Dear Greens and friends,
This weekend, May 10-11, the NY State Greens/Green Party of NY is holding
its semi-annual (and sometimes more often) Assembly in Manhattan. You are
invited to join us there, at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 445 West
59th Street (and 10th Avenue) in Manhattan.
The Assembly begins at 9 a.m. We ask people to come at 8 a.m. for
breakfast, registering and setting the agenda. The full schedule is
outlined below.
The coordinating committee has put together an incredible program of
workshops and discussions, based on what members from across the state have
requested or helped to organize, with speakers invited from all the major
anti-war groups and independent activists ? and the NY State Greens, of
course. Please check the list of exciting workshops, below.
In addition, Greens will be taking care of important NY State Greens
business, including review of all Coordinating Committee decisions,
election of a new Treasurer, Clearinghouse Coordinator and several members
of the coordinating committee, reports from locals throughout the state,
and beginning discussion (over lunch on Saturday) of Green Party
possibilities in the 2004 Presidential elections.
*** If you are an active Green and interested in serving on the
coordinating committee, or as statewide Treasurer or Clearinghouse
Coordinator, please contact us immediately. Only those who agree to serve
in any of these roles before the election may be nominated for these
positions. ***
All greens, activists, and guests are invited to fully participate.
Decisions are reached at Green Assemblies by the consensus or vote of
affiliated locals. Each local has up to 20 votes, depending on the number
of active members it registers with the clearinghouse. An active member is
someone who is enrolled as a Green (still possible under NY State law, as
our lawsuits unfold in court), has attended at least four organizational
meetings of her affiliated local in the past year, AND has paid her state dues.
Dues are payable according to the following sliding scale, set by the
Assembly of Green locals: Modest income - $10; Moderate income -
$25; Middle income - $50; High income - $200+ (One-time waivers are
available if you are truly broke).
Additional contributions are welcome, and needed. So even if you are not an
active member, please feel free to contribute what you can to help the
Greens continue to blossom.
All funds should be mailed to the NY State Greens, c/o Evergreen Chou,
Treasurer, PO Box 527-485, Flushing, NY 11353-7485.
Each local should enter the names of active members and relevant
information on the membership form on the website at www.nygreens.org. In
addition, please be sure to bring with you any membership/meeting sheets
that have not yet been sent to the Clearinghouse.
Looking forward to seeing you bright and early on Saturday, May 10 and
Sunday, May 11th.
For the Coordinating Committee,
Elizabeth Shanklin, Clearinghouse Coordinator
Evergreen Chou, Treasurer
Mitchel Cohen
Robert Gold
Day Star Chou
Paul Gilman
Maria Kuriloff
Ralph Manfredonia
***** Please Note: We need to raise around $20 from each participant to
defray expenses for the Assembly. This is a registration fee and is
separate from dues, which need to be paid as well, if they have not yet
been sent in. AND, the $20 registration does not include food (it DOES
include registration packets, etc.). Breakfast will be $4 per person, and
vegetarian lunch will be $8 per person -- that is the exact cost to us,
we're not adding anything onto it. Of course, we are all free to eat
elsewhere, but our agreement with the college stipulates that NO OUTSIDE
FOOD IS ALLOWED IN THE BUILDING. In addition, if you go out to lunch on
Saturday, you?ll miss the open discussion concerning Green Party 2004
presidential elections.
*****
***********************************
AGENDA & WORKSHOPS
New York State Greens Assembly
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
May 10-11, 2003
Plenary and Workshop Participants
NOTE: Assembly begins at 8 am 10 am to be credentialed.
8 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Agenda Committee (additions or changes to agenda)
NY Greens business from 9 a.m. 11:30 a.m. *
* See below
*** LUNCH at 11:30 am 12:30 pm : Over Lunch there will be an open
facilitated speakout (2 minutes each) about Green Party strategy in the
2004 Presidential election. ***
Saturday, May 10, 12:30-1 pm, Keynote: Green Party?s Role in Building an
International Anti-War Movement
Annie Goeke, Chair, International Committee, United States Green Party
(Confirmed)
Workshops 1
Saturday, 1-2:30 pm
THE WAR AT HOME AND ABROAD
Iraq: Sarah Flounders, ANSWER Coalition, confirmed
Media Coverage of War at Home and Abroad: Robert Knight, WBAI-FM, confirmed
Civil Liberties Post 9/11: Udi Ofer, Project Director, NYC Bill of Rights
Defense Committee, confirmed
Policing Post 9/11: Avram Bornstein, Anthropology Department, John Jay
College of Criminal Justice, confirmed*
Employment and Social Services: Brenda Stokley, invited
Policing Post 9/11: Jose Luis Morin, Chair, Puerto Rican Studies
Department, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, invited
Organizing in Inner Cities: Nellie Hester Bailey, invited
Lynne Stewart, Attorney-at-War, invited
COLOMBIA/SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS WATCH
Paul Gilman, Flushing Greens, confirmed
Robert Gold, Brooklyn Greens, confirmed
Fernando Velez, exiled Colombian trade unionist, confirmed
Jana Silverman, Institute of Latin American Studies, Columbia University,
confirmed
Patricia Dahl, Coordinator, Colombia Support Network NYC, confirmed
DISABILITY RIGHTS WORKSHOP
Freeda Zames, President ex Officio, Disabled in Action, NYC, confirmed
Dorothy Williams-Pereira, Southeast Queens Greens, confirmed
Gwendolyn Debrow, Southeast Queens Greens, confirmed
PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY (VOTING RIGHTS OF THE CONVICTED, INITIATIVE &
REFERENDUM; IRV, PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION)
Mark Dunlea, Chair, Green Party of New York State
Julia Willebrand, West Side Greens
Suzy Sandor, invited
Workshops 2
Saturday, 3-4:30 PM
WHICH WAY FORWARD FOR THE ANTIWAR MOVEMENT?
Mark Dunlea, Chair, Green Party of New York State, confirmed
Mitchel Cohen, Coordinating Council, New York State Greens, confirmed
Carlos Rivera, United for Peace & Justice, confirmed
Representative, Not in Our Name, confirmed
Silvia Federici, International Relations, Hofstra University, confirmed
Heather Cottin, ANSWER Coalition, confirmed
Melissa Ennen, Opposition in the Military
Barry Greenberg, Revolution Books, confirmed
Premilla Dixit, Women?s International League for Peace & Freedom
KICKING THE ADDICTION TO OIL
Joe Dubovy, Putnam County Greens, confirmed
Dana Lee Cohen, Urban Sustainable Technology: Living Machines, Aquaponics
and Sustainability: the Eco-Park at Intervale in Burlington, Vermont,
confirmed
Chrome Arrow: The Bio-Tour, invited
PALESTINE/ISRAEL CONFLICT
Deeadra Brown, Manhattan Greens, confirmed
Avram Bornstein, Anthropology Department, John Jay College of Criminal
Justice, confirmed
CANCER ACTION
Donald Hassig, confirmed
(We are trying to put together an evening get-together at a different
location, so stay tuned.)
SUNDAY MAY 11
PLENARY 10:30-12:00AM
PANEL: MOTHER KNOWS BEST
Day Starr Chou, Flushing Greens, Confirmed
Elizabeth Shanklin, Bronx Greens, Confirmed
Premilla Dixit, Women?s International League for Peace and Freedom, Confirmed
Pandora Hopkins, NOW, Confirmed
Dr. Rebecca Carley, Confirmed
Workshops 3
Sunday, 1:00-2:30 PM
MOTHERS AGAINST THE MILITARY/CRIMINAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX (NYC/NYS BUDGETS,
ECONOMICS OF WAR, POLICING: RACIAL JUSTICE...)
Iris Baez, Anthony Baez Foundation, confirmed
Margarita Rosario, confirmed
Ginger Lopez, Welfare Rights Initiative, confirmed
Carmen Morales, invited
Juanita Young, invited
Critical Resistance, NYC, invited
Mothers Alert, invited
Kensington Welfare Rights, invited
HARM REDUCTION: AIDS, NEEDLE EXCHANGE/MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION/IBOGAINE
Ric Curtis, Chair, Anthropology Department, John Jay College, confirmed
Paul Gilman, Flushing Greens, confirmed
MANIPULATING HYSTERIA: ANTHRAX, SMALLPOX, WEST NILE, WEAPONS OF MASS
DESTRUCTION
Dr. Rebeccah Carly, confirmed
Silvia Federici, Professor, Hofstra University, confirmed
George Caffentzis, Midnight Notes Collective, confirmed
Mitchel Cohen, editor, Green Politix, confirmed
Melissa Ennen, invited
BEAT BURNOUT: YOGA
Ann Eagan, West Queens Greens, confirmed
********************************
NON-WORKSHOP Parts of the Agenda
Green Values in Action
Proposed Agenda for State Assembly on Saturday, May 10, 2003
Preliminaries & Breakfast ($4 each)
8 am 10 am Credentialing Committee: (Elizabeth Shanklin, Evergreen Chou)
8 am 9:30 am Agenda Committee: (Maria Kuriloff, Paul Gilman, Robert
Gold, Mitchel Cohen, Day Starr Chou)
9:00-9:15 Choose Facilitators (cc proposes Elizabeth Shanklin and
Mitchel Cohen, through the morning), timekeepers, vibeswatcher, 2 notetakers
9:15-9:20 Consent Agenda
See Appendix A for Motions passed by the Coordinating Council. The
way this works, any active Green who objects to any motion passed by the cc
does so here, sending that motion to Sunday afternoon's agenda for
discussion and vote. It takes a 2/3rds vote from the floor to overturn an
existing decision. We then consense to what remains of the Consent Agenda.
9:20-9:25 Approval of Minutes
9:25-9:30 Report from the Agenda Committee
9:30-10:30 AM Local Reports
Bring detailed Local Reports to have available at the Assembly. Please
include up-to-date phone, street, and email addresses for all members and
indicate the name of the CONTACT.
10:30 to 10:40 AM Credentialing Report (10 minutes)
10:40-10:50 AM Report from Coordinating Council
10:50-10:55 AM Report from Treasurer
10:55-11:00 AM Report from the Web Committee
11:00-11:05 AM Report from the editor of "G"
11:05-11:15 AM Report from National Representatives (5 minutes each)
11:15-11:30 AM Report from the Joint Campaign Committee
11:30-12:30 PM Lunch *** Open discussion of the Green Party?s strategy in
the 2004 presidential elections. (Vegetarian lunch costs $8, payable at the
door.)
12:30-1:00 PM Keynote Address: Annie Goeke, Chair, International
Committee, U.S. Green Party
1:00-2:30 PM Workshops 1
The War at Home and Abroad
Colombia/SOA
Disability Rights Workshop
Participatory Democracy (Voting Rights of the Convicted, Initiative &
Referendum; IRV, Proportional Representation)
3:00-4:30 PM Workshops 2
Which way forward for the antiwar movement?
Kicking the Addiction to Oil
Palestine/Israel
Cancer Action
4:30-5:30 Plenary Workshops Report and Implementation of Projects
(Statewide Video-Network Don DeBar; membership benefits, organizing
locals, etc.)
-------------------------------
Sunday, May 11, 2003
9:00-10:30AM Breakfast ($4 each)
10:30-12:00 AM Plenary Panel: Mother Knows Best
12:00-1:00 PM Lunch
1:00 2:30 Workshops 3
Mothers Against the Military/Criminal Industrial Complex
Marijuana Legalization/Ibogaine/Harm Reduction: AIDS, Needle Exchange
Manipulating Hysteria: Anthrax, Smallpox, West Nile, Weapons of Mass
Destruction
Beat Burnout: Yoga
2:30-3:45 NY State Greens Elections: Clearinghouse Coordinator, Treasurer,
Coordinating Committee
3:45-4:30 Old Business
Tabled from August 2002 Assembly:
- Proposal #6 (Coordinating Committee): Set aside $5,000 to develop
programs that support Green initiatives (Goods for Greens) and assist the
locals
- Proposal #7: (Mark Dunlea, Massada Disenhouse) The Assembly should
contribute $5,000 to the joint campaign committee
- Proposal #8: (Flushing Greens) After the November elections the NY State
Greens will discuss whether to continue our present financial procedures or
to begin filing financial reports for the Board of Elections
- Proposal #9: (Mark Dunlea, Masada Disenhouse) Direct the Assembly to
begin filing financial reports with the Board of Elections
4:30-5:30 New Business
Proposal from Jerry Kann, Richard Giovanoni and Ted M. Lewis to recognize
the Green Party Office Committee and to offer financial assistance to the
office. (Appendix B)
