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Friday, October 26, 2007

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.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

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.


Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Clifford Thornton Accepts Nomination for Steering Committee Vacancy



MORE VOICES, MORE CHOICES


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.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

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 ~

12 min video featuring Asa Gordon on MAP Civil Action "Democratizing the Electoral College"

Political Prisoners

August 2, 2007--Imam Jamil Al-Amin has been moved to federal custody!

Correspondence with the commissioner should be put on hold for now, updates will be announced as they occur

Please keep the Imam and his family in your thoughts and prayers


Read the details on his transfer

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE TO SUPPORT IMAM JAMIL AL-AMIN
(the former H. Rap Brown)
547 West End Pl. SW
ATLANTA, GA. 30310


Real killer confesses--again--to the killing of Kinchen--Atlanta deputy sheriff for whose shooting death Imam Jamil was convicted and sentenced to life in prison! The State refuses to consider his confession, while continuing to keep Imam Jamil wrongfully imprisoned and isolated.


SEE FOR YOURSELF--PHOTOCOPY OF RECENT, FEBRUARY 2007 HANDWRITTEN CONFESSION OF OTIS JACKSON

NEW INFORMATION PROVING INNOCENCE OF JAMIL AL-AMIN!


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OnTheWilderSide
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