Perhaps no place in Maine epitomizes the state’s schizophrenic political character more than the Somerset County town of Solon (pop. just north of 1,000, about an hour’s drive west from Bangor). Somerset County is Trump Country. Barely a third of its voters chose Hillary Clinton in 2016, and though Clinton narrowly won statewide, Trump swept the wilderness of northern and western Maine, earning the only electoral vote he got in New England.* Yet Solon is an outlier. Since the late 1960s it’s been home to an eccentric collective of politically radical, back-to-the-lander artists, most notably the painter Abby Shahn. Every Fourth of July, in addition to fireworks and a patriotic parade, the community improv-theater group In Spite of Life Players stages a leftist protest play against war and greed, using gigantic, brightly painted sets and props, a la Vermont’s Bread and Puppet Theater. Continue reading

Como candidata a vicepresidenta del Partido Verde quiero expresar mi solidaridad con la comunidad latina que está siendo afectada de una forma especialmente dura por la pandemia del COVID-19. Es necesario exigir al gobierno de Donald Trump poner en práctica medidas urgentes para apoyar a las minorías del país Como candidata a vicepresidenta del Partido Verde quiero expresar mi solidaridad con la comunidad latina que está siendo afectada de una forma especialmente dura por la pandemia del COVID-19. Es necesario exigir al gobierno de Donald Trump poner en práctica medidas urgentes para apoyar a las minorías del país.   Continue reading

Wisconsin’s latest Election 2020 lawsuit could be the most impactful. The Green Party on Tuesday announced plans to sue to make the November ballot in Wisconsin.  Green Party presidential candidate Howie Hawkins and vice presidential candidate Angela Walker have hired an attorney and plan to take the Wisconsin Election Commission to court.  Continue reading

Voter suppression in the 2020 election has become a topic of great concern. In reality, voter suppression has been part of US politics since the founding of the country. The oligarchs who wrote the US Constitution enabled voter suppression by not including the right to vote in it and only allowing white male property owners to vote, suppressing the votes of 94 percent of the population. Five of 16 states had white-only voting in 1800 and after 1802, every new state, free or slave, except for Maine banned Black people from voting. In 1807, New Jersey, which originally gave voting rights to “all inhabitants,” excluded women and Black men from voting. Maryland banned Jewish people from its polls until 1828. After the Civil War expanded voting rights to Black men, the Black vote was suppressed through intimidation campaigns and Jim Crow laws. After decades of protests, the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965 and voting by Black people increased, but in recent years suppression tactics are reducing that vote. Continue reading

(CNN) – The Montana secretary of state is asking the Supreme Court to intervene in a fight over whether the Green Party can be on the state ballot this fall -- a decision that could have a major impact on a key US Senate race between Republican incumbent Sen. Steve Daines and Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock. Secretary of State Cory Stapleton, a Republican, filed an emergency request Monday urging the high court to place a hold on proceedings pending further legal action after lower courts had approved the Green Party absence from the ballot. Continue reading

Green Party Steering Committee member Trahern Crews holding sign in front of the Minnesota state Capitol to mark Juneteenth by demanding reparations and police reform legislation from state lawmakers. ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota's Black Lives Matter chapter took to the state Capitol on Friday to mark Juneteenth with a demand for reparations and real police reform in a continued push for racial justice following the death of George Floyd. Juneteenth, the traditional commemoration date of the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, has taken on new resonance this year. There have been protests around the U.S. and beyond stemming from Floyd's death after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. Continue reading

On Memorial Day 2020 Officer Chauvin, now a former police officer of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), murdered George Floyd in the state of Minnesota where I live. The former officer kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck for eight terrorizing minutes, which ultimately led to the death of Mr Floyd. This event was live streamed by a Minneapolis resident on Facebook where you can hear community members telling the officer to stop because they knew he was killing Mr Floyd. Officer Chauvin and the other officers involved have been fired from the MPD and Officer Chauvin was formally charged with third degree murder. Continue reading

Black Lives Matter spokesperson and Green Party Steering Committee co-chair Trahern Crews tells us about Minneapolis, the US city that has become a symbol of racism, police brutality and inequality. George Floyd, the African-American man who was killed in brutal fashion by police performing an arrest, quickly became a symbol of the oppression and violence suffered by people of colour in the United States. The pain and anger of thousands burst forth in Minneapolis. Day after day, fires burned in protest and anger over a murder that will leave a mark on the city's memory. Demonstrations were soon taking place all over the country, in dozens of major cities – including Los Angeles, New York and Detroit – as well as hundreds of smaller cities and towns. In Detroit, a 19-year-old man who was taking part in the protests was killed as a car pulled up and fired shots into the crowd. Three more people lost their lives in similar circumstances elsewhere, and a curfew was imposed on 25 major urban centres. These kinds of numbers hadn't been seen since the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King, in 1968. Continue reading