Party has 10 key values, which include "social and economic justice" and "diversity." Greens at the local, state and national level have supported tolerance and justice for undocumented people.

Election day is Tuesday, November 6, 2007. In order to show support for Ahmad Mitchel-El and the Green Party, you may write Mitchel-El's name in the slot at the top of the voting machine. A pencil should be provided, and a poll worker can help direct you.

Clifford Thornton Accepts Nomination for Steering Committee Vacancy

MORE VOICES, MORE CHOICES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSpEvMN52SY

Clifford Thornton of the Green Party of Connecticut has accepted the nomination for the Green Party Steering Committee vacancy. Clifford is a former Green Party candidate for Governor of Connecticut and an active member of the Green Party Black Caucus.

Clifford is the founder of Efficacy, a non-profit organization that has been concentrating efforts on drug policy reform.

Prior to working full-time in drug policy, Mr. Thornton was a middle-level manager with Southern New England Telephone Company in Connecticut. He was in charge of the delivery of all internal telecommunications to the corporation, serving some 10,000 employees with a $50,000,000 annual budget, supervising 23 people. He worked at SNET for 25 years. He was (and is) very active in community projects as well. He served as Vice President of the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz for three years. This three-day event attracted approximately 75,000 people every year with a mere $50,000 budget. He also served as Parliamentarian of the Greater Hartford African American Alliance and was president of Jazz Radio New England.

The NOMINATION PERIOD WILL BE OPEN FOR 2 WEEKS, Monday OCTOBER 8 - Sunday OCTOBER 21.

DISCUSSION WILL RUN 2 WEEKS, Monday OCTOBER 22 - Sunday NOVEMBER 4.

VOTING PERIOD WILL RUN 1 WEEK, MONDAY NOVEMBER 5 - 11:59 p.m. PT, SUNDAY NOVEMBER 11.

NOMINATIONS SHOULD BE SENT TO secretary@gp.org and may also be sent to the national votes list. Self-nominations are allowed.

The voting will be conducted using a ranked choice (IRV) vote with NOTA as an option.

Clifford's maturity and leadership ability would be an asset to the Steering Committee and the Green Party as a whole. Please vote for Cliff and encourage other national delegates to do the same. He will be my first choice.

DC Statehood Green leader Asa Gordon to speak on 2000 and 2004 voter disenfranchisement and the constitutional remedy

WASHINGTON, DC -- DC Statehood Green Party activist Asa Gordon has been engaged by the Social Action & Leadership School for Activists (SALSA) of the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) for the fall term, and will deliver a presentation on "The Constitutional MAP (Mal-Apportionment Penalty) for Voter Disfranchisement."

The presentation will take place Thursday, October 11, 2007, 6:45 to 8:45 pm at the Institute for Policy Studies, 1112 16th Street NW, Suite 600, in Washington, DC.

The Constitutional Mal-Apportionment Penalty for Voter Disfranchisement: On December 12 , 2000, the US Supreme Court cited racial redemptionist era decisions in its Bush v. Gore ruling that the US Constitutional does not guarantee a national right to vote. The proper constitutional response to the electoral abuses in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections is not a passage of a 'right to vote' constitutional amendment, but enforcement of the existing mal-apportionment penalty for the denial or abridgment of a citizen's right to vote as provided in Section 2 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

Mr. Gordon's lecture will provide the historical context for recent disfranchisement of voters and will argue that the most effective remedy is the one enacted constitutionally during the Reconstruction Era.

Asa Gordon is the Chair of DC Statehood Green Partys Electoral College Task Force, a member of Delegate Apportionment Committee of the Green Party of the United States <http://www.gp.org>, and a member of the Green Party's Speakers Bureau<http://www.gp.org/speakers>. Mr. Gordon is also the founder and executive director of the Douglass Institute of Government <http://members,aol.com/digasa/dig.htm>. His work includes studies on democratizing the Electoral College, the constitutional penalty for voter

disfranchisement, the 14th Amendment 'right to vote' provision, and Neo-Confederate culture in American politics.

Asa Gordon's work has been recognized by officials such as Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), who, in response to a proposed solution brought forward by Mr. Gordon on the voting rights remedy, said, "This is the most amazing proposition that has ever been brought forward, and if it is accurate, it could change the whole outcome of the voting process in the United States."

Contact information for Asa Gordon: 202-635-7926,
Electorsus@aol.com
Brief bio of Mr. Gordon
http://www.gp.org/speakers/gordonasa.shtml

SALSA and the IPS http://www.hotsalsa.org
202-234-9382, ext. 229, netfa@hotsalsa.org

Information on SALSA lecture classes
http://www.hotsalsa.org/index.php?view=calendar
http://www.hotsalsa.org/index.php?InstructorID=107
http://www.hotsalsa.org/index.php?cid=1000719

MORE INFORMATION

The DC Statehood Green Party
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org

~ END ~

Time for Mass Resignation From the Democratic Party; QUIT THE PARTY!

QUIT THE PARTY!

By DAVE LINDORFF

Cynthia McKinney is doing it. It's time for you to do it too.

Have you, like many Americans, found yourself wondering why President Bush, over and over again, would hand the Democrats in Congress the weapon needed to bring him down?

Just look at the list:

Last year it was the nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Then, in the new Congress, it was a $120-billion supplemental funding request for continuing the hugely unpopular war in Iraq, followed by a bill to legalize the very National Security Agency spying program which he has been running illegally for the past half decade, and that has had people of all political stripes in an uproar. To top that off, knowing that the Democrats were gunning for his Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, Bush made sure to have the NSA spying bill put Gonzales in charge of the operation! And now this same president is coming to Congress to ask for another nearly $200 billion for his Iraq War!

At first glance, you have to wonder, why on earth would he do this?

But then look what happens:

In every instance, with the exception of the latest Iraq War funding bill (and we know what's going to happen with that), the Democrats have folded and given the president exactly what he wanted, causing apoplexy among the Democratic and independent voters who put them in charge of Congress last November. After all, Democrats ran for office last year saying they would stand up to the president, defend the Constitution, and end the war. Now each time Bush taunts them and they fold, public support for the Democratic Congress slumps further, to the point that today, they are even less popular that Bush-quite an accomplishment!

This is a truly impressive strategy-surely the brainchild of Bush's Rasputin, the dearly departed (to Texas) Karl Rove, who long ago understood that the Democrats would not have the courage and strength of conviction to stand against even a president as profoundly despised and distrusted as Bush.

So all Bush has to do to promote a Republican victory in the 2008 elections is keep putting forward outrageous bills, keep expanding the war, perhaps to include Iran, and keep undermining the Constitution. The Democrats will enable or sign on to each horrible act in turn. And with each such shameless action taken by the Democratic Congress, they further enrage 2008 voters.

The Democrats, under Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (surely two of the sorriest excuses for leaders that Congress has had in modern history), simply don't get it. They don't realize they're being played for suckers and losers. And they don't even realize that they are alienating their base.

Which brings us to what needs to be done.

The Democrats in Congress, and at the head of the party, need to receive a serious wake-up call. Since they're clearly too dumb or too out of touch to realize what's happening, we need to send them a message they can't ignore-the political equivalent of a car bomb.

I'm talking about mass resignations from the Democratic Party, with every person who resigns and becomes an independent or who changes their registration to a third party sending a message to the DNC explaining why he or she is quitting.

It starts small with a few people here and a few people there, but as Arlo Guthrie once put it, pretty soon we're talking about a movement, and you can join it right here!

A couple of months back, I set up an email address for people to register at, and listed it on my website. To date, over 600 people have mailed in saying they are quitting the Democratic Party until Democrats in Congress begin impeachment proceedings against Bush and Cheney, and until they cut of all funding for the Iraq War.

Now it's time to really kick this campaign into high gear.

A few days ago, Cynthia McKinney, the gutsy and outspoken former congresswoman from Georgia who filed the first and so far only bill of impeachment against George W. Bush in the waning days of the last Congress, called me at home to say she wants to sign on. That's a nice start to the campaign!

You read it first here: Former Rep. McKinney Quits the Democratic Party!

So how about you? Think about it: If you were to accept the official line, George Bush won the presidency in 2000 by capturing the state of Florida by 537 votes. And this movement has already got more than that number of people who are no longer going to be Democrats! If we could get 537 people in each state of the union to sign on and drop their party affiliation in protest, the Democratic leadership would have to start contemplating how many close states they are going to lose next year because of their abject failure to act on principle and with courage in Congress.

Better still, if we could get 100,000 or 500,000 people to drop their party affiliation nationwide, that would send a really powerful signal.

The beauty of this plan of action is that it is easy to do. And Democratic officials, from the DNC to local officeholders and county committees watch those registration totals like hawks, so they'll spot any de-registering trend really quickly. In fact, if registrations start to drop, you'll see local party officials start pressuring their Congressional representatives to take action and do something to stem the flow. For one thing, if you deregister, you're off their mailing lists. That means they can't hit you up for money, and they can't target you for get-out-the-vote drives. (Meanwhile, in many states, you don't even forfeit your right to participate in Democratic primaries by dropping your party registration, so you can still vote against Hillary and the rest of the warmongers in the party.)

Oh, you say, we can't just quit the party and let the Republicans win again!

Really? And just what have we gotten for our support for the Democrats in 2006? The war is still fully funded, and in fact has gotten worse, with 30,000 more troops in the country, not counting the 100,000 or so private mercenaries. Spying on Americans here a home has been legalized, with the help of the Democrats. (Nancy Pelosi can use threats of party discipline to prevent members from moving on impeachment, but she won't crack the whip to make them protect the Bill of Rights, or to defund the war?) And Bush is still issuing those signing statements, so any bills of consequence that Democrats have tried to pass have either been killed by Republican maneuvering, or vetoed.

And public support for the Democratic Congress is in the teens.

Clearly the only way to save the Democrats from themselves is to make it clear to them that they have to change or die.

And the way to do that is to join the "I Quit the Party" movement!

So click here and be a quitter. (Remember to get a voter registration form and follow through by canceling your Democratic Party affiliation!)

After you quit, then go to Dem.org, where Steve Fornier is trying to help organize people who have left the Democratic Party, but still want to be democrats. To learn more about Fornier's idea, read his recent CounterPunch article.

Note: You can also help build the movement by sending this article and link to every progressive person and progressive website you can think of. It's time to take quitting the party viral.

Dave Lindorff is the author of Killing Time: an Investigation into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. His book of CounterPunch columns titled "This Can't be Happening!" is published by Common Courage Press. Lindorff's newest book is "The Case for Impeachment",
co-authored by Barbara Olshansky.

September 27, 2007

He can be reached at: dlindorff@yahoo.com

http://www.counterpunch.com/lindorff09272007.html

Green Party urges dropping all Jena Six charges, probe racism in justice system

Related Posts:

A White Person's Meditation on the Jena 6 Student : I am a white woman. This article is my perspective on the Jena 6 Students and their plight.

News Video: Green Party member Diane F. White raises issue of police brutality in Harrisburg, PA

Ex-Congresswoman urges third-party support

At Green Party event in W-B, Cynthia McKinney says black voters should review options.

By Rory Sweeney rsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney meets local activists and members of the Luzerne County Green Party at a fundraiser.

Clark Van Orden/The Times Leader
Times Leader Photo Store

WILKES-BARRE – Possibly portending a party switch, former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney said that black voters must reconsider their blanket support for Democratic candidates and preached “principles over party” at a sparsely attended meeting of the Luzerne County Green Party on Tuesday afternoon at the Grapevine Grille.

Arriving somewhat beyond fashionably late after appearing on a local talk radio show, McKinney, flanked by county Green Party co-chairman Carl Romanelli, worked the 20-person crowd. The event was timed oddly to match McKinney’s traveling schedule, Romanelli said.

Several local activists and aspiring Green Party politicians were there, including Ron Felton, president of the Wilkes-Barre Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and U.S. congressional candidate John Murphy.

McKinney, a Georgia Democrat, served in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003, and from 2005 to 2007. She lost in the 2006 Democratic primary.

McKinney repeatedly railed against her party, saying Democrats “didn’t even fight for your right to vote and your right to representation” in reference to the disenfranchisement of black voters in the 2000 Florida presidential election.

She suggested that black voters, 90 percent of whom vote Democratic, should consider third parties.

“We have to be willing to do something that we’ve never done before so that we can get some things we’ve never had before,” she said.

Black support would “instantly” create a three-party system, Romanelli said.

“It’s not a white person’s party any more than it’s a man’s party or a woman’s party,” said Murphy, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Lancaster.

He joked that Democrats and Republicans have merged to create the Democratic Republican United National Committee, or DRUNC. “It’s one drunken, corporate party,” he said.

The arguments struck a chord with Felton. “I absolutely do believe that the time is right for a third party because people are frustrated,” he said. “Maybe African-Americans can help the Green Party and other parties to show our discontent … for the parties and the status quo.”

After conquering slavery and segregation, he said, “the next big triumph for us (black American citizens) as a people is to become more politically active.”

“The Democratic Party is where social movements go to die,” Murphy said.

Frustration was also voiced at an inability to control media depictions. The Rev. Kenneth Burnett of Williamsport said they’d likely be portrayed as “a bunch of nuts who got together at a restaurant and talked about revolution.” To prevent such distortion, McKinney publicly addressed a reporter, demanding that the account be “accurately reflective of what happened here.”

---

Cynthia McKinney stumps for Molison City Council Campaign

Alfred Molison, Green Party
Houston City Council Candidate


Former Georgia Congresswoman Does Joint Fundraiser in Houston


Former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney attended a joint fundraiser hosted by the Alfred Molison for Houston City Council campaign. The event was hosted at the Houston Shrine of the Black Madonna, Friday evening, August 3rd, 2007 and raised contributions from fifty plus Houstonians to benefit the debt retirement effort for Ms. McKinney's 2006 Congressional campaign, as well as Mr. Molison's 2007 bid for a seat on Houston City Council.

"It was distressing to hear her war stories from the front lines on Capitol Hill about monied interests undermining the aspirations of the American people," said Molison, candidate for Houston City Council, District C, an employee of the Social Security Administration who cochairs the Harris County Green Party. "Even so, I found her speech exciting and inspiring. I really appreciate that Cynthia took the time to drive from Atlanta to support our efforts to bring to the citizens of Houston a living wage, vigorous enforcement of air pollution laws and improved access to health care."

Cynthia McKinney served six terms in the U.S. Congress representing first Georgia's Eleventh, then its Fourth Congressional Districts. She was defeated in the 2002 Democrat Primary. "Heroes don't wear medals, they wear scars," Ms. McKinney told the crowd, as she described how the '02 voter turnout hit historic levels, swelled by the cross-over of voters who have traditionally voted for Republicans -- a practice legal only in Georgia and a small handful of other states which provide for open primaries.

McKinney attracted popular support but vehement opposition from corporate contributors for publicly questioning, given the reports of intelligence warnings, what the Bush administration knew and when they knew it with respect to the attacks on September 11th, 2001. She has also questioned Defense Secretary Rumsfeld on the $2+ trillion of missing Pentagon money and has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's war plans and the profiteering of his corporate contributors since prior to the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Its vital that we remove corporate influence from public policy making and that we have a transparent election process," said Molison. Molison has advocated public financing of political campaigns and like McKinney has campaigned for paper ballots to restore transparency and integrity to the election process. "The campaign contributions of war profiteers have corrupted the U.S. Congress and those of the petroleum industry have corrupted our City Council. From top to bottom its time we took our Democracy back."

For further information, contact: Alfred Molison, 713-726-9009, Green Party Candidate for Houston City Council or Bryce Parker, 713-877-0917, http://votealfred.com

http://gpblackcaucus.blogspot.com

Green Leaders call attention to the racially motivated case of the 'Jena Six' in Louisiana

Malik Rahim co-founder of Common Ground Collective in New Orleans

Greens urge far-reaching steps in the US justice system to correct
biases against African Americans, Latinos, and poor people, and

to end record US incarceration rates

WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders called the US's high percentages of people in prison and racial disparities in incarceration a "shame on America" and urged dramatic steps to reverse the criminalization of large numbers of Americans.

Greens expressed special alarm at recent cases that have revealed systematic racial bias in law enforcement and sentencing, including the prosecution of six black high school students in Jena, Louisiana, for fighting after racial tensions sparked by the display of three nooses in a schoolyard in 2006
.
The students initially faced 100-year sentences for attempted murder after an incident that many believe should have led to suspensions from school. An all-white jury convicted one of the students, who now faces a 22-year prison term. No white students were prosecuted.

"The case of the Jena Six is emblematic of how people of color in the US face prosecution and sentencing," said Clifford Thornton, Green candidate for Governor of Connecticut in 2006 and co-founder of Efficacy, Inc. , which promotes major reforms in drug policy. "The Jena Six prosecution is one of the more blatant and scandalous examples of how our justice system regularly criminalizes black and brown people -- especially children."

Greens cited a recent study by the Sentencing Project, which revealed severe disparities based on race and ethnicity in incarceration, with African Americans imprisoned at over five times the rate of whites and Latinos imprisoned at nearly double the white rate. Greens further noted that America has 5% of the world's population and 25% of all the world's prisoners, far surpassing Russia, China, and North Korea.

Green leaders listed several urgent measures to overhaul the justice system:

• Federal monitoring of prosecutorial practices and sentencing patterns in all jurisdictions where such disparities are evident, in accord with civil rights laws.

• Cancellation of the war on drugs, which Greens have called "a war on youth and people of color" . According to the DEA, FBI, Department of Justice, police agencies, and numerous public interest groups and researchers, 72% of all illegal drug users and most of those involved in the drug trade are white, while African-Americans make up only 13% of all illegal drug users and a tiny percentage of drug importers. Despite these numbers, the overwhelming percentage of those incarcerated for drugs are black.

• Abolition of the death penalty. "The death penalty is already barbaric and we know that it has been applied in many cases in which people convicted and executed were later exonerated," said Alfred Molison, Co-Chair Green Party Black Caucus . "But the death penalty should also be abolished because black, brown, and poor white people disproportionately get executed. When those who can't afford to defend themselves adequately in court are targeted for the ultimate and irreversible punishment, the punishment itself becomes murder."

• Repeal of zero tolerance and mandatory sentencing statutes, which enlarge the power of prosecutors and erode judicial discretion.

• An end to abuses of the plea-bargaining system, which have resulted in the imprisonment of innocent people who lack the financial resources to defend themselves sufficiently in court.

• An end to the privatization of the prison system, which creates economic incentives to put more people behind bars, since corporate prison owners and contractors increase their profits when more cells are filled up. Greens have drawn links between privatized prisons and draconian drug laws, the targeting of poor people and people of color for prosecution, mandatory and severe sentencing, high death penalty rates in some states, and other policies.

"We ask Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco to step in and overturn the Jena Six convictions," said Diane F. White, Pennsylvania delegate to the Green Party's National Committee, Acting Corresponding Secretary for the Black Caucus, and "Dismantling Racism Ally." "The state of our justice system should provoke outrage from every American who has some sense of real justice. Democrats and Republicans have tolerated racial bias, unfair sentencing practices, and abuses in our courts and prisons for too long. The US imprisons more of its population than any other country in the world. We can no longer trust them to correct these injustices. The Green Party exists because we need a political party, candidates, and elected officeholders to reverse bipartisan laws and policies that have turned record numbers of Americans, especially African Americans and Latinos, into inmates."

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org/

202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

• Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml

• Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers

• 2007 national Green Party meeting in Reading, Pa.: video footage,
blog and media coverage
http://www.gp.org/meeting2007/

Green Party Black Caucus
http://gpblackcaucus.blogspot.com/

"Study shows racial disparities in prison"
By David Pitt, Associated Press, July 18, 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070718/ap_on_re_us/prisons_racial_disparity

'Open Letter to Michael Moore' from the Green Party on 'Sicko,' health
care reform
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2007_07_09.shtml

http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0710-03.htm

~ END ~

EFFICACY AND "THE DRUG WAR"

"The inner cities have been in a war for over thirty years. We have spent over a trillion dollars and yet there are more illegal drugs on our streets than ever before. This, I and many others feel is the most important problem we will face in our lives."

by Clifford Wallace Thornton, Jr. , email: efficacy@msn.com

Because of this drug war and the collateral damage that ensues, the black and Latino communities are in a devolutionary state. If this is not important to the development of black America, I don't know what is. I also believe that minorities have been singled out while time and time again whites out number black and Latino as to who is selling or using. http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/usa/

Most people think it is the drugs but in all actuality it is the drug policies. We as a people, as a country have to be thoroughly educated on this issue called the "war on drugs".

"If one does not understand racism, classism, white privilege, terrorism, and the war on drugs--what these terms mean--how these concepts work, then everything else you do understand will only confuse you"


Many see the drug war as being supported by three major phenomena; all of which result in unequal treatment based either directly or indirectly on race, class or white privilege and understand, even though I'm basically talking about America this is how it works all over the world:


1) Greed, Drug markets are a dandy source of 'black' money which ends up being recycled (laundered) through our banks and other financial institutions and then made available for all sorts of scams-- including political contributions which guarantee that politicians remain "tough on drugs." The drug war effectively exempts most well-to-do adolescents from any severe punishment-- while it guarantees that the poor and unconnected are hit the hardest.


In terms of participants, the upper level dealers and financiers are seldom even identified; but the mid and lower level workers (often "minorities") are far more visible and at risk of arrest.


The job security provided to police and the prison industry is also a big motivator. It might be noted here that your state, I believe is going through major prison building and watch who gets the high paying jobs.


The benefits of the war on drugs to the pharmaceutical, Alcohol and Tobacco industries doesn't need to be spelled out. I'm reasonably sure that if cannabis were legal, they would all take a big hit. As it is, illegal cannabis already reduces their sales significantly. Also understand that cannabis is not the real prize, HEMP is. HEMP would immediately revolutionize the clothing, paper, and food industry, a no no in this country.


2) Overt Racism. The malignant racism which justified slavery is definitely not dead. It survived under Jim Crow (segregation) and continues to survive under the drug war. There is abundant evidence that blacks and browns actually have fewer drug problems than whites;; but you'd never know it from our media. As editor past and present of many Drug News Weeklies for years, I had continuous evidence that the war on drugs is incredibly racist in all its applications. That unfairness is accepted by most whites; at least they don't feel any great need to protest.


3) Fear and the intellectual dishonesty that fear promotes in Medicine and the "treatment" disciplines (Psychology and Sociology). This is a very complex issue; but there's no doubt that the drug war survives partly because Medicine has been so thoroughly co-opted. My take is that our whole system of classification of mental "disorders" has also been corrupted by the war on drugs. We literally have no defensible objective standards for the labels we apply (labels demanded by "treatment"). Our "official' take on abnormal behavior also promotes continued marginalization of dissent-- especially by minorities. The truth is that blacks are condemned to the worst schools and if they make any trouble at all, the "solution" is to banish them administratively from the system ASAP. I also see this in New Zealand and all other countries where there is a significant minority population.


America has been a racist society ever since its Constitution was drafted in 1787. We-- as a nation-- have never repudiated our (sainted) founders' embrace of slavery. Until we do, I suspect we'll remain an intensely racist society. Historically, I see it as a smaller-- but far more intense-- version of Western Europe's legacy of exploiting Africa and Asia for profit in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. The big difference is that while Europeans were content to travel to those areas and rule as colonizers. Our plantation economy led our forebears to employ the additional barbarity of abduction; along with the destruction of families and of culture and brought about by perpetual enslavement and continued refusal to educate children. The cruel treatment of slaves was justified by a spurious doctrine of racial "supremacy;" but I suspect it was mostly motivated by (the now) seldom-discussed fear of a "servile rebellion."


Our white forebears thus saddled all Americans of color-- especially blacks-- with the bitter legacies of their own guilt and fear. Until that's recognized and repudiated, I see no real improvement. The drug war has been substituted for slavery and segregation and most people can't see it or don't want to see it. I just want to say I am not promoting drug use, I am promoting a sound logical approach to this problem.


I increasingly see ALL human behavior as generated by emotions-- which are then dressed up and justified by "logic." The way you recognize extremists and demagogues is by the shabby quality of their "logic" and the degree to which they are unable to deal honestly with challenges to that logic.

Besides our web site listed below please go to:

http://search.msn.com/pass/results.aspx?srch=105&FORM=MSN8A&q=clifford+wallace+thornton%2c+jr.

http://search.msn.com/pass/results.aspx?ps=ba%3d(0.15)0....(.)0.%26co%3d(0.15)1.3.200.2.5(01)3%26fgc1%3d3%26pn%3d1%26rd%3d0%26&q=%22Cliff+Thornton%22&ck_sc=1&ck_af=0

http://www.drugtruth.net/MP3/FDBCB_111105.mp3

http://vivisimo.com/search?query=%22Clifford%2BWallace%2BThornton%22&v%3Asources=MSN,Netscape,Lycos,Looksmart,Overture&x=44&y=14 and

http://www.current.tv/watch/19981707

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqV4w2vVptU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN3ck1rZN6c&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cliff+thornton&search=Search

http://www.altavista.com/image/results?q=Clifford+Thornton&mik=photo&amp;mik=graphic&mip=all&mis=all&miwxh=all&stq=0

and

Book published Oct 2004

Under The Influence: The Disinformation Guide To Drugs :: Disinformation :: The gateway to the underground -

Efficacy

PO Box 1234

860 657 8438

Hartford, CT 06143

efficacy@msn.com

http://www.efficacy-online.org/
http://www.votethornton.com/

"THE DRUG WAR IS MEANT TO BE WAGED NOT WON"

Working to end race and class drug war injustice, Efficacy is a non profit501 (c) 3 organization founded in 1997. Your gifts and donations are taxdeductible