June 2: Court Victory in New York State - The Right to Register Green

In a major legal victory for First Amendment rights – and the Green Party -- a Federal District Court in Brooklyn, New York ruled that New Yorkers could continue to register to vote as Greens, even though the party lost its statewide ballot status in November 2002. (Green Party of N.Y. v Board of Elections, 02-cv-6465.) The court ordered injunction required the State Board of Elections to maintain Green voter registration information at least through the 2006 Gubernatorial elections.

New York is one of only three states that prohibit people from enrolling in a party of their choice, if the party is not on the ballot. Greens argued that this violated Free Association rights of the First Amendment and the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

In 2002, the Green Party of New York State lost its ballot status when its gubernatorial candidate Stanley Aronowitz received 41,797 votes, short of the needed 50,000.

State law then called for party's members to become unenrolled or independent voters, and forbid the party to enroll new members until it achieved ballot status again, which according to state law, it could not do until the next gubernatorial election in November 2006..

As a result of the court ruling, Green enrollment was allowed to grow. In the year following the November 2002 election, it went from 29,528 to 36,282, an increase of 18%. By March 2004, it grew further to 38,492.



July 11: Wisconsin Greens support Tyson Workers

By a 23-9 vote, the Dane County (WI) Board of Supervisors directed the Food Services unit of the Department of Administration to stop buying Tyson chicken products in support of a then 133-day-old strike by 470 workers of Local 538 of the United Food and Commercial Workers against Tyson at its Jefferson pepperoni plant.

The ‘“Justice for Jefferson” resolution was led by four Green County Supervisors – John Hendrick, Al Matano, Kyle Richmond and Echnaton Vedder, the resolution’s main sponsor. Vedder charged that Tyson was union busting, observing that Tyson was offering scab workers $1 an hour more than they had offered new workers previously.

Hundreds of union workers, presented with Tyson demands for frozen wages, higher health costs and other benefit cuts, went out on strike against Tyson Foods' pepperoni and processed meats plant in Jefferson.

The Four Lakes Green Party (Dane County) Southern Kettle Moraine Greens (Jefferson county), the Greater Milwaukee Greens and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Campus Greens all put their weight behind the Tyson workers, from participating in marches and rallies, to joining the picket lines and holding benefits, to public testimony and lobbying on behalf of the boycott.

Because NLRB rules forbid secondary boycotts by striking unions, it was the Wisconsin Greens who actually helpled launch the national boycott against users of Tyson pepperoni products - including corporations like Kraft, Schwans, Pizza Hut and Dominos.

In November, Madison Greens John Peck (and national Green co-chair) Ben Manski went before the UW Madison Board of Regents’ Business and Finance Committee, to push for divestment of the University’s $230,000 holdings in Tyson bonds. A month later, UW Regents voted to drop Tyson bonds from their portfolio. The move was the university's first such gesture since the regents voted to divest from South Africa in 1978. A similar decision was made by UW-Milwaukee after pressure there, while the Madison Metropolitan School Board also dropped Tyson products from its school lunch menus.

By early 2004 Tyson was forced to go back to the negotiating table with UFCW 538 after months of refusing to do so (apparently as a result of lost earnings owing to the consumer boycott.) But their latest offer was rejected by the union and no resolution is in sight.




July 18-20: Green Party National Conference in Washington, D.C.

More than 100 delegates and 500 Greens overall attended the 2003 Green National Conference, held at the Mayflower Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C .In addition to serving as the party’s annual business meeting, the weekend hosted wide-ranging discussions of the party’s strategy for 2004.

Friday featured a flexible small-group/ large-group process, that allowed people to move around the room while the discussion viewed 2004 from a variety of perspetives and arguments.

On Saturday evening, three presidential hopefuls -- David Cobb, Lorna Salzman, and Carol Miller -- spoke at a reception for Greens seeking the national nomination in 2004. Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, and Paul Glover, all of whom were considering national campaigns at the time, sent statements that were read during the reception.

As the weekend came to a close, the general sentiment – with some exceptions - was that Greens should run for President in 2004. There was far less commonality upon which candidate and what kind of campaign.

In addition to approving the African-American Outreach Plan (see below), resolutions passed calling for Impeachment of President Bush and end to the U.S. occupationof Iraq.

Elected to the national Steering Committee were Ben Manski (reelected, WI), Marnie Glickman (OR), Jo Chamberlain (reelected, CA), and party secretary Greg Gerritt (RI). They joined returning Steering Committee member are Badili Jones (Georgia), Anita Rios (Ohio), and treasurer Jake Schneider (WI). Terms are two years and elections are staggered.



July 18: National Green Youth Caucus Born

With the purpose of bringing together Greens under 30 to advocate for youth issues within and through the Green Party, the Youth Caucus of the Green Party of the United States was founded on this date, amidst the almost week-long proceedings of the 2003 national Green Party convention in Washington, D.C.

According to caucus founding member Ava Wolfberg, 18, of Virginia, "we are a group of intelligent and motivated individuals, and we want respect and opportunities in the Green Party for now and in the future."

Representatives of Campus Greens attended the meeting and joined the caucus. There was general agreement that the two groups serve different and complimentary purposes. After D.C., the newly founded caucus began the process of recruiting the 100 members required for national accreditation and had recruited more than 40 by the end of 2003.



July 19: National Green African-American Outreach Plan Approved

On the third day of the 2003 national conference, U.S. Greens adopted a historic outreach campaign to enlist prominent African-American political and religious leaders, cultural figures, writers and scholars to tour the country and speak out on matters of importance to Greens and African-Americans.

The campaign will target historically black colleges, universities and black churches, as well as will focus on relations with groups like Black Voices for Peace, the Black Radical Congress, the National Committee on Black Reparations) the National Welfare Rights Union, the National Urban League and the NAACP.

In what was perhaps the weekend’s most dramatic moment, eight members of the Black Caucus stood before the more than 100 delegates to present the outreach concept. Pointing to the strategic advantage of such a campaign, George Martin (Wisconsin Green co-spokesperson and Black Caucus Chair co-chair) argued that "the support Ralph Nader gained in 2000 from some well-known African-Americans, including Randall Robinson, Danny Glover, and Chuck D, was vital to his campaign and to the Green Party in general. It helped us gain new members and participation, not just among African-Americans but from all Americans who respect their leadership."

The commitment was also important internally, demonstrating the party’s commitment to building through diversity. The proposal was ultimately adopted by consensus, and created a staff position filled when D.C. Statehood Green Jason Ravin was hired a few months later as Outreach Director.

"People of African descent in America have been in the same position for more than a quarter of a century”, observed Ravin. “Neglected and disrespected by the major parties, grassroots Black Americans are seeking a political alternative. We won’t follow leadership that is wedded to a structure that sells us out for token gains. This is our battle for independence and we have chosen the Green Party."



August 7-10: Campus Greens meet in Texas

The second ever Campus Greens national convention was held in Austin, Texas. Entitled ‘ “Be Proactive in Pre-emptive Times’, it brought together more than 150 Greens from campuses across the country.

Over the course of the weekend, workshops were held on migrant farm workers, coalition building, ‘becoming the media’, taking over student government, gay/lesbian rights, student-run recycling, grassroots fundraising (with then-national Green Party fundraiser Jack Uhrich), anti-oppression training, and anti-FTAA organizing.

According to convention organizer Karla Aguilar, a senior at the University of St. Thomas in Houston who joined Campus Greens in 2001, "We want to teach these young activists how to run effective and winnable campaigns. Once people know how to stand up for themselves, democracy becomes contagious. People will demand change of their society."

Speaking at Austin’s Union Theatre on Friday afternoon was former Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who many Campus Greens hoped would be part of the 2004 Green national ticket .

Saturday evening featured a ‘Super Rally’ at Austin Music Hall, attended by more than 800 people. Former Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra and Global Exchange co-founder Kevin Danaher gave the keynote presentations.

Both Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich and Green presidential hopeful David Cobb also spoke. They were followed by a speech by Slam poet Drew Dellinger, while revolutionary singer David Rovics entertained rally goers.

Sunday featured national and regional visioning sessions. A new Campus Green steering committee was elected and a boycott endorsed of the Taco Bell for its association with a produce distributor accused of unfair labor practices.

Selected by Campus Greens for its active student voice and the state's association with President Bush, Austin gave 10.6% citywide to Green presidential candidate Ralph Nader in 2000, including 22.8% in central Austin, where the University of Texas is located.

Students for Nader in 2000 successfully evolved into the Campus Greens, according to UT Campus Green organizer Brent Perdue. "We've been on the forefront of activism. We were able to get 5,000 people to walk out of class to protest the war." Brian Sandberg, national director of Campus Greens, on the choice to meet in Austin added "to take the fight to the Bush's administration backyard is appropriate."