Throw in the Towel? Or Fight Back?

Here’s a safe bet: the two major political parties will nominate Presidential candidates from the corporate wings of their parties.

What will that leave us in this election year?

Corporate control as usual.

If this happens, we have two choices – throw in the towel.

Or fight back.

If we choose to fight back, here’s a good option:

Join with a person whose life is one of dedicated service to the public interest.

To help him organize a political campaign in every state against corporate control over our lives.

Luckily, that person – Ralph Nader – is considering such a campaign.

But he will need active and informed citizens in every Congressional district in the country.

He will need volunteers.

He will need funds.

He will need dedication.

That’s why we’ve signed on at Nader’s exploratory web site: www.naderexplore08.org

Check it out.

And spread the word.

In 2008, it’s either sit back and watch the drift.

Or get off the couch and fight back.

Hope you will join us.

Thank you.

The Nader Team



Nader 2008 Presidential Exploratory Committee — Join with us today

Stop The Spying

Make a call to Senator (D-Michigan) Carl Levin's Office
Phone: (202) 224-6221
District Phone: (313) 226-6020


Make a call to Senator (D-Michigan) Debbie Stabenow's Office
Phone: (202) 224-4822
District Phone: (517) 203-1760


UPDATE: Call Sen. Stabenow and ask her why she voted for immunity!

Stop The Spying

Support For Elaine

Detroit Greens Resolution on Elaine Brown

Detroit Greens are in solidarity with Elaine Brown. She is a prominent African-American political leader, author and thinker who joined the Green Party of Georgia, ran for office, and offered her candidacy to the Green Party for president in 2008. Now, she has renounced her membership and resigned from the presidential campaign. Her life-long devotion to ending racial oppression and commitment to revolutionary political struggle was not respected in the Green Party. An opportunity to work on transforming the Green Party into an organization where Elaine Brown, and the hundreds of fighters like her across the United States, are welcome and respected was lost. She was badly treated by some leaders and other members of the party.

We urge the Steering Committee, representing the Green Party, to apologize, in writing, to Elaine Brown for slanderous and demeaning comments about her character that were made by a staff member. A follow-up phone call by a member of the Steering Committee would also be in order. This apology to Elaine Brown should consist of something like the following:

We apologize for inexcusable and unsubstantiated comments that were made by a GP staff person and echoed by others. We can understand how demoralizing it must be for you with your long history in the social justice struggle. Such comments are unacceptable and are ammunition for those who seek to destroy attempts to develop independent political action.

We seek avenues to restart collaboration with you because we believe that, whether you are part of the Green Party or stand outside, we need to work together on social justice issues as well as finding ways to build a movement for independent political action.

The Detroit Greens express our deep regrets for comments unbecoming of movement activists which were completely insensitive to you as an African-American woman who has spent most of your life fighting for social justice.

Fifth Annual MLK Day Rally & March in Detroit

Event: Fifth Annual MLK Day Rally & March for 2008
Date: Monday, January 21, 2008, Gather at Noon
Location: Central United Methodist Church, Woodward at
East Adams in Downtown Detroit
Sponsors: Detroit Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee
Contact: http://www.mlkdetroit.org
Phone: 313.671.3715

Detroit MLK Day Rally & March to Feature Rev. Dr. Lucius Walker of IFCO and Pastors for Peace

Monday, January 21, 2008 is designated as the federal holiday to honor the life and legacy of the slain civil rights and anti-war martyr, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The upcoming holiday will mark the fifth annual MLK Day rally and march in downtown Detroit as organized by the local planning committee composed of activists in the ongoing struggle for social justice and peace.

This year we are honored to have as our keynote speaker the Rev. Dr. Lucius Walker of the Inter-religious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) and Pastors for Peace. Rev. Dr. Walker is a veteran activist in the civil rights and anti-war movements and has travelled internationally to represent the people of this country in various efforts aimed at building a better world for the oppressed and exploited.

At present Rev. Dr. Walker is involved in a national campaign to recruit young people from the United States to study at the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba. Several students from the Detroit area who are currently enrolled at the school will be in attendance at this year's MLK Day event at Central United Methodist Church.

Each year the Detroit MLK Committee presents a "MLK Spirit of Detroit" award to a notable activist in the community. The awardee for 2008 will be Judge Deborah Thomas of the Third Circuit Court of Michigan. Judge Thomas has been a proponent of representative jury pools and the need for citizens to become involved in reforming the legal system in Wayne County and throughout the state.

In addition to the granting of this award, there will be cultural presentations from various locally-based artists including: Rev. Robert Jones, the Mosaic Youth Theater, Big A & Zhaoski, Invincible, Markeeta Moore, the Matrix Theater as well as the display of essays, poems and art work from students that will be attending from metropolitan-area schools.

At this critical juncture the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day March & Rally is an essential component of the Detroit community's response to the challenges we face in southeastern Michigan and throughout the state and nation.

The continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have claimed over 4,000 American lives as well as over one million Iraqis and Afghans. This is taking place utilizing a $729 billion annual defense budget which is designed to maintain the occupations of both of these predominately Muslim nations in the Middle-east and Asia. Moreover, the Pentagon has plans to establish military bases in Africa through the "African Command" (AFRICOM) as well as the persistent efforts to carry out a destabilization campaign leading to war against Iran.

On the domestic front we are facing rising unemployment in Michigan, the epidemic of home foreclosures, virulent racism and gender oppression, anti-LGBT biogtry, over 47 million people without health care in the country and within Detroit itself, there are tens of thousands who will live this winter without homes or even with housing, they are facing the torment of surviving absent of water services, electricity, heating and transportation.

The Fifth Annual MLK Day Rally & March provides an opportunity for local activists and organizers to demonstrate their long term committment to transforming society. This event is co-sponsored by the Detroit City Council and Central United Methodist Church among a host of other community, religious, peace and labor organizations.

For more information on the upcoming Fifth Annual MLK Day Rally & March please contact the Detroit MLK Committee at: http://www.mlkdetroit.org
Phone: 313.671.3715



Volunteers are need for the march on Monday. Tasks include cleanup, ushers, leaflet istribution, and march marshals. If you are interested, please show up at 10 AM at the Central United Methodist Church. Thank you.

Council Member Jo Ann Watson holds Meeting on Incinerator

The Largest Solid Waste Incinerator is in Detroit

Are You Aware of the Detrimental Effects Caused by Exposure to the Byproducts?

Have You Ever Wondered Why Detroit is the Only major City that Lacks a Comprehensive Recycling Program?

How Much Money Is It Costing the Citizens of Detroit to Maintain this Impractical Form of Waste Disposal?


The office of City Council Member Jo Ann Watson Invites You To An Environmental Justice Task Force Meeting


WHEN: Thursday, January 17, 2008

WHERE: Coleman A. Young Municipal Center
2 Woodward Avenue at Jefferson
13th Floor Auditorium

TIME: 4:00 p.m.


For More Information Call Council Member
JoAnn Watson at 313-224-4535

Your Support for the Jared Ball campaign is needed!

Your Support for the Jared Ball campaign is needed!

Dr Jared Ball, Green Party Presidential candidate very accurately states,"Given the societal need and function of mass media and popular culture, all that is popular is fraudulent. Popularity is in almost every case an intentionally constructed fabrication of what it claims to represent." This analysis can be extended to the realm of politics and describes how the dominant parties perpetuate the myth of democracy while suppressing actual participatory democracy. Thus their debates become a carefully orchestrated fashion show of poll generated sound bites with this seasons most popular attire being a call for change.

The Green Party in putting forward real candidates and conducting real debates is providing an indisputable model for genuine political change. The January 13 Green Party Presidential Candidates debate in San Francisco California will be an important milestone in our effort to replace that "carefully constructed fabrication" of politics as usual with a discussion of the most pressing issues of our times by leaders who are of the people and for the people. Six-time Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney, longtime consumer advocate Ralph Nader - who is not yet an announced candidate, university professor Jared Ball and environmental engineer Kent Mesplay will participate in "Campaign 2008: A Presidential Debate that Matters."

The debate will be held Sunday, January 13 at 2 p.m. at the Herbst Theater/Veterans Memorial Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue, and is open to the public with a suggested donation of $10-25. "Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan will co-moderate the debate.

For more information go to http://www.acgreens.org/debate.

Our candidates stand by our Green principles and do not accept corporate money, and the corporate media suppresses news of their campaigns so it is up to us to make sure that all our candidates can be present for these important debates. Your donation to the Jared Ball campaign will help us to cover the cost of attending this important campaign event.

To make a donation at our website go to: http://www.jaredball.com/donate

Or send a check to:
Jared Ball for President,
P.O. Box 7423,
Silver Spring MD 20907

Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
The Jared Ball for president campaign team
Anita Rios & Head Roc co-campaign managers

Do you feel lucky?

Rally for Marie Thornton, Detroit School Board

91,338 Voters and Marie Thornton RALLY

Rally in support of YOUR vote

The Detroit Public Schools Board of Education has decided that YOUR vote for at-large member Marie Thornton can be disregarded and YOU won’t do anything.

The Board’s misdeeds include closing nearly one-third of the schools in Detroit, voting hundreds of millions to contractors like Aramark who left the closed schools in shambles, and doing business with their friends and campaign contributors, leading to scandals like the $46 million wire transfer deal.

Marie has voted against and closely questioned all these matters. Her questions led to the wire transfer investigation. She has withstood two years of attacks from corrupt board members and their allies like Rev. Loyce Lester, but is still staying strong on behalf of the children.

“I am YOUR school board member,” she tells viewers of her Monday morning show from 10-12 a.m. on WHPR TV 33, where she educates the public on DPS matters.

In an effort to cover up their misdeeds, the board voted to sanction her Dec. 13, barring her from informational and committee meetings where she gets important information to make crucial decisions. In her campaign to be transparent, she has relayed all non-confidential information to her constituency.

Marie won a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the board’s sanctions Dec. 21. The complaint says the board violated its own decorum and ethics policies, by-laws, and state law. She needs YOUR help now, both financial and moral. She has fought for YOU, now YOU must fight for her.

RALLY
Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
TULC 8670 Grand River, Detroit, MI
Free food for first 50 people

COURT HEARING ON TRO
Thurs. Jan 3, 2008 2:30 p.m.
City-County Bldg. (CAYMC) Rm. 1421
Judge Cynthia Stephens

For further info, contact Gladys Woolfork at 313-342-4256, or 313-623-0827

Elaine Brown Withdraws as Green Party Presidential Candidate

[Very unfortunate news from the Brown campaign]

ELAINE BROWN WITHDRAWS FROM GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Renounces Green Party Membership
_____________________________

For Immediate Release

Brunswick, Georgia,
December 28, 2007

OPEN STATEMENT TO THE GREEN PARTY

As of today, I am no longer a candidate for the Green Party nomination for president of the United States, and I hereby resign from all affiliation with the Green Party. I believe the leadership of the Green Party of the United States has been seized by neo-liberal men who entrench the Party in internecine antagonisms so as to compromise its stated principles and frustrate its electoral and other goals. They have made it impossible to advance any truly progressive ideals or objectives under the umbrella of the Green Party, and, thus, rendered it counterproductive for me to go forward as a Green Party candidate or member.

continued here.

Greens support public housing residents facing New Orleans Council demolition, condemn police brutality against protesters

Green Party leaders strongly condemned the actions of New Orleans police against protesters who opposed the New Orleans City Council's vote to demolish public housing.

Police used pepper spray and extremely dangerous stun guns against those attempting to enter Council chamber on Thursday, December 20. The Council is acting in cooperation with plans by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to replace the public housing units with new mixed-income housing, which would result in the eviction of tenants, nearly all of them African American, from their homes without any further plan to house most of them.

"By choosing to destroy existing structures instead of renovating them for the current residents, Council surrendered to a long-range effort to displace New Orleans' working class African American population," said Alfred Molison, , co-chair of the Green Party's Black Caucus and a Texas Green. "New Orleans politicians are cooperating with the Bush Administration's plan to exploit the Katrina disaster in order to reduce drastically the amount of low-cost housing in the city."

The vote eliminates 4,500 apartments in the city's four biggest public housing projects. Opponents of the demolition, including the Coalition to Stop the Demolition, have documented how past redevelopment efforts in the wake of Katrina have excluded public housing and other low-income residents. The Coalition has called for national support for public housing residents and the protesters.

more at: http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=6

Rev. Pinkney jailed for criticizing judge.

Issued by Global Women's Strike, Women of Color in the GWS, and Payday men’s network. 215-848-1120 or 323-646-1269 philly@crossroadswomen.net
12/16/07

Stop Press… Stop Press … Stop Press… Stop Press… Stop Press…

Black Community Leader of Benton Harbor, Michigan Jailed for Criticizing Judge

In the latest unbelievable outrage against Black low-income residents of Benton Harbor, MI, community leader Rev. Edward Pinkney, who has been under house arrest since he was falsely convicted by an all-white jury of election fraud, has been jailed without the immediate option of bail for criticizing the judge who sentenced him.

This persecution follows a successful campaign he led to recall a city commissioner considered corrupt and in the pockets of developers. He is now on a hunger strike until all this is resolved.

On December 14 at approximately 1:30 pm, the Sheriff's Department in Berrien County, Michigan arrested Rev. Pinkney and took him to the jail in St. Joseph. The sheriff also seized Rev. Pinkney's computer.

Background: Benton Harbor is 94% Black with an average income of $8,000/year. Rev. Pinkney and others in BANCO (the Black Autonomy Network of Community Organizations) regularly monitored courthouse proceedings, named those involved in corrupt and racist practices and opposed rampant police brutality particularly following the death of a Black teenager.

When the CEO of Whirlpool (HQ in Benton Harbor) announced a “development plan” for 465 riverfront acres in Benton Harbor, BANCO’s leader Rev. Pinkney was outspoken in opposition to this land grab. BANCO succeeded in having a City Commissioner recalled for being in the pocket of Whirlpool (though he was later reinstated).

But with so much money riding on it, the power elite attempted to criminalize Rev. Pinkney, accusing him of electoral fraud. Without either evidence or credible witnesses for the prosecution, an all-white jury found him guilty. Grassroots action succeeded in getting a possible 20-year sentence reduced to one year in jail and 5 yrs probation.

Until Friday, Rev. Pinkney was under house arrest – having to pay $84/week for the court tether he was required to wear in order to avoid serving time in jail. He was the only one under house arrest in Michigan who was being monitored by satellite.

Mrs. Dorothy Pinkney, wife and fellow campaigner for justice, reports that the sheriff's deputies presented a bench warrant to arrest the Reverend for violating the 15th condition of his probation (which she said they were totally unaware of) by being quoted in the Peoples Tribune newspaper as follows:

”The corruption and the deceitfulness continues in Berrien County Courthouse. Judge Butzbaugh has violated his oath. I support the constitution of the United States and the State of Michigan; we are still waiting on this racist corrupt judge to do the same. Judge Butzbaugh has failed the people, the community, his duties and his office."

What about Rev. Pinkney’s right to free speech under the Constitution? And why have they seized his computer? Have the sheriffs of Berrien County, Michigan nothing better to do than to persecute Rev. Pinkney? No violent crimes to solve, no rapists to catch, no people to protect?

The police examining Rev. Pinkney’s computer will find he and BANCO have supporters all over the world. For example, a delegation from the Global Women's Strike representing South America, Europe and the Caribbean visited Rev. and Mrs. Pinkney in mid-November, and are committed to gathering global support for him. “Benton Harbor’s struggle against racism and to survive in their own home city is our struggle,” they said.

Legal abuse and persecution of Afro-Americans in the Jim Crow South is flourishing in Michigan. We must not stand by while the white elite of Berrien County attempt again to silence a man whose only ‘crime’ is to be the voice of Benton Harbor’s Black community, calling out the racism and
corruption of local government, police and courts.

ACT NOW. Demand Rev. Pinkney’s immediate release!

Demand that all charges be dropped against him and that he be released from house arrest!

1) Call or write with your objections
Call the Sheriff’s Dept, Berrien County Michigan and inquire about Rev. Pinkney’s well-being.

Sheriff Paul Bailey
Berrien County Sheriff’s Department
919 Port Street
St. Joseph, MI 49085
(269) 983-7141
Email: Pbailey@berriencounty.org.

Copy Letters to: Hugh M. Davis, Constitutional Litigation Associates, P.C.,
450 West Fort Street, Suite 200, Detroit, Michigan, 48226. Phone:
313-961-2255; Fax: 313-961-5999; email: conlitpc@sbcglobal.net:

2) Demand Rev. Pinkney’s pardon and immediate release.

Gov. Granholm has the ability to pardon Pinkney or commute his sentence.

All individuals and organizations are urged to immediately write letters or post cards DEMANDING his pardon.

Governor Granholm
P. O. Box 30013
Lansing, MI 48909
517-335-7858 (call may not be recorded)

3) Send donations to BANCO
Legal Fee Donations (non-profit so it's tax-deductible):
BANCO
1940 Union St.
Benton Harbor, MI 49022

4) Write to the Editor of the main newspaper of Benton Harbor/St Joseph and say what you think of this outrage against freedom of speech.

Herald Palladium Newspaper (letters to the editor)
P.O. Box 128
St. Joseph, Michigan 49085
800-356-4262

5) Support Rev. Pinkney and Sign the Petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/624471377
http://www.bhbanco.blogspot.com

6) Boycott Whirlpool and its subsidiaries, and spread the word: Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Gladiator, GarageWorks, Inglis, Estate, Roper, Magic Chef, Acros, Supermatic. ABROAD-Bauknecht, Brastemp, Consul, Eslabon de Lujo.

Let Whirlpool know that’s what you’re doing:
Whirlpool Corp. (World Headquarters and N. America Region)
2000 N. M-63
Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022-2692
Tel: 269-923-5000

7) Demand an immediate investigation into this injustice. Contact:

The Congressional Black Caucus. Phone 202-226-9776, mail to 2264 Rayburn
House Office Bldg, Washington, DC 20515.

Your Congressional Representative. For phone number and address call
202-224-3121.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, Washington DC 20510, demanding a full investigation into the Whirlpool corporate takeover of the city of Benton Harbor. Phone 202-224-7703.

8) Send us your statements of support and we will compile them and put them on the website.
E-mail: womenstrike8m@server101.com

Statement from Women of Color in the Global Women's Strike We call on all people of conscience, those who love justice, to take immediate action against this ongoing outrage. In the aftermath of the great electoral frauds of 2000 and 2004, Rev. Pinkney stands as an example of the power of the people to demand accountability from politicians and use of the electoral process as it was intended.

His ‘crime’ is that he is refusing to bow down to illegitimate and corrupt power, but is instead tireless in the service of the community. Send a message to the body politic. Contact your elected representatives.

Let them know we are watching them. Let them know you demand both an electoral system and elected politicians who serve the people. Call Sheriff Paul Bailey and inquire about Rev. Pinkney's wellbeing.

Signed Women of Color in the Global Women's Strike/ Bay Area San Francisco;
Los Angeles; Philadelphia; England; Guyana; India (Chhattisgarh); Mexico;
Peru; Uganda; Venezuela. email: la@crossroadswomen.net

UPDATE: Dec-21-07 Rev. Pinkney went before Judge Butzbaugh in Benton Harbor yesterday. The judge dropped trying to claim that Rev. Pinkney violated his probation by writing an article calling the judge corrupt and a KKKer. But the judge then ruled that those same words constituted a "threat to the judge and his family" and SENTENCED REV. PINKNEY TO ONE YEAR IN PRISON! Rev. Pinkney was then taken to jail to start serving the year. This will be appealed. If you haven't already, please contact Governor Granholm to demand that Constitutional rights be restored in Berrien County and that Rev. Pinkney be set free. DONATIONS ARE DESPERATELY NEEDED - send checks to BANCO, 1940 Union Street, Benton Harbor, MI 49022.

Cynthia McKinney Announces Campaign for Presidency | Elect Cynthia McKinney, President of the United States

An Unreasonable Man?

In case you missed it at the Detroit Film Theater earlier this year, PBS Channel 56 will be showing the film, 'An Unreasonable Man', a documentary about Ralph Nader on Tuesday evening at 10pm.

I'm reminded of my experience at the DFT showing. I was handing out Green Party flyers before the film and when I entered, I took a seat near the front of the theater, unable to locate Priscilla and Maureen who were saving a seat for me. It turned out I was a few rows in front of a clueless Democrat party apparatchik who made illogical and false claims about Nader. I tried to keep my mouth shut but let out a few 'told you so's' when the film debunked his remarks. At the end of the film he made a statement about Nader not having any foreign policy positions. Well, Ralph himself was at the screening and took some questions from the audience. The first question was on the Middle East. Nader made a extensive analysis of the situation and US involvement in support of Israel. When he was finished, I turned and remarked 'how's that for foreign policy?' All I got in return was an insult to my emotional intelligence. Go figure.

See the film, I give it a thumbs up!

Elaine Brown Campaign Statement

STATEMENT of PLATFORM and POSITIONS

ELAINE BROWN

CANDIDATE for 2008 GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL
NOMINATION

As a former leader of the Black Panther
Party, a Green Party candidate for mayor of
Brunswick, Georgia (2005), an author and college
lecturer, a community organizer—as co-founder of
Mothers Advocating Juvenile Justice and the
National Alliance for Radical Prison Reform, and
a local leader of the “No on One” campaign
(advocating same gender partnership rights)
(Atlanta, 1997-2004)—and as executive director of
the Michael Lewis (“Little B”) Legal Defense
Committee, an activist in the campaigns to free
political prisoners Imam Jamil Al-Amin, Chip
Fitzgerald and Siddique Hasan, and simply as a
black woman from the ghetto (Philadelphia), I
have a long history and significant credentials
in the struggle for social, political and
economic justice in the United States.

In the absence of a national progressive
movement toward the institution of fundamental
change in the United States, I believe a ballot
cast for a Green Party candidate or issue
represents the most significant instrument for
change available for the Marginalized
Millions—black people, brown people, other people
of color, poor working people, those languishing
in prison, those without decent housing or health
care and all the other oppressed people trying to
survive at the bottom of life in the most
powerful nation in the world. That is, change
will not be e-mailed, rapped in a CD or YouTubed.
To paraphrase Malcolm X, for the masses of
disenfranchised and disaffected millions in
America, the ballot is the bullet!

It is my intention to use my presidential
campaign to galvanize the non-voting Marginalized
Millions to seize the ballot of the Green Party
toward their self-empowerment. The Green Party,
too, must seize this moment of national malaise
and disillusion to come out of the morass of
being a repository for disgruntled Democrats and
open the Party’s doors to the non-voting millions
so as to actively and powerfully challenge the
status quo and become an effective force in the
national political arena. I believe I am a
catalyst the Green Party can use for this
necessary transition.

Beyond a call for the immediate,
unconditional and complete withdrawal of U.S.
troops and war machinery from Iraq and
Afghanistan, my platform focuses on the repeal of
the “three-strikes” crime laws across the nation.
No other domestic issue is more urgent for black
people, brown people, poor people. This
Clinton-promulgated law (1994) and its progeny
caused the doubling of America’s prison
population in the ten years since passage. The
result is, over two million people are presently
incarcerated in America, with five million more
on parole or probation, with families
representing millions more affected by their
incarceration, and millions of formerly
incarcerated people. In general, this mass
incarceration—distinguishing the U.S. as the
country with the highest incarceration rate in
the world!—has devastated black, brown and poor
communities, further impoverishing them and
destroying familial foundations. In addition, the
“three-strikes” crime laws overturned the
100-year-old juvenile justice system, allowing
for the inhumane housing of children in adult
prisons, in violation of the U.N. Convention on
the Rights of the Child. Finally, it has
generated a nefarious economic scheme of
financial gain for private prison profiteers.—For
blacks, this has been particularly oppressive,
given that 50% of prisoners are black, as
compared to 13% of the population, reflecting the
ongoing, institutionalization of racism in
America.—This criminalization and mass
incarceration of the poor, when compared to the
glorification of mass murder in Iraq and
elsewhere, demonstrates that in the United
States, crime is a political question. This law,
as it exists around the nation, particularly in
California where prison overcrowding has rendered
the state facilities gulags, must be repealed!

My platform, then, is one that urges
humanizing this society, as follows, a program
that can be easily supported by the immediate
transfer of the billions of dollars spent on
war—one trillion dollars last year alone:

1. Repeal of the “three-strikes” crime laws,
restoring a juvenile justice system, funding
programs of education and rehabilitation for
those incarcerated and transitional housing and
employment for those released, and restoring
voting and other civil rights to prisoners and
former prisoners.

2. Full and free health care for everyone, as
exists in most civilized countries.

3. Complete and free primary, secondary and
higher education for everyone, eliminating the
exclusion of the children of poor and working
families from obtaining a college education.

4. Complete opening of the borders of the United
States accompanied by the institution of a
guaranteed minimum living wage of $25/hour for
all workers, so as to elucidate the so-called
immigration question now confounded by racist
assaults on Mexicans and Central Americans coming
into the U.S. to work and to provide all people
working in the United States with a decent
standard of living.

5. Creation of a base of free or low-cost, decent
housing, so as to eliminate homelessness and
provide every human being the fundamental right
to a decent place to live.

6. The repeal of all laws that discriminate
against or dehumanize people on account of
ethnicity, gender, nationality, sexuality,
religion, age, or disability, and the creation of
laws that guarantee non-discrimination and human
rights to all.

7. Institution of laws and policies that promote
purification and cleansing of the air, water and
land and that outlaw polluting, contaminating or
adulterating them, toward reversal of the
pollution of nature itself, particularly as this
pollution seeps into and devastates the lives of
black and brown and other poor people trying to
breathe and live in the ghettos, barrios and
hollers of this nation.

8. The payment of reparations by the United State
government to native peoples for the theft of
land and to Gullah/Geechee and other African
slave descendants for slave labor.

9. Total dismantling of nuclear and other weapons
of mass destruction by the United States, and
recognition of and adherence to all international
agreements as to war, crime and human rights.

10. Imposition of wealth taxes and reduction of
taxes for poor and working people, toward a
complete and fair redistribution of the wealth of
the nation.

I have embraced and worked for the ideals
and issues set forth here, reflected in the Green
Party’s Ten Key Values, for most of my life. It
is my hope to seize the opportunity of being the
Green Party presidential nominee to widely
advocate for and promulgate this platform among
the Marginalized Millions to bring about the
concretization of it through election of Green
Party candidates in every city and state as well
as nationally.





Elaine Brown Online