GPUS RacistElectoralReformPlatformPlank

This video is posted in response to requests to provide context for my
comments on the Saturday Morning Program addressing the adoption of the
Green Party platform for 2016, August 6th, at the Green Party National
Presidential Convention, Green 2016, Houston, Texas August 4-7, 2016 in
regards to the Platform Approval of an Electoral Reform plank grounded in a
redemption era legacy to restore white supremacy in the former Confederate
States.

Re:
Green Solutions

1. Electoral reform for a better democracy.
f. Abolish the Electoral College and provide for the direct national
election of the president by Instant Runoff Voting. As a step in that
direction, support National Popular Vote legislation which would guarantee
the Presidency to the Presidential candidate who receives the most popular
votes in all 50 states (and the District of Columbia), which would take
effect only when enacted, in identical form, by states possessing a
majority of the electoral votes -- that is, enough electoral votes to elect
a President(270 of 538).

This platform plank is grounded in neo-redemptionist Supreme Court
decisions in 1892 & 1875 that overturned reconstruction by gutting the
Voting Rights of the formally enslaved pursuant to the Second Section of
the Fourteenth Amendment and reestablished white supremacy throughout the
former rebellious confederate states.

The following corrective electoral reform that honors the Voting Rights
legacy of the United States Colored Troops received a majority of the votes
but was essentially vetoed by the overwhelming disparate votes by the
Greens of California who sponsored the offending platform that dishonors
the legacy of the Reconstruction era White Abolitionists and Civil War
veterans of African descent.

{Rejected} platform amendment with majority support.

f. Abolish the Electoral College and provide for the direct national
election of the president by Instant Runoff Voting. In the interim support
The Malapportionment Penalty MAP initiative to Democratize the Electoral
College by enforcement of "the right to vote" Reconstruction amendment
(Amend. XIV§2 ) that mandates a state's proportional allocation of
presidential electors based on the popular vote split or suffer a
"Reduction of Representation" in the electoral college / members to
congress subject to (2USC§6).

Thanks to all for expressing interest in my concern with the GPUS National
Popular Vote (NPV) Electoral reform platform plank grounded on a
neo-redemptionist Supreme Court ruling that "gutted" the reconstruction
amendment that secured the franchise for the former enslaved of African
descent, and in the restoration of the Malapportionment Penalty (MAP)
alternative reform plank.

Ref.Document's_link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n8ofqa7p521f8fv/map-greenpagesnation_merged.pdf?
dl=0
PowerPointLink:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fdho3jpiv0yllag/gpus-
racistplatormplank-video.pptx?dl=0

Historical Contextual WEB site:
THE HISTORICAL LEGACY

The Malapportionment Penalty MAP initiative is to "Democratize the
Electoral College" by enforcement of "the right to vote" Reconstruction
amendment (Amend. XIV§2 ) that mandates a state's proportional allocation
of presidential electors based on the popular vote split or for the state
to suffer a "Reduction of Representation" in the electoral college /
members to congress pursuant to (2USC§6) .
http://asagordon.byethost10.com/MAP_HISTORICAL_PERSPECTIVE.html

The Constitution's Voting Rights Apportionment Formula
The Constitution's malapportionment penalty clause establishes a de jure
apportionment formula that mandates proportional representational redress
for de facto partisan abridgment of voting rights.
http://asagordon.byethost10.com/MAP-formula.pdf

Regards,
Asa Gordon, Chair DC Statehood Green Party Electoral College Task Force
http://asagordon.byethost10.com/ASA.htm

SKCM Curry strategist talks on Green Party run for President

Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza Curry an experienced Green Party strategist discuss structure, growth and outreach to engage the public as a Green Presidential candidate.

Eugene Puryear for D.C. Council At Large

Eugene Puryear for D.C. Council At Large

DC Statehood Green Party
 

We need your support all year!

Remember to vote:

✓ April 1: in the D.C. Statehood Green Party Primary

✓ November 4: in the General Election

The Louisiana Green Party is excited about having our own, Asa Gordon as a presenter at our conference....

The Louisiana Green Party is excited about having our own, Asa Gordon as a presenter at our conference.  In order for this to happen we need your help, please vote to approve the expenditure of $500.00 from the Green Party Black Caucus's treasury to cover one round trip ticket and hotel room accommodation for two nights for Asa Gordon.  

Please respond with your questions or vote too this email because this is how we are keeping a tally of the votes.  Please respond with a yes or no vote.

More information about the conference can be found at the following website:

http://www.eventbrite.com/e/green-party-of-louisiana-state-convention-tickets-8548838807

Hotep,

Morgan Moss, JR
Louisiana Green Party Co-Chair

"How Black Civil War Veterans Reconstructed the Union and Established Democracy in America" was presented at the Green Party of the United States 2013 Annual National Meeting

"...On Friday July 26th, 2013, Asa Gordon, Chair of the DC Statehood Green Party Electoral College Task Force and Secretary General of the Sons & Daughters United States Colored Troops, presented a  special version of the signature African American Civil War Memorial  "Historical Voting Rights" Civil War Sesquicentennial Lecture: The USCT Legacy of National Redemption and Democracy ( How Black Civil War Veterans Reconstructed the Union and Established Democracy in America)  during the party's 2013 Annual Meeting in Iowa City, Iowa  at the Iowa Memorial Union, University of Iowa..."

Event Url
http://calendar.uiowa.edu/MasterCalendar/EventDetails.aspx?data=hHr80o3M7J7CFkcDh%2bESZv4EsSc%2fLnzlYEQm8OpsDqOQrdyaETHbQME6r9f9wVsB

Iowa Press citizen
http://search.press-citizen.com/localevents/event/100/28613-African-American-Civil-War-Memorial-Historical-Voting-Rights-Civil-War-Sesquicentennial-LectureEvent Url
http://calendar.uiowa.edu/MasterCalendar/EventDetails.aspx?data=hHr80o3M7J7CFkcDh%2bESZv4EsSc%2fLnzlYEQm8OpsDqOQrdyaETHbQME6r9f9wVsB

Iowa Press citizen
http://search.press-citizen.com/localevents/event/100/28613-African-American-Civil-War-Memorial-Historical-Voting-Rights-Civil-War-Sesquicentennial-Lecture

"...In the aftermath of America's Civil War it was accepted that the union had  been saved, but "The reinauguration of the national authority-reconstruction"  (A. Lincoln) and the establishment of full participatory democracy was still very  much in doubt. The lecture presents ignored historical facts, and reveals the  hidden Civil Rights legacy of how Black Civil War veterans reconstituted the  nation in alignment with the DECLARATION and established the foundation of  citizens' voting rights in the United States of America.

The lecture was adapted  for the 2013_GPUSANM to provide explicit historical progressive  reconstruction era constitutional context for  the "Democratize the Electoral College Civil Action" Gordon et.al. vs Clerk of HOR now pending  in Federal Court. The  lecture demonstrates how voter suppression tactics, "Winner-take-all",  and "Gerrymandered Districts" in national presidential elections violates the electoral mandate of the second section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the constitution  adopted during Reconstruction. The presentation  also exposes that the misguided National Popular Vote (NPV) initiative is grounded in a reactionary redemption era Supreme Court ruling that overturned Reconstruction to reestablish white supremacy, and furthermore explicitly violates the malapportionment clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Green Pages has published a full online article based on this lecture that details the contemporary context of the Federal Civil Action..."



FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Asa Gordon_(202)635-7926
http://www.gp.org/speakers/detail-speakers.php?ID=29
Exe. Dir. Douglass Institute of Government
Sec. Gen. Sons & Daughters United States Colored Troops
Chair DC Statehood Green Party Electoral College Task Force
NASA /GSFC Astrodynamicist (Ret.)

Ed Rendell urges Democrats to fight changes in awarding electoral votes | PennLive.com

Ed Rendell urges Democrats to fight changes in awarding electoral votes | PennLive.com

Green Papers: Diverse Views from a Green Perspective

Green Papers: Diverse Views from a Green Perspective

The GOP’s Neo-Redemptionist Electoral College

November 11 | Posted by admin | Electoral College, Green Party, National Politics

Electoral Quotas for a White Majority
by Asa Gordon

REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS are intent on establishing a neo-Redemptionist Electoral College that will only reflect the majority will of white people as “[T]he Republican Party becomes more and more a white folks’ party”. (“The GOP is trying to rig the electoral college,” Harold Meyerson, Washington Post, Sept. 21, 2011).

The original politics of Redemption was to to reclaim the South for white Democratic, one-party rule in the U.S. South following the First Reconstruction of the 1860s. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redemption_(United_States_history)]. The GOP’s neo-Redemptionist Electoral College would claim the Nation for white Republican, one-party rule in the U.S. from the Second Reconstruction of the 1960s.

The Republican party has demonstrated that it can unambiguously embrace a white partisan majority that represents a national minority, whereas the Democratic party has proved to be ambivalent in embracing a national majority that embraces the collective will of non-white minorities.

The Washington Post’s recent cynical editorial (“A cynical GOP move, If you can’t win the election, change the rules,” Oct. 16, 2011) on the GOP’s “Rigging the Electoral College” declares:

“State [Pennsylvania] Senate Majority Leader Dominic F. Pileggi (R) has introduced a bill that would shift Pennsylvania from a winner-take-all system to one that awards electoral votes by congressional district, as Maine and Nebraska do. Mr. Pileggi and other supporters of the switch say that a district-based approach better reflects the will of all of Pennsylvania’s voters. ”

What the supporters fail to say, and what the Washington Post editorial fails to report, is that the switch to a district-based approach best reflects the will of not all but a specific subset of Pennsylvania’s voters: those who are white.

In the 2008 Presidential election, Barack Obama, with about 55 percent of the popular vote, was awarded all of Pennsylvania’s 21 electoral votes under the “Winner-take-all” rule. John McCain, with about 45 percent of Pennsylvania’s popular vote, was awarded zero. Supporters of the Pileggi District plan pose the question, how can a system that ignores nearly half the votes cast by the state’s residents be considered fair? The GOP has posed the right question, but presents the wrong answer.

Let us do the math for the 2008 Presidential Election. (The Congressional district data is from the Swing State Project). The math exposes that Pileggi’s District plan does not provide redress for an unfair distribution of Presidential electors that fails to reflect the will of Pennsylvania’s voters, but in fact provides a disproportionate allocation of electors that favors the choice of Pennsylvania’s white electorate. Let us examine what the results would have been for Pennsylvania’s voters if the Pileggi plan had been in effect for the 2008 Presidential Election. Under the Pileggi plan, John McCain would have been granted 11 electoral votes by virtue of winning 11 congressional districts. Indeed, Senator McCain won 3 districts that were represented by Democrats in the House. Obama would have been awarded 8 for the 8 congressional districts he won, plus two for carrying the state’s popular vote for a total of 10. That is, McCain would have been awarded a majority, 52%, of Pennsylvania’s electors as opposed to Obama’s 48%, a clear undemocratic reversal in the allocation of electors compared to Obama’s popular vote victory. Is this fair?

In fact, Pileggi’s District plan disproportionately allocates Pennsylvania’s electors in a manner that exaggerates McCain’ s 51% popular vote majority among Pennsylvania’s white voters. The 2010 census has provided the opportunity for Pennsylvania’s Republican legislature and governor to redraw the district lines to further bias Pennsylvania’s electors to augment the choice of Pennsylvania’s white voters.

Clearly, Pileggi’s plan makes no attempt to redress the electoral college’s bias against popular- vote majorities. Tom Corbett, Pennsylvania’s Republican governor, like other swing states under GOP control, supports the Pileggi plan. Under GOP District plans, Obama could carry Michigan, and Ohio’s popular vote as a result of large concentrations of minorities in urban areas and still lose most of those states’ electoral votes.

Overlooked, (by design) by the GOP lawmakers and in the rigged reporting of the main stream media on this issue is the obvious truth: The fairest apportionment of presidential electors is to allocate them on the basis of a popular vote split within the state as a whole. By this rule the number of electors awarded would have been 12 for Obama and 9 for McCain, a proportional distribution that accurately and fairly reflects the will of all of Pennsylvania’s voters. To overlook this more democratic method of allocating electors that mathematically represent the will of all of the people and instead select a rule that distorts the will of the people in order to allocate electors reflecting the majority choice of one group of white people is racist as a mathematical fact, i.e. the Pileggi plan is a white supremacist plan by intent, design and result. Note that the media often misrepresents the District Plan as a “proportional system.” As we have seen, it is surely not.

“The electoral college, after all, was created out of a compromise so that Southern whites wouldn’t be outvoted by Northerners in the House of Representatives or in presidential elections. The compromise was to tally slaves in apportioning congressional districts among the states, and then award the presidency to the winner of the states’ electoral vote, not of the nationwide popular count.” (“The GOP is trying to rig the electoral college,” Harold Meyerson, Washington Post, Sept. 21, 2011).

The GOP’s Tea Party constitutional “originalist” movement seeks to preserve the legacy of this original racial quota for white minorities through the establishment of a neo-Redemptionist Electoral College.

---

Asa Gordon, Chair of the DC Statehood Green Party Electoral College Task Force and Executive Director of the Douglass Institute of Government currently has a Civil Action pending in the United States District Court to Democratize the Electoral College. (See http://www.electors.us).

Anita Rios, Champions the Green Party in Toledo, Ohio

Green Party Black Caucus (GPBC) Protest Odious Redemptionist-era rulings being invoked by the Department of Justice

The BLACK CAUCUS OF THE GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES (GPBC) in a letter of protest to Attorney General, Eric Holder registered their strong objection that in this case of controversy an Assistant United States Attorney in the Department of Justice in argument before the Appellate Court has invoked odious Redemptionist-era rulings of the Supreme Court that reestablished white supremacy and overturned Reconstruction. A position that denigrates the memory of that provision of the constitution that gave full expression to the founding principle of our nation for which that "band of brothers" of European and African descent "gave the last full measure of devotion" in the United States Civil War.

Asa Gordon's  Oral Argument on Democratizing the Electoral College, a major voting rights civil action  endorsed by the Green Party Black Caucus in 2004, has been scheduled for oral argument in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (No. 09-5142) on Thursday, January 14, 2010.

The civil action, Gordon v. Biden (formerly Gordon v. Cheney), addresses the mal-apportionment of Electoral College votes, voter dilution by race and/or party affiliation with the popular vote misrepresented by the winner-take-all system of allocating electoral votes. The civil action seeks relief against the Vice President who presides over the tabulation of "unbound Southern electoral states" who by practice, unsupported by state or federal statute, traditionally award Presidential Electors on a "winner-take-all basis" in violation of the mal-apportionment penalty clause pursuant to Amend. XIV§2 as implemented by 2U.S.C.§6. All Court Documents, links, Green Party of the United States Press Releases and other materials related to the action are available online at http://www.electors.us.

"This is an unconscionable position to be taken by the Department of Justice under the leadership of an Attorney General of the United States of African descent serving in the Administration of the first President of the United States of African descent", say Black Caucus officials in their letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.

Gordon filed the Democratizing the Electoral College Civil Action on July 28th, 2008, to commemorate the Century and Two Score years anniversary of the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

NY: Open Letter to Greens across the country from Robert Gumbs

Greens,

In line with the issue of the racial problems that the New york Green Party suffers from there is another dimension that needs to be looked at. Whenever, i have brought suggestions for this party to implement here in new york, it's routinely ignored. However, - Karen Young - with the help of a few other people seem to think that they have the right to completely make the New York party into their own image. They hold meetings when they want, they invite who they want to those meetings and everybody stands for it. I try to make a point in a meeting and I am castigated as an arrogant black male, slightly obtuse and definitely unwelcome.

The fact that white men in the New York Green Party asked me to leave the party because of my opinion on certain issues really astounds me. For this to happen in the supposedly democratic Green Party is a tragedy. However, i have had to face up to lynch mobs, made up of my white American comrades in arms in Germany, so this incident will not hold me down one bit. I believe in fighting back.

We have a campaign for Mayor of New York, where the Green candidate has not stated what his Urban Policy is. We have had over 50 black men gunned down in New York over the last 23 months or so, the Green Party in New York has no comment about this, has no plan to say anything about this and the Green Party Candidate for Mayor has made no comment as to what he would do about this.

6 young black men were almost lynched and forced to rot in jail for a crime they didn't commit, the rape of a white woman in central park. There are politicians who are trying to have an investigation as to why this travesty happened. What does the Green Party's Mayoral candidate have to say about this?

Why should urban residents in inner city New York follow a candidate that has not outlined a coherent urban policy?

This is the state of affairs that I believe Greens across the country will say is deplorable. Am I arrogant because as the only black man active in the New York party for the last 5 years i choose to question this state of affairs?

Newcomers have come to New York, with their own agenda, and they think they can twist the party to their tune. Fine - but if you are not going to deal with the issues that concern Black Americans that live in this city, then what the hell good are you for this party?

Does any party that refuses to deal with the just needs of Black Americans deserve to be elected to any public office?

This is why there should be a Black person on this so-called NYC Green Committee. If Ms. Young had taken the time to ask what my objection to their new procedure was, I would have gladly discussed it with her. However, in New York the voice of people of color are ignored in the New York Green Party - unless of course they are a celebrity.

I love Cynthia and Rosa for what they stand for, not as a means to an end.

For those of you that are upset for my opinions - tough, i didn't join this party to be a stooge or yes man. I have a very low tolerance for hypocrisy and when I see it - i point it out. This is a party for Black Men, just as much for anyone else. And I promise by almighty God to fight racism and elitism wherever i see it in this party. Because if we are to guide and criticize the other political parties - we have to make sure that we as Greens are correct.

I would also like to thank the support i have received from fellow Greens not only here in New York, but members from the Green Party Black Caucus and Green party members from other parts of the country.

DC: AN OPENING ("significant") VICTORY IN THE GREEN "DEMOCRATIZING THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE" Mal-Apportionment Penalty (MAP) CIVIL ACTION_GORDON v BIDEN

Asa Gordon _Exe.Dir. DIG_Chair DCSGP_ECTF_(202) 635-7926

THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT HAS GRANTED AN EARLY VICTORY TO THE PLAINTIFF IN THE OPENING ROUND OF MOTIONS IN THE DEMOCRATIZING THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE CIVIL ACTION NOW ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT.

"This is a significant accomplishment in your 'Democratizing the Electoral College Civil Action' ... very significant". This is how Attorneys vacationing in Oak Bluffs & Vineyand Haven, Mass responded to a recent report on the United States Court of Appeals Order of Aug, 13th, 2009 denying the United States Justice Department Motion in behalf of the Vice President for a Summary Affirmance of the District Court's Dismissal Order. The US Appeal's court Order supported the plaintiff's reply motion in opposition. The US Court of Appeals has set a schedule (Sept.-Nov.) for the submission of full briefs in the Civil Action GORDON v BIDEN . The plaintiff was in Oak Bluffs to lecture on A Civil Action to Democratize the Electoral College. See: [ http://www.electors.us]. click on events.

To Book Asa Gordon, pro-se plaintiff in GORDON v BIDEN, for a presentation to your organization on the subject "A Civil Action to Democratize the Electoral College" e-mail a request to: Electorsus@aol.com and also to mapxiv2@aol.com. Include MAP in the subject heading. Outside of the Washington metro area, a round-trip train or airfare with a token honoraria is requested. All Pleadings before the US Courts, Essays, Videos, Green PR's, A sample flyer and brief bio is available at the Mal-Apportionment Penalty (MAP) web site [ http://www.electors.us].

A sample MAP flyer_ http://mapxiv2usc6.free0host.com/MAPFLYER.pdf
A brief Asa bio _ http://www.gp.org/speakers/detail.php?ID=29

Also Reference:

Diane F White FACEBOOK creator and administrator for the cause:
Democratizing the Electoral College
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/343177?m=b317c537

NY: Reality in the U.S - Robert Gumbs on Healthcare

As I watch events taking place in America today I am sickened. As far as Health care is concerned, the only chance for Single Payment is within the House. The Senate is just the opposite.

So that there is no mistake - I am for National Health Care - without any interference by the Insurance Companies. Now I was a cripple for about 6 years, I spent more time in an out of the Veterans Hospitals than I spent in my residence. I was fortunate enough to get on Social Security and receive Medicare. This past February I was admitted to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, where my spine was removed and replaced with a metal substitute, was it because of my medicare? The doctor who performed the surgery worked on me for over 14 hours. The good doctor would have done the surgery weather I had Medicare or not. Would I have gotten through the Emergency Room, and be introduced to the Neurosurgeon? Who knows. However, I know better than most - the travails of the American care system. I know of the duplicity and heartlessness that Insurance companies put most of the American people through. In a sane society such as France Belgium or Britain, health care is a right of every human being, just like calling a cop or a fireman for assistance. This Market Capitalistic nut house that America has become is so captivated by wealth and greed, that the corporate bullies would charge us for the air we breathe if we are not careful.

So there it is - my heart is for a National Health System - period.

The problem with all of this is that too many of us, at least in this part of the country don't really understand who the enemy is. It's like the old cartoon," we have met the enemy and they is us!"

For those of us who come from the Northeast, especially New York that might seem a little strange, however, if you have had any experience living in America - and I don't mean New York, you will understand what I mean. First of all, New York hasn't been part of the rest of America since the mid 60's. There is a huge group of Americans that need National Health care, but unfortunately, by the same token, you have a huge group of Americans that believe that government interference in health care is anathema. The latter group is obviously ignorant - but they do exist.

I did surveying across the country and I tell you there are a large amount of folks that just want the Federal government to disappear, except for the military of course. You go out to Missouri, or Meridian, Mississippi or Southern Virginia, and live amongst those folks as I have done and you will see for yourself.

You have to realize that far too many Americans, many as poor as church mice, will denounce government like it was sin, they don't care that it could make their lives better. I met working class white folks in Florida that think that FDR and the New Deal were a part of the plan of the anti-Christ.

There is a belief, especially among whites in the more rural areas especially, that only a weakling and blacks and latino's take help from the government. Never mind how the corporate world robs us all, or the fact that the military industrial complex bleeds our citizens of more treasure than any enemy has since 1945.

The Green Party has to understand the problem from a political and psychological level.

At a time when our nation has the technology to feed, clothe, educate and provide health care for every human being in this country. Our citizens, even those with health care are shuffling along like natives in a so-called third world country. But the vast majority of American don't attack the basic problems - they even join hands with their own oppressors. What the Green Party has to do is show the American people why we are the ones to protect their interests, as opposed to any other political party. We have to show them that we're mature enough to actually run a government. We also need to show the American people how to fight for their own best interests and what those best interests are.

Robert "Bob" Gumbs, veteran and Green Party candidate for the 15th Congressional District in the US House (Charles Rangel's seat) has been an active member of the Green Party of New York for 5 years . Bob is the newly elected Black Caucus Delegate to the GPUS National Committee.

CA: On Open Letter to Greens about the Gates controversy from Alex Walker

Dear Green Friends,

I have not written about the Gates "controversy" on my blog because, frankly, compared to the total breakdown of democratic governance here in California, compared to the story of millions of African-Americans whose lives have been ruined by the "drug war," or even compared to what happened to our own Diane White in Pennsylvania, this incident with Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates is, frankly, trivial.

I do not think it is a "teaching moment" because it has already degenerated into the predictable soap opera of most mainstream media "conversations" about race. First, "liberals" cry racism. Then, "conservatives" praise the cops. Eventually Somebody is trotted out like poor Rodney King in L.A. to say: "Can't we all get along?" and "conservative" intellectuals get another opportunity to preach about the alleged "pathology" and "paranoia" of "Those People."

Moreover, it grieves me to say this is another example of the intellectual confusion within what's supposed to be "The Left" in the United States. For over a year, "The Left" has complained that Barack Obama has not spoken out about "race" issues. Now "The Left" not only complains that Mr. Obama has spoken out about his friend Skip Gates, we've taken his speaking out as an opportunity to trash Gates and Obama as "house slaves" who think they're better than "real Blacks."

Stanley Fish, brought Prof. Gates to Duke University.20Fish writes a nice little op-ed piece relating a story about what happened when Gates bought a big house in North Carolina: "The message was unmistakable: What was a black man doing living in a place like this?"

Alas, this innocuous statement is parsed for "political correctness" and declared an offensive to Black Women. For Stanley Fish the lesson of this "teaching moment" will be: next time shut up, turn your head, and pretend you don't see like all the other "White folks."

Having said all that, I say that if we deal with this incident at all we should use to strengthen the case for Blacks in the Green Party.

(1) Remind everyone that Cambridge, Massachusetts is a supposedly "ultra-liberal" One-Party Democratic town, as is the entire Boston area. This Officer Crowley evidently went through all the liberal "sensitivity" training and still behaved inappropriately. If Democratic Party "sensitivity" liberalism doesn't work in Cambridge, Massachusetts then it can't work anywhere. This is not surprising to anyone familiar with police-community relations in the Berkeley - Oakland area of California or even in that portion of Mr. Obama's Southside neighborhood around the University of Chicago.

(2) Remind everyone about the case of Boston Green Party City Councilor Chuck Turner, who was entrapped in a petty "sting" operation by the F.B.I. last year. Mr. Turner has been hassled in Cambridge for his o utspoken advocacy of Harvard divestment from companies in Israel. And don't forget that Cynthia McKinney, herself, had a run-in with the Capitol Police while serving as an elected member of Congress. Cops have a problem with all Blacks, but It seems they have a special problem with those expressing "disorderly" political views. I am pleased to note that even some Republican-leaning libertarians have said that if a man can't say "Is this how you treat a Black man in America?" in his own home, then what good is "free speech" in America?

(3) Reach out to Gates? Here is a simple test: submit a no-holds-bared partisan commentary praising Cynthia McKinney, Rosa Clemente, Chuck Turner, Malik Rahim, Cliff Thorton, Asa Gordon, Diane White, and the Green Party to "The Root" and see what happens.

If Gates refuses to publish a no-holds-bared partisan Green commentary (and I suspect he will), then we can say he's just another "liberal" hack. I browsed "The Root" just now and there's nothing up there but the usual tired clichés. If this is going to be a "teaching moment" it should be a moment to teach how our 10 Key Values are superior to tired 40-year-old "liberal" clichés.


Alex Walker
Los Angeles Greens

In DC, Asa Gordon to teach class on “Democratizing the Electoral College”

Asa Gordon is Chair of the D.C Statehood Green Party Electoral College Task Force; a member of the Green Party Black Caucus Organizing Committee; and is the founder and Executive Director of the Douglass Institute of Government (DIG).

Asa Gordon will be presenting the class “Democratizing the Electoral College” on Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 6:45 pm through the Social Action & Leadership School for Activists (SALSA) of the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) in Washington, DC. The class description at the SALSA website is: here.

"...“Winner take All” is not required by the constitution, and in nearly half of the states where it is applied, it is not even based on state law. This lecture will provide a historical context and report on recent developments in a Civil Action to reform and “Democratize the Electoral College”..."

The rest of the story...

Contribute to Malik Rahim for Congress Today!

Malik Rahim for Congress

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Send your donation today. Individuals may contribute up to $2300. To contribute by mail print the donor form or you may donate online here...

Three years since Katrina and the government continues to fail us. Malik Rahim has spoken out with courage, asked the difficult questions, and built viable community alternatives. He is a strong organizer that acted while the politicians waited. Now he wants to take his courage to Congress. Malik is on the ballot for US Congress in Louisiana's 2nd District.

The Louisiana Secretary of State changed the elections calendar after Hurricane Gustav, so the general election where you can vote for Malik is on December 6, not November 4.

Malik's Platform

• Hurricane Recovery & Flood Protection:

• Rebuild a Sustainable Economy:

• Quality Public Education:

• Healthcare for All:

• Comprehensive and Sustainable Energy Policy:

• Reform of the Criminal Justice System:
  
  
• Alternative sentencing for non-violent offenders.
  
  
• Troops out of Iraq:
  
  
• Affordable Housing
  
  
• Call for a full investigation now on the awarding of contracts for the demolition of public housing developments in New Orleans and their reconstruction

Website:	http://www.votemalik.com
Office:	Committee to Elect Malik Rahim
Location:	331 Atlantic Avenue

The 36th Annual Thomas Merton Award will honor Malik Rahim!

The 2008 award dinner will be on Wednesday, November 12th!
6pm Social Hour
7:20pm Dinner
Circuit Center and Ballroom

The Circuit Center and Ballroom is located at 5 Hot Metal Street, in the IBEW Hall, right on the corner of Hot Metal and Carson Streets. There will be free parking, easy bus access, and a vegetarian (including vegan) dinner catered by the locally renowned Fluted Mushroom.

Reservations: $45 ($26 for students/low-income)
Have a group? We can accommodate tables of 10 people at a time. The cost for a table will be $400. Please RSVP by October 31!

Reserve your space by:
Check (made payable to "Thomas Merton Center" with "TMC Dinner" in the memo line)
Cash (stop into the TMC during regular business hours - Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm)
Credit Card (either mail us your information or click here.)

To mail in payment: Thomas Merton Center, 5125 Penn Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15224

Ways to help:
If you can't attend, make a donation! Or buy and sell lots of raffle tickets…someone has to win the prizes: a trip to New York (all expenses paid), a custom-built bike from Free Ride!, and a whole slew of gift certificates & tickets – sports and cultural – for Pittsburgh attractions! Would you like to purchase an ad in our dinner program book? If you have a business, big or small, or just want to honor the Center, buy an ad in the program. Rates are as low as $50 and as high as $500 to become an underwriter. People read those ads and support those who share their beliefs in justice. And you can always offer to help with the dinner. There is enough work for all of us involved in this major event.

Questions? Call 412-361-3022 or e-mail Melissa.

This November 12, the Merton Center will be honoring activist Malik Rahim at the annual Thomas Merton Award ceremony. Malik is a former Black Panther, convicted felon, and a long-time housing and prison activist in the U.S. state of Louisiana. He gained publicity as a community organizer in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

During Hurricane Katrina, Malik stayed to assist the community and has been speaking out about racism and the failures of government exposed by the Katrina disaster. To counter the powerful corporate forces trying to control the rebuilding, Malik has founded Rebuild Green to work with community-based organizations' efforts to advance social justice and environmental sustainability. Malik states that "By focusing on green building technology, renewable energy, mass transit systems, and green community development that empowers local people to take control of their local resources, the rebuilding of New Orleans can take our city from being a symbol of disaster to being a prototype sustainable city of the future."

In July of 2008, Malik filed to run for Louisiana's second congressional district seat of the U.S. House of Representatives as a Green Party candidate.

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!

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.

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.”

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