independentsforkerry.org

Wangari Muta Maathai (1940-2011)

It is with great sadness that the family of Professor Wangari Maathai announces her passing away on 25th September, 2011, at the Nairobi Hospital, after a prolonged and bravely borne struggle with cancer. Her loved ones were with her at the time.

Professor Maathai’s departure is untimely and a very great loss to all who knew her—as a mother, relative, co-worker, colleague, role model, and heroine; or who admired her determination to make the world a more peaceful, healthier, and better place.

Prof. Wangari Muta Maathai started the Green Belt Movement in 1977, working with women to improve their livelihoods by increasing their access to resources like firewood for cooking and clean water. She became a great advocate for better management of natural resources and for sustainability, equity, and justice. A synopsis of her life and work can be read here.

Prof. Maathai leaves her three children—Waweru, Wanjira, and Muta—and a granddaughter, Ruth Wangari. They are truly very grateful for all the prayers and support they have received.

Further information on how Prof’s life will be celebrated, where to share memories and condolences, and how to join us to build her legacy for generations to come will be provided shortly.

-The above is from an announcement at The Greenbelt Movement website
-Thank you to Green Party Watch for sharing the sad news

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Video of an animated fable told by Wangari Maathai:

Video of 2004 speech about electoral concerns:

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Related Articles:

IPR linked to a Newsweek story: Women and Leadership (Including three Green Party leaders)
11/29/2010

In Copenhagen: Global Greens forum to address global warming (at onthewilderside)
12/09/2009

Kenyan Green party founder/Nobel Prize Winner Wangari Maathai 4/9/09 (at onthewilderside)
4/01/2009

Independent Political Report

BlogTalkRadio show Independent Kentucky chairman Michael Lewis interviews independentvoting.org national director of development John Opdycke and Independent Voters for Colorado founder Joelle Riddle. Check it out! h/t to Michael Drucker from The Independent View

INDEPENDENT KENTUCKY

• In Touch with Independent Kentucky (The Independent View blog) Independent Kentucky Chairman Michael P.W. Lewis hosted a live show about the 2011 National Conference of Independents. The show hosted CUIP Director of Development John Opdycke and Independent Voters for Colorado Founder Joelle Riddle.

PROP 14

• California Appeals Court Says Candidate in Southern California Special Election May File Amicus in Field v Bowen (Ballot Access News)
• Minor party candidate challenges new ballot rules (Sac Bee Capitol Alert) Frederick, who ran against Gaines in November, collected and submitted 225 signatures during the seven-day truncated period for qualifying for the special election ballot. But he was told the 1,500 threshold — – more than twice the 713 Peace and Freedom Party voters registered in the district — would apply to all candidates under the Proposition 14-created top two system, which eliminates party primaries.
• Barnidge: Fixing California’s broken budget requires changes (By TOM BARNIDGE, Daily Democrat – Woodland CA) Also needed are elected officials who care more about constituents than political parties — representatives who support good policy rather than rigid ideology. Thornberg said that new redistricting procedures and open primaries offer hope for reduced partisanship. 
• Brown’s labor allies may get involved in GOP primaries (By Steven Harmon, Contra Costa Times) A top-two primary under district lines that produces a more competitive race could allow a more moderate alternative to emerge, analysts say. In a Republican district, Democrats and independents would have to combine with moderate Republicans to oust conservative incumbents, said Gale Kaufman, a Democratic political consultant who works closely with the powerful California Teachers Association. “Folks are looking at ways to elect more moderates,” Kaufman said. “The open primary and redistricting allows you to have a conversation we’ve never had before.”

REDISTRICTING

• Jones will push independent redistrict panel in House (By State House News Service, Boston Herald) House Republicans plan to call for the creation of an independent commission to recommend redistricting proposals for final signoff by the Legislature, House Minority Leader Brad Jones told the News Service Monday.

OBAMA

• Regulatory Change We Can Believe In (posted by ROBERT HAHN AND PETER PASSELL, Forbes) With the White House up for grabs in 2012, both parties are looking for ways to appeal to independent voters. And applying economic common sense to regulation fits nicely in this familiar process of pre-presidential election triangulation.

REPUBLICANS

• What independent voters want: Conservative policise [sic] (By: Fred Barnes, Weekly Standard in San Francisco Examiner) If the House were composed solely of independents, it would pass the same conservative legislation as Republicans on Obamacare, the individual mandate, purchasing health insurance across state lines, spending, offshore oil drilling, and Social Security reform. That’s the finding of Resurgent Republic, a Republican polling outfit that applied the views of independents to the House.

DEMOCRATS

• Charlotte expects boost from 2012 Dem convention (By MITCH WEISS, The Associated Press, Washington Post) In 2008, Obama became the first Democrat since Jimmy Carter to win North Carolina in a presidential race, boosted by a large jump in black voter participation. A flood of new residents over the past decade and a rising crop of independent voters also have made the state, once solidly in the GOP column for presidential elections, far more competitive.

WYOMING

• ‘Citizen lobbyists’ learn how pros influence, persuade lawmakers (By RUFFIN PREVOST WyoFile.com, Billings Gazette) Simons, a part-time student at the University of Wyoming, ran unsuccessfully last year as the Democratic candidate for secretary of state, and has worked with a group promoting bills related to recognizing same-sex marriages and holding open primaries.

NEW YORK

• Unionspeak: Gain is loss (Bob McManus, NY Post) Regulars like Billy Easton — a shill for the state’s public-education lobby, who responded by proclaiming upcoming cataclysm for New York schoolkids.  Easton fronts a special-interest mail drop called the Alliance for Quality Education, which is instructive.
• Mayor Blasts Cuomo for Budget Cuts (By MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL and ANDREW GROSSMAN, Wall Street Journal) “Unfortunately, the budget does not treat New York City equitably,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement. “It eliminates 100% of New York City’s revenue-sharing aid—more than 0 million—while cutting other localities by just 2%. The residents of our five counties pay a disproportionate amount of state taxes, and they deserve the same level of support.”
• Koch sets March 1 deadline for state legislators to co-sponsor independent redistricting bill (By Robert Harding, Auburn Pub) Ed Koch, head of New York Uprising, wants the 138 legislators who signed the New York Uprising pledge leading up to last year’s elections to co-sponsor independent redistricting bill by March 1.

The Hankster