Jason Schwartz & 2020 VICE-POTUS Green Party Candidate ANGELA WALKER… Powerful future perspective on the direction posed for the USA- interesting hour of conversation
Summary & Transcript
[00:00 → 02:57] Introduction and Background of Angela Walker
Jason Schwartz hosts Angela Walker, the 2020 Green Party vice presidential candidate. Walker’s political journey began as an independent socialist candidate for Milwaukee sheriff in 2014, where she ran against former Sheriff David Clarke. Despite being an outsider, she garnered 20% of the vote—remarkably high for a third-party candidate—which led to attention from the Socialist Party USA. In 2016, she ran as the vice-presidential candidate alongside Mimi Soltysik for the Socialist Party USA ticket. By 2020, she was invited to be Howie Hawkins’ running mate for the Green Party, forging a “red-green” alliance between socialists (red) and Greens (green).
Key insights:
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Walker’s candidacy represents a coalition of socialist and green movements.
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The Green Party does not take corporate fossil fuel money, enabling an unfettered stance on climate issues.
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The interview highlights the significance of third-party roles in U.S. elections.
Walker describes the 2020 election as unprecedented due to the global pandemic, economic fallout, climate disasters, and political upheaval. She calls 2020 “the year of impossible things,” noting extreme climate events (hurricanes, wildfires) and the growing public demand for policies once considered radical, such as Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and police defunding.
Key points:
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The Green Party and Socialist Party advocate urgent, comprehensive climate action and nuclear disarmament.
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These parties uniquely address systemic issues ignored or delayed by the Democratic and Republican parties.
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Walker emphasizes the urgency of immediate climate measures rather than postponed action.
[07:54 → 15:17] Intersection of Race, Socialism, and Institutional Racism
Walker discusses her experience as a Black woman and how race deeply intersects with U.S. politics and policy. She highlights the persistent systemic racism embedded in institutions, citing Wisconsin’s poor record for Black children’s welfare (per Annie E. Casey Foundation). She stresses that the U.S. was founded on genocide and slavery, creating a “house built on bodies” whose legacy affects all institutions today.
Important insights:
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Soul work and honest reckoning with history are prerequisites for institutional change.
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The U.S. operates a caste system where Black people and other people of color are not treated as full citizens.
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Walker recounts a poignant interview with a 9-10 year old child who asked if oppression changed with presidential administrations; Walker stated it did not.
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Deindustrialization in places like Milwaukee has exacerbated economic and racial disparities.
[15:17 → 19:49] Legal and Constitutional Reforms to Address Racism
Walker advocates for rewriting laws and the Constitution to remove embedded racial inequities. She points out a critical loophole in the 13th Amendment allowing slavery as punishment for incarceration, fueling mass incarceration disproportionately impacting Black communities.
Table: Key Legal Issues Highlighted
| Legal Issue | Description | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| 13th Amendment Loophole | Slavery abolished except as punishment for crime; permits forced labor of incarcerated people | Enables mass incarceration and racialized prison labor |
| Redlining and Housing Discrimination | Historical laws and practices preventing Black Americans from accessing housing opportunities | Systemic wealth and opportunity disparities |
| Need for Constitutional Revision | Address embedded racism in foundational laws and institutions | Essential for equitable reform and justice |
Walker stresses that revising legal frameworks is essential to dismantling systemic racism and achieving fairness.
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Walker criticizes the U.S. government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, contrasting it with smaller countries that provided direct financial support to citizens. She explains how trillions were quickly allocated to bail out Wall Street but not to adequately support renters, workers, or families, resulting in evictions and financial insecurity.
Key economic points:
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The pandemic exposed the government’s political will to fund financial bailouts but not social supports.
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Walker advocates for guaranteed basic income or monthly payments to sustain families during crises.
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She critiques the profit motive in healthcare and calls for a community-controlled national health service under Medicare for All.
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Salaried healthcare workers would improve quality and patient care by removing incentives to rush or prioritize billable hours.
[29:11 → 31:04] Barriers to Third-Party Participation in U.S. Politics
Walker explains the systematic exclusion of third-party candidates from major political debates and platforms, controlled by the Democratic-Republican duopoly. She notes that while Jill Stein (Green Party 2016 candidate) had some access to forums, the 2020 Green Party has been shut out of mainstream debates.
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The entrenched two-party system gatekeeps political discourse.
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Third parties struggle for visibility despite growing public interest in alternative policies.
[31:04 → 39:56] Green Party’s Core Issues: Climate, Nuclear Disarmament, and Social Justice
Walker reiterates the urgency of addressing climate change aggressively and immediately, criticizing the major parties for being beholden to fossil fuel interests. She underscores the Green Party’s independence from corporate donations, enabling uncompromising advocacy.
She also shares her personal journey:
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Started as legislative director for a transit union, advocating for workers.
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Confronted racism and gender biases but used her intersecting identities (Black, queer, working-class woman) to inform her activism.
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Critiques mainstream politicians for focusing on “middle class” while ignoring working-class and poor communities.
[39:56 → 43:12] Philosophy and Vision: Eco-Socialism and Planetary Advocacy
Walker emphasizes the Green Party’s platform as eco-socialist, combining social justice with environmental sustainability. She articulates a holistic vision:
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Capitalist exploitation harms both people and the planet.
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The planet deserves respect and protection.
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The party is unapologetically committed to advocating for non-human life as well as humans.
She encourages open-mindedness toward the Green Party platform, whether or not people ultimately support it.
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[43:12 → 44:26] Closing Remarks
Jason Schwartz expresses gratitude to Walker and encourages viewers to learn more about the Green Party and its candidates, including Howie Hawkins. The conversation ends on a hopeful note about the potential for alternative political voices to influence the future.
Key Themes and Takeaways
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Red-Green Alliance: Collaboration between socialist and Green Party movements to address systemic issues.
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Urgency of Climate Action: Immediate and comprehensive policies to combat climate change and fossil fuel dependence.
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Institutional Racism and Reform: Acknowledging U.S. history of racial oppression and pushing for constitutional and legal reforms.
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Economic Justice: Critique of profit-driven healthcare and inadequate pandemic relief; advocacy for community-controlled health services and economic supports.
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Barriers to Political Pluralism: The duopoly’s suppression of third-party voices limits democratic choices.
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Intersectional Identity in Politics: Walker’s lived experience shapes her advocacy for marginalized communities.
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Eco-Socialism: Integrating environmental sustainability with social and economic justice.
Summary Timeline/Table of Key Interview Topics
| Timestamp | Topic | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00–02:57 | Introduction and Background | Angela Walker’s political journey from Milwaukee socialist candidate to Green Party VP nominee |
| 02:57–07:54 | 2020 Election Context and Green Party Role | Unprecedented political and social crises; Green Party’s urgent climate and disarmament policies |
| 07:54–15:17 | Race and Institutional Racism | U.S. history of systemic racism and its ongoing effects; soul work as foundation for change |
| 15:17–19:49 | Legal and Constitutional Reforms | Need to rewrite laws and address 13th Amendment loophole perpetuating racial injustice |
| 19:49–29:11 | Economic Inequality and Pandemic Response | Critique of government’s pandemic relief failures; call for social spending and healthcare reform |
| 29:11–31:04 | Third-Party Political Exclusion | Barriers to Green Party inclusion in debates and political discourse |
| 31:04–39:56 | Green Party Core Issues and Personal Background | Climate urgency, nuclear disarmament, social justice; Walker’s intersectional identity |
| 39:56–43:12 | Philosophy of Eco-Socialism and Planetary Advocacy | Capitalism’s harm to people and planet; Green Party’s holistic eco-socialist vision |
| 43:12–44:26 | Closing and Call to Action | Encouragement to engage with Green Party ideas and candidates |
Conclusion
This interview offers a comprehensive exploration of Angela Walker’s candidacy and the Green Party’s platform amid a historic moment of political, social, and environmental upheaval. Walker’s insights illuminate the intersections of race, class, and ecology while challenging the dominant two-party system. Her advocacy for urgent climate action, systemic racial reform, and economic justice reflects a bold vision for a more equitable and sustainable future.
The conversation serves as a valuable resource for understanding alternative political perspectives and the critical issues often marginalized in mainstream discourse.
Transcript
Music] aloha everyone i’m jason schwartz your host here at the neutral zone you know we say we’re anything but neutral but we have all kinds of guests and today we have an extremely special guest today i have angela walker who is the vice presidential candidate for the vice president of the united states from the green party which i hold very dear to my heart because that’s where i ran was green hello hi angela welcome to our show aloha and thank you for having me i’m going to turn this light on all
00:50
right it’s a little less dark in here okay here we go here we go now um to run for vice president of the united states is a that’s a big role um i’m sure the old expression is someone asked you and you said sure i would be happy to accept how did you happen upon this role what was your background that put you in the position to be even asked about such a thing it’s been a journey um i initially ran for office as an independent socialist in my hometown of milwaukee wisconsin back in 2014 against um former sheriff
01:33
david clarke who you know most people who know him know him as the cowboy hat wearing fox news pundit um doesn’t like yeah you know who i’m talking about that guy um and i ran against him as an independent socialist we took 20 of the vote in that election which was shocking on a few different levels and because i ran as an independent socialist and scored from what i understand um received the highest amount of votes for any third party candidate that year it got the attention of the socialist
02:15
party of the usa and in 2016 my friend who joined the ancestors uh not too long ago uh immediate mimi sold to sick one of the best people i’ve ever met i asked if i’d be his running mate for president vice president 2016. and so i ran with him then and in 2014 we talked about building a red green alliance you know i’ve known howie is not a stranger to me so i mean i had known howie hawkins since 2014 you know discussions and panels and you know we had talked about a red green alliance and so here in 2020
02:57
to have been asked to be his running mate and also have the endorsement and and support of the socialist party of the usa and bring that red green alliance into being is pretty is pretty amazing red green i’ve never heard it put that way i know i’m but the socialist party is considered red meaning more toward a red kind of philosophy is that what it means no it’s just the social uh socialist that’s our color okay okay um what do you see in this election year as uh i want to say the your position in this race we have
03:43
an unusual election in that i’ve never seen republicans scrambling like they have and trying to figure out what their values are trying to be there while they have a president uh let’s not get too personal who is an absolute difficult soul and um he’s running against joe biden who might not have been the best candidate by many people’s standards but there was a rallying around someone that they thought might be able to get this trump guy out of there and now um in this election the green party and
04:26
your role uh is kind of interesting because the greens and the socialists as well i mean alternative views have a real important part in in uh the dialogue but i wondered how you’re perceiving the important things that you can contribute in this kind of a race and time and if that’s a good question sort of giving you a a chance to explain where your passions are in this race and in our times that we’re in it’s actually an excellent question um we are at the intersection of a rebellion
05:10
a pandemic a global pandemic and economic fallout that no one could have foreseen five years ago and so i think that because i’ve been calling this the year of impossible things because it has been so unprecedented and so unexpected in so many different ways that it’s just like you can’t when you think that you you know okay now i i’ve got 20 20 nailed down i get it something else happens you’re getting you know hurricanes like they’re they’re one behind the other now
05:49
we’re not we’re already in what at least you know on this side of things we’re already up to end and it’s not even mid-september yet for name storms that is unprecedented so i think that because the times are so utterly unbelievable the things that you know in 26 2012 2013 people were talking about socialism 2016 they got a little louder 2020 people are like look i mean they are what i’m here i’m hearing socialism in places that i have never heard it before i’m hearing green new deals i’m hearing
06:38
medicaid medicare for all i’m hearing defund the police years a few just a few years ago people you know these were ideas but it wasn’t a i’m gonna push for this now they are demands and so i think that our message as green party folks and socialist folks the message that we’re bringing it bringing is exactly the message people are demanding we are the only party that is talking about you know not only these policies but we are also the only party talking about doing all that we can to reverse climate
07:18
change now and beginning that now not kicking the can down the road 30 40 50 years because we don’t have 30 40 50 years we need to do this now and there is there is a major sense of urgency behind this we are the only party that’s bringing that we’re also the only party talking about nuclear de-escalation and nuclear disarmament so that we’re not living with this threat hanging over our heads you know in the midst of all these other things and so i think that our message is absolutely
07:54
perfect for this time i mean it’s perfect for any time and i’m not saying that because i’m biased i’m saying it because it just makes sense um now you’re you’re from wisconsin i would be hard-pressed not to note that in the news just in this week that uh wisconsin has been quite prominent sadly um how has you being a black played in this mix in your presentation of the fact because i mean a lot of the things you talk about socialism uh the word socialism might scare some
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people but to me it’s being more socially responsible to the people so that the system is more fairly distributed of the wealth created and people really have an opportunity to not feel like they’re just going to be left somewhere the survival of the fittest let everyone go so that’s how i perceive it and being black and now you know we’re still trying to discover in every situation what it means as i just got off a uh webinar about dismantling racism it’s a bunch of white folk
09:17
trying to get to understand that we’ve been racists even those of us that haven’t thought of us as have to understand this whole thing and with all of you and running in your party i always wonder because now at this juncture as a uh i want to say as a representative for black people and people of color and people that are i guess repressed in many ways but um are there any kind of laws or things that you’ve looked at to help bring up uh the rights in a way that somehow i mean i i keep wondering what it would be like
09:58
to be running like you are and to be faced with this issue because a lot of us think all people are important yet it’s very clear that black people have been repressed in such a way that uh i mean when someone told me the gi bill i thought the gi bill was good for everyone but then how can you use the gi bill if the housing communities won’t accept and are redlining against black people something i didn’t even really realize so what many of us white people thought were there need institutional changes that’s what
10:32
i’m really getting at i think you know rob the day-to-day treating each other like human beings that’s going to take some inside soul work but on an institutional basis how to make this work is something i’m struggling to see what and how i can support which is why i’m really thinking you might have some insight into that i think it begins with that soul work and i’m thinking that it is so work on a larger scale and when i say that what i’m saying is that the one of the very things that we have got
11:09
to get at if we are going to change institutions in this country and how they function and who benefits from them and who does not if we are genuinely interested in making things good for all people we are going to have to do some soul work in this country and be honest about the fact that at this country’s inception it was founded on the genocide of indigenous people it was sustained and financed by the enslavement of africans we have to be honest about that this is uh this this country is a house
11:54
built on bodies and you can’t you can’t have this as a foundation and expect that anything that grows out of it is going to flourish it’s not and we’re seeing it you know the things that the united states has been responsible for around the world you know as far as imperialism colonialism going into other countries and taking their resources and and you know undermining their elections so that you have hope people in power that will cooperate with your theft it’s not acceptable we
12:34
have to be honest about this this country’s history and this country’s legacy and going from that then we can start talking about an individual level because this the system in this country is set up so that you have certain people who will never be looked at as people we have a caste system in this country and being a black woman you know i can honestly say a young a child a little kid well not a little kid but you know they’re about nine or ten and they asked the most one of the most profound
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questions i’ve ever had in an interview with don do you feel that with the individual currently occupying the white house do you feel differently do you feel more oppressed with this person because things are coming out or does it matter to you and i had to tell them no matter who’s been in the white house i have always been acutely aware that this is not a country that sees me as a citizen i am aware of that i’m aware of it every day of my life i am aware i have five grandchildren i am aware that this is a country that
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does not see our babies as babies they don’t and with wisconsin in particular the annie casey foundation years ago found that wisconsin is one of the worst weights worst states in the country for black children we could have told them that yes the book evicted said in wisconsin we are we have been at the epicenter of showing what deindustrialization and institutional racism where they meet you got the fallout in our communities that’s where i’m from and so what i’m hoping is that people
14:40
are ready to have these dialogues now by de-industrialization you mean for example when manufacturing centers suddenly went out of country and all these different things that what’s left then is a shell where they were being used before to do something and now they’re they’re being unused and what’s left leaves a void that doesn’t leave for growth and development equal to other areas that’s what you’re saying i think that’s exactly what i’m saying i have the the mental picture of those
15:17
shells in my head because that’s exactly what it is yeah so what can we do i mean here i am we’re in hawaii but what can we do is that’s what i’m hoping to see or we’re bringing up that discussion that institutions and uh governments to me a government is good when they do what i want them to do i don’t want them to tell me what to do i want us to come up with a good answer and something that they say that’s a good thing here’s how we can help you do it better so that’s what this is this is us coming
15:53
up with we want to be more fair to all people and give opportunity to different groups like you were talking how can we do that that’s how maybe we all us white people bla all people can help by being a vocal presence and getting our representatives to do something with these laws i mean um i don’t know i don’t really know how the laws are written that can take race out of it when i heard that the place that i grew up in levittown new york was that the developers didn’t allow certain races and things
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that i had no idea i grew up where my father was a manager of a wt grant company like a walmart in harlem at 125th street in harlem so when i grew up i didn’t really think about race until suddenly i was in a school there were only two blacks one was arthur prichak the singer’s daughter and some other guy that transferred in and my high school yearbook my quote in the high school yearbook was don’t discriminate goodness comes in many colors and yet i was in a white school i didn’t really think about race but i
17:09
must have been thinking about it enough at that time having i didn’t understand you know there was like a difference a different way people are being treated but i didn’t really know what to do to change it those kids in the schools we can talk about what their parents did but somewhere some rules had to kind of force the path into the change and that’s what i’m really really stretching for because when i think about you and green party and i think about uh standing up for people and
17:44
the four pillars and the the whole things about being green and how it’s important i don’t know how race is dealt with or it’s just one of those things to me that i think that more people right now than ever in history would like to be part of making this change happen and their demonstration if coupled with doctrines or maybe support in the kind of legislation that could help our country bring it up a level i mean i i wonder if i was in england or someone in canada that i know that’s
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black who married a white woman he’s doing music he said i was right across the border it was very different there so what is the difference was that legislative difference just across the border at niagara falls you know are we is there something we can do as a country to kind of get some of that racism out of the law we have to rewrite sorry if i’m being over pardon me we have to rewrite those laws we have to take that’s what i’m looking for go into the constitution and you know
19:01
there needs to be some some tweaking done i mean that’s a great idea all men and women of different colors and races everyone are created in other words that and that writes for all people and identifying it in the basic truths yeah also how many people know that there is a loophole in the 13th amendment that you know nominally ended slavery in the united states unless you are incarcerated if you are incarcerated you can be used as slave labor which is something that is happening right now with people who are
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incarcerated and it created the perfect perfect uh growing ground for the system of mass incarceration as we understand it now and who is the most disproportionately affected by that as it was you know back in in the days of enslavement black people so i mean we are going to have to go to the very the bedrock of the laws in this country go through the constitution you know go through the institutions that have been set up in this country and they are all going to have to be revamped that’s just the way it is well i hope
20:42
that we can do that i mean i wonder if it there was this point where i thought well if all us old people die off maybe the young people with their vision but i see that the young people are still not voting still not participating still listen to what mom and dad all that stuff they grew up believing and hearing you know it’s uh yeah i don’t i feel funny about that stuff you know i keep thinking people on their own free will will do this because they see the wisdom yet sometimes things have to be legislated to give
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them the path toward that wisdom funny balance i’m sorry if i’ve been dominating this early thing with conversation and talking about this race issue because there’s lots of issues and we could start almost there what other issues are big on your hit parade that we really need to address race is pivotal um it absolutely is pivotal because in the united states it connects to basically every other issue and a lot of people the fact that like what you were saying about your school earlier
21:58
the fact that you don’t have to think about it that you don’t have to be aware of that is how privilege works because those of us who don’t have that as our privilege are extremely aware of it even when we don’t want to be even when we would like to just be able to move through this country as human beings we are aware that it does not work that way for us we are not just human beings here um if we’re thought of as human at all so racism how about the healthcare one of those things that’s embedded in it
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um talking about medicare for all of the community-controlled national health service and it links to so many things in our platform that are around community control that the entities that serve communities the closest should be something that and you know folks in those communities have direct control of have you know elected health boards have salaried staff so they’re not you know like we have under capitalism you’ve got folks having to rush up you know run up billable hours and not able to spend
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quality time with patients and not able to get to know them and and stay with them you know because under the system that we currently have it’s it’s about profit and it’s forcing you know healthcare practitioners to to maybe not you know not treat in the way that they would most like to and so when you know under medicare for all of the community-controlled national health service with us you’re taking the profit motive out of that they’re salaried they have time to spend time with the
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people that they’re seeing and taking care of um you’re not rushing people through quality quality of care that people are receiving goes up and then of course there’s also the piece that you know the people who are administrating these things are directly accountable to the people who are receiving those services you’re not talking to some insurance person away who’s removed from this they are directly responsible to you i wonder sometimes you know in wanting services for all and the idea that we
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have to pay for them somehow we run into this muck of uh we don’t have enough what if there’s more month at the end of the money if you will um things by costs have gotten so skyrocketing how do we make a system we now need more education to create more practitioners to be able to serve more people to be able to slow down because you can go to a practitioner as a poor person and be waiting for a couple of hours to see a practitioner who’s in there you know and he does whatever billing but he sees you
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eight minutes you know you’re trying to tell him something and he’s in and out you didn’t know he’s not coming back in again he’s already to the next patient like you’re saying but how do we deal with that uh you know maybe a system that uses well that’s a that word needs to be what i think i don’t know if the word destigmatized you know when there are people that are of republican nature when they hear the word social i think ah socialism ah it’s like how do we
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i guess that’s what i do in the neutral zone here we take things that seem like they’re difficult but they’re not difficult they need to be explained in a more comfortable way it means that people are being served that everyone uh is getting more value out of our system how do we do that without enough money how do we do that we have enough money we have more than enough money this country has has more than enough money to do what it needs to do it chooses not to at the beginning of this pandemic when
26:19
this country could have stepped the government could have stepped in had it followed the lead of a whole lot of smaller countries who had less resources and handled the pandemic in a much more responsible and intelligent way had it done that it would have that three trillion that just materialized out of the air when it needed to to bail out wall street yet again that money would have been put to keeping paying landlords so that they would not have had to lean on their tenants and als while also imposing a moratorium
26:59
on evictions and foreclosures but making sure that those landlords were able to keep financially afloat so you don’t have you know this kicking the can down the road with the eviction moratoriums when all of a sudden folks who a lot of whom are now unemployed because of the pandemic now you’ve got this big looming amount over your head it’s either pay this giant amount or be evicted that’s not how that was supposed to work and in the middle of all of that making sure that people were getting some sort of
27:32
financial payment so that they could shelter in place and not be worried about being able to buy food or you know have the things that they needed people were not protesting because they weren’t able to work they weren’t protesting the quarantining because of that they may have thought that’s what it was underlying that that wasn’t what it was what they were angry about is the fact this government fell on its face and did not provide them the financial support that they needed so that they while you’re sheltering in
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place and observing observing the guidelines that you’ve been given you’re able to do that without the stress of can i feed my family am i going to be evicted are my lights going to be turned off what’s going to happen with my car things like that you would have been getting a monthly amount for your family to stay afloat which is what other countries did and made sure that their people were taken care of that didn’t happen here so there’s a whole lot of things that could have happened and for
28:42
one of the things that did happen though is the fact that we are no longer in a position in this country to ask how are we going to fund it they showed us how how we’re going to fund it y’all may when when they had a will when there was political will then all of a sudden there’s money there’s no money when there’s no political will when you want to heal people who are poor make sure that everyone is housed oh you can never find the money for that but let wall street be in trouble
29:11
it just shows up out of nowhere that’s garbage that’s a really good point and i think that it needs to be really hammered true that we can create it the whole system is based when we lost our gold standard way back in 1972 now we’re they’re just printing it as needed the fact that they can’t print it as needed for things that are needed is so completely out of line and it’s blatant well hope i am uh glad to hear these things are in discussion have you had any opportunity to be in
29:48
dialogue or uh debate are you and and howie with any of the uh democrats or republicans is that anything that happened at all no the duopoly makes sure that that third and fourth parties are shut out of access to those debates and so so none of those you’re getting no access to those no of course not i mean i would you if you were a member of the duopoly and you knew that your policies were not what people were asking for and you knew that this competitor on the left was offering folks exactly what they
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wanted and has a budget to fund it because we do would you want to be on the debate stage with them no so let me when jill stein was running the last time you know she at least had an opportunity to participate in different forums but you’re not seeing that at all now then that’s what i was asking no we get on like you know discussions and things like that but as far as like the big debate that everyone’s like going to be watching those debates no they’re you know and it isn’t because we haven’t
31:04
tried um the folks you know back when the league of women voters was running it we would have had a chance for that but that’s not who’s over you know who’s in charge of it now and uh the organization gatekeeps for both the democrats and the republicans i mean that’s that’s the nature of the beast how can we help anything we can do and we’re gonna show this up obviously on the net and i hope to have you both howie and again as we’re moving along for you to use in some other way
31:39
this one is really a get to know you time i wanted you to kind of get i’m a little bit unorthodox and then i’m not scripted i don’t have any uh agenda if you will i’m uh always looking to find a way to take what seem like things that don’t fit together and allow them to fit together be that neutral zone where we can kind of discuss things and not carry a sword you know and see if that we can do something in this arena of what if we all want to do things just and we care about each other
32:17
and what we can do that’s good for everyone and that’s how i that’s how i got attracted to the green party i saw its precepts and concepts and then felt like it was a step outside that line we call it a duopoly for sure um what other issues i mean you guys are obviously have issues that you’re bringing up any of the important issues that you’d like to put in the in the national conversation that isn’t there right now climate change nuclear de-escalation and disarmament we don’t have we don’t have time
33:00
for folks to sit around and twiddle their thumbs like you know what you know what baby steps can we make maybe we should discontinue the use of fossil fuels and move over to something more green possibly we need to discuss it no we don’t have time to discuss it i mean this is this is you know a march towards extinction and i i think we need to take it a little seriously and so the fact that the green party is the only party that is seriously talking about this and relentlessly talking about this
33:35
i think it’s it’s it’s an embarrassment for the other parties of the two parties and the two parties that actually have the stage actually have the power to make changes here and make timely changes and are choosing not to because they can’t make you know they they’re not in a position to anger their corporate donors many of whom are fossil fuels and you know in in you know involved in nefarious ecologically damaging things around the world i mean you you if you’re taking money
34:15
from them you can’t speak against them and so the green party i think is the only party in fact i don’t think i know because we don’t take that kind of money and we don’t have those kind of donors we’re the only party that is basically unfettered in being able to speak about climate change and the fact that we don’t have time to think about you know how we’re going to do this we have a blueprint and it is time to move on it right now there is all the urgency in the world
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about this i am totally with you we’re here in maui you know the idea of self-sustainability on an island that is we’re the most remote land mass in the world hawaii and yet they haven’t focused on self-sustainability i’ve been talking about it for 30 years it’s just amazing to me but now it’s just in our face we’re like you say we don’t have time now now i’m hoping that the young people will be getting to vote and standing up and that our whole thrust on education toward this
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sustainable green agenda will uh i want to say change our world evolve our world let’s call it you know agree i’m very very happy to have a person like yourself involved you know i’m sure that before you got involved in politics you were passionate about different issues what made you get involved like this what suddenly brought you to be the spokesperson where did that come from i got drafted but a lot of the time also i mean there’s there’s a sin there’s a natural progression that
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happens if you’ve been an activist and an organizer if you are given a platform and for me that first platform was being the legislative director for the transit union local that that is where i’m from and using that platform because now you have access to people who make laws being able to make sure that the people who are not in those spaces physically are in those spaces because you know what they’re asking for and you have a platform to speak out to people who have an opportunity to make a
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difference in a way that will benefit those people if you have that kind of a platform and that kind of access for me it is your duty to make sure that the people who are not able to be in that room with you physically are in that room with you because you know what they’ve asked for and you are able to amplify it and it is your job to do it as a director you were talking about being transit in your role there did blackness ever come up as an issue it sounds like you were unfettered in being able to
37:18
express yourself and you had a solidarity with your drivers right i’m guessing racism is there race is one of those things always in the room it is always in the room race is the thing that you know my position was not an elected position i was appointed directly by the president of the union the president of the locals and people would talk over my head i’d be standing literally standing right next to my president and what they were talking about is something they would need have needed
37:56
to be talking to me about but because i am who i am to them i wasn’t there until my president would be like ah so you met our legislative director these are the things you need to be talking to her about and you could see it on their faces like oh i love it when people don’t expect me to be what i am i love that they never see you coming and so um i would you know for me my race my gender my ethnicity my status as a working class person all of those things inform the way that i politic the fact that i’m
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queer all of those things impact the way that i move through the world and i don’t leave pieces of myself behind to make other people comfortable so that i can do this work i bring all of myself with it and all of those facets of myself inform the way that that i stand up for the things that i stand up for because many of these communities i represent the working class is and poor folks are not represented in this government you don’t have people who are you know there’s a whole lot and that was one of
39:20
my problems with with former president obama is always well we’re doing this for the middle class i don’t give a crap about the middle class i’m not here for that who’s talking for working class and poor people it’s not okay to step on us or erase us because you want to advance some other people or you’re pandering to another class of people we’re here and there’s a whole lot of us and we vote and we do all kinds of other things and so all of those things that i am
39:56
bring themselves to my i bring them to my work i don’t leave any part of myself behind i feel it and i’m i like it as they say bring it um i don’t know if this is is this typical of the interviews you have i’m always wondering when you have interviews or people looking for certain kinds of answers are there any kind of things that i might not be addressing that you feel i need to be when people have unstructured interviews with unstructured interviews which are actually a lot of the time the ones that i prefer
40:33
because it tells me where other folks are you know where their thinking is to and what they’re interested in um i don’t i let it go where it goes is there anything that that i’m just wondering if there’s anything like that you would like to make sure our viewers know the viewers here are mostly from hawaii and i’m sure they’re happy to see that we’re showing someone other than the big duopoly if we because we see lots of that but i try to bring it up close and personal to uh
41:11
you know whether i knew whether you agreed with me on an issue or not the fact that you listen and you’re open to listen and you’re you’re going like this rather than coming in with an agenda from somewhere else i don’t know is huge to me to me that’s the kind of person that i would like to be sitting in a seat but like i say whether or not someone agrees with you if they can be comfortable in speaking with you and we become an interactive thing that’s where we’re gonna make progress
41:45
and uh very happy to see that in you um i believe in dialogue and finding out where people are and i don’t expect people to agree with everything we stand for or everything we say that would be unrealistic that’s silly but what i do hope for is that people will be open-minded be interested in reading up on the platform uh and even if they choose not to support it just be aware of it be aware that it’s there be aware that there is a party and there are candidates who are specifically fighting
42:30
for eco-socialism because basically that’s what this is we want a better world not just for human life but for this planet and her non-human life those things are essential and we believe that capitalist exploitation is the downfall of both is is causing the harm that is heating up our planet and exploiting her resources and also exploiting human life and we deserve better than that this planet deserves better than that she’s magnificent and we need to love on her properly and this is not
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how we’re doing it and so you know it’s it’s an honor for me to be able to be an unapologetic advocate for this planet thank you and it’s an honor for me to have you here with me i hope that you know you have an open forum here and if you’d like to come back in any way any time you are most welcome angela walker you’ve been a terrific guest i’m very happy candidate vice president vice presidential candidate green party for vice president united states really very nice to meet you i look
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forward to meeting you in person and see where the future greens it’s an absolute pleasure and i appreciate you taking your time with me tonight it’s been a pleasure well thank you everyone for joining us we will see you again and check out angela walker and the green party and howie hawkins because what they have to say is something that you’ll want to know and carry with you no matter where you’re thinking about in the future really important thank you angela and thank you guys for all joining us
44:26
blessings everyone aloha you
