Rally for Greening Revolution with Jill Stein and Amaju Baraka last night in the Bronx!

A few hundred people showed up last night to hear Dr. Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka themselves at an event at Hostos College in the Bronx to learn more about the progressive Green Party platform.

The mainstream media has tried to suppress the Green Party and they were excluded from the Presidential Debates, so they brought the campaign straight to the people!

WHEN: Wednesday, October 12th. Doors opened at 7pm, event began at 7:30pm

WHERE: Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture (Hostos Community College), 450 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10451. Half a block from the 4/5 trains.

From Robin’s website, http://www.robinforsenator.com/, Robin Laverne Wilson, also known by my artist/activist moniker “Dragonfly.” I was asked directly by the Green Party of New York to consider the candidacy for U.S. Senate in the State of New York, and with great honor and humility, I accepted. I was born in Detroit, Michigan and was raised in San Antonio, Texas. My father was retired US Army Sergeant First Class combat medic who served in Korea and Vietnam. My mother was a homemaker and then worked as a domestic as my father’s health declined from his exposure to war and agent orange. I migrated to the NYC Metro area in 2003 and graduated magna cum laude from Rutgers University. I have been proudly anchored in Brooklyn for the last three years. I am currently pursuing an MA in Applied Theatre from CUNY School of Professional Studies, and have committed my life to using art and culture for profound social-political change. I am running for our lives because the urgency of every single issue is a matter of life and death. We are threatened by the economy on one hand and the ecology on the other. It’s time to reset our collective priorities to Planet, People, and Peace in THAT specific order to ensure a true prosperity for all that’s as universal as the gift of sunshine. The Green Party is part of an international movement of global citizens who honor Earth over Empire. I am running for Senator to challenge the establishment’s pattern of lethal legislation made by corporate interests and military leadership. While everyone is distracted by the current dog-and-pony show of our Presidential Election, Senator Chuck Schumer and his dismal voting record towards the planet and its people continues to fly unchallenged under the radar. I am here to champion the incredible work already done by grassroots organizations and brave individuals making stands against the exploitative ruling class and the stagnant status quo. I pledge to bring the demands of working people and all life in earth into this election. I intend to amplify the policies proposed by the people directly affected by oppression and the insensitivity of the elite. There’s a LOT of work to do and I can’t do it alone! WE [yes, that means YOU TOO!] are running for Senator against Chuck Schumer — and together WE can fight for New York’s 99% against racism, sexism and exploitation!

A cheering crowd last night at the Jill Stein, Amaju Baraka event at Hostos College in the Bronx as the Green Party brought their candidates to the people.

Moderators, Janvieve Williams Comrie and Lynne Serpe.

Born & Bred Brooklynite, Xiomara Marie aka DJ BEMBONA is the new chica in town. A recent graduate of Long Island University: Brooklyn Campus, with a bachelor’s degree in Media Arts: Digital Audio & Sound Design, she uses all of her multi-platform media & performing arts skills in conjunction with her recent DJ career. A lover of music and all things world culture, Xiomara has introduced herself to the world as DJ BEMBONA. As an Afro-Latina (Puertorriqueña y Panameña), she aims to teach her diverse audience more about Latino culture, and aims to bring her Latino community one step closer to embracing their blackness. She combines Latino-Afro-Global sounds with her Brooklyn environment to create a euphoric & unique experience for her audience. Making her way around the Brooklyn scene at parties like ESO!! iBomba & La Rabia, plus releasing her debut mixtape La Sala (Oct. 2015) through Remezcla x Apple Music; DJ BEMBONA has proven that she is here to stay.

Carlos Jesus Calzadilla, who was arrested at the last debate at Hofstra where Jill Stein was excluded and supporters of #OpenTheDebate attempted to ask that Jill Stein be allowed into the debate. Carlos said, “because this is supposed to be a democracy. We’re supposed to have dialogue amongst many people, not just two. And the commission on debates is controlled by the Republicans and the Democrats. We are demanding right now an America, where supposedly we have freedom of speech, to open the debates and let Jill Stein and Gary Johnson participate in them.” Last night Carlos said, “Corporate greed is destroying our livelihoods. We have to break this 2 party system”.

Akeem Browder, brother of Kalief Browder, who was picked up by NYPD for allegedly stealing a backpack, and taken to Rikers Island for 3 years, was never charged with a crime and spent 2 of the 3 years in solitary confinement. Kalief was also beaten by guards and inmates and refused to take a plea of guilty when he knew he didn’t commit any crime. Kalief committed suicide after being released due to the trauma he suffered. Akeem started the Campaign to Shut Down Rikers, We call on you, Mayor de Blasio, Governor Cuomo and Department of Correction Commissioner Ponte to immediately shut down Rikers Island. It is a factory of human rights abuses that cannot be reformed. The Department of Correction has created a system that enables widespread physical and sexual assault of detainees. Correction officers routinely use solitary confinement as a tool of punishment. Approximately 85% of those incarcerated, including large numbers of adolescents and people with mental illness, have not been convicted of any crime, and many remain incarcerated because they cannot afford bail. Rikers is a potent symbol of a racist criminal justice system that has waged a war on Black, Brown and low-income people. Rather than policies that criminalize and incarcerate, we demand funding for community-based social services, mental health care, rehabilitation, and due process protections. #ShutDownRikers #BlackLivesMatter 7 Reasons to #ShutDownRikers 1. Rikers is racist -90% of people held on Rikers are Black or Latino/a. 2. Rikers punishes poor people -79% of people on Rikers are there because they couldn’t afford to post bail during arraignment. 3. Rikers breeds physical and sexual violence -In 2014, correction officers on Rikers used physical force 4,074 times. -Sexual victimization occurring on Rikers is reported almost three times as much as the national average (8.6% vs. 3.2%). 4. Rikers abuses children and people with mental illness -Federal investigators found that 43.7% of teenage boys on Rikers were subjected to staff use of force on at least one occasion. -40% of people held on Rikers suffer from mental health issues and make up 75% of injuries sustained during staff use of force. 5. Rikers acts as a prison, not a jail -85% of people on Rikers have not been convicted of a crime and are held there during court proceedings. Court cases linger much longer than the 6 months stipulated by New York’s speedy-trial law, the “ready rule”. 6. Rikers is a waste of public spending -It costs $112,665 to detain a person on Rikers for 1 year. -Over $1 billion is spent annually to keep Rikers open. 7. Rikers is a torture chamber -Bradley Ballard, who suffered from schizophrenia and diabetes, was locked in a cell on Rikers for 7 days, deprived of food, water, medication, and health services. Staff deliberately neglected his deteriorating health until it was too late. Naked, covered in feces, and sexually mutilated, Bradley was removed from his cell but died shortly afterward. His death was ruled a homicide. This is just one of dozens of deaths resulting from systemic abuses on Rikers. https://www.change.org/p/bill-de-blasio-andrew-cuomo-joseph-ponte-shut-down-rikers

Amaju Baraka, Jill Steins running mate,, A human rights defender whose experience spans four decades of domestic and international education and activism, Ajamu Baraka is a veteran grassroots organizer whose roots are in the Black Liberation Movement and anti-apartheid and Central American solidarity struggles. Baraka is an internationally recognized leader of the emerging human rights movement in the U.S. and has been at the forefront of efforts to apply the international human rights framework to social justice advocacy in the U.S. for more than 25 years. As such, he has provided human rights trainings for grassroots activists across the country, has given briefings on human rights to the U.S. Congress, and has appeared before and provided statements to various United Nations agencies, including the UN Human Rights Commission (precursor to the current UN Human Rights Council). For more on Amaju,, see Jill2016.com “They have allowed themselves to fall prey to the hustle that took place here in 2016. They’re trying to tell us that we have some kind of responsibility to undermine our commitment to Democracy, take ourselves out of the race, to give the race to Hillary Clinton. We’re supposed to be so concerned about the Donald Trump and that threat that we miss the right wing consolidation taking place in the Democratic Party in order to give the race to Hillary Clinton because we’re supposed to be scared of Donald Trump”.

Power to the People Plan “My Power to the People Plan creates deep system change, moving from the greed and exploitation of corporate capitalism to a human-centered economy that puts people, planet and peace over profit. It offers direct answers to the economic, social, and ecological crises brought on by both corporate political parties. And it empowers the American people to fix our broken political system and make real the promise of democracy. This plan will end unemployment and poverty; avert climate catastrophe; build a sustainable, just economy; and recognize the dignity and human rights of everyone in our society and our world. The power to create this new world is not in our hopes, it’s not in our dreams – it’s in our hands.” signature_jill_8.png Key points of the Power to the People Plan: A Green New Deal: Create millions of jobs by transitioning to 100% clean renewable energy by 2030, and investing in public transit, sustainable agriculture, and conservation. Jobs as a Right: Create living-wage jobs for every American who needs work, replacing unemployment offices with employment offices. Advance workers rights to form unions, achieve workplace democracy, and keep a fair share of the wealth they create. End Poverty: Guarantee economic human rights, including access to food, water, housing, and utilities, with effective anti-poverty programs to ensure every American a life of dignity. Health Care as a Right: Establish an improved “Medicare For All” single-payer public health insurance program to provide everyone with quality health care, at huge savings. Education as a Right: Abolish student debt to free a generation of Americans from debt servitude. Guarantee tuition-free, world-class public education from pre-school through university. End high stakes testing and public school privatization. A Just Economy: Set a $15/hour federal minimum wage. Break up “too-big-to-fail” banks and democratize the Federal Reserve. Reject gentrification as a model of economic development. Support development of worker and community cooperatives and small businesses. Make Wall Street, big corporations, and the rich pay their fair share of taxes. Create democratically run public banks and utilities. Replace corporate trade agreements with fair trade agreements. Protect Mother Earth: Lead on a global treaty to halt climate change. End destructive energy extraction: fracking, tar sands, offshore drilling, oil trains, mountaintop removal, and uranium mines. Protect our public lands, water supplies, biological diversity, parks, and pollinators. Label GMOs, and put a moratorium on GMOs and pesticides until they are proven safe. Protect the rights of future generations. Racial Justice Now: End police brutality and mass incarceration. Create a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to understand and eliminate the legacy of slavery that lives on as pervasive racism in the economy, education, housing and health. Ensure that communities control their police rather than police controlling our communities, by establishing police review boards and full time investigators to look in to all cases of death in police custody. Demilitarize the police. Freedom and Equality: Expand women’s rights, protect LGBTQIA+ people from discrimination, defend indigenous rights and lands, and create a welcoming path to citizenship for immigrants. Protect the free Internet, legalize marijuana/hemp, and treat substance abuse as a public health problem, not a criminal problem. Justice for All: Restore our Constitutional rights, terminate unconstitutional surveillance and unwarranted spying, end persecution of government and media whistleblowers, close Guantanamo, abolish secret kill lists, and repeal indefinite detention without charge or trial. Peace and Human Rights: Establish a foreign policy based on diplomacy, international law, and human rights. End the wars and drone attacks, cut military spending by at least 50% and close the 700+ foreign military bases that are turning our republic into a bankrupt empire. Stop U.S. support and arms sales to human rights abusers, and lead on global nuclear disarmament. Empower the People: Abolish corporate personhood. Protect voters’ rights by establishing a constitutional right to vote. Enact electoral reforms that break the big money stranglehold and create truly representative democracy: public campaign financing, ranked-choice voting, proportional representation, and open debates.

Erica Garner, the daughter of Eric Garner, who was killed after being placed in an illegal chokehold by NYPD cop Daniel Pantaleo and 5 other cops piled on top of him while he pleaded, “I can’t breathe” 11 times, July 17th 2014, thanked Jill and Amaju for her being there the, thanked everyone. “The curtain is being pulled back on both political parties for us to see who they really are. We have seen what a Clinton Administration means for poor, and especially, black lives”. “TONIGHT I SAY WE VOTE WITH OUR CONSCIENCE Which doesn’t involve Democrats or Republicans”.

Rally for Greening Revolution with Jill Stein and Amaju Baraka last night in the Bronx!

Author: Cat April Watters

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