[SFGP] Greenzine - Happy International Workers Day!

Sat May 1 13:19:28 PDT 2021

May 1, 2021
GREENZINE
SF Green Party Weekly News and Events

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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-gradualism/

    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-countrys-politics-heres-how.html

    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-as-revenge-tickets-149929149121?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch

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=ebdsoporgprofile

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-150294983341?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch

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-caparas-tickets-142199577765?aff=erellivmlt

*===========================*

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 at 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 at sfgreens.org.  Messages to a mailing list will be rejected.