Green Gathering '99
"From the Grassroots Up"
Washington, DC July 22-25,
1999
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| July 22, 1999--Marc
Loveless of Chicago speaks at the kick-off rally at the U.S. Capitol.
Loveless, who was elected in February 1998 to serve on the school council
of Sabin Magnet School in the northwest part of Chicago, is an official
G/GPUSA spokesperson. |
Howie Hawkins
of New York waits his turn to speak at the rally. Hawkins is another
official spokesperson. In 1984, he co-founded the Green Committees
of Correspondence which in 1991 became the Greens/Green Party USA.
He has run for office several times, most recent for state Comptroller
on New York in 1998. Hawkins is Director of CommonWorks a federation
of cooperatives and community organizations in central New York. |
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| July 24, 1999--Part
of the Gathering is the annual Congress, including discussion of bylaw
amendments. |
A presidential forum on
Saturday featured Joel Kovel, who ran for U.S. Senate in New York in 1998,
Holle Brian, a founding member of the Green Party of Minnesota, who is
Minnesota's representative to both the G/GPUSA and the ASGP, and Mark Dunlea
a longtime activist from Postenkill, New York. Starlene Rankin of Ames,
Iowa moderated the forum. |
| In discussing
the 2000 presidential campaign, G/GPUSA delegates considered several options,
including endorsing the ASGP convention (and a likely Nader candidacy),
running a candidate independent of the ASGP, or working to build a united
left with the Socialist Party USA and other parties. Some questioned
whether G/GPUSA was "being pushed somewhat reluctantly into a presidential
campaign because the ASGP is doing it" and argued the focus should be on
outreach and issues, rather than getiting someone elected. Others
believed Nader was in the best position to unite various progressive forces.
In the end, the Green Congress adopted a resolution establishing a committee
to negotiate with the ASGP in order to achieve "a unified, inclusive, and
democratic presidential nominating process and convention." |
Joel Kovel is exploring
the possibility of a presidential campaign. He started his remarks
by referring to the lyrics of a song: "You ain't done nothing if you haven't
been called a red." "The Greens should be a radical party," he said. |
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