independentsforkerry.org

From the New York Green Party:
A Green Party of NY State Committee meeting will be held Saturday, Jan. 28, in Rensselaer, NY, at the First Presbyterian Church, 34 Broadway. All enrolled Green Party members are welcome to attend and will have a chance to address the State Committee members during the [...]
Green Party Watch

In Arlington, Virginia, the Sun-Gazette reports that the Green Party is planning a November 2nd meeting to discuss get-out-the-vote strategy for Audrey Clement, who is running against 2 Democratic incumbents for Arlington County Board.
In Tucson, Arizona, the Daily Star reports that Tucson City Council candidate Beryl Baker is making a controversial local development project a [...]
Green Party Watch

The Green Party of New York has released a statement slamming the NY Department of Environmental Conservation’s report on hydraulic fracture drilling and calling for a ban on hydrofracking:
The Green Party of New York State is outraged in the latest DEC release on hydrofracking for natural gas and calls for a total ban on [...]
Green Party Watch

The New York Times has published an article chronicling the rise of the German Green Party and its effects on sister parties around the globe:
The Greens surprised Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party when it took control of the affluent southern state of Baden-Württemberg this spring, which is akin to capturing the Texas statehouse. In the [...]
Green Party Watch

It’s Friday night, you’re in New York City, and you’re looking to meet some interesting people.  You can go to a museum or have dinner with friends, you can go see a Broadway play or an Off-Broadway play, AND….. if it’s the 3rd Friday of the month, you can take a step off the beaten path and step into the world of Lenora Fulani.

Dr. Fulani is one of the country’s most significant black leaders and the leading black independent. She helped establish the current independent movement with her 1988 independent run for President of the United States in which she became the first woman and first African American to be on the ballot in all 50 states. She also qualified for federal primary matching funds.

Fulani hosts a monthly forum called Interviews by a Black Independent (on the 3rd Friday of the month) at the Harlem State Office Building on 125th Street in Manhattan. She interviews her guests in an intimate setting on the 2nd Floor Gallery with a diverse audience of political and cultural independents. Introductions are made, interview ensues, and Q&A from the audience makes for a really interesting and important community dialogue where you can get to know some of the movers and shakers in the NYC intellectual community.

Last month Dr. Fulani interviewed New Federal Theater founder Woodie King, Jr. (see below) and this week we are treated to a conversation with former NYC Comptroller and recent candidate for Mayor Bill Thompson.

Hope to see you there!!
NH

Did you miss last months Interview with Woodie King Jr?   Click here to listen to it, or here to download it on iTunes! This Friday, April 15th – 6pm  Dr. Fulani Interviews Bill Thompson, Former NYC Comptroller  Join us for an interesting conversation about politics and the civic life of the city — a great opportunity to take an inside look at the city and state government.         Harlem State Office Building 163 W. 125th Street, second floor If you haven’t yet, please RSVP by calling (212) 962-1699 Here are a couple of photos from the March event: Lenora Fulani talking with young people who attended the Woodie King Jr. interview in March 2011 Did you miss last months Interview with Woodie King Jr?   Actor Moshe Yassur, Woodie King Jr., Jim Horton Click here to listen to it, or here to download it on iTunes! Woodie King, Jr. is the founding director of the New Federal Theater, a pioneer in Black theater and a progressive with a long track record of speaking out on behalf of the poor and excluded. Mr. King directed Fred Newman’s Mr. Hirsch Died Yesterday at the Castillo Theater (in which Lenora Fulani made her stage acting debut)

The Hankster

The Hankster

An interesting article on CapitalNewYork.com examines the personal and Green Party history of Howie Hawkins, the Greens’ 2010 gubernatorial nominee in New York who was successful in getting the 50,000 votes necessary for ballot access, as well as the history of the Greens in New York and their plans for the future, among other subjects.  Read the full thing here.

“I came to New York to organize co-ops,” he said. “When the funding ran out I got a job loading trucks for UPS.”

He’s still there.

Hawkins has built up a real, if not massive, following in the Syracuse area. In addition to his run for mayor in 2005, he ran for Congress in 2008 and received almost 9,000 votes, 3.3 percent of the total. Last year, he got 41 percent of the vote running for a seat on the Syracuse Common Council. The Syracuse-area voters supported him in large numbers this year, with Hawkins garnering 5.3 percent of the vote in Onondaga County.

“I have a personal base in Onondaga and adjacent counties,” Hawkins says. “I got over 3 percent in all of them…”

Perhaps now that it is so much easier for them to put candidates on the ballot, the Greens will be more aggressive in running local candidates in New York City. The vast majority of incumbents in the city, both on the Council and the state legislature, currently have little competition. Democrats control every position in Manhattan and the Bronx, every position in Queens but for three members of the City Council, and every position in Brooklyn except for one State Senator. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver ran unopposed this year.

“We got a lot of organizing to do,” said Hawkins.

Independent Political Report

The Hankster