I'd like to think of myself as someone who works to achieve peaceful resolution to disagreements. I am very future focused and tend to avoid conflict and in the case of verbal disagreements will defer to avoid conflict. That being said here I go.....Right now progressives need a leader and I thought that Jill Stein could be that person. But the selection of Ajamu Baraka has called into question that assumption. The title of this essay is a quote from the 2015 article, "The Charlie Hebdo White Power Rally in Paris: A Celebration of Western Hypocrisy" on Ajamu Baraka's own webpage: http://www.ajamubaraka.com/.

Ajamu Baraka has some serious accomplishments, much more than I ever will. He has been on the board of Amnesty International. He worked from 2004-2011 at the Human Rights Network.

There is more info about him at Ajamu Baraka's wikipedia page. I have to ask however, how can someone be considered a legitimate VP Candidate who made the following statement last year, "It means that if today leftists in the U.S. can find a way to reconcile the suffering of the people of Yemen and Gaza and all of occupied Palestine for the greater good of electing Sanders, tomorrow my life and the movement that I am a part of that is committed to fighting this corrupt, degenerate, white supremacist monstrosity called the United States, can be labeled as enemies of the state and subjected to brutal repression with the same level of silence from these leftists." (Emphasis mine).

I'm aware of the double standards for deaths in different parts of the planet and the contradictions in US Foreign policy, but this is a VP Candidate we are talking about.

As others have referred to realignment, movement, a new coalition, etc. I believe that any new effective coalition can not only include the many stripes of white progressives, minorities, etc. (including BLM and Occupy). A bridge has to be made from these many disparate groups to the many conservative poor, working class, and middle class white people in the USA. Political corruption and economic issues (TPP, Wall Street, Wal-Martization of the country, poor K-12 education, Big Ag, poverty) are areas where we can find common ground. And we must find common ground if we are to make political change.

A person such as Ajamu Baraka cannot lead such a coalition. He is not someone who can bridge disparate groups to build an effective coalition of Unlike-minded (not a typo) people. I don't know who is calling the shots in the Green Party, but I must question the judgement of Green Party leaders and their goals, what do they want? a fringe party? A place for their little cliques? Are they a bunch of elites who know better than everyone else (sounds familiar to another party)?

I don't want to create conflict, but feel that this issue must be brought up. Perhaps it could be included in the larger discussion about realignment and where we should go from here (how to continue Bernie's Revolution).

Opinions? Disagreements? I will gladly make any correction or update if there is any faulty info in this essay.