APACHE JUNCTION, Ariz., Mar. 24 -
Today the Pinal County Greens voted to join Greens in Pima County in endorsing community activist Charlie Manolakis in the April 17 Green Party primary for Congress in the special election in Arizona's Eighth Congressional District for the seat previously held by Gabrielle Giffords. The district includes parts of Pinal County, Pima County, Cochise County and Santa Cruz County.
"As the only Green candidate on the Green Party primary ballot, Charlie Manolakis has won the support of Pima County Green Party members," said Richard Grayson, Pinal County Greens co-chair. "We are happy to join them in pledging our support for this fine candidate."
Grayson noted that last week a Pima Superior Court judge threw out a meritless challenge to Manolakis' position on the ballot and urged independents as well as party members to vote for Charlie Manolakis on April 17.
"As the Pima Greens' Claudia Ellquist wrote in January, 'a Green voice should be heard' in this special election for Congress to debate the Democratic and Republican candidates," Grayson said.
"Along with the rest of the Arizona Green Party, we are thrilled that Charlie Manolakis will be our voice."
APACHE JUNCTION, Feb. 25 -
The Pinal County Greens today passed a resolution supporting the efforts of the Librotraficante Caravan, which is bringing contraband books — or “wet-books” — to Arizona. The project is also intended to raise awareness of the “prohibition” of the Mexican-American Studies Program and the removal of books from classrooms.
As Colorlines noted:
“When we heard that Tucson Unified School District administrators not only prohibited Mexican-American Studies, but then walked into classrooms, and in front of young Latino students, during class time, removed and boxed up books by our most beloved authors - that was too much. This offended us down to our soul. We had to respond,” said Tony Diaz, founder of Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say, which has led the charge.
Diaz added, “With their record of anti-immigrant legislation, politicians in Arizona have become experts in making humans illegal. We did not do enough to stop that, thus that anti-immigrant legislation spread to other states such as Alabama and Georgia. Now, these same legislators want to make thoughts illegal. If we allow this to happen, these laws, too, will spread. Other branches of ethnic studies will be prohibited, and other states will follow suit.”
The Librotraficante Caravan will travel from Houston, Texas, to Tucson, Ariz., carrying a payload of contraband books, creating networks of Underground Libraries and leaving community resources in its wake.
With just days away from launching the caravan Libroficante could use your help...donations are critical.
"We urge everyone -- both Arizonans and normal people concerned with government censorship of ethnic studies and ethnic literature -- to support the work of the Librotraficante Caravan," said Pinal County Greens co-chair Richard Grayson, who has taught classes in multicultural and immigrant literature at several colleges in Florida and New York.
"These 'forbidden' books -- such as Paolo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which I first read decades ago in a class at Teachers College at Columbia University -- should be required reading for some of our ignorant state officials."
For information on how you can make a tax-deductible donation, please visit the Librotraficante Caravan website.
Apache Junction, Ariz., Sept. 23, 2011 -
The Pinal County Greens today passed a resolution supporting the candidacy of Green Party candidate Beryl Baker for the Tucson City Council.
"Beryl Baker's experience in civic life as a longtime community activist and her sensible, progressive positions on the issues facing the Tucson community will make her a crucial addition to the city council," said Pinal County Greens co-chair Richard Grayson. "She will work relentlessly to protect Tucson's quality of life, grow the local economy, and ensure fiscal responsibility and an end to the mismanagement of the city's old boy network."
"We urge Arizona households to donate ten dollars to Beryl Baker's campaign so that she can qualify for matching funds," said the resolution of the Pinal County Greens, members of the Green Party in Pinal County, which includes some Tucson suburbs. "To avoid the appearance of undue influence, Beryl is not accepting contributions from corporations, special interests, or political action committees (PACs) - just regular people from Arizona families."
Apache Junction, Ariz., Sept. 1, 2011 -
The Pinal County Greens today passed a resolution congratulating Mary DeCamp on her overwhelming victory in the Green Party primary on Tuesday and enthusiastically supporting her candidacy for Mayor of Tucson.
"As Tucson's first Green and first female mayor, Mary DeCamp will boldly adress the economic and environmental issues facing the city," said Pinal County Greens co-chair Richard Grayson. "The initiatives she proposes will help create hundreds of small and mid-sized local businesses which are the economic engine that can create thousands of living-wage jobs for Tucson's working families."
"We congratulate Mary on her primary win and will do everything we can to support her campaign to be Tucson mayor," said the resolution of the Pinal County Greens, members of the Green Party in Pinal County, which includes some Tucson suburbs. "Mary DeCamp's background in politics, education and community service make her far superior to the Republican and Democratic candidates in this race."
Apache Junction, Ariz., May 20, 2011 -
Today the Pinal County Greens announced their endorsement of Green Party candidate Dave Croteau for Mayor of Tucson.
The Pinal County Greens, members of the Arizona Green Party who live in Pinal County, said in a statement:
"We believe that Dave Croteau would be the best candidate to be the mayor of the great city of Tucson in our neighboring county of Pima. Dave Croteau has pledged to relocalize the city's economic and social resources as a means of achieving a vibrant, sustainable future, and we wish him every success."
Richard Grayson, co-chair of the Pinal County Greens, urged members of the Green Party in Tucson to sign petitions to get Dave Croteau and his slate on the ballot.
