Greens for Greens â„¢

From Chicago Reader

Omar Lopez (Photo by: Jim Newberry)

Despite conflict between environmentalists and the immigrants’ rights movement, congressional candidate Omar Lopez thinks the Greens could supplant the Democrats as Latinos’ party of choice.

By Kari Lydersen

The most impressive thing about the Green Party’s national nominating convention, held at Symphony Center July 10-13, might’ve been how multiracial it was. In the crowd, black nationalists and young activists of all colors mingled with white hippies. Fiery former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who’s African-American, was named the Greens’ presidential candidate, and Rosa Clemente, a Latina hip-hop activist and journalist from New York, was slated for vice president.

But when keynote speaker Omar Lopez took the podium, it became clear that there’s more to the browning of the Green Party than just putting nonwhite candidates up for office. There’s a move, especially in Chicago, to incorporate immigration rights as a central issue for progressive Greens, whose focus on environmentalism has sometimes pitted them directly against immigrants.

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