THE PEACEFUL REBELLION GROWS

OCT 10, 2015  It’s been a whirlwind on the campaign trail! I wanted to share with you a few of the remarkable moments that have left me humbled and honored that the peaceful rebellion has found a home in our campaign.  In California I joined journalist Chris Hedges and Gayle McLaughlin, Green Mayor-turned-City Council Member of Richmond California, for a discussion on “The Moral Imperative of Revolt”. The crowd of hundreds agreed with us wholeheartedly that we have a moral imperative to revolt in the voting booth! I also met with the organizers of the San Onofre nuclear power plant resistance. They succeeded in getting their nuclear power plant shut down, inspiring communities everywhere threatened by nuclear disaster to do the same. They still have a nuclear waste crisis to deal with, showing yet again why nuclear power is a catastrophe waiting to happen, not a solution to our energy problems. Like so many activists, they too are realizing the only livable future is Green, for our politics as for our energy. And I had an exciting conversation with Tavis Smiley, which you can see here. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/tavissmiley/interviews/presidential-candidate-dr-jill-stein/ In Washington DC I met with several people on an astounding 18-day water-only fast to demand that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission stop issuing any new permits for the fossil fuel infrastructure causing climate catastrophe. In contrast to the bipartisan consensus of “all of the above”, ours is the only campaign calling for 100% clean renewable energy by 2030 and an immediate halt to all new fossil fuel infrastructure and exploration. In Baltimore I attended an event to support the inspirational, unstoppable Dr. Margaret Flowers, who recently announced her Green campaign for US Senate in Maryland. Soon after, Margaret was arrested for her courageous protest of the US war crime of bombing the Kunduz Hospital in Afghanistan.   In New York City I attended a 10th anniversary gala for the TV station RT, along with Chris Hedges, peace activists Col. Ann Wright and Medea Benjamin, and hip hop artist Immortal Technique. Our Russian friends at the gala were excited about our campaign proposals for US-Russian led initiatives for a weapons embargo to Syria and the Middle East, creating a fossil-fuel-free Arctic Sanctuary, and resuming steps toward nuclear disarmament (sabotaged by the unilateral US withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2000). I also had the honor of speaking briefly with Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. (See photo above.)   I supported a Black Lives Matter rally for Akai Gurley, a young African American killed by police bullets one year ago in an unprovoked shooting into a darkened housing project stairwell in Brooklyn. There i had the honor to speak with Nicholas Heyward, (on the left in the photo above) seeking justice for 21 years for his 13 year old son, killed by police while playing with a plastic gun in a stairwell over two decades ago. It’s unconscionable this tragic violence is allowed to continue. That’s why our campaign is calling for a National Action Plan for Racial Justice Now, to provide the mobilization we need against systemic racism and violence. In Holyoke MA I joined superpowered Latina community organizer Darlene Elias, now a city council candidate for Holyoke. Darlene joined the Green Party years ago, when we were the only party to respond to her request for help to save a public housing project. Now the community is coming together behind Darlene’s campaign in a big way. On the right you can see a photo of the rally at the SalsaRengue Restaurant, a thriving center of Latino culture and community organizing.  Even the Latino Chamber of Commerce came out in support!  Above on the left you can see another shot of the children we met at the Providence Ministries soup kitchen.  I was in New Orleans for the 10 year anniversary of Katrina, I had the honor of meeting some of the everyday heroes fighting for survival at the center of this perfect storm. This included some of the inspirational co-founders and former volunteers of the Common Ground Collective, headed by the amazing Malik Rahim(on the right in the photo above), a virtual force of nature in community organizing, and other tireless activists fighting for jobs, for housing and against racist police violence. I also saw how New Orleans is a microcosm of the crisis of economic, ecologic and racial injustice in America. Much like the rest of the country, the fortunate few in New Orleans are in recovery. But vast numbers are in a continuing state of emergency, with no end in sight. For so many, the Grand Recovery is in reality a Grand Larceny. This is the neoliberal hurricane that’s blowing in every household and family of the 99% across the United States. The miracle of New Orleans is that the spirit of its people struggles on. Once the largest market for the slave trade in the United States, it remains a wellspring of community, music, art and resistance. These campaign trail adventures make it clear that the rebellion for people, planet and peace is underway. Our campaign is dedicated to lifting up this rebellion, and giving it the political voice it needs to take our future back. Thanks for all you do to keep this movement moving forward. It’s in our hands! P.S. This campaign stands for People, Planet and Peace over Profit and so does not take corporate donations. This means we rely on contributions from people like you. Please consider supporting our movement and our campaign. It’s in our hands.