I am in Ohio! I had the opportunity of a lifetime to attend the 2024 Ohio Green Party State Forum yesterday. We finally got to meet offline with other Young Greens of Ohio. I had the chance to speak to Ohio Greens. The Green Party is the party of hope.

From the polar ice caps to the rainforests of South America, the world in which we live is on fire. Scientists say we now have less than ten years to halt our collision course with climate catastrophe. This emergency requires us to rise up and do our best. This may be our now, but it does not have to be our future.

Never in my life has our future seemed so uncertain. The genocide in Palestine, the climate crisis, and the looming threat of a Cold War with China. But, when people come together and reach for a brighter future, we’ve shown that we can change the course of history. We can change it. All we have to do is try. We can make big things happen again.

The issues our state faces are not one off events.

From the environmental collapse, to social justice, to housing, and women’s issues, all of our struggles are interconnected.

The Green Party offers solutions not to just to avert climate catastrophe, but to fix Ohio for good. As greens, we do not back down from a predicament. Our lawsuits have sent corrupt public elections officials to prison before. And our local activists have been working tirelessly to protect our local ecological communities. When it comes to women’s issues, the Green Party has been on the front line of fighting far right abortion bans to banning the sale of firearms to those convicted of domestic violence.

The Greens have been on the forefront of racial justice and economic inequality. The Greens have been fighting the fight against police brutality and state violence against indigenous and black and brown people

The Green Party has been supporting equal rights of LGBTQ+ people since our inception in 1980s. Yes, same sex marriage is legal, but the fight is not over when LBGTQ+ Ohioans can get fired from their jobs or kicked out of their houses for being who they are. In a time when human rights are under attack, our support to LGBTQ+ people will never cease. We recognize the civil rights of those with all gender identities and sexual orientations. It’s time to stop the show. Multiple, multiple bills have been introduced targeting LGBT students, athletes, & organizations in Ohio. We say not one step back! We will enact a comprehensive anti-discrimination law that makes discrimination based on gender, sexuality, or gender identity illegal in housing, work, and daily public life. You are never alone and it is never your fault.

For the past 20 years, we have been voting blue but seeing red. It has been long past time for that to end. Together, we can break the ping-pong politics trap.

The answer to the growing right-wing creep of Ohio politics is a revolutionary agenda to end the economic misery of millions of people within our state.

We can end the scandal that is half a million Ohio children living in poverty. With courage, we can change the course of history. With vision, we can create the cleanest and greenest economy. And with ambition, we can create a state for the greater good.

The Republicans like to talk a big game on energy independence, but they cannot be farthest from the truth. The Republican Party is killing our planet. A Green New Deal will create thousands of good paying jobs, halt climate change, and make the wars for oil obsolete. In order for real energy independence, we must go green. There is no need for the importation of the wind, water, and waves from autocratic nations that abuse human rights. Not only this, but a completely Green energy system will drastically reduce your energy costs during a cost of living crisis. Solar and wind have been some of the record-low prices for energy production and only continue to decline, while fossil fuels and nuclear only continue to add economic pressures to the average American.

This can only be achieved by an independent politics outside the two party trap.

We can cancel student debt, make healthcare and college free, create a welcoming path to citizenship, and end systemic racism.

Unlike the two party system which has cost us our reproductive freedoms, The Greens support bodily autonomy and reproductive rights, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

The Greens have advocacy groups for under-represented voices such as the National Women’s caucus and the lavender caucus to ensure gender and sexual minorities have a voice in the party.

The Nuclear Energy industry has led Ohio down a dark path of political corruption to a tune of $60 million. Yet, those Republicans who created this artificial crisis go unpunished and even reelected.

Every worker deserves a union that will fight for them and make sure they are respected at work. In a time of stagnant wages, raging inflation, and record low union membership, the Greens are a Party where labor can flourish. Do not believe the capitalist’s lies attempting to divide us. Labor and the environment can co-exist together, and the existence of one does not negate the existence of the other.

As Greens we value our policy of social justice, by eradicating anti-black racism, Islamophobia, and anti-semitism in the streets and in the workplace. In the 21st century, racism and racial discrimination are unacceptable in any society. We oppose all forms of sexism and the hatred of women, privatization of public lands, exploitation of Native tribes, deregulation, and militarism abroad. We cannot afford and will not survive a climate crisis on top of a new Cold War with China.

In the 2024 Presidential election, there is no lesser evil. We have seen how both Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s policies as president have destroyed the middle class, promoted catastrophic wars abroad, rescinded human rights domestically, and ignored the oncoming climate meltdown. President Biden has approved thousands of pipeline projects; more than any president in history. On July 2, 2021, the Gulf of Mexico caught fire, causing horrendous ecological disaster to the aquatic communities. On March 13, 2023, climate assassin Biden began the Willow Project, an oil drilling project in the plains of the North Slope of Alaska. Five drill pads and 250 oil wells have been approved for construction. The project could produce up to 750 million barrels of oil and 287 million tons of carbon emissions plus other greenhouse gasses. This is the same carbon pollution as half a million homes annually. Native people in Alaska will be horrifically affected by this ongoing project in terms of food, sociocultural, and public health systems. Candidate Biden promised to ban fracking on federal land, codify Roe v Wade, forgive $10,000 in student loan debt, end Middle Eastern conflicts, pass a bill for 12 weeks paid parental leave, stop the border wall, and overhaul immigration. President Biden has done none of that. America voted Blue, but got Red in return.

These faults of the Biden Administration does not make a looming Trump Administration any better. Donald Trump bashes immigrants and is a racist loudmouth. For the past five years Donald Trump has shown nothing but contempt for democracy. He has incited violence on the streets and online. Yet, in spite of all of this, a large number of influential American politicians, journalists, and media personalities have supported him and sought his approval. The Trump Administration banned transgender soldiers from serving in the United States Armed Forces, and just yesterday the Biden Administration announced the return of another Trump-era policy that bans U.S. consulates and Embassies displaying the Pride flag.

It’s time to end the lesser of two evils and stand up for the greater good like our lives depend on it, because they in fact do. The Greens are here and we are the only Party willing to create a future for us all.

The Greens Are Here.

As the youth of America, we ask: why are we poor as we study? Why are we so anxious to love? Why are we more unequal at work? Why can't we buy without a loan? Why can't young people live independently? Why do others decide our future? We gave power to a president who destroys this country and to politicians who are parasitic on our democracy. Corporations eat our overtime and accumulate wealth on our behalf. American politics have turned into an endless cartel of vested interests. It’s time to put our future within our hands! I, like many youths, am tired of politicians who will die in 20 years determining the rest of our lives. We have, in the United States, an imperial power structure built on ruling class bipartisanship with a greedy pursuit of profits. We oppose the collusion of imperial interests, the threat of war, the monopoly of capital interests. and indiscriminate destruction of the environment. Green politics will open a door to a democracy of the people.

We shall reclaim America from the cartel of vested interests with a policy and campaign that focuses on the principles of humanity, international law, and respect for diversity. With that, we must be vigilant. The essentials of life should not be run for profit. A decent-paying job must be a legal, guaranteed right. The minimum wage should be raised to $15 per hour and a living income must be guaranteed for those who cannot work. Those who are at most risk of poverty shall be the most protected. While those well off billionaires live in their golden palaces completely void of poverty and social issues, the everyday Americans they are exploiting are struggling to get by. If the United States is the greatest country in the world, we should act like it and no person should choose between going to the doctor’s or making a housing payment. We must create a completely free and public health care system. No more arguments about Obamacare and Trumpcare. Healthcare for all will be a right to all people, regardless of citizenship status or legality. Make education free for state institutions and work to eliminate all student debt. We must fully fund rebuilding of the infrastructure in transport, water and utility systems. Stop all foreclosures and evictions and work to end all mortgage interest payments to the banks.

We must end mass incarceration of oppressed and all working class people. Marijuana will be legalized and all prisoners for marijuana-related crimes will be freed immediately. Fully prosecute all acts of police brutality and violence. We must end the death penalty in Ohio. Black Lives Matter to us. We must swiftly move to abolish ICE and not allow one more deportation. We have to move swiftly to create a gender-equal society by establishing Ohio as a feminist utopia. Women still earn 22 percent less than men, and the gap is even more severe for Black and Latina women. That is inexcusable. We will close the wage gap and end the gender division of labor. We stand in creating a state where transgender women can access the healthcare they deserve as human beings. We must end this hateful rhetoric towards our LGBTQ+ citizens by adding an amendment to the Ohio Constitution saying that marriage is gender neutral and all people are guaranteed the right to marriage as well as banning discrimination in housing and employment. We find it atrocious that former governor John Kasich sent Ohio police officers to Standing Rock in order to quell the first amendment rights of Native tribes. We must solve the issue in inner city schools by hiring more African-American teachers and teachers who can speak African-American Vernacular English. We will fight to uphold the 1997 Ohio Supreme Court decision in DeRolph vs State that says that the state funding system "fails to provide for a thorough and efficient system of common schools.” In over 21 years, legislators have failed to find a solution.

Deep-rooted traditions have resulted in repressive societal aspects for women. Women’s liberation is more than a ballot in the box every four years or so. We need an Equal Rights Amendment in the Ohio Constitution that guarantees equal pay, healthcare, and paid leave.

On average, women get paid $0.78 for every dollar a man will make, and women of color make even less. In the United States, one in three women have or will be subject to physical violence by a partner within their lifetime. Sexual violence, which includes sexual assault, rape, and sexual abuse is prevalent in American society. Almost half of female victims will be raped by a partner. Sixty percent of sexual assaults will not be reported out of fear of retaliation, victim blaming, or fear of police. It is the power of women fighting in a collective mass struggle that have and will continue to propel the women's movement forward and fight the ever-consuming system of capitalism. You are never alone and it is NEVER your fault!

Many who identify themselves as feminists seem to believe that progress made by an individual woman, particularly a wealthy white woman. That can't be farther from the truth. Wealth does NOT trickle down nor does societal power. Dismantling oppression just doesn't work that way. Bare minimalist performative allyship just doesn't cut it. A few token members of an oppressed group being allowed into the halls of power will not liberate the rest. Idolizing women like Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright, or Nikki Hailey will not liberate women. They are a symptom of the disease that is capitalism, imperialism, and tokenization and revolution is the only cure. We must stand for women's liberation like our lives depend on it because they do.

Women, especially working class women in the United States are facing tremendous attack: the denial of reproductive rights, of abortion rights, the Supreme Court ruling saying that a corporation can deny women contraceptives or healthcare because of their religious beliefs. It all comes down to the fact corporations have rights over women's and worker's lives. Healthcare must be a right for all women, including full coverage for transgender women. It must be free. There must be preventive healthcare regardless of citizenship.

We also need socialism that says women have and deserve equal rights. We've seen this accomplished in many socialist nations, such as Cuba who has a 50%+ female parliament. Women MUST have their rights written down and guaranteed in the Constitution of Ohio. As an elected State Representative, I will fight hard to ensure the passing of an Equal Rights Amendment.

The Democrats and Republicans will not give us our rights. We have to fight for them, as we've done before, and expand those rights to have true equality in Ohio.

Another area in which I fight is for the rights of farmers. I come from a generational lineage of farmers. For as long as my family can remember, for the past 60-70+ years, my family has owned a small family homestead in Thornville, Ohio. The farm has turned into a livelihood for the Bashore family for at least 4 generations. However, with failed policies coming from Washington and corrupt trade laws, this livelihood is becoming harder and harder to maintain.

Family farmers are in danger in the United States. The largest threat to family farmers are big business and corporate farming. Agriculture plays an important part in the whole of society. It is the food base, supplying the population with foodstuffs, and the raw materials base for the light and food industries, which produce objects of mass consumption.

Corporate farming eliminates the livelihoods of small producers in the U.S. and developing countries, using government subsidies and monopoly power to price sustainable products out of the market. The corporate farmers use their government subsidies to even further drive down grain prices. This causes poor family farmers in Africa and Asia who sell their crops to the international market in turn to lower prices, continuing their poverty and undercutting profits.

Corporate farms in the U.S. also exploit migrant farm workers whose labor rights are not protected, and use their artificially cheap labor to undercut domestic small and medium producers and destroy the fabric of rural communities.

We need to protect family farms from the dangers of corporate farming. Family farms are being bought and sold to the highest bidder. Corporate farming concentrates market share among a small handful of firms, resulting in uncompetitive markets that ultimately hurt consumers and producers alike. They also share profits with a handful of elites instead of the profits going to a collective or a family.

Corporate farming also creates environmental disaster through excessive pesticide use, soil erosion, genetic engineering, monoculture, and concentration of animal waste. They get away with this due to the lobbying interests in Washington D.C. they can afford.

The political and economic power of big agribusiness needs to be checked and balanced by responsive governments and civil society to create a socially, environmentally and democratically balanced food production and distribution system around the world. We must protect family farms.

Citizens and fellow Ohioans. We do not have to continue to live like this. We have the power to change our now and our future for the better. We can create a society for us all. We can stop the doomsday clock ticking sooner and sooner to nuclear war. We can stand up for our freedom of association. Our struggles are not one-off events. We are never alone. The Green Party is the only international political party that is ready to tackle the obstacles we face.

As we end today’s Forum, the Ohio Green Party will begin our 2024 Presidential Primary. I ask all those attending today in-person and online to vote for the candidate which best represents their ideas. We have some amazing choices in the Green Party this cycle. I would be proud to be represented by any of them. This year will rear some ugly challenges to the democratic process.

It is far past time to take the climate crisis seriously. Never has our future seemed so uncertain, but when people come together and reach for a better future, we have shown that we can change the course of history. These emergencies give us the opportunity to fix Ohio for the better. This election is the greatest, perhaps our last, chance to change course. Children cannot vote. The trees cannot vote. And our planet can not vote. I ask you “If not now, when?”

Thank you.

Standing left to right: Zach Anderson, Austin Bashore, and Mackenzie Lucy