Activism

Democracy Rising

The burning question: "what has Ralph Nader been doing since the election?" The simple answer: the same thing he was doing before the election - organizing and speaking out!

Unlike some presidential candidates, Ralph hasn't grown a beard and gone into hiding.....he's been crossing the country tirelessly this year, encouraging new Green Party locals, raising funds and bringing the renowned Nader brand of fiery progressivism to inspired audiences from San Francisco to Boston.

Ralph has continued his string of remark-able super rallies into 2001 by way of his newest citizen activist group - Democracy Rising. With the slogan "People Have The Power," and under the day-to-day guidance of Jason Kafoury (son of Greg Kafoury, the mastermind behind the super rally concept), Democracy Rising is keeping the Nader message alive around the country.

Democracy Rising is an opportunity for all people to get involved in direct civic action and continue the spirit of the Green Party 2000 campaign into non-electoral activities that benefit their communities. Eventually, Democracy Rising will provide a wealth of information on how people can bypass bureaucracy and corporate influence and directly accomplish things for their communities.

According to the DR web site, "Democracy Rising is a new organization founded by Ralph Nader as a means to educate and empower citizens throughout the country. As part of that effort, we are sponsoring Ralph Nader's "People Have the Power" tour in Cleveland, OH; San Francisco, CA; Phoenix, AZ; and Portland, OR." By the time you read this, Ralph will have held rallies in Boston, MA and Toledo, OH as well.

The Ten Points of Democracy Rising go further in explaining the organization's intent:

ONE - Enact Legislation that mandates publicly financed elections and broadly reforms the electoral process.

TWO - Enact living wage laws, strength-en worker health and safety, and repeal Taft-Hartley and other barriers to collective bargaining and workers' rights.

THREE - Issue environmental protection standards that dramatically reduce toxins in the environment, and to promote renewable sources of energy.

FOUR - Provide full Medicare coverage for EVERYONE in this country backed by programs for prevention of disease and trauma.

FIVE - Launch a mission to abolish poverty as other western democracies have done.

SIX - Design and implement a national security policy to counter the silent, mass violence of global disease, and to stop the waste of defense money.

SEVEN - Re-negotiate NAFTA and GATT to be truly democratic.

EIGHT - Eliminate the criminal ‘injustice' system that viciously discriminates against the poor and people of color in this nation.

NINE - Defend and strengthen the civil justice system so that wrongfully injured people can have their full day in court; apply the criminal laws against corporate crime... it's time for a crackdown in the "suites!"

TEN - End the massive corporate welfare schemes that dramatically misallocate funds that should go towards education and health care. Enforce the corporate charters, as prescribed by state law, to regain sovereignty of the people over the corporations.

Join Democracy Rising at www.democracyrising.org and help let Ralph Nader tell the world that "people have the power"!

Green and Growing: Progressive Student Activism on Campus Since Nader 2000

This summer, Campus Greens exploded onto the national scene with their Founding Convention and Rally for Radical Change. From August 9-12, nearly 500 campus activists converged on Chicago for the convention; and that weekend, over 3,000 people attended the rally. Speakers and performers at the rally included Ralph Nader, Winona LaDuke, Cornel West, Patti Smith and Ani DiFranco. At the convention, hundreds of activists attended skills and issues workshops, and delegates from nearly 100 chapters hammered out the organization's by-laws and elected the national Steering Committee.

The convention left Campus Greens members energized and poised to hit the ground running when they returned to campus in September. At the national, regional and local level, Campus Greens has done just that. Shortly after the convention, the Steering Committee hired a Development Director, Briel Johnson, to work closely with the new National Director, Carolyn Danckaert. In the months since the convention, the number of chapters has grown to over 125. This dramatic surge of activity makes Campus Greens one of the fastest growing progressive student organizations in the country.

On a national level, the organization responded swiftly to the September 11 tragedy, issuing a statement days after the attacks, and helping to build the new National Youth and Student Peace Coalition. Campus Greens has also participated in this semester's most significant regional mobilizations: namely the School of the Americas protest and the September 29 peace demonstrations in Washington, D.C. And, we are currently preparing to launch a national campaign this spring focused on corporate influence in the educational system with an emphasis on the influence of the military-industrial complex on schools.

It's on the local level, however, that the most significant work is being done. This is where, what the organization calls, the "radical democracy movement" is being propelled forward: students have run campaigns to "take over their student governments" by electing slates of progressive candidates; they have been running fair trade campaigns targeting the purchasing policies of their campus bookstores and cafeterias; they have begun to challenge the investment portfolios of their universities, demanding divestment from corporations with poor labor and environmental records; and, in the wake of September 11, they have begun to challenge their universities' ties to the military-industrial complex.

Over the next several months, Campus Greens will be holding regional organizing trainings to strengthen the network of Campus Greens activists and to help them hone their organizing skills. During the spring semester, Campus Greens will be running an internship program at its national office in Chicago (and we still have a few intern positions available!). This summer, select activists from all over the country will attend an intensive Campus Greens' organizing training camp. What began for so many thousands of students as a nine week stint into electoral politics with the Nader/LaDuke campaign, has rapidly become a national institution, working daily to involve students and young people in progressive politics as activists, organizers, and candidates- giving youth the tools with which to turn their ideals into reality.

To learn more about Campus Greens, please visit our website at http://www.campusgreens.org or contact us directly at info@campusgreens.org or 773.394.9720.

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