• Honoring Women This Month and Every Month!

SAN FRANCISCO –  This week, as media and our consciousness are filled with images and stories of women who have changed the trajectory of our history, we face the realization that today, in 2021 we still have a long way to reach our goals of equity and equality.

Today, women continue to fight in the struggle for equal pay, racial justice, indigenous rights, reproductive rights, healthcare justice, gender self-determination, environmental defense, and sustainability.

The Green Party National Women’s Caucus would like to highlight the very diverse group of women who continue to run for political office and those who are elected to serve.

On International Women’s Day we reflect on why it’s important to have women elected to political positions. Women who are elected to serve politically show young girls that if they dream it, they can be it!

Twenty-seven percent of seats in Congress are now held by women, the highest number in U.S. history, but more women must be elected to speak on women’s issues. Our voices matter when the majority of men continue to hold the majority of power in elected government positions, writing laws over women’s bodies, over our incomes, over our education choices and over our future in the workforce.

Women holding political office today are proof that women are equally valued and necessary in all political positions. The vast diversity of women in office helps protect women’s rights and gives us strong representation.

On International Women’s Day, we honor our Green Party women officeholders shown below and commend them for their service.

CALIFORNIA

Carolyn Dixon, Governing Board Member, Wright Elementary School District, Santa Rosa

Laura Esperanza Surls, Canyon School Board, Canyon Township

Dana Silvernale, Governing Boardmember, North Humboldt Union High School District

Melissa Curiel, Community Seat, Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council, Los Angeles

Lisa DeNiscia, Board of Directors, Central San Pedro Neighborhood, Los Angeles

Lisa Johnson, Area 5 Representative, Foothills Trails District Neighborhood Council, Los Angeles

Danielle Mead, Infrastructure Chair, Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council, Los Angeles

Valery Larson, Recreation and Park District, Sonoma County

CONNECTICUT

Dagmar Noll, Town Council, Willimantic

Daphne Dixon, Zoning Board of Appeals, Fairfield (alternate)

Darcy Van Ness, Zoning Board of Appeals Alternate, Waterford

Enevia Baidoo Keene, Zoning Board of Assessment Appeals, Windham

Cassandra Martineau, Zoning Board of Appeals Alternate, Willimantic

ILLINOIS

Jessica Bradshaw, City Council, Carbondale

Holly Scholz, Fox Valley Park District, District 3 (Kane, DuPage, and Will Counties)

Sandy Lezon, Library Board of Trustees, Warrenville Public Library District

MAINE

Anna Trevorrow, Board of Education, At-large, Portland

MARYLAND

Annie Chambers, Douglas Homes representative, Residents Advisory Board, Public Housing Authority, Baltimore

MASSACHUSETTS

Sharon Moss, Town Meeting Representative, Shrewsbury

Joyce Palmer-Fortune, Select Board, Whately

MICHIGAN

Kat Bruner James, City Council, Ferndale

Evely Pridemore, Redford Union School District, Redford

MINNESOTA

LaTrisha Vetaw, Park and Recreation Board, Minneapolis

OREGON

Shauleen Higgin, City Council, Lakeside

PENNSYLVANIA

Tara Yaney, Borough Council, Edgewood

Kristin Combs, Judge of Elections, Philadelphia

Julia Zion, Judge of Elections, Maxatawny Township

Olivia Faison, Inspector of Elections, Philadelphia

UTAH

Deanna Taylor, Secretary, Fairpark Community Council, Salt Lake City

With Gratitude,
National Women's Caucus
Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org/

Graphic courtesy of the Arizona Green Party

Greens from all over the United States will join together in Washington, D.C. April 1-5, 2019 to lobby their congresspeople by asking them to take the the "Public Funding Only Pledge". Additionally, they will be asked to sponsor or co-sponsor a bill in Congress to free our elections from any sort of bribery cash: special interest PAC, corporate or dark money donations. Instead, qualified candidates from every party would get an equal chance in TV, radio and printed ads, debates and appearances. This would allow other voices to be heard and the American voters to be aware of all of their choices.

The lobby starts on April 1st (Monday) and runs until the 5th (Friday). It will be in the halls of Congress. Information and downloads available at: www.greensvsgreed.org.

This month we are honoring women during Women's History Month and International Women's Day. Every day of every month there are Green Women working hard to elevate the Green Party Platform and the Green Party Values. Our Green Women stand for women's rights, sociaI equality, reproductive rights, economic equality and against the atrocities of violence and oppression. I applaud all the wonderful strong Green Women who are working toward a more peaceful, just and equal world.

While we celebrate women in our communities this month and on International Women's Day I also want to address an issue of violence and oppression: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).

Indigenous women nationwide are collectively raising their voices to raise awareness to this crisis. They are calling upon every one of us to help elevate this issue in the efforts to create legislation which will require more efficient collection of data.

Thousands of Indigenous women and girls are reported missing each year, with only a fraction of those reported actually entered into law enforcement databases.

The Urban Indian Health Institute recently released a study that includes "snapshot" data from 71 urban cities in the United States on MMIW.

Using limited resources, this study revealed the findings of 506 unique cases of MMIW and girls, ranging in ages from 1 to 83 years old.

The study reported that 95% of the 506 cases identified were never covered by national or international media.

Human Trafficking & Murder Issues include:

• Issues with jurisdiction in reporting Missing & Murdered Indigenous People due to lack of communication and consistency between agencies;
  
  
• Native women are murdered at 10 times the national average;
  
  
• Murder is the 3rd leading cause of death for Native women;
  
  
• There is no database to record human trafficking of Indigenous women.

The Green Party's platform calls for "a more thorough dialog and understanding of violence against women and girls, including from prostitution and trafficking, that causes health and injury that seriously degrades their lives, even to death or premature death, as well as causing severe economic hardships". MMIW is truly a crisis of violence against women and must be aggressively addressed. As Greens, we must support our Indigenous communities in this effort.

As we celebrate and honor women, we also need to acknowledge the MMIW crisis. Ingdigenous women are rising up to this issue. They are asking for non-indigenous allies to help them raise awareness as well.

What can Greens do?

• Get involved - find a MMIW project in your area and support Indigenous leaders in the MMIW campaign;
  
  
• Run for Office;
  
  
• Support Green Women Running for Office.

Deanna "Dee" Taylor is a member of the Green Party of Utah and is Co-chair of the Green Party of the United States National Women's Caucus.

It's official we have the new 2019 calender and the lobby dates! Greens from all over the United States will join together during this week to lobby their congress to ask them to take the the public funding only pledge and also to sponsor or co-sponsor a bill in Congress to free our elections from any sort of bribery cash: special interest PAC, corporate or dark money donations.

Instead – qualified candidates from every party would get an equal chance in TV, radio and printed ads, debates and appearances. This would allow other voices to be heard and the American voters to be aware of all of their choices.

Trenton — Saturday, January 19, 2019 — The Green Party of New Jersey is proud to join members of The March on the Pentagon (formerly: The Women’s March on the Pentagon) to form a peace contingent at the Women’s March on Trenton. This peace contingent seeks to put the anti-war agenda back into political activism and confront the bi-partisan war machine. 

The Green Party of the United States has identified "Green Candidates to Watch" in federal, state and local races on Election Day, Nov. 6, 2018.

The list includes Green candidates who are running energetic, well publicized, and well organized campaigns for local office across the U.S. The list is a sample of the many Green Party candidates running in the midterms who deserve attention. 

Exclusion of candidates violates the right of voters to be informed about all names on the ballot

Green Party candidates have been excluded from debates and polls across the country by news media and polling criteria that favor Democratic and Republican candidates. Exclusion means Green Party candidates cannot make their case to undecided voters or try to sway decided ones, which is especially crucial in races that determine ballot status. High numbers of undecided voters are a wild card in many races this year and may lead to some “Green” surprises on election day.

On Saturday, the U.S. Senate made a terrible mistake that will harm all of us. The Senate confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to a lifetime position as a Justice for the U.S. Supreme Court. Making this undemocratic decision even worse, the Senators who voted in favor of the confirmation voted in favor of party and against the interest of the majority of their constituents.