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Posts Tagged ‘Rosa Clemente’

Green Party VP Candidate Rosa Clemente Takes it to the Road

9:02 am By Maegan La Mala · Politics · Comments Off

16 Jan 2009

Dear Colleagues, Supporters and Media Allies:

A sincere thank you for all your support during mine and Cynthia McKinney’s historic campaign this past year. I am booking now for Black History month, Women’s History month, Latino heritage month, Hip Hop Conferences, Symposiums, and Town Hall meetings.

Sincerely,

Rosa A. Clemente
http://myspace.com/rosaclemente
KNOW THY SELF PRODUCTIONS LLC, presents THE PATH OF MOST RESISTANCE TOUR 2009
EDUCATING, MOBILIZING AND ORAGANIZING THE NEW MAJORITY

Supporting mainstream, investing in third party

11:52 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · US Presidential Race 2008 · Comments Off

30 Oct 2008

The following text (which was sent to me in an email) reminds me of La Mala’s fiery words about how this election can not be the ‘end’ of political mobilization, even if the Obama/Biden ticket wins. It answers the question, how can you vote for a third party candidate while also supporting Obama?

It also deals with the constant pitfall so many organizers fall into–thinking that an election cycle represents the beginning and ending of a campaign. In other words, what would happen if those interested in third party candidates consider a ‘campaign’ to be 7 years, or 12 years, or 30 years long?

Support Obama, and Vote McKinney? Not a contradiction.
The women of color running for President & Vice President

By Amee Chew

October 2008

The Green Party Presidential ticket of Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente brings something special and unprecedented to U.S. politics. Not only are they the first all women-of-color ticket for President and Vice President with ballot access in most states.[1] These women take racial justice seriously, and have made strides to put gender at the center of a progressive agenda. For these two, it’s more than skin deep.

They’re the Presidential ticket that talks about amnesty for undocumented workers, that opposes guest worker programs as riddled with abuses, because they believe a just immigration reform means addressing the trade and economic policies fueling poverty and migration. They’re the ticket that demands reparations in the form of federal investment in low-income families and communities of color, to end racial disparities in health, housing, education, and incarceration. They call for the right of return for Katrina survivors; an end to prisons for profit, to the War on Drugs. And they speak of reproductive justice – not just the right to abortion, but actual healthcare access; of freedom from coerced or uninformed medication and sterilization.

Nowhere do we see Nader, or white male Third-Party-politics-as-usual, bringing in these issues – this slice on life, or sensitivity. McKinney, for instance, points out that Social Security cuts will disproportionately harm women. The Green Party candidates offer to do us the public service of contesting Palin’s brand of “feminism.” Let’s take them up on it.

Third Parties will not destroy the U.S., I swear!

1:31 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · US Presidential Race 2008 · Comments Off

14 Oct 2008

If you’re like me and not inclined to be all that supportive of a two party system, you’ll be really interested in the most recent commentary by Democracy Now! hostess, Amy Goodman. In it, she takes on the reason that the presidential debates suck on so many levels (a debate only works if there is fundamental difference between those debating) and what is being left out of debates as a result of two party dominance (poverty, labor protections, military industrial complex, and as Mala noted, immigration).

Some of the good done by third party pressure:

George Farah directs Open Debates, a group that works “to ensure that the presidential debates serve the American people first.” He told me that “historically, it has been third parties, not the major parties, that have supported and are responsible for the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, public schools, public power, unemployment compensation, minimum wage, child labor laws. The list goes on and on. The two parties fail to address a particular issue; a third party rises up, and it’s supported by tens of millions of Americans, forcing the Republican and Democratic parties to co-opt that issue, or the third party rises and succeeds, which is why the Republican Party jumped from being a third party to being a major party of the United States of America.

Many people have pointed out to me that voting green (or libertarian) could ultimately be a vote for the opposing team rather than a vote for an issue they believe in–and then of course they point frantically to Florida and Ohio as proof.

I wonder–could it be possible that if those voters were inclined in the slightest to stand up for the multitudes of homeless/people of color who voted and were actively disenfranchised, Florida and Ohio wouldn’t have happened?

Could blaming third parties be the easy way to avoid the messy realization that voter disenfranchisement is an essential part of a dirty rotten corrupt system that needs some serious cleaning up?

Rosa Clemente Speaks on 3rd Party Politics in the U.S.

2:32 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · US Presidential Race 2008 · Comments Off

13 Oct 2008

Sokari at blacklooks led me to this video while I obsessively checked my twitter account. Rosa Clemente speaks at a what I think is a New York University (I’ve watched about 20 minutes in the video so far and nobody has said directly where this speech is at).

It's kinda a long video for a clip (79 minutes) but I can tell you right off the bat that a way to cut that down is to skip the first ten minutes of the introductory speaker.

Also, it's beautiful to see that in the first minutes of Clemente's speech, she brings up women of color and the Welfare Poets.

Rican Hip-Hop Activist Rosa Clemente Accepts VP Slot to Run w/ Cynthia McKinney

8:09 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · US Presidential Race 2008 · Comments Off

11 Jul 2008

Radical Rican hip hop activist Rosa Clemente accepted an offer to run as Vice President along with Cynthia McKinney presidential campaign (Green Party). Rosa, who has a long history as an activist, released the following statement:

I am honored and excited to accept this invitation to run with Cynthia McKinney. Cynthia McKinney is a hero to me and many others across this country and around the world for her courage in standing up to George Bush while the Democratic Party establishment caved.

“This campaign is the opportunity the Hip-Hop generation has been working for. This is our time to address the issues affecting our communities – rising unemployment, the high cost of food and housing, a lack of quality public education and access to higher education, the prison-industrial complex, and unaccountable corporate media. These issues are not being addressed by either the Republican or Democratic nominee. “I choose to do this, not for me, but for my generation, my community and my daughter. I don’t see the Green Party as an alternative; I see it as an imperative. I trust that my Vice Presidential run will inspire all people, but especially young people of color, to recognize that we have more then two choices. Together, we can build the future we’ve been wanting.”

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