January 2023: Green-Rainbow Party Newsletter: Massachusetts Hosted the First Green Gathering

What became the Green Party of the United States had its first national conference 35 years ago in Massachusetts. “Building the Green Movement: A National Conference for a New Politics” was a six-day marathon that ran over the July 4th weekend from Thursday, July 2 through Tuesday, July 7 at Hampshire College in Amherst.

At that time the Green Party movement was organized as the Committees of Correspondence, a network launched at the first national Green organizing meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota in August 1984. The 10 Key Values were adopted there as the basis of unity for organizing affiliated local groups. By 1987, the network had about 75 local groups.

The Amherst gathering was not a decision-making conference because the Committees of Correspondence was not ready for a delegated decision-making congress. It first wanted to bring together all were interested in Green politics for a wide-ranging exchange of ideas and perspectives. About 1,500 people attended at least some days of the conference, which had nine plenary panels and 120 workshops scheduled in a 38-page program booklet.

Among the many speakers in the plenaries and workshops were the drafters of the 10 Key Values adopted in St. Paul, Mark Satin, author of New Age Politics (1979), and Charlene Spretnak, author of Green Politics (1984). The Left was represented by eco-anarchist Murray Bookchin and veteran socialist and black liberation activists James and Grace Lee Boggs. Novelist and peace activist Grace Paley spoke. Independent progressive politics was represented by Mel King of the Boston Rainbow Coalition, John Rensenbrink of the Maine Green Party, Dennis Boyer of the Wisconsin Labor-Farm Party, and SNCC veteran Gwen Patton of the National Committee for Independent Political Action.

The conference had strong international participation. Members of Indigenous nations spoke, including Walt Bressette (Red Cliff Chippewa and Lake Superior Green Party), Roberto Mendoza (Muskogee), Ron LaFrance (Mohawk), John Mohawk (Seneca), Katsi Cook (Mohawk), Jose Barreiro (Taina) and John Peters (Wampanoag). Green, peace, and democracy advocates from both sides of the Cold War spoke, including Jutta Ditfurth, spokesperson of the German Greens; Alfredo Syrkis, a founder of the Brazilian Green Party; Olga Medvedkov of the Moscow Trust Group; Jan Minkiwicz, a veteran of the Polish peace movement and Solidarity; Ariel Salleh, Australian Green and eco-feminist; and Joanne Landy of the Campaign for Peace and Democracy/East and West.

The New York Times ran a front page story about the conference on July 6, 1987 where, as an organizer of the conference, I was quoted as saying the groups represented at the conference were “a political party struggling to be born.” Thankfully, we did birth our party. And thanks to Massachusetts Greens for hosting this pivotal event in its development.

 

Edited version originally posted at https://www.green-rainbow.org/massachusetts_hosted_the_first_green_gathering

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Posted on

January 6, 2023

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