Green Party Watch

Voxunion, self-described as “media for progressive ideas”, has run articles by and about Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente for some time. Led in part by Jared Ball, an early contender for the Green Party’s Presidential nomination in 2008, the site operates a number of initiatives.

Voxunion.com is home of Organized Community of United People (Organized C.O.U.P.) – a group of Washington DC based activist working to effect positive change in communities of color through media and education, FreeMix Radio – the original MixTape radio show, the Morning Chuckle (the MC) and more.

Describing voter’s “buyer’s remorse” after seeing the direction the Obama administration has taken since inauguration day, Cynthia McKinney discusses the Obama administration’s decision not to pursue Bush administration criminals who authorized torture, Obama’s refusal to end rendition, the practice of sending prisoners to countries that torture, and his expansion of the war machine and it’s budget.

these expressions of “buyer’s remorse” indicate that people knowingly allowed themselves to be swept into the voting booth and vote against their values…Our agenda provided a clear route to an end to torture, rendition for torture, warrantless wiretapping, spying on U.S. citizen activists, and an end to war.

Perhaps most interestingly she goes into a discussion of the current economic shell game, describing it as an opportunity to take America’s economy and hollow it out to benefit a very few. At the end of the essay she begins to discuss the role of the Federal Reserve system. Setting the table for future articles, she writes in the April 8th column,

The first work I want to take excerpts from is, “Money Facts,” 169 questions and answers on money authored by the Subcommittee on Domestic Finance, House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency, 1964.

Some of these 169 questions, and the answers, are published at the end of the article, including:
6. Does Congress supervise Federal Reserve policymaking? (No)
7. What problems are raised by an ‘independent’ Federal Reserve?
10.Who really directs Federal Reserve operations?
11. Do private bank interests influence Federal Reserve policy? (Yes)
12. Does it matter what amount of money is supplied the economy? (Yes)
165. Who favors Federal Reserve independence?

Meanwhile, in a sort of reprise of her article Russell Simmons You Are Not Hip Hop, Green Party Vice Presidential nominee Rosa Clemente has published a column titled Obama is Not Hip Hop.

The column, published late last year, explains why Obama, despite support from the likes of Jay-Z, Russell Simmons and P. Diddy, does not represent the first Hip Hop President.

I have always followed a rule: never allow someone to become your priority while you become his or her option. For President Elect Barack Obama and the entire Democrat Party leadership in this country, the Hip Hop generation has never been a priority, we have always been an option and that option is used mostly to get out the vote during elections.

Rosa Clemente has written an article for the Green Institute on the Hip Hop Movement, Barack Obama, and the movement she she wants to fight for.

I’m looking forward to more articles like this!

Why President Elect Barack Obama is not the first Hip Hop President

By Rosa A. Clemente
The Green Institute

http://www.greeninstitute.net/clemente_obama

“Each generation out of relative obscurity, must discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.” Frantz Fanon

It has been 45 days since the Hip Hop generation helped usher in the first Black male President of the United States of America. Since that historic night, many within Hip Hop culture, like writer Greg Kot of the Boston Globe, entrepreneur Russell Simmons, artists Common, Jay-Z and P. Diddy, have declared President-Elect Obama the first Hip Hop president. In my humble opinion they are wrong, dead wrong. It does not matter how many Hip Hop pundits, non-profit organizations, and recognizable figures within the culture declare it. Much like an MC or B-Girl battle, I’m ready to challenge that declaration.

As a long time community organizer and Hip Hop activist and journalist, I have always followed a rule: never allow someone to become your priority while you become his or her option. For President Elect Barack Obama and the entire Democrat Party leadership in this country, the Hip Hop generation has never been a priority, we have always been an option and that option is used mostly to get out the vote during elections. Efforts like Vote or Die, Generation Vote, Rock the Vote, Respect my Vote, do not empower a generation – they are catchy slogans emblazoned on pretty white tees that offer empty rhetoric. At the end of the day, those G.O.T.V. efforts become guaranteed votes for the Democratic Party and often fail to educate their followers about candidates that run outside of the two-party system….

Read the rest of the article here at the Green Institute

Green Party Vice Presidential nominee Rosa Clemente will be my guest on Green Party Watch Radio.

Clemente has been speaking across the nation on behalf of the Green Party and the McKinney/Clemente ticket. A Hip Hop journalist and activist, Clemente has brought a focus on new constituencies and fresh ideas to the Green Party.

The 2008 National Hip Hop Political Convention began Wednesday (7/30) and runs though Sunday (8/3) in Las Vegas. Jeff Chang at the Vibe reports that Cynthia McKinney will give the closing address on Sunday.

As I seen the Green movement grow, I’m continually puzzled about how we don’t seem to be well represented in today’s music. In era’s past, the music scene was the mouthpiece for the progressive movement. If anyone is a regular visitor to my blog, Cottage Home Grown, you’ll know that I’m very fond of posting videos of Peter, Paul, and Mary as well as many other folk artists who were singing great music with a great message. But up until now, I don’t see Greens making much of a connection with any genre in today’s music. I’m hoping Rosa Clemente’s Vice-Presidential candidacy will be what changes that, and that the Green and hip-hop movements will merge and amplify our message as Clemente declared at the Chicago Convention. I also hope that we can reach out to old friends of progressive politics and bring them into our movement. Where are Peter, Paul, and Mary, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, and all the others from progressive history? Regardless of who’s song we sing, it’s time that we make some noise. We have a message that won’t sway most Democrats and Republicans, but that’s OK, as most people don’t identify as either of those two things. Most people don’t even vote period! Now they have a reason to re-engage in the political process. Let’s use our song to reach these folks, and let them know we’re saving their place at the table!