The past two weeks have exposed a lot of things for this country. The Republican Party has espoused its hateful rhetoric to cheers. The Republican Party has used fearmongering and hateful rhetoric - nothing new - to once again prop up candidacies that threaten democracy and freedom. However, the Democratic Party, as a party of short-term memory and half-truths, can’t meet the needs of the people, nor defend them. In this message, I want to help define what’s real and what’s true; a piece of the conversation that Baltimore, if not most of us, have been missing for a long time.
In a place of lies, we must be the truthful. The Democratic Party is not a party for the working class or the marginalized. The Democratic Party is not a party of nonviolence. When Bill Clinton cut welfare programs via the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, many Americans suffered, while another class of Americans were elevated. When former Baltimore mayor and Maryland governor Martin O’Malley incarcerated a large population of Baltimoreans, he destroyed communities of people who really just want to live and exist like the rest of us. While Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake gavels in the DNC she is fast tracking a 535 million dollar TIF that will exacerbate the inequity that is destroying our city, again elevating one class of citizens over another.
These leaders are not Republicans; however, the same state-administered injustices foster under them. This is their standard. Injustice is bipartisan.
The Democratic Party is not a party of social justice. Protest is admonished and civil disobedience is met with a Democrat-led militarized police system. You do have a few outliers - a few of them personal inspirations to me, like Nina Turner and Mary L Washington, the latter a state delegate in Maryland. But these leaders stand on the fringe making the best of they can in a counter-progressive party. Their ideas and vision may better fit the Green Party.
It is clear now that we need a more radical worldview; we need a broader, greater political imagination. We need to remember what it means to love progress, to the love planet, and to love people. When Maryland Green Party Senatorial Candidate Margaret Flowers protests alongside my friends in solidarity for #AFROMATION, it shows that we are not alone. When our mayoral candidate speaks power to justice, truth, and green jobs, he’s saying that our communities have value beyond a market or revenue stream. This is what real hope looks like - solidarity. This is what real change looks like.
So, what does that mean for us? When the Green Party hosts its convention next week, it will be humble. It will be small. We admit this. We have internal work to do. We have well-deserved criticisms. The left does have to do better with the race conversation. The left does have to learn how to engage. We know this.
Here in Baltimore, we have a budding movement where the people are sick of the status quo. We have a full slate of candidates, from Senate, to Mayor, to City Council. We are building this movement with everyday people like you. Greens are standing up for justice and are standing up for the people - at all intersections! Where some people have dropped the ball, it's important we carry the movement forward - with our voices, with our hands, with our dollars - wherever and however we can.
I, a 21 year old Black boy from South Carolina, am so inspired by the people I’ve been able to interact with. I am inspired by the actions. I am inspired by the possibility of what could be.
If you’re new here, welcome. If you’ve been with us, thank you. I’m excited for what we build. I’m excited for this opportunity to grow with you.
With radiant love,
Jeremy Collins
Co-Chair of the Baltimore Green Party