CBS News is reporting, in an interview with her, that Green Party presumptive presidential nominee Jill Stein has announced her choice for the party’s vice presidential candidate, to be approved at this week’s convention in Baltimore.  Cheri Honkala is the Stein campaign’s choice, a poor people’s advocate based in Philadelphia and the national coordinator of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign.

There was some speculation that actress and comedian Roseanne Barr, who is also running for the Green Party’s presidential nomination, would be the vice presidential candidate.  However, Stein has opted instead for Honkala, saying in an announcement, “Compelled by her own experience as a homeless, single mom, Honkala has spent nearly three decades working directly alongside the poor to build the movement to end poverty, and has organized tens of thousands of people to take action via marches, demonstrations and tent cities.”

Honkala herself stated, “It’s immoral that children are hungry and homeless in the richest country in the world. It’s time for the 99% to stand united to serve our collective human needs instead of selfish, corporate greed. The Green Party is the only one standing up to Wall Street, and Jill Stein’s Green New Deal is the best plan for saving this sinking ship. I’m honored to fight beside her.”

For the time being, Honkala is also coordinating ballot access efforts for the Green Party of Pennsylvania, which is in the process of working to collect over 40,000 signatures by the end of July. Honkala joined the Green Party in 2011, when she ran for Sheriff of Philadelphia on a platform of turning the Sheriff’s office from the department that evicts people to a social service working to “keep families in their homes,” as well as establishing community land trusts so that people living near vacant and abandoned properties can control them.  Honkala ran for Sheriff after labor organizer Hugh Giordano reinvigorated the Green Party of Philadelphia with his strong run for state representative in 2010.  The campaign proposal of addressing blight and vacant lots is part of a Philadelphia-wide political effort to address vacant land in the city in recent years.  Honkala is also consistently involved in efforts to prevent individual families from losing their homes to foreclosure and other work ensuring the basic survival of some of the most economically oppressed in Philadelphia.  The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign also operates around the United States, and is part of various international poor peoples’ movements.

As mentioned earlier, Honkala has been an activist of one form or another, whether simply to ensure the survival of herself and her son in the Minnesota winter when she was homeless or organizing protests at the Republican National Convention in 2000, for decades.  Several documentaries have been made about her or her efforts, including “Poverty Outlaw,” and she was featured in the book The Myth of the Welfare Queen. Honkala has been named one of the 100 most powerful people in the region by Philadelphia magazine, as well as being named “Person of the Year” once by Philadelphia Weekly. Her son Mark Webber is an actor, director, and playwright who used his celebrity to help her campaign for Sheriff.  In that campaign, Cheri campaigned and organized in Philadelphia, as well as travelling the country to encourage progressives to leave the Democratic Party and encourage Greens to approach politics in a way that is more inclusive of and relevant to poor people.

A press conference was held today to make the announcment, which has been posted on Jill Stein’s campaign website.

Originally posted at IndependentPoliticalReport.com.

[Disclosure:  I was involved in Cheri Honkala's campaign for Sheriff on many levels and this summer I have been part of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, working on a farm they are organizing in the neighborhood where Honkala lives.  I am also a member of the Green Party of PA, was active in Hugh Giordano's campaign, and have been collecting signatures to get the Stein campaign on the ballot there.]

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org
http://www.cherihonkala.com
http://www.facebook.com/Cheri4Sheriff

WASHINGTON, DC — Cheri Honkala, candidate for Sheriff of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has emerged as the Green Party’s highest profile candidate in the 2011 election year.

Ms. Honkala’s campaign slogans, “Keeping Families in Their Homes,” “The People’s Sheriff,” and “Referendum on America,” reflect her pledge, if elected, to declare a moratorium on home evictions until the economic climate in Philadelphia changes.

“I’m running for Sheriff because something needs to be done to address the plague of home evictions being faced by too many poor and working families in Philadelphia,” said Ms. Honkala, who is using her campaign to help build the nation-wide movement to reverse the growing dominance of banks and other corporations over our government and local communities.

Cheri Honkala discussed her campaign and “zero evictions” platform at the Green Party’s 2011 Annual National Meeting in Alfred, New York, on August 5 (http://nygreenfest.org). Two videos of Ms. Honkala speaking at the meeting: http://vimeo.com/27355841 and http://vimeo.com/27415010

Ms. Honkala would be the first woman sheriff in Philadelphia. The city’s past sheriff, who resigned during a corruption investigation, cooperated with banks in evicting families from homes as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis, and Ms. Honkala’s Democratic and Republican competitors in the race intend to continue using the sheriff’s office as a tool for the financial industry.

The crisis was triggered when low- and middle-income working Americans were unable to refinance their homes after they were issued adjustable-rate mortgages. The subprime mortgage crisis, stemming from misleading lending practices by banks and other financial companies, touched off the 2008 economic meltdown.

“Our so-called political leaders don’t dare to do anything of substance against the banks,” said Jason Bosch, chief of staff for the Cheri Honkala campaign. “Cheri Honkala’s campaign is the most significant thing happening in this country to challenge these banks and the direction they are taking all of us. Philadelphia voters have the unique opportunity to do something that no other voters in America have — to change policy with one vote. If Cheri gets elected there will be no evictions. This will force banks to the table and expand the discourse around these issues to include the voices of people who are struggling just to survive and keep a roof over their heads. This is a campaign of national significance.”

The Honkala campaign supports the development of community-based land trusts. There are over 40,000 vacant properties in Philadelphia, and community-based ownership of these properties offers the means to house people in need of homes and to create more urban gardens and public spaces that will strengthen communities. Ms. Honkala sides with immigrants facing raids and deportations that tear apart families, affirming that she will stand with poor working class people of all nationalities and refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Cheri Honkala, a tireless advocate for the nation’s poor and homeless, founded the local Kensington Welfare Rights Union and the national Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign, which works to help people who cannot get help through bureaucratic channels find solutions to their housing crises. She has organized numerous street demonstrations in Philadelphia, as well as efforts to reclaim and occupy vacant homes for poor families in need of housing.

Ms. Honkala was included in Philadelphia Magazine’s list of 100 Most Powerful Philadelphians and was named Philadelphia Weekly’s “Woman of the Year” in 1997.

David Cobb, the Green Party’s 2004 presidential nominee, called Cheri Honkala “a long-distance runner for social justice” and added, “I think Cheri’s campaign can become the ’signature’ national electoral campaign for progressives of all stripes in 2011.”

The Cheri Honkala campaign headquarters is located about 100 feet from the site where Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence. Ms. Honkala has dedicated her campaign to forging a new independence — independence from the big banks and other corporations, which Jefferson himself warned about. “I hope we shall… crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws our country.” (Letter from Thomas Jefferson to George Logan, November 12, 1816)

This man has spirit, and that’s required for real, positive change!  Reverend Billy Talen is the leader of the Church of Life After Shopping and has been, for months or years now, protesting in bank lobbies to get them to stop funding mountain top removal.  He posted this on facebook:

This peaceful bank seizure was that rare successful thing: nonviolent direct action in 2010 that worked. PNC’s financing of MTR was our whole point, and the Choir sang songs with the Earth Quakers and the folks from RAN. Four of us were taken to prison, and I learned a great deal about activism and life from George Lakey, my cellmate. A month later PNC pulled out of MTR, and we are jubilant! Appalachia-a-lujah!

http://www.youtube.com/v/o-SsCwSySgM?fs=1&hl=en_US

Think about that before you take the easy route of decrying that “the system is beyond change!” and “I’m powerless!”

Originally posted at PoliZeros.

I went to a protest in Philadelphia this past Saturday, and it was more disheartening than anything else.  It was against the wars and various other injustices, with a special focus on he recent FBI raids of peace activists and Pennsylvania Homeland Security spying on innocent civilians and activists.

By the end of it, I kind of just felt like going up to the megaphone and asking, “How much moral outrage can one person muster?  There are more people handing out fliers here than not, and with this country committing so many disgusting, outrageous acts, I don’t blame you.”  I won’t lie, I handed a few out myself.  Yet the contrast between the righteous causes featured in the speeches and on the signs and on the fliers and the, as a fellow protester said to me, “complete lack of solidarity” was striking.

However, I don’t believe that we should stop protesting or that we need to find another way to be activists (although protesting is by no means the only way to be an activist).  Old fashioned protests have always worked and they will continue to work.  But what I went to Saturday – and it is similar to many other antiwar protests I’ve been to, and I’m sure it’s similar to many other demonstrations by progressives, socialists, and the like – was too lethargic, too focused on recruiting for outside groups (like the ANSWER Coalition, as Bob has focused on before), and too passive to do anything other than serve as a large meeting for peace supporters.

The only thing we shut down was part of a bike lane and half a road in the business district of Philadelphia.  No one really cared, although we got some positive honks from drivers and some of them were probably annoyed.  Maybe that could be the antiwar movement’s new slogan:  “We’ll slightly inconvenience you until the wars, the empire, the torture, the spying, the ecological destruction, and the general disrespect toward life is over!”

When I got home, I saw this video on the blog Docudharma, which just compounded my feelings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckwzV8ddwdA&feature=player_embedded

In France, the nation is being shut down.  Why?  Because the retirement age could be raised by two years.  Even then, it would still be three years younger than what it is in America!  Not to mention, similar protests are happening all over Europe.

In the comments at Docudharma, I said something similar to what I’m saying here, and I got a good reply, from user Activist Guy.  You can read the whole thing here, but basically he said screw the permit or march at night and bang on pots and pans or go through neighborhoods where this affects people instead of the business district.  And he’s right.  The protests in Europe are, for the most part, nonviolent.  Yet they are incredibly effective because of their numbers and their tactics.

For now, the antiwar movement doesn’t have numbers.  Neither do most movements, because we’ve become a very passive nation.  So we must utilize the numbers we do have, whether through coordinated civil disobedience (not just getting arrested for show, but actually affecting others’ lives, by doing things like blocking off streets without permission) or well-organized protests that emulate groups such as  the militant Wobblies, who utilized their small numbers incredibly effectively.  In any case, we’ve got to get the energy back.  That is what will bring people into the movements, and show them that the alternative to the failure of Washington is not copping out and becoming even more passive, but taking politics into their own hands.

Dan Hamburg, LeAlan Jones, and Jill Stein are running three races that are very important to the Green Party this year.  In California, Hamburg is a former Democratic Congressman hoping to be elected as a Green to Mendocino County Supervisor.  In Illinois, Jones is the only African American in the Senate race and has polled as high as 14%, in a state where the Green candidate for governor got over 10% in 2006.  In Massachusetts, Stein is less than $1,000 away from qualifying for the rest of the debates, and about $38,000 away from qualifying for matching funds.

I’ll make this as simple as possible.  Here’s what each one needs from you:

1.  Dan Hamburg.  He is an incredible candidate, and really represents the future of the Green Party.  He came in first in a primary which included ALL candidates in the race, but an ultra-conservative candidate came in a close second.  With a great background and the local SEIU’s endorsement, Hamburg is both qualified for office and running a strong enough campaign to win.  However, he needs help financially – that’s where you come in.

In the words of Greechange.org, “[When] he wins, Dan Hamburg will show that the Green movement is ready to lead with fresh ideas for reviving our economy and protecting our ecosystem.”  The netroots has shown before that it has great skill at fundraising – just a bit of that can be stretched a long way in a local race like this.  So please donate whatever you can afford.

2.  But don’t give all your money away!  Save some for LeAlan Jones.  And even if you don’t donate to Jones, there is something else extremely important that you can do.  Call Meet the Press (202-885-4598 ) and let them know that they shouldn’t exclude Jones from their Senate debate.  When the Florida Libertarians did this for their Senate candidate, they got the Meet the Press debate cancelled – let’s one up them and get a Green on national television!

From the Jones campaign:

Plus, we are asking YOU to call NBC’s Meet The Press at 202-885-4598 and tell them to “Let LeAlan debate!” NBC decided to shut out the only African-American candidate running for this historically African-American Senate seat. It’s time to stand up to this media BLACKout. More details in my letter to the president of NBC News

Tell them you’d like to talk to Meet the Press.  Let’s do this!

3.  Jill Stein.  She needs to raise $100,000 by October 1 in order to qualify for the gubernatorial debates, which is really the best way for her to gain support.  She is less than $1,000 from that goal, so every dollar counts!

Since the state government uses a different fundraising standard, she is about $38,000 away from raising the needed $125,000 to get matching public funds.  If she can do this, her campaign will be one of the best tools in the nation for building the Green Party, and she will have a shot at winning in Massachusett’s 4-way race (that means only 25%+1 to win).

She needs to raise this money by September 24, and we can do it! Last week alone, Stein raised $25,000, a quarter of the total her campaign has brought in this year.  It’s up to us.

(For the next $350 or so donated at DemocracyDays.com, a fundraising site for Stein, another donor will match that donation.)

Let’s do this!  Together, we can build an alternative to the corrupt, destructive two party system.

I’ve been gone all summer – traveling, gardening, volunteering a bit, and doing some other things – and as much as I had a lot of fun, it is nice to be back.  In all that time, some interesting things have happened with what I consider to be one of the better Green campaigns in the nation this year, and one that I’m very involved with, Hugh Giordano’s campaign for state legislature as a Green.

In case you don’t know who Hugh is, he’s a 25 year old union organizer running as a Green in PA’s 194th district, which is mostly in Philadelphia and also a bit in Montgomery County (for locals, it encompasses Roxborough, Manayunk, parts of Lower Merion, and some surrounding areas).  He’s been running a great campaign, knocking on doors, holding fun fundraisers, getting in the newspaper, and raising as much money as a typical Green congressional candidate.

Anyway, here is the news I was talking about originally.

In July, Green Party candidate for State Representative in PA’s 194th district Hugh Giordano received the endorsement of Bill Morris, a Democrat who ran and lost in the May primary. The news made several newspapers, including the Philadelphia Public Record, which ran the headline “Green Party Candidate May Liven Up 194th State House Race:”

Giordano is not your usual Green Party advocate. An organizer for United Food & Commercial Workers Local 152, Giordano has practical political experience and union connections. He has been working the District, which encompasses Roxborough and Manayunk along with parts of Lower Merion Township and Wynnefield, ever since the winter…

But the Dems are still split from their bruising primary, giving Giordano his opening. Over the weekend, Giordano received the support and endorsement of former Democratic Primary candidate Bill Morris…

“I sat back and thought hard about who is the best candidate to represent this District in Harrisburg,” said Morris. “At the end of the day, I feel Hugh is the best candidate.” Morris, a union carpenter, thinks Giordano, a union organizer, understands the issues of working people and the middle class and will stand by them against the corporate executives that control Harrisburg.

Giordano has been in the local paper more recently for his efforts to reach out to young voters (at 25, he is a very young candidate himself):

“It’s very encouraging to see so many young people getting excited about politics and my campaign. The voters have a real chance here to vote for someone who truly stands by them and the issues that affect them everyday.” Giordano feels its important for young voters to stay engaged and on top of the issues of jobs, environment, and public education because these are all issues that are going to affect them in their future; whether it’s a year from now or ten years from now. “Citizens need a state representative who understands them and is a true independent, and these issues must be tackled now,” said Giordano.

Chris Rodgers and Mike Torpey feel Giordano is the best choice in November, because he knows the issues and has lived in the district his entire life. “We both have known Hugh since high school, and when Hugh say’s he is going to do something, he does it!” said Rodgers.

And though it didn’t make it into any newspapers, as far as I know, Giordano also participtaed in a demonstration against the fact that every single third party statewide candidate was tossed off the ballot by the major parties in Pennyslvania this year:

Hugh Giordano, Green Party candidate for State Representative in the 194th district attended a rally on August 15, to ensure that Third Party candidates keep their place on the ballot in the November election. Giordano is officially on the ballot in November, but for some other Third Party candidates, they still have a fight ahead of them. The Republicans have challenged three Libertarian Party contenders who are running for Governor, U.S. Senate, and Lieutenant Governor. Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, Joe Sestak, challenged a Green Party candidate who is attempting to join the race against Republican Pat Toomey.

‘I think this is an attack on democracy to the fullest, and quite honestly I think the Democrats and Republicans are cowards,” Said Giordano. Giordano is outraged that the two party system has such strangle hold over the Pennsylvania voters and feels that every voice deserves to be heard and recognized in a democracy. “ I cannot understand why anyone would register with the two party system, let alone voter for the Democrats or Republicans,” said Giordano, “ Why would anybody vote for a party or candidate that not only forces you to vote for them, but also attacks your freedom to vote for the candidate you feel is best for the job.”

Giordano also has some upcoming events listed on his website, including an end of the summer happy hour on August 31st and a spaghetti dinner fundraiser on September 19th. If you don’t live in the area, donations are always appreciated.

This is just one part of national and international movements. The Greens in Australia won big the other day, gaining their first seat in the lower house of Parliament and the balance of power in both houses – so, yes, we can do it. We CAN build an alternative to the corrupt, destructive two party system!

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is hosting four public information meetings on the proposed study of the relationship between hydraulic fracturing and its potential impacts on drinking water…The meetings will provide public information about the proposed study scope and design. EPA will solicit public comments on the draft study plan.

The public meetings will be held on:

* July 8 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. CDT at the Hilton Fort Worth in Fort Worth, Texas
* July 13 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. MDT at the Marriot Tech Center’s Rocky Mountain Events Center in Denver, Colo.
* July 22 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. EDT at the Hilton Garden Inn in Canonsburg, Pa.
* August 12 at the Anderson Performing Arts Center at Binghamton University in Binghamton, N.Y. for 3 sessions – 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. EDT