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Hi, Friend:
Check out the following news and updates
from the North Carolina Green Party (NCGP):
North Carolina Green Party Cosponsors Protests
Against Police Violence and Racism and Calls for
Immediate End to Police Immunity
The NCGP continues to emphatically
support the protests and actions in North Carolina, across the US, and
around the world that have arisen in response to decades of systemic
police violence and institutionalized racism that culminated in the
murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020.
NCGP has been busy supporting the
push for racial and economic justice in North Carolina, standing
alongside Black Lives Matter activists in Winston-Salem, Greensboro,
Charlotte, Raleigh, and all over North Carolina. NCGP cochair Tony
Ndege is a founding organizer of Black Lives Matter Winston-Salem and
has co-organized several protests in his city, and many other Greens
including recent candidates Joshua Bradley, Robert Corriher, and
Keenen Altic have been involved in dozens of actions throughout the
state. We support these protests and the burgeoning movement to end
the US policing and carceral system, which is designed to suppress
opposition to the economic supremacy and white supremacy of the
capitalist class.
The system that murdered George
Floyd is showing the world not only its contempt for the lives of
people of color but also its inability to address the economic,
ecological, and social problems that beset the US. As we call for
justice and reparations for people of color that have suffered for
generations under the heel of systemic racism, we also call for an end
to the underlying economic system that has created the conditions for
police violence and murders in the first place: capitalism.
NCGP cochair and BLM Winston-Salem
cofounder Tony Ndege leads chants at a Solidarity with Minneapolis
march in Winston-Salem, NC. Photo: Andrew Dye, Winston-Salem Journal
“To understand police violence, one
has to acknowledge the historical role of capitalism and racist
exploitation in dictating the priorities of policing,” said Wayne
Turner of the North Carolina Green Party. “That priority, despite
slogans and police mottoes, has always been the protection of private
property and the suppression of working-class organizing and extending
the brutal legacy of slavery and cheap labor under Jim Crow to
generations of black and brown communities.”
“By shifting funding away from
social programs that promote the health and well-being of the general
public and address economic inequality and instead shifting toward
more policing, the US has allowed militarized police forces to become
the face that governments present to the public,” said North Carolina
Green Party cochair Tommie James. “We shouldn’t send swat teams to
deal with mental-health issues or use deadly force when responding to
a supposed traffic violation.”
NCGP supports a radical
reconfiguration of the role of policing in the US. A first step should
be to end qualified immunity of police, which shields police officers and other government
officials from legal actions by victims and families, even if their
civil rights were violated. It
is necessary that we redefine the role of police and sheriff’s
departments, who are seen by much of the public as the protectors of
wealth and property, as suppressors of dissent, and as actively
funneling the poor and people of color into our bloated prison system
that reduces individuals to a life of legalized slavery.
 Marcus Smith
was killed in Greensboro in 2018, illegally hogtied and left to die
after he asked for help. There are ongoing legal efforts to hold the
police department accountable.
Governor Cooper Vetoes NC Senate Bill 168
NCGP members participated with
other activists for more than a week in a sidewalk occupation in front
of the governor’s mansion to urge Governor Cooper to veto NC Senate Bill 168. The NC Senate and House passed the bill at
2:30 a.m. June 27, establishing that all death records are
confidential and not available for public review without family
authorization. The bill sat on Governor Cooper’s desk for days until
the deadline of July 6, when he finally signed the veto. If the bill had become law, it would have
made it more difficult to get justice for victims of police
violence.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline Abandoned by Duke Energy and
Dominion
Environmental activists have won a
hard-fought victory this month: Duke Energy Corporation and Dominion
Energy announced July 5 they have abandoned the proposed $8 billion
pipeline, citing continued
regulatory delays and uncertainty. The pipeline would have carried
natural gas 600 miles through West Virginia, Virginia, and North
Carolina and underneath the Appalachian Trail. The NCGP has spoken out
about this issue since 2015, and we have consistently called for the
socialization of all utilities, including energy.
Despite the utility companies’
claims, the NCGP has noted that the natural gas was largely meant for
overseas sales and not for consumption in North Carolina. Meaning, the
operation to transport fracked natural gas
to the coast served mainly to increase profits for Duke and Dominion
shareholders and not for the public good. The real win will come when
we replace privatized energy utilities with public ownership and
operation.
Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker Win Green Party of the
United States Nomination!
For the first time ever, a Green
presidential ticket will appear on the North Carolina ballot! We are
thrilled to report that on July 11, retired Teamster and lifelong
Green activist Howie Hawkins was nominated by the Green Party of the
United States as its 2020 candidate for president. Hawkins was nominated after receiving a majority of votes in the
first round of voting at the party’s national convention, where he
received 210 out of 355 total votes (59.15%) cast by Green delegates
from across the US. A call to approve Angela Walker, a truck driver
from South Carolina, as the vice-presidential nominee was approved by
a majority vote of 221. In their acceptance speeches, the nominees
highlighted the connection between climate change and social justice
and the importance of enacting a real Green New Deal.
Become a Member!
The Green Party refuses all
corporate contributions, so dues-paying members play a vital role
ensuring our state and local organizations have the resources needed
to build an independent party for people and planet free from the
influence of the 1 percent.
Who can Become a Member of the North Carolina Green Party? North
Carolina residents who are registered to vote as “Green” are eligible
to become members of the NCGP after they have affirmed Green Party
principles (see our 10 Key Values and platform), set their own dues rate using a budget-friendly sliding
scale, and initiated payment of those dues. You choose your own dues
level on the honor system, based on what you can pay. Note: Residents
who are ineligible to vote due to state disenfranchisement (including
but not limited to reasons such as age, criminal record, or
noncitizen/undocumented status) may also become members. Email the
NCGP secretary at [email protected] if you feel you are
ineligible to vote due to state disenfranchisement. All NCGP members,
with the exception of noncitizens, shall pay modest annual
dues.
Find out more: www.ncgreenparty.org/membership.
Find Us on Social Media
Like and follow our NCGP Facebook Page.
Join our statewide and regional
NCGP Facebook groups to connect with Greens:
North Carolina Green Party • Charlotte Area Green Party • Triangle Area Green Party • Triad Area Green Party • Eastern NC Green Party • Western NC Green Party
In
solidarity with people and planet against profits,
The
North Carolina Green Party
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