Ecological Wisdom * Social Justice * Grassroots Democracy * Non-Violence
>> Green Party of Michigan <<
http://www.migreens.org
>>> ---------------- <<<
>>> News Release <<<
>>> ---------------- <<<
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
---------------------
July 14, 2003
For More Information Contact:
----------------------------
Marc Reichardt -- Party Chair, GPMI
phone: 734-668-9628
e-mail: chair@migreens.org
[full text of speech]
>>> McKinney Speech Highlight of Progressive Summit <<<
>>> =============================================== <<<
>> Possible Green Presidential Candidate Decries <<
>> Bush Administration's "Long Train of Abuses <<
>> and Usurpations"; Urges Action on Causes of <<
>> "Mini-Intifada" in Benton Harbor <<
> <
> Former US Representative Joins <
> IPPN National Steering Committee <
For her keynote speech at the 6th annual National Summit of the
Independent Progressive Politics Network (IPPN) this weekend in Ann
Arbor, Cynthia McKinney received three standing ovations -- and a
standing invitation: to run for the Presidential nomination of the
Green Party of the United States (GPUS).
The summit, titled "Building Unity During Urgent Times", brought
together over 100 progressive activists representing 50 member groups
and 19 states across the country to discuss and help create a united
strategy for 2004.
McKinney -- the first African American woman to represent Georgia
in the U.S. House -- won applause and approval from the audience
throughout her speech at the Michigan Union building's University Club
room Saturday on "War, Racism, and the Economy".
She cited the Declaration of Independence to remind the activists
that, when the people face "a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations,
pursuing invariably the same object, . . . it is their Right, it is
their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards
of their future Security."
Listing some of the Bush-Cheney team's more despotic abuses and
usurpations, McKinney observed, "An administration that would lie
about peace and security -- and send our best and underpaid brightest
overseas on the basis of that lie -- will lie about anything."
She said Bush took away military overtime pay in an early
executive order -- and, more recently, only grudgingly gave delayed
pre-deployment health screenings promised after Gulf War Syndrome
struck many in the first Gulf war. And she decried Bush's "Michael
Dukakis moment" of landing in a fighter plane on an aircraft carrier
which was held back from entering its home port for the photo-op.
McKinney also accused the Bush administration of ignoring
"serious deficiencies at home". She said Bush's racial politics
were evident from his administration's treatment of Affirmative
Action -- and, noting recent cases of fatal abuse of police powers
against innocent citizens in New York, asked rhetorically where
the no-knock warrants for Enron, WorldCom, and other corporate
wrongdoers were.
Then she turned to Michigan's "mini-intifada": the situation in
Benton Harbor. People there "have their list" of victims, she said,
just like any other urban African American community. Terrance Shurn
is only the most recent, and only one of over 20 local police
brutality complaints this year.
The case of 16-year-old Eric McGinnis was the subject of the book
_The Other Side of the River_ by Alex Kotlowitz. McGinnis, who dated
a white girl and used to frequent a nightclub on the Saint Joseph side
of the river, disappeared in 1991 while fleeing police; five days
later, his body was found floating in the river.
McKinney noted that the NAACP had called for calm in Benton Harbor
after the rioting there -- but said this was not enough for families
with children in danger of being killed: "Dialogue must be followed
by swift and decisive action." But not just any action, she added.
"Placing U.S. troops in Benton Harbor is as helpful in solving that
community's underlying *problems* as placing troops in Liberia -- or
the hot sands of Iraq."
After the speech, McKinney took questions from the audience --
and Margaret Guttshall of Detroit, herself a Green candidate for the
6th State House seat in 2002, asked whether McKinney would run for
President as a Green.
McKinney, who has met with the GPUS Presidential Exploratory
Committee and taken part in a conference call with the Black Greens
caucus on the subject of the 2004 elections, did not answer directly.
She did say that, if she were to run for President, she would use the
campaign as a platform for promoting many issues: "This country is
failing on so many fronts." Issues named included arms sales to
dictators, pollution from weapons made with depleted uranium, and the
limits imposed on voter choice and representation by single-member
districts.
Planning and preparing for 2004 was a major focus of IPPN's Sixth
National Summit, hosted by the Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) and its
U-M Student Greens and Huron Valley Greens locals. Friday evening's
plenary session "2004: What Are Our Options?" was taped by C-SPAN.
The interactive discussion was initiated by Labor Party national
co-chair Baldemar Velasquez, who is also the founder and president of
the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), and GPUS co-chair and
Coördinating Committee member Anita Rios.
"Movement music" opened many sessions on the summit's agenda. The
performers -- Matt Jones, founder of the SNCC Freedom Singers of the
1960s civil-rights movement; internationally-known folksinger David
Rovics; and the inspiring duo of Pat Humphries and Sandy O. -- also
united for a concert Saturday evening and a workshop Sunday on the
role of arts and cultural activities in the progressive movement,
now and in the past.
Other workshops included candidate training, fundraising,
organizing using the Internet, educating the public, and centralizing
race and challenging white supremacy. There were caucuses for
gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender (GLBT) attendees, women, people of
color, and youth -- and parallel discussions on sexism, heterosexism,
racism, and ageism. The sessions' results will help draw IPPN's
"Democracy 2004" map of issues from the perspectives of many people
and parties.
Workshops directly linked to IPPN covered the network's quarterly
newspaper and other mediums of communication; member outreach and
recruitment, In business sessions, the network -- which has over 50
affiliated groups nationwide -- adopted a new mission statement and
refined its "Principles of Unity".
At one business session after her speech, McKinney received
another invitation -- she was nominated for a seat on IPPN's National
Steering Committee. She promptly and graciously accepted, and was
elected with 21 other people to a new, more diverse committee -- which
includes 45% people of color, 55% women, 14% youth (under age 30),
and 9% GLBT.
Some summit attendees joined the Ann Arbor Coalition Against
War's peace rally on the front steps of the Michigan Union before
lunch. It was well supported by street and sidewalk passers-by.
*** On Sunday morning, summit delegates heard a rousing sermon from
Rev. Edward Pinkney, a longtime pastor and leader in Benton Harbor.
Rev. Pinkney's Black Autonomy Network Community Organization (BANCO)
led over 200 people on a march Saturday across the river to Saint
Joseph and a rally at the county courthouse against racism and police
brutality and for social and economic justice. ***
Other photos from the summit:
Anita Rios, national Green Party co-chair, answers a question
at Friday evening's plenary session "2004: What Are Our Options?"
Labor Party national co-chair and Farm Labor Organizing Committee
founder Baldemar Velasquez, and moderator Mary France-Daniels of
IPPN, look on.
The duet of Pat Humphries and Sandy O. warm up the Saturday
afternoon luncheon crowd for IPPN keynote speaker and [former]
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.
# # #
Green Party of Michigan * 548 S. Main Street *
* Ann Arbor, MI 48104 * 734-663-3555
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Green Party of Michigan was formed in 1987 to address environmental
issues in Michigan politics. There are Greens organized in all 50 states
and the District of Columbia. Each state Green Party sets its own goals
and creates its own structure, but US Greens agree on Ten Key Values:
Ecological Wisdom * Grassroots Democracy
Social Justice * Nonviolence
Community Economics * Decentralization
Feminism * Respect for Diversity
Personal and Global * Future Focus/
Responsibility Sustainability
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Other Contacts:
Green Party of Michigan
548 S Main St
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-663-3555
info@migreens.org
posted to web 30 July 2003