Cohousing-L Mailing List: Winnona LaDuke

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> Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2000 07:33:51 -0500
> From: "*Noquisi* (Day Starr)" <1daystar [at] worldnet.att.net>
> From "News From Indian Country:"
> Challenging presidential politics as usual
> LaDuke/Nader announce second presidential run
> by Suzanne Westerly
> NFIC Correspondent
>
>    Many people, I believe are disenfranchised from the voting process.
I
> believe that people died for the right to vote in this country, and
that
> is one of the ways to make things right, said Winona LaDuke, and
Ojibway
> Ansihinaabe from the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota.
>    In 1996, LaDuke ran with Green Party presidential candidate Ralph
> Nader as his vice-presidential running mate. To the joy of many, LaDuke
> has once
> again been asked by Nader to join him on the Green Party ticket. The
> announcement was scheduled to be made on February 14th.
>    "I would not be inclined to do it on my own, but I respect Ralph,
and
> what he has done for this country, and I am proud to come to his side
> and try to do the best I can," said LaDuke.
>    Both LaDuke and Nader are Harvard University graduates. LaDuke just
> turned 40, and Nader 62.
>     Talking about Nader, LaDuke said, "Most people don't know, but when
> he was in Harvard Law School, the first article he ever wrote,
published
> in the Harvard Law Review, was on the injustice against Native American
> people."
> Like many other environmental and social justice activists, Nader was
> one of LaDuke's heroes while growing up.
>    LaDuke, mother of two and expectiing a baby in early February, is a
> long-time environmentalist and indigenous rights activist. She is the
> founder of the White Earth Land Recovery Project.
>    The Project is dedicated to recovering land within the White Earth
> reservation where a logging industry clear-cut much of the land. She
> also founded the Indigenous Women's Network, and is on the board of
> directors of Greenpeace USA.
>    LaDuke was also a founding menber of Women of All Red Nations and
the
> Black Hills Alliance. In March of 1994 she was nominated by Time
> Magazine as one of the "50 leaders of the Future". LaDuke has published
> many articles and books; her most recent book is All Our Relations;
> Native Struggles for Land and Life.
>    Expressing her views about politics LaDuke said, "I'm not a giant
> proponent of the electoral process, I certainly don't believe that
> politicians will take care of everything. The standards that we hold
> politicians to in this country are so low, and the level of mistrust is
> so high. The level of disenfranchisement from the political process is
> so high that the question is, should we sit here for the next 20 years
> and keep saying it's just bad and getting worse, or should we try to
fix
> it?"
>    LaDuke is working to fix it, and in the process, to bring a set of
> issues, including Native issues and rural issues to the forefront.
> LaDuke's focus will be on "energy policy, reconciliation and
reparation.
> demilitarization, and all the environmental issues the Greens talk
> about."
>    "What I would say in summarizing my pubic policy approach is
caution.
>
> It is this concept of the Seventh Generation Amendment that the late
> Walt Bressette, a Red Cliff Chippewa talked about. The idea that each
> decision that you make today should be considered in light of it's
> impact on the seventh generation from now."
>    Thinking back on the last time Nader and LaDuke ran, she said, "Last
> time we ran we received about 1 percent of the vote, during the course
> of which we spent $35,000 because Ralph had put a limit on how much we
> could spend. Over the last few years, the Greens have increased their
> numbers. Last election we were on the ballot in only 22 states. This
> next election we are anticipating being on the ballot in almost all of
> the states."
>    "I believe that people generally don't think we are running for
> office because we are politicians. Ralph has spent his entire life
> saying, "sometimes a private citizen must become a public citizen
> because it is our responsibility to hold government accountable. I have
> tried the best I can to do the same thing. What I intend to do is to
say
> that someone like me who believes that these things need to be changed
> will rise to a higher calling than I would necessarily do on my own."
>    "We intend to run, we intend to campaign. I intend to continue to do
> my job, which has been my job for a long time. And that I will not
> change, and I encourage the Indian community who reads this article to
> think about the options."
>    "I don't say vote for us, but what I would argue is that we have a
> right to vote for the things we believe in and what the reality is, is
> that candidates like Ralph and myself will over time help transform
> American politics. At some point we should be able to raise the
> standard.
>   "That is not going to happen overnight, but the only way it is going
> to happen is to engage in the electoral process. so encourage Indian
> people to engage in that process if they choose to engage in an
American
> process because many Indian people don't vote in American elections. If
> they vote to at least consider how we make something that really
> reflects Indian people.
>     LaDuke summed up her feelings, "Nothing is going to happen if you
> don't work for it. That's what I believe. We can sit here and talk
about
> these issues until the cows come home, but that doesn't get anything
> done.
>   The Green Party Platform is based on "10 Key Values"; ecological
> wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy, nonviolence,
> decentralization, community -based  economics, feminism, respect for
> diversity, personal and global responsibility, and future
> focus/sustainability.
>
> --
> Back To The Blanket: A Cherokee/Native American Journal
>
>
<http://www.angelfire.com/biz/BackToTheBlanket>http://www.angelfire.com/b
i
> z/BackToTheBlanket
>


Friday, March 3, 2000

MUSICIAN BONNIE RAITT ENDORSES NADER/LADUKE IN BOSTON GLOBE

     In the music section of the Friday, March 3, 2000 Boston Globe
newspaper,
legendary songwriter, pop and blues singer Bonnie Raitt endorsed Green
Party
presidential candidate Ralph Nader and vice president candidate Winona
LaDuke.
     In the article profiling Raitt's induction into the Rock and Roll
Hall
of Fame, she commented on Nader and the election process saying "They
have no
chance to win, but they give us the chance to get issues discussed".
     She added " I'm pleased that there's a lot of amazing action going
on at
the grass-roots level in this country, versus the dog- and- pony show of
the
presidential election".
     When asked by Boston Globe music writer Steve Morse if she ever
thought
of running for a political office, Raitt said "No, I'm in a unique
position
in this culture to raise money, and I wouldn't want to lose that. It's
better
for me to be outside the culture in some ways. Plus without campaign
reform,
the politcial scene is disheartening. Elections are just bought thes
days."
    Raitt continues to perform many benefits for causes ranging from
Native
Americans rights to environmental issues.



March 7, 2000

THE GREENS
This Time, Nader Promises a Serious Run for President
By EVELYN NIEVES

The New York Times.  
http://nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/030700wh-grn.html


SAN FRANCISCO, March 6 -- Ralph Nader did not exactly run for president
four years ago. It was rather like he took a stroll. 

His campaign spent $5,000, less than the cost of one 10-second prime time
television commercial, appeared on the ballot in 22 states and pinched
only 1 percent of the vote from the major candidates. 

This time, Mr. Nader, the 66-year-old consumer advocate, vowed that his
candidacy was for real. 

This time, Mr. Nader said at a rally here for the California Green Party,
he is going to raise "millions of dollars" and use thousands of
volunteers who will spend "millions of hours" campaigning. 

This time, he plans to spread the Green Party message in earnest,
espousing environmental protection, an end to corporate welfare, and
health care and social justice for all. 

This time, the campaign, with a full-time manager, hopes to be on the
ballot in 45 states, get 5 percent of the vote nationwide, qualify for
federal matching funds and gain enough leverage to make the other
candidates take notice. 

"I never thought I would run for political office," said Mr. Nader, the
founder of Public Citizen, the consumer advocacy organization, who is
still best known for his 1960's exposés on the corners American car
companies cut on safety to maximize profits. "But it is time to stand up
to the rich and powerful corporate interests that dictate policy in this
country." 

His message went over well with the more than 400 people who attended a
rally at a middle school auditorium. More than half of the crowd were
members of the Green Party. 

"Who else is talking about people before profits?" said Joe Mann, a
20-year-old student at the University of California at Berkeley. 

Ross Mirkarimi, a member of the California Green Party, said the party
had raised more money during the rally than Mr. Nader had raised during
his entire 1996 campaign. 


"A serious Nader candidacy means a serious money operation," Mr.
Mirkarimi said, "and I firmly believe the Green Party will bolster his
campaign." 

Well established in Europe, the Green Party was started in this country
in 1984 and ran only write-in candidates until 1992, when it gained
recognition in California and a spot on the state ballot. 

The party has 11,000 members in San Francisco, 110,000 members statewide
and a total of 250,000 in the half-dozen or so states where it is well
organized. 

Last April, Audie Bock of Oakland became the first Green Party member to
win a statewide race in the United States when she was elected to the
California Assembly. 

Within months, Ms. Bock left the party to become an independent. The
Green Party had also dominated the City Council in Arcata, a logging town
in Northern California, with four members, but lost that majority last
November. 

Green Party members say their priority is fielding candidates in state
and municipal elections where there is a real chance of success. 

"Over 30 members hold elected office in California," said Greg Jan,
California coordinator for the Nader campaign. "And Greens on the local
level will be energized by having Nader run a real campaign." 

The Green Party is also fielding a candidate in the United States Senate
race in California. 

Medea Benjamin, the founder of Global Exchange, a San Francisco human
rights organization, is running against the incumbent Democrat, Dianne
Feinstein, and the winner of the Republican primary. 

"People are disgusted by Democrats and Republicans who take their
marching orders from corporate bosses who fill their campaign coffers,"
Ms. Benjamin said. "That's why I'm running." 

Mr. Nader seemed buoyed by the crowd. He was also tickled by the response
to his Web site. 

"It's www.votenader.com," he offered. "We've gotten a great deal of
response to it. The message of giving people power is not a marginalized
message."