Remarks by Illinois Green Party Secretary Geoffrey Cubbage at the March to Shut Down Racism, War & Bigotry, January 21, 2018

"We are here today because we are a party that believes social progress has never come from the halls of power. Progress has always come from the streets. The people who need change most are the people who make change.

That's why we turn out, when groups like ANSWER Coalition, Black Lives Matter Women of Faith, and the more than 30 other groups that came together to make today happen put out the call: because the people in the streets should be the people leading us.

We are also a party that believes that, so long as there are halls of power, you should fight to put people in them who share your values. We participate in an electoral system that is stacked against us, and that in the state of Illinois systematically disadvantages third parties, because we see the power that exists in the political system, and we see that it is being abused.

So if you are someone who wants to take power, and who wants to take it away from a political class that has consistently misused it—we want to help you do that. We want to run radical candidates, to support radical candidates, to fund radical candidates, and, when they are elected, to hold radical candidates accountable.

And when I say 'radical,' I don't mean 'let's use the word revolution but never actually scare anyone.' I am talking abolitionist candidates. I am talking reparations candidates. I am talking anti-capitalist candidates. We are marching today on LaSalle Street, our own homegrown Wall Street, because we know where our problems in this world come from, and we are ready to fight the capitalists.

If that is work you want to be a part of, you can find us online at ILGP.org, or on Facebook as Illinois Green Party. I hope that you will reach out, because we want to know you—and when you hit the streets, we want to be there with you."