[Sosfbay-discuss] Ideas from Far-Flung Places

[Andrea Dorey]

Yeah, man, what are YOU doing here, you la-la land emigre???   ;- ))
Andrea


On Mar 2, 2007, at 11:14 AM, alexcathy at aol.com wrote:

> Dear Friends,
>
> A question has come up on the South San Francisco Bay Green list  
> about the participation of a Green activist from Ohio.
>
>
> -----Begin Original Message-----
> From: MLause at cinci.rr.com
> To: jamboi at yahoo.com; tnharter at ispwest.com; sosfbay- 
> discuss at cagreens.org
> Sent: Fri, 2 Mar 2007 4:55 AM
> Subject: Re: [Sosfbay-discuss] Lorna Salzman on Chris Hedges
>
> Ah, well.
>
>
>
> If you read the email address, you know I'm in Ohio, and have been  
> on this
>
> list for some time because I wanted to see how a healthy  
> organization with
>
> an engaged membership functions.  We don't have one.
>
>
>
> . . .
>
>
>
> In keeping with your wishes, I'll unsub from this list and leave you
>
> "leaders" the "autonomy" to manage information about how good your  
> past
>
> decisions have been and, particularly, how peachy keen those  
> decisions have
>
> made things here in the cornbelt.
>
>
>
> Solidarity!
>
> Mark L.
>
>
>
> -----End Original Message-----
>
>
>
>
>
> This situation is precisely why I was originally so excited about  
> the Green Commons Web Site.
>
>
>
> Since we are totally ignored by the mainstream media, it is almost  
> impossible
>
> to know about Green activity around the country or even around the  
> State.  I used to
>
> live in Northern California, but my wife and I recently moved to  
> Los Angeles.  I follow
>
> sosfbay-discuss because I am interested, I personally know many of  
> the people, and I we get
>
> nothing from the Los Angeles MSM about what goes on among Bay Area  
> Greens.
>
>
>
> Furthermore, if an individual Green is successful, then that person  
> is seen as even
>
> more threatening to the status quo, and therefore, more likely to  
> be blackballed by the
>
> MSM.  Thus, for example, when Gayle McLaughlin was elected Mayor of  
> Richmond, that
>
> should have been a big, statewide story.  Instead, the MSM buried  
> it.  As I write this the
>
> City of Los Angeles is struggling (yet, again) to deal with new  
> wave of gang violence.  Alas,
>
> it is unthinkable that the good-for-nothing MSM would even mention  
> that McLaughlin is dealing
>
> with these very issues in Richmond or that Donna Warren has  
> literally been on the front lines
>
> in this particular battle right in inner-city LA for many years.  
> The Los Angeles Times
>
> dutifuly reported the current troubles of San Fransisco Democratic  
> Mayor Gavin Newsome,
>
> but of course, they never mention that the good people of San  
> Francisco had a superior alternative
>
> when they elected San Francisco's "Little Bill Clinton" back in 2003.
>
>
>
> As an African-American I have been dying to get input about what  
> works and what doesn't work
>
> for Greens organizing in so-called minority communities.
>
>
>
> I have had a nice exchange of views with one sister in Los Angeles  
> about Barack Obama.  I
>
> received an e-mail from KCM Curry touting her own candidacy, but  
> otherwise I'm getting nothing.
>
>
>
> In 2004 a tremendous amount of time and effort went into certifying  
> the Green Party Black Caucus.
>
> Members of the GPBC went to the national convention and gave a nice  
> presentation.  There were the
>
> familiar charges and counter-charges of racism. Almost every day  
> somebody would post that
>
> Green Party was hopelessly "racist."  And almost every day I  
> replied with a post that said:
>
> "Compared to what?"
>
>
>
> Despite all this, fights over Nader vs Cobb, a silly dispute with  
> the Lavender Greens, and an even
>
> sillier objection to a Black Latina joining the group (BTW, I am  
> proud to say that when the matter
>
> finally came to a vote, the group voted overwhelmingly to accept  
> the Latina sister),
>
> the Green Party Black Caucus was duly certified and Michelle  
> Tingling-Simmons elected chair.
>
>
>
> Guess what?
>
>
>
> It almost immediately fell apart!
>
>
>
> I have seen this sort of thing in other organizations before and  
> it's one of the reasons why I am
>
> one of the very few "minority" activists nowadays who does not  
> believe in "minority" caucuses.
>
> Despite the best intentions of the best people involved in these  
> efforts, they almost always end up
>
> being both divisive and a waste of money, energy, and time.  This  
> "caucuses" model is a throwback
>
> to the '40s, '50s, and '60s when old white men in smoke-filled  
> rooms in the Democratic Party and
>
> in the AFL-CIO allowed... grudgingly... a few "minorites" to  
> participate.  It is just my eccentric
>
> personal opinion, but I think this is part of the Democratic- 
> Repubican legacy that Greens would discard.
>
>
>
> But I digress.
>
>
>
> My point in relating this story is that some mechanism needs to be  
> in place to allow an exchange
>
> of ideas, techniques, and experiences among far-flung Greens.  When  
> the Green Party Black Caucus
>
> was active, I read posts by couple of well-informed members of the  
> Illinois Green Party
>
> about a certain Illinois State Senator named Barack Obama.  I'd  
> love to know what these brothers
>
> think today but I've lost those contacts.
>
>
>
> One of the posts to sosfbay-discuss asked the fellow from Ohio  
> whatever happened to all the Green
>
> activity right after the 2004 elections in Ohio?  Good question.  I  
> would really like to know. Ohio
>
> happens to be one of the states where we could surely use some hard- 
> hitting Black Greens.  I mean,
>
> the Black Republican Kenneth Blackwell was the one who masterminded  
> the stolen election, and the
>
> clueless, weak Black Democrats around Cleveland were the ones who  
> let the "Brotha" get away with
>
> it.  And working-class Cleveland is the base for none other than  
> Dennis Kucinich.  By now Cleveland
>
> should be ripe for revolution!
>
>
>
> Comes now, from out of nowhere, Elaine Brown declaring her  
> candidacy for president.
>
>
>
> I know she ran as Green Party candidate for mayor of a city in  
> Georgia.
>
>
>
> I know her history in the Black Panther Party in California (and  
> most of what I know is not good).
>
>
>
> Now she wants the Green Party to nominate her for President of the  
> United States?
>
>
>
> For PRESIDENT?
>
>
>
> I guess it falls on me, the Black guy, to say out loud what some  
> may be thinking privately. Are
>
> Greens in Ohio and Oregon and Montana and in the Central Valley of  
> California going to go tabling
>
> at their local farmer's market and say:
>
>
>
> "Here's our Black Panther Green Party candidate FOR PRESIDENT!" ?
>
>
>
> Rhetoric aside, what do any of us really know about this candidate?
>
>
>
> We need to know.
>
>
>
>
> AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's  
> free from AOL at AOL.com.
> _______________________________________________
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