Vibe.com runs a question-and-answer feature with Green vice presidential nominee Rosa Clemente that runs more than 2,500 words. Asked how she became the nominee, Clemente said presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney “called me on July 5th. It happened very quick. I didn’t hesitate because that’s just my personality. But by the time I got to the convention in Chicago, it was such a whirlwind. It was so fast, the nomination, meeting hundreds of Green Party members. It wasn’t ’til I got off that stage that I was like, holy s***. I’m gonna be on a ballot in 40 states. That is so surreal.”
More from Clemente:
“I came to know about Cynthia McKinney when she had the hearings on political prisoners in Congress. And then she started talking about Tupac and his files and trying to get the files from the FBI. I was in the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and we were working on so much around political prisoners. She started bringing me out to her brain trust as part of the Congressional Black Caucus. She was involved in the State of the Black World with Ron Daniels which I was involved with. And then she brought me out to this big Tupac event in Atlanta with Chuck D. Of course when they got her out of office, she went to Cornell to teach one of those two-week things and she just got so harassed. She got death threats. This was after the September 11 hearings where she was grilling Rumsfeld, after they arrested her — whatever the capitol police did to her.”
“People have always said, ‘You gotta tone it down Rosa, you’re too honest. You can’t always say what you say.’ And I think everything I did got me to this position, because I think I am genuine and I think that a lot of cats aren’t. I t has come at the expense of a lot of s***. I know that. But I can’t be any other way. And I think Cynthia is just, she’s completely uncompromising. That is the most needed value right now in our movement.”
15 responses so far ↓
1 G.E. // Aug 22, 2008 at 2:42 am
I have to say, this was a wise choice for VP. It is a bold anti-Establishment image. Certainly would never fly with the “Cargo Cultist” WASPy non-libertarians in the LP.
2 Trent Hill // Aug 22, 2008 at 11:10 am
For the sake of appealing to SOMEONE besdies the Black Nationalists and Hip-Hop Activists, they should’ve picked one of the many Green Mayors.
3 G.E. // Aug 22, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Not a black nationalist (neither is Rosa Clemente who is not solely black) or a hip-hop activist, and this ticket appeals to me. I certainly like Rosa Clemente more than deaf-mute Darrell Castle!
4 Sivarticus // Aug 22, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Clemente is a joke. Though at this point, little worse than Wayne Allan Root I suppose. Surely, third parties can start finding two serious people who would actually be qualified to be Vice President if elected. Is that so much to ask?
5 Hugh Jass // Aug 22, 2008 at 7:00 pm
WTF is a hip-hop activist?
6 G.E. // Aug 22, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Whatever it is, it’s better than a scamdicapper or a deaf mute (no offense to the real deaf mutes out there).
7 Trent Hill // Aug 22, 2008 at 7:12 pm
How do you figure Castle is a deaf mute?
8 G.E. // Aug 22, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Never saying anything.
9 Trent Hill // Aug 22, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Caslte has done about 6 radio interviews over the past week and is speaking at the Denver Immigration Rally this week. He has spoken at at least two other events prior to that.
10 G.E. // Aug 22, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Maybe I’m the deaf one, then.
11 G.E. // Aug 22, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Regardless, the only people who seem to be criticizing Clemente as a VP candidate are people who had no chance of voting Green anyway. It was a great choice, imo.
12 Mike Gillis // Aug 22, 2008 at 8:31 pm
I have criticisms of Clemente as VP, and of the McKinney campaign as a whole.
I would consider myself as part of the constituency that they want to win over, but I’ve seen enough to say that even if Nader were not running this year, I would not cast a vote for McKinney/Clemente.
13 G.E. // Aug 22, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Proves my point.
And plus, Nader IS running.
14 G.E. // Aug 23, 2008 at 9:47 pm
By the way: I just stumbled on to this anti-Fed rap song by a guy named Tahir Jahi. He’s not an Austrian — more of a Aaron Russo type — but I’m telling you, there is a great potential for appealing to the “hip hop community” on the issues of anti-Fed, revisionist history, individualism, laissez-faire capitalist entrepreneurialism, hardcore anti-statism, etc.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=3103877
15 G.E. // Aug 24, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Also, see this story I wrote for LFV:
http://lastfreevoice.wordpress.com/2008/08/24/new-anti-fed-rap-song/
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