Tha Artivist Presents...  

Former Georgia U.S. Congresswoman and subject of the feature film documentary American Blackout Cynthia McKinney is convinced that she is the best person to be the next President of the United States…

And she hopes that the Green party, the party that made Ralph Nader their Presidential candidate in 2000, agrees….

She is an African American at a time when Barack Obama is gathering headlines and winning primaries…She is a woman when Hilary Clinton is making a strong case and impressive run at the White House…In essence she is, at least this political season, the best of both worlds…

“I think this is very special time for our people, community and country”, said an enthusiastic and upbeat McKinney…”This is the time we got to do something different in order to get something different” a phrase which McKinney adopted as the battle cry for her candidacy…

McKinney believes that Black America is in a state of emergency and that the powers that be are not doing enough to find solutions....”There is a community in the United States that is in pain, that is suffering and the political process is not addressing that pain”…McKinney concluded that power doesn’t give up anything without a demand and that change must come through people demanding the right to be heard by exercising and protecting their right to vote…”There are remedies and options available, but we can’t have them if we don’t press the political will to make these changes in public policy happen…It’s high time that the votes of Black People are counted and treated with dignity and respect”…

McKinney feels that Blacks being shut out of the U.S. economy has had a terrible effect on the stability of the Black family unit…"Well I think it is very clear considering what has happened with the erosion of the quality of life being experienced by Black people in this country...The NY Times ran a story that nearly 50% all of the Black men from ages 18-64 in the City of New York were unemployed…What was the public policy response to provide for jobs for these men who will become fathers and stakeholders in families???"

She also commented that homeownership or lack of for Blacks is another crisis issue… “When it comes to homeownership United For A Fair Economy told us that it would take 1600 years to close the racial disparity between home ownership rates between Black people and White people if nothing else is done to change the public policy…We have to do more…We can’t wait and shouldn’t be asked to wait for fairness, equality and justice”…

McKinney hopes that her candidacy more than anything helps to “spark the kind of attention that will attract young people” and start a political action movement among those of the Hip Hop generation…”I see so much talent with our young people and the challenge now is to channel that talent into expanding opportunities”…Rev. Yearwood , the leader of the Hip Hop Caucus, a high profile national youth political activism organization, agrees with McKinney’s sentiments…”She sincerely believes in Black people, in the Hip Hop Generation…She understands that the Hip Hop Generation is the new Civil rights Generation for the 21st Century”…

Many see McKinney’s return to the National Political Arena as a welcomed breath of fresh air…”There is no question that Cynthia McKinney's return to national politics and her ambitious run for the presidential nomination is a good thing for the Green Party, for the American people and black people in particular,” stated Billy Buntin co-founder and co-editor of the popular political webzine SleptOn Magazine…Rev. Yearwood praised McKinney for her political courage and selflessness by noting that “she puts her life on the line, she puts her body on the line and she puts all of her convictions on the line to put forth a message of truth and power”…

Some people feel that McKinney will be used to take votes away from Barack Obama if he gets the Democratic party’s nomination for U.S. President…”That issue comes up a lot because people would rather believe the hype than trust the facts”, noted McKinney…

She compares the supposed scenario to that of 2000 Green Party Nominee Ralph Nader who was accused of costing Al Gore the election in 2000…”In the absence of integrity in the system for Black voters no one can say that Ralph Nader of the Green party spoiled the election, the spoilers of the election were the people who didn’t fight for the integrity of the Black voters …Certainly not somebody who participates in the process, who provides choice for voters…How could anyone every say that that person spoil the election and spoil our democracy??? I don’t think that the people who participate in the process honestly should be considered spoilers”…

Many of McKinney’s Supporters believe that the mainstream media goes out of their way to distort the true character of Cynthia McKinney…According to Rev. Yearwood “perception is reality” and further added “she’s fighting against very powerful people and corporations who control the media…Like Malcolm X said they can make the innocent look guilty”…In addition to have had “endured libelous dominant ‘mainstream’ media campaigns” against her Buntin stated that “Cynthia's name invokes fear and ridicule among establishment political pundits and parties as a result of her audacious willingness to question the legitimacy of American imperialism, Israeli occupation and the incestuous government/corporate relationship”.

Rev. Yearwood believes that in spite of the outcome, McKinney’s campaign will not be in vain…”Regardless if she gets one vote or one million votes, she is trying to make government more transparent particularly when the speaking of that is so muted in our times…It is still so good to hear that God is still producing prophets and prophetess who can go out there and proclaim the good news that the oppressed will one day stand up and those who are the oppressors will one day fall down”…