INDEPENDENT POLITICS AND THE UPRISING FOR PEOPLE, PLANET, AND PEACE

BYPASSING THE PARTIES OF WAR, WALL STREET AND WHITE SUPREMACY

The deadline to RSVP for the state convention business meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 22 at noon!

The 2020 convention will take place online via Zoom, due to the pandemic. The convention will consist of a series of exciting weekly workshops, beginning Saturday, August 8, (details below). These will be followed by a business meeting, including keynote speaker Lisa Savage, on Saturday, Sept. 26, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Registration for all events is *FREE*. Scroll down to RSVP for the Business Meeting. Donations are suggested and greatly appreciated to help meet costs.

Our keynote speaker, Lisa Savage, is an independent Green running for the US Senate under ranked choice voting. A teacher and union negotiator, former small business owner, and grandmother, Lisa has been organizing around climate and militarism for the past several years, targeting the Maine Natural Guard. Her positive, issues-focused campaign to challenge incumbent Susan Collins had raised $120k entirely from 1,000+ grassroots donors and zero dollars from corporate lobbyists or super PACs. She is the only non-millionaire in the race, and she makes her home in Solon with her husband, a self-employed woodworker.

We will also hear from outgoing Green-Rainbow Party Co-Chair and our only local candidate currently running for a partisan office in Massachusetts, Charlene DiCalogero:

Charlene DiCalogero has been an active member of the Green Party of the US/Green-Rainbow Party since shortly after she moved to Massachusetts twenty years ago. An activist since her early twenties, she has shown up for the 99% over and over, on issues ranging from international peace, racial justice, and ending violence against women, to democratic transformation, economic justice and the climate emergency.

She recently served as a local elected official, and is proud to be running in her third race for state legislature, this time for an open seat in the Worcester 12th district for state representative, as a Green-Rainbow candidate.

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The workshops are intended to inform and empower participants for organizing, networking and building political power on key issues impacting our lives, our communities and the planet.

Current workshop schedule (stay tuned for additional information and updates):

Help bring Ranked Choice Voting to MA! YES on Question 2. Expand your knowledge, hone your skills, get a tool box to build support for this game-changer for democracy. Presented by Voter Choice founder Adam Friedman, racial justice activist Jame Lane, 2016 Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein. Saturday, August 8, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Click here to see the workshop recording and get the word out!

Q&A with Presidential Candidate Howie Hawkins! Green Party presidential candidate Howie Hawkins will join us for a special discussion about the presidential race and current events. As we face a convergence of crises in healthcare, the economy, and the climate, the Hawkins/Walker presidential campaign offers a comprehensive plan to fight for working people and the planet. Host and moderator Maha Visnu, the Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party's male co-chair will present questions from the audience. Saturday, September 5th, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. CLICK HERE TO RSVP

Building for the General Strike. A wave of strikes and calls for strikes is leading in the direction of a general strike. The strike movement gained momentum with the Poor People's Campaign's and others' announcement of a July 20 "Strike for Black Lives," and with widespread declarations by teachers' unions that teachers will return to classrooms only when safety is assured for all present. The October 3 workshop, 11am-1pm via Zoom, will discuss the current movement, earlier general-strike movements, and how the GRP can participate. Tentative date Saturday, Oct 3rd, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Race and Reconciliation in Massachusetts. This workshop will present the campaign for a State Commission on Race & Reconciliation, an initiative to examine 400 years of white supremacy shaping society and how we can transform it into a world of justice and dignity envisioned by Martin Luther King. It will also present the fight to rename Slave Trader (AKA Faneuil) Hall, a symbol of the living legacy of slavery. Not one of the 150 resident businesses is owned by a person of color, in a city where average black family wealth is $8 compared with average white family wealth of $247,000. Presented by Kevin Peterson, executive director of the New Democracy Coalition. Oct 10th, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Stay tuned for additional workshops.

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Business Meeting: Saturday, Sept 26, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

To be eligible to vote for Officers, Directors, GPUS Delegates and on proposals, you must be registered to vote as a Green-Rainbow Party voter (J) or as an Unenrolled voter (U) and paying dues by August 29th. Please enter your name, phone number and address where you are registered to vote so that we may cross-reference your voting information.

The deadline to RSVP for the State Convention business meeting is Tuesday, September 22nd at noon!