[Northampton-GP] Clarification of Rainbow History

[James Bosman]

Northampton Greens:

Here is some more detailed information about the history of the Rainbow 
movement in Massachusetts, submitted by Merelice.

Some names are mentioned that you may or may not be familiar with:

Merlice - she is a founding member of the Rainbow Coalition Party, Member of 
the Rainbow Governing Board and Executive Committee, and Rainbow 
representative on the Green Adcom.

Rainbow movement co-founder William Strickland is a professor in the 
African-American Studies Department at Umass.

Pat Keaney - he is a member of the MGP Adcom (communications director) and 
he is also the only commissioned fundraiser the MGP has hired so far. He was 
a campaign coordinator for Jill Stein.

Mark O'Lalor is a state committee member who has been voicing concerns about 
the name change.

Gil Obler - he serves on the Green-Rainbow merger committee and also on 
several other MGP committees.

There has been a lot of chatter going on on the statecom email list with 
regards to the name change. Some of the "discussion" has not been pretty. 
The message below from Merlice contains references to this discussion, and I 
invite you to explore the statecom and adcom archives if you want to see 
what's been going on. There are supposed to be a couple of press conferences 
next week (10/22?) formally announcing the name change - one in the Boston 
area and I think the other one in Great Barrington.

Statecom Archives:
http://www.massgreens.org/pipermail/statecom/
Adcom Archives:
http://www.massgreens.org/pipermail/adcom/


Peace,

Jim

--------------------------------

>The message below was written to meet an immediate
>need in the Greens and was sent to both the Statecom and the Adcom. Some of 
>our
>newer board members might also find it informative. Please share it with
>anyone who does not pick up email.
>Merelice
>
>Dear Colleagues,
>Since I am not on the statecom list, it is because
>of Pat Keaney's email to both the statecom and adcom that I have now read
>Mark's message, explaining his opposition to the Party's name change. I can
>understand why Gil Obler was so upset, because it is riddled with 
>inaccuracies.
>It is not my role to address most of them. But the Rainbow Coalition's
>background is so misrepresented that I present here a brief
>correction.
>
>When one of the Party's cofounders, Mel King (the
>other being Bill Strickland of Amherst), served five terms in the State
>Legislature, he was a Democrat. When he ran for Mayor of Boston (being the 
>only
>Black ever to make the final run-off), he was still a Democrat, but the 
>Rainbow
>Coalition became the campaign's banner. When he ran for Congress the
>following year (the same year Jesse Jackson ran for President), the Rainbow
>Coalition became known nationally. But both Mel and Jesse ran as Democrats.
>(Jesse still is a Democrat.) Both also founded Rainbow movements; the
>list of accomplishments of the Rainbow Coalition here in Massachusetts was
>significant during the next 10 years or so.
>
>It was not until 1996-1997 that the Rainbow's
>fledgling efforts AS A POLITICAL DESIGNATION began. In 1999, Chuck Turner
>was elected to the Boston City Council. (It is a nonpartisan race, but he 
>was
>billed as a member of the by-then Rainbow Coalition PARTY.) In 2000, the
>Rainbow met several times with members of the Green Party, endorsed 
>Nader/LaDuke,
>and worked in that campaign. Until then, the Greens (which had existed
>slightly longer than the Rainbow as a political designation) was no more of 
>a
>political player (one could argue less) than the Rainbow.
>
>The Nader campaign changed all that. With the Greens
>achieving ballot status, efforts between the two parties to work together
>shifted into high gear. The FIRST THING both parties did was a mailing to 
>their
>respective memberships about the possibility of 1) working together and 2)
>possibly merging. We both got the go-ahead (with, of course, reservations
>expressed on both sides). Communications with our respective memberships
>continued to be frequent and thorough. It is mind-boggling to me that 
>someone
>would propose scuttling the vigorously debated and totally valid votes of 
>both
>parties. To do that would be to set an undemocratic precedent that should
>discourage anyone from attending any future such meetings and thinking that
>their vote counts (shades of the Supreme Court).
>
>It is naive, irrelevant, and completely unfair to
>say that since the Nader campaign the Rainbow should have become a 
>political
>powerhouse to "deserve" Green consideration of a name change. The fact is,
>we have thrown our support behind Green candidates who have yet to achieve 
>what
>Mark is unrealistically demanding from the Rainbow.
>
>From a marketing perspective, getting the word out
>of this potential merger has been a resounding success for the Greens. Mike
>Aleo will be the first to say that his Northampton special election 
>campaign
>in the Spring of 2002 didn't catch fire until the press conference at
>which both Greens and Rainbows spoke. And as Pat Keaney pointed out, the
>connection enhanced Jill Stein's campaign for Governor.
>
>While on paper the Greens might have a broad agenda,
>in the public's perception, it is an environmental party. Adding the
>Rainbow's strong credibility in Massachusetts to the Party's name
>gives it instant breadth and shows that the Greens mean business when they 
>claim
>to represent social justice as well as the environment. The Rainbow
>lives up to its name, and we have worked very hard to make sure it 
>represents a
>range of constituencies, with strong leadership from communities of color 
>and
>women. If the Greens are not capable of doing the same, the Rainbow has as
>much to lose as a coterie of Greens seem to think the Greens will lose by 
>our
>uniting. Future organizing and building in a number of communities
>will be easier with the Green-Rainbow name.
>
>I do not envy you the task of separating truths from
>half-truths or making the adjustments needed to work with -- and accept
>leadership from -- a diverse group of people. And I admit to some
>trepidation among Rainbow folks about trying to work with such a 
>homogeneous and
>white-male-dominated organization. I wish us all well.
>
>Merelice
>Founding member of the Rainbow Coalition Party
>Member of the Rainbow Governing Board and Executive
>Committee
>Rainbow representative on the Green Adcom







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