May 1, 2021 GREENZINE SF Green Party Weekly News and Events www.sfgreenparty.org twitter.com/sfgreenparty instagram.com/sfgreenparty mastodon.sfgreens.org/@sfgreenparty www.facebook.com/groups/SFGreenParty/ Dear Greens, Today is International Workers Day, a global holiday recognizing the historic struggle of working people throughout the world. It is interconnected with the struggles being led by immigrants, climate justice activists, the Black Lives Matter movement, young people and the LGBTIQA+ community. The US Green Party has posted a number of essays written by Green Party activists in celebration of May Day: https://www.gp.org/may_day Our most recent Presidential candidate, Howie Hawkins, recently wrote an essay in response to Biden's climate plan: "It's too late for gradualism." You can read it here in Counterpunch: https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/04/28/bidens-climate-plan-its-too-late-for... In Germany, the Green Party is now a leading contender to take power in the next federal elections! These elections will be held on 9/26, in less than 5 months. Recent polls have put the Greens narrowly ahead of Merkel's conservative party. The recent choice of the Greens' first-ever Chancellor candidate, Annalena Baerbock, to potentially become the country's leader shows that they're not discounting their chances of governing this planet's 4th largest national economy. More info: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/21/germanys-greens-want-to-shake-up-the-country... Here are a number of online lectures and events this month that will be of interest to Greens: Sat, 5/1, 3:30 pm -- The Haymarket Trial - American Amnesia and Memory as Revenge -- Musician, writer, and poet Warren Leming, dubbed “Chicago’s radical Renaissance man” by the Chicago Reader, will speak about the Haymarket trial from his book, Cold Chicago: A Haymarket Fable -- Organized by the Historical Society of Forest Park: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-haymarket-trial-american-amnesia-and-memory... Tue, 5/4, 2 pm -- Remake the World -- Writers and activists Astra Taylor and Rebecca Solnit in conversation about radical hope and organizing for a better future to celebrate the launch of Taylor's new book, Remake the World: Essays, Reflections, Rebellions -- Sponsored by Haymarket Books:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/remake-the-world-tickets-148810422981?aff=ebdso... Sat, 5/8, 10 am -- No time to lose, time to act -- Online mass festival for Civil Resistance with love. Featuring Vandana Shiva, Charles Eisenstein, Jem Bendell and more -- Join in or support resisting the destruction of our world and future -- Organized by XR World with Extinction Rebellion (US)America: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/no-time-to-lose-time-to-act-registration-150294... Tue, 5/25, 6 pm -- Cynthia Kaufman discusses her new book, "The Sea Is Rising and So Are We: A Climate Justice Handbook" -- By explaining the entrenched forces that are preventing rapid action, it helps you understand the nature of the political reality we are facing and arms you with the tools you need to overcome them -- Organized by by City Lights Booksellers & Publishers: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cynthia-kaufman-in-conversation-with-francesca-... *===========================* What: Stop HR 1 When: Now Where: Online Dear Greens, HR 1 is sold as a way to get money out of politics and to protect voters, but it contains a poison pill fordemocracy and opposition parties like the Green Party. HR1 quintuples the amount of money Green presidential campaigns will be required to raise to qualify for federal matching funds: from $5,000 in each of 20 states to $25,000 per state. The Green Party stands opposed to this bait-and-switch legislation that claims to improve access to voting while actually dismantling everyone's right to organize electorally against the parties of War and Wall Street. In a recent Gallup poll, a record 62% of US voters said we need a new major party. HR 1 is just the latest example of how the parties of War and Wall Street have no shame about strangling democracy to preserve their duopoly, even while pretending they're doing exactly the opposite. Please donate to the Green Party today so we can fight back. No doubt you've heard from "progressive" groups about how HR 1 contains much-needed voter protections. And it's true, HR1 contains some badly needed reforms. That makes it all the more shameful for the Democrats to use those reforms as cover to eliminate competition from alternative parties. Goto our Action Page (https://www.gp.org/hr_1) and Tell Congress: Stop HR 1, the "Voting Rights Bill" That Restricts Voter Choice! And make sure you tell your family and communities how HR 1 will: - Eliminate the limits on donations and expenditures candidates can receive and make — what kind of campaign finance reform is that? - Inflate the amount of money national party committees can give to candidates from $5000 to $100 million, an astonishing increase of 1999900% that would give party bosses virtually unlimited power to flood elections with big money. - Abolish the general election campaign block grants that parties can access by winning at least 5% of the vote in the previous presidential election. HR1 will eliminate this provision that was created to give a fair shot to alternative parties that demonstrate significant public support. - Replace the general election block grants (where each qualified candidate receives a set, lump sum of public funding for campaign expenses) with matching funds through Election Day — a huge step backwards for public campaign finance reform — using the above-mentioned criteria designed to squeeze out alternative parties and independent candidates. Instead of trying to fool American voters and eliminating minor party voices, the Green Party calls for real reforms to democratize elections: - The Fair Representation Act, introduced in 2018 and 2019, would enact Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) and multi-member districts for Congressional elections, giving voters more power and more choice. - Individual state governments should enact RCV for their elections, including the presidential election. - Fully-public campaign finance for every federal, state and local office through the Clean Money/Clean Elections model now used in Arizona and Maine. For more info about how you can help, see: https://www.gp.org/hr_1 *===========================* What: SF Green Party Organizing When: All the time Where: Online Until the pandemic is under control, we will not be holding in-person meetings. Government will need to implement a widespread testing and contact tracing program in order to safely open things up. Unfortunately, a number of our active members do not have reliable internet access (especially with our public libraries closed), so holding general monthly meetings over Zoom is not an option. Instead, we have an email list for discussions between active members, and our county council (CC) meets by Zoom on the 3rd Wednesdays of every month. If you'd like to join our conversation online, or our CC meetings, please email cc@sfgreens.org with your name and contact info, and also please remind us if you've been to a meeting before. If you are unable to join us but still want to follow what's going on, you can call Barry Hermanson at 415-255-9494. *===========================* To submit events for our newsletter, please email a short blurb to news@sfgreens.org. Messages to a mailing list will be rejected.