Dr. Jill Stein to headline AbandonBiden Movement Convention in Chicago
By Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania
Leaders of the AbandonBiden Movement which stripped President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris of significant Arab and Muslim support during the presidential Democratic Primary elections this past year will host their own convention in Chicago beginning Monday, featuring an appearance by Dr. Jill Stein, who is the community’s most favored presidential candidate choice.
Stein announced her running mate this week as Butch Ware, a professor and lifelong activist and educator who specializes in the history of empire, colonialism, genocide and revolution.
The AbandonBiden announcement to hold their convention beginning Monday August 19 at the Al Hambra Palace, at 1240 W Randolph St, Chicago, only a few miles from the Democratic National Convention at the United Center which also begins Monday. The AbandonBiden Convention will be closed to the news media.
The DNC has marginalized and blocked any discussion of Gaza and Palestinian rights and have fought to exclude Stein from the election ballot and prevent Americans from protesting against the presumed Harris nomination.
Additionally on Monday through Wednesday, Arab and Muslims will also be attending a second alternative Conference being hosted by the RainbowPUSH Coalition and the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson in conjunction with Jim Zogby, the president of the Arab American Institute. CLick here to get details and or register for that conference.
Stein led a survey conducted by the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) which showed he receiving 43.5 percent of the vote compared to nly 27.5 percent of the vote. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has marginalized Arab, Muslims and Progressives with his farright views and former President Donald Trump each received 2 percent or less. Click here to read a story on the survey and how Arab and Muslims plan to vote.
Here are press releases from both the Abandon Biden Movement and from candidate Jill Stein.
Abandon Biden Convention to Convene in Chicago, Prior to DNC Convention, Press Conference on August 19th, 2024, to Launch Election Campaign, with Jill Stein and Cornel West
(Chicago, Illinois; August 17, 2024) – The Abandon Biden movement will hold a historic convention on August 18 and 19, at 1240 W Randolph St, Chicago, IL 60607, to launch the 2024 election campaign. This takes place prior to the DNC Convention. On Monday, August 19th, there will be a press conference at 11 am CT. The press conference will include Jill Stein and Cornel West. The media are welcome to conduct interviews from 8:30 am CT to12 pm CT. For details, see www.abandonbiden24.com/convention
The convention will bring together leaders and people of conscience from across the nation. This pivotal gathering marks a crucial moment for the movement as it prepares to take decisive action, launching an election campaign, against the Biden-Harris administration, in response to its failure to protect innocent Palestinians.
The convention is the result of months of relentless activism sparked by President Biden’s outright refusal to call for a ceasefire in Gaza by October 31st, 2023.In the face of ongoing atrocities, Abandon Biden leaders have drawn an unforgiving moral redline, vowing not only to withdraw their support but also to aggressively campaign against anyone who continues to support and endorse genocide.
The convention will feature panels on the history and strategy of the Abandon Biden movement, which aims to empower people of conscience to become a powerful voting bloc capable of effecting moral change in the United States and beyond.
Location: Indoors at Alhambra, at 1240 W Randolph St, Chicago, Illinois 60607.
Time: 11 am CT
The press conference will include speakers such as Jill Stein, Cornel West, Claudia De La Cruz, the founder of Abandon Biden, and Abandon Biden leaders from the swing states.
Releases from Jill Stein:
Jill Stein wins Green Party 2024 presidential nomination
Chicago – On Saturday, August 17, 2024, Dr. Jill Stein won the Green Party of the United States 2024 presidential nomination in an overwhelming vote at the party’s virtual Presidential Nomination Convention. Dr. Stein’s Vice-Presidential running mate Professor Butch Ware was also confirmed in an overwhelming vote.
“We are the only pro-worker, anti-genocide, climate emergency campaign already on the ballot for the majority of voters,” said Dr. Stein in a speech to the convention. “We’re calling for an America that works for all of us, and we have the solutions to achieve that right now.”
In her speech, Dr. Stein called for ending US support for war and genocide around the world, cutting military spending by at least half, an improved Medicare for All universal healthcare system, national rent control and a tenant bill of rights, comprehensive immigration reform including a welcoming path to citizenship for asylum seekers, a real Green New Deal to fight climate crisis, student debt cancellation, reparations for descendents of enslaved people, recognition of indigenous rights and sovereignty, and more.
Dr. Stein concluded, “As Frederick Douglass said, power concedes nothing without a demand; it never has and it never will. We are that demand. It’s time to stand up and make that demand.”
Jill Stein announces Butch Ware as VP running mate
Chicago – On Friday, August 16, 2024, Jill Stein, Green Party presidential candidate, announced her Vice-Presidential running mate is Professor Butch Ware.
“I’m honored and thrilled to welcome Butch Ware as my running mate and the Vice President we need at this moment in history,” said Dr. Stein. “His personal experience overcoming systemic injustice, his deep knowledge of history and people’s movements, and his commitment to building a sustainable, just, peaceful world make Butch the ideal candidate. This is truly a historic ticket bringing together a Jewish woman and Black Muslim man against genocide, endless war, climate collapse, and rampant injustice, and for an economy that works for working people, a livable future for our children, and an America and a world that works for all of us.”
Professor Butch Ware is a lifelong activist and educator specializing in the history of empire, colonialism, genocide and revolution. For the past two decades, Ware has put scholarship in service of the people, especially in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, as well as the George Floyd murder in 2020. He has organized teach-ins, community education curricula, and other activist and organizing initiatives. More broadly, Ware has been working as a public intellectual, activist, artist, and organizer, supporting communities across the country and around the world to challenge imperialism, ethnic cleansing, and endless war, and to build sustainable, just, peaceful alternatives rooted in African, Indigenous, and Abrahamic traditions.
Butch was born in Washington DC and raised in Minneapolis. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1997, and completed his doctorate in 2004. With his Ph.D in history from the University of Pennsylvania, Ware is a leading academic authority on the U.S. Black Radical Tradition, Africa and Islam. Since 2004 Professor Ware has been a full faculty member at Northwestern, Michigan, and now UC Santa-Barbara, teaching in History, Black Studies, and Islamic Studies.
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(Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall reporter and political columnist. This column was originally published in the Southwest News Newspaper Group in the Des Plaines Valley News, Southwest News-Herald, The Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers. For more information on Ray Hanania visit www.Hanania.com or email him at [email protected].)
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