Greens for Greens â„¢

[From: Eureka Reporter]

Potential Green Party nominee visits HSU
by Cerena Johnson, 12/12/2007
 
Green Party presidential hopeful Jared Ball visited Humboldt State University Wednesday to deliver a message in a distinctive political style.

Accompanied by “mayor of DC hip-hop� artist Head-Roc, local poets and speakers, Ball emphasized issues that he said are largely unaddressed in society.

“We’re using hip-hop as the delivery vehicle to get to the people of culture,� Head Roc said, to get people in different communities interested and participating.

“We’re trying to erase a lot of the negative stereotypes,� Head-Roc said.

Ball said by using hip-hop style, he is trying to reach out to the communities who are most disenfranchised.

“We want to help build the Green Party,� he said, and “help re-center the discussion.�

He lists among his campaign issues a redistribution of wealth in order to approach problems such as poverty and access to health care.

The top 1 percent of Americans are wealthier than 90 percent of the population, he said.

Ball also offered the example of the prison industrial complex, in which 80 percent of prisoners are non-violent offenders, and said issues such as police brutality need to be addressed.

“If we address how we treat people here, it would have a direct effect on what we do overseas,� he said.

Ball said he is running his campaign based on the influence of the goals of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Ball is an assistant professor of communications studies at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Md.

Ball is also an independent journalist; a radio host with WPFW 89.3 FM Pacifica Radio in Washington, D.C.; the editor of Words, Beats and Life Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture; founder of FreeMix Radio: The Original Mixtape Radio Show; and a veteran of Desert Shield/Desert Storm.