Want Progressive Government in Maryland? Vote Green Party Up and Down the Ballot

The Goucher poll gives Gov. Larry Hogan (R) a 22 percent lead over Democrat Ben Jealous. This dismal result expands by 6 percent Hogan’s lead from an Aug. 14 Gonzalez poll, which had him ahead 52 percent to 36 percent. If Jealous is able to cut Hogan's lead in half he will still lose by a landslide. Without a major surprise it is hard to see Jealous doing better than shrinking his loss to a landslide from a complete blowout. Continue reading

I Remember. 9/11

I remember. I remember all those who died on 9/11. I remember my pain. All our pain. Unity. Fear and anger. I remember that many of us said do not treat our cries of grief as a cry for war. Seek justice. Treat it as a criminal act. Use it to build peace, not war. Continue reading

Defend Democracy from corporate Democrats!

Last year a Montana Democratic Party spokesperson told the media “The Montana Democratic Party welcomes all voices to participate in the Democratic process -- unlike the Montana GOP, which... has a record of trying to remove third-party candidates from the ballot.” So when the Montana Green Party turned in enough signatures to qualify for the ballot this year, what do you think the Democrats did? Continue reading

Why I Choose to Take a Stand, by Taking a Knee

The national controversy over those who choose to protest racial injustice in America by placing one knee on the ground during the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner doesn’t seem to be going away. The NFL announced a policy last May that any players who protest the anthem while on the field will be subject to discipline from the league. Here in Carbondale, Illinois, where I reside, Southern Illinois University – or, as I like to call it, Self-Impaling University – impaled itself once again by announcing a policy forbidding student athletes, cheerleaders and spirit members from engaging in “displays of activism” while in uniform. Thankfully, after a public outcry, the university quickly reversed itself. Continue reading

Tenth Anniversary Of Financial Collapse, Preparing For The Next Crash

Ten years ago, there was panic in Washington, DC, New York City and financial centers around the world as the United States was in the midst of an economic collapse. The crash became the focus of the presidential campaign between Barack Obama and John McCain and was followed by protests that created a popular movement, which continues to this day. Continue reading

Report on Demonstration in Chicago, August 25, 2018: “1968-2018: Unite Against War and Police Violence”

Background In December 2017, I reached out to anti-war organizers in the Chicago area for the purpose of attempting to reboot the anti-war movement there. I began advocating to hold an action in late August 2018, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, in which the Democratic Party machine suppressed the movement for peace within its own party and violently attacked it with police on the streets of the city. Continue reading

‘Policy makers killed the golden goose’

There is a town hall meeting on Thursday, August 23rd, at 6:00 pm at the Mateel Community Center in Redway, California, to address our community put in crisis due to cannabis regulation. This meeting is to address the effects county and agency policies are having on our local economy and the state of mind of the citizenry. Policy makers from County Code, the Sheriff’s Department, Fish and Wildlife, Water Quality and our Supervisor Estelle Fennell will be there for our input. The entities mentioned above are responsible for allowing the huge, environmentally destructive cannabis grows to proliferate for eight years in our beautiful hillsides, destroying our once-pristine night skies, grading our forests and diverting our streams needed by fish and ourselves. The laws were not enforced. Ironically, now that cannabis is legal, they have decided to go after as many small grows as huge ones. Continue reading

Military Parade Cancelled, How Does Peace Movement Build On This Victory?

This week, the Trump military parade, planned for November 10, was canceled for 2018. In February, a coalition of groups went public, announcing we would organize to stop the military parade and, if it went forward, to mobilize more people at the parade calling for peace and an end to war than supporting militarism. The coalition called for “ending the wars at home and abroad.” The No Trump Military Parade coalition intended to show the world that the people of the United States do not support war. The coalition has been meeting regularly to build toward organized mass opposition to the proposed parade. People were working to make this protest a take-off for a renewed peace movement in a country exhausted by never-ending wars and massive military spending, but our first goal was to stop the parade from happening. Continue reading

Dems Left Us Black and Blue, So We’re Going Green

The AFRO recently ran an op-ed by an author who called out the Democratic Party for allegedly supporting immigrants’ rights over African Americans’ rights. While we wholeheartedly condemn the xenophobic nature of this line of reasoning – exemplary of the divide and conquer patronage-style politics of the Democratic Party – we agree that the Democratic Party has not done well by us in recent decades. After years of being taken for granted and taken advantage of, our community has been left black and blue. Bruised up but far from beaten, many elder African American civil rights leaders in Baltimore, including the four of us, are participating in an exodus from the Democratic Party to become members of the Baltimore City Green Party (BGP). Here are three reasons why we think this is the strategic move for our community, our city, and our country. Continue reading

Go Green, Baltimore

On the heels of Maryland’s primary election, we are asserting our independence from seven decades of single party rule in Baltimore City. As long-time civil rights and community leaders in East and West Baltimore, we are calling on our neighbors to question whether our city has been well-served by the Democratic Party’s monopoly on power. There are three important reasons why entrenched one-party rule is bad for Baltimore. Continue reading