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Green Party Announces Accreditation of Black Caucus. |
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Wednesday, June 23, 2004 Contacts: Black Caucus Contacts: Caucus members call the accreditation a historic step for the party and for African American voters. Black Caucus Press Meeting: Saturday, June 26 at 8-10 a.m., Lake Shore Room A at the Hyatt, during the Green National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin MILWAUKEE, WI -- The Green Party's national Coordinating Committee has voted overwhelmingly to accredit the party's Black Caucus, taking an important step to strengthen its diversity and support for its African-American members. The Coordinating Committee completed its on-line vote on Monday, June 21. Accreditation gives the Black Caucus a voting seat in the Coordinating Committee, in which 44 state Green Parties are also represented. Black Caucus members will meet with the press at Forward! 2004, the Green National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The press meeting will take place Saturday, June 26 at 8-10 a.m. in Lake Shore Room A at the Hyatt. "We have joined the Green Party for a wide range of reasons but are agreed on several points. Neither the Democratic nor Republican Parties represent the interests and aspirations of our communities; and the Green Party, with its Four Pillars and Ten Key Values, holds the greatest promise of a political party for achieving a more just society in the U.S. today," said Michele Tingling-Clemmons, co-chair of the Black Caucus. "The Black Caucus is committed to taking this message out into our communities, to involving more people of African descent in the electoral process and the Green Party; and to engaging and working within the Green Party to craft and implement programs that give greater substance to our ambitious mission; in short, to putting theory into practice and our money where our mouths are," added Tingling-Clemmons, who is also co-chair of the Green Party's Diversity Committee and an at-large representative to the D.C. Statehood Green Party. "We see the Black Caucus as critical to the success of the Green Party," said Sundiata Tellem, acting co-chair of the caucus and outgoing chairperson of the Dallas County Greens. "We will challenge our peers to make the party's goals real." "This has not been an easy road that we have been on for the last two-plus years, but it has been necessary, and the Party will be better and stronger for it," said Diane White, a founding member of the Black Caucus who serves as Interim Corresponding Secretary. White also represents Pennsylvania in the Coordinating Committee. According to a recent report issued by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, "34% of Black voters between the ages of 18-25 identify themselves as Independents," indicating great potential for the mission of the Green Party and the Black Caucus. "We believe this data confirms our belief that the time is right for our caucus and our party," said Tingling-Clemmons, who is also a D.C. Statehood Green Party candidate for City Council (Ward 7) in Washington, DC. The Black Caucus of the Green Party of the United States has declared that its mission is "to maximize the participation of men and women of African and African American descent in the political and policy-making process of the Green Party of the United States... to introduce the Ten Key Green Values and the Green Party Platform to the African American community... to increase the participation and election victories in United States electoral politics of African and African American [Greens]... to ensure that the [Green Party] conducts and implements programs that concretize its platform in... communities of African-American and African descent." "It's heartening to know that the Black Caucus will take its place among the leaders of the Green Party next week to nominate our candidate for the presidency of the United States," said Donna J. Warren, a member of the Black Caucus who ran with Ralph Nader's 2004 choice for Vice President, Peter Miguel Camejo, in California's 2002 gubernatorial election. The Black Caucus submitted names and information on 123 members from 19 states as part of its accreditation package, along with its by-laws and historic overview. The Green Party requires a threshold of 100 members from 15 states and by-laws for identity caucuses to be accredited. The Lavender Caucus (representing gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex Greens), which had earlier held provisional accreditation status, also received full accreditation by the Coordinating Committee. The Women's Caucus is currently under review for accreditation. MORE INFORMATION search: prty, elct, rgt |