• Green Party candidate for Lt. Governor in 1998

• Green Party candidate for Mayor of Albany

Presente Dr. Alice Green. Alice was a life long civil rights and prison reform activist. She was one of the leaders in the fight to end the death penalty in NYS. Green founded the Center for Law and Justice in 1985, where she remained as the Executive Director until her passing. She was also a long distance runner - in many ways. She was married to Charles Touhey, who long supported her advocacy efforts.

I was her campaign manager twice: as the Green Party candidate for lieutenant governor in 1998, when we first won ballot status in NY (with Al grandpa Lewis for Governor); and its Albany mayoral candidate in 2005 when she ran on the 2 cities theme - one of the affluent whites, the other of poor people of color. She was one of the founding board members of the Green Education and Legal Fund.

She grew up as one of the few African American residents in the Adirondacks. She worked as a secondary school teacher, a social worker, and as the Executive Director of the Trinity Institution in the South End of Albany. She was legislative director for the New York Civil Liberties Union in the 1980s. Somehow in 1986, Gov. Mario Cuomo appointed her as Deputy Commissioner for New York State Division of Probation and Correctional Alternatives. - that didn't last too long.

One thing that surprised me when I was her campaign manager for Mayor was when people would stop their cars in the middle of the street to jump out to hug her, it was usually to thank her for her social work at Trinity Institute, not the civil rights work I had known her for. Many white voters saw her as a strident voice for racial justice; I saw her as someone who was a warm, shy, friendly person who loved to laugh and connect with average people and friends.

Alice organized "much-publicized protests at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day events hosted by Governor Pataki" from 1995 through 1999, calling to abolish the death penalty. At one of the protests that I attended, my friend John Warren unexpectedly got arrested. I accompanied John to Albany City Court and was shocked by the stark racial divide between the defendants and the court personnel.

Here is part of the intro Alice wrote for my climate book: He and I, a Black veteran civil and human rights activist, have for years, joined in the continuing struggle against racism in all its horrific and devastating forms. Working together, we recognized environmental racism as another form of institutional racism that has been destructive in so many ways, even allowing the disposal of hazardous waste to be disproportionately placed in communities of color. – Dr. Alice Green, Center for Law and Justice.

There are two scenes I always remember from Alice's run for Lt. Governor along with Al Lewis (Aka Grandpa Munster) for Governor.

One was when we were doing a press conference in the LCA press room at the LOB in Albany about the need to dredge PCBs from the Hudson River. Al has said he would only run if we found a person of color to run with him. Alice was giving the standard description of why we had to dredge the PCBs out of the Hudson River. Al suddenly jumped in, cacklng, I would take a huge spoon and feed the PCBs to Jack Welch (the head of GE). Al told me later, I know you think I am crazy and the Sierra Club types will hate me but the average person is never to going to hear all the statistics that Alice was providing. But the press will make fun of me for the spoon, so the average person will hear it and they will understand what our message is.

The other incident was when some national tv show came to film Al in Albany for a celebrity segment (Al got more than 200 media stories but most of them from outside NY). Al decided to accompany Alice to her exercise class. So here on national tv was Al with a cigar in his mouth shuffling along with all the senior citizen women along with Alice.

Alice also got her long time friend Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary) to come to her house for a fundraiser during her Mayoral campaign.

Alice's huge 25% showing in the Mayor convinced me that we should always try to run someone name Green as the Green Party candidate. Quite a few residents in Albany thought we had named the party after her.

Mark Dunlea
August 20, 2024

Alice Green's New Book, "We Who Believe In Freedom"

From the Center for Law and Justice

Dr. Alice P. Green passed away suddenly on the afternoon of August 20, 2024. A civil rights leader, advocate for the marginalized, and a woman with a radical and fierce belief in human freedom — Dr. Green’s passing is a monumental loss to her loved one’s, the Center for Law and Justice, and to all those who believe in freedom. Dr. Green would exhort us not to rest on her account, but to continue the struggle with renewed vigor. While her presence cannot be replaced, her legacy and mission will be upheld, if only we act with solidarity.

Join us, in solidarity, on Friday, August 23, 2024, for a candlelight vigil celebrating Dr. Green’s life and legacy. The procession will begin at 7:30 P.M. from the Center for Law and Justice at 220 Green Street, Albany, and end at the Alice Moore Black Arts and Cultural Center (AMBACC) at 135 South Pearl Street. An opportunity to share thoughts on the legacy of Dr. Alice Green will be offered at the Alice Moore Black Arts and Cultural Center.