Dear AZ Greens,

Thank you all for being members, supporters, contributors, and voters of the Arizona Green Party this year. After an admittedly turbulent start, the dedicated volunteers and activists in this party have once again shown the strength of our conviction in this organization and our Ten Key Values. It is because of all of your invaluable support and participation that we are proud to end this year on a note of relative success.

Our party has survived attacks by the corporate establishment duopoly, held our heads high, and refused to be silent and meek in the face of oppression, regaining our ability for voters to designate their party preference with us in Maricopa County, and beginning the first stages of active rebuilding of membership in Pima County.

We've put in the hard work this year of improving our internal operations through a long period of critical self-reflection, changes in leadership, and recommitment to the ideal of participatory, grassroots, democratic decision making; and we're seeing the real proof of these concepts organizationally at the end of this year.

Even without party recognition or ballot access, we dug deep to recruit and run write-in candidates for office from within our active membership, and with all of your support, we were able to endorse our first full slate of candidates, up and down the ballot, since 2018- and these candidates over-performed all of our expectations!

We rolled up our sleeves, put on our comfortable shoes, and got directly involved with our communities at the local level, engaging in more direct action and mutual aid than we have in several years.

To illustrate our progress, the AZGP-SC has created a 2022 retrospective slideshow for our members to view a presentation of our party's notable accomplishments throughout the past year.

AZGP_2022_Retrospective_Slideshow.pdf

In short, while we've had to scale back our party's operations and make some serious internal changes in recent years, the changes we've made and the strategies we are implementing now are beginning to show slow, but real success. We are growing, learning, and changing as a party, and on behalf of all of us in the 2022 AZGP State Committee, I want to thank you for being flexible, active, and committed participants of this evolution. We are so excited to work closely with all of our AZ Greens for even further growth and success of our party in 2023 and beyond.

The AZGP State Committee and Working Committees will be on a short break from November 20th through the month of December for the holiday season. County chapters will continue to meet on their own schedules.

Monthly AZGP-SC Meetings will resume January 12th at 7PM via Zoom.

The AZGP will be hosting our Annual Statutory General Membership Meeting on January 21st, details TBD, in which we will be electing new Officers to the State Committee. If you are interested in serving on the 2023 AZGP-SC, please contact us with your name, contact information, and what position you would like to run for. The positions up for election are;

• Co-Chair (1 seat up for election, term expires January 2025)
• 1st Vice-Chair (term expires January 2025)
• 2nd Vice-Chair (term expires January 2024)
• Treasurer (term expires January 2025)
• Recorder (term expires January 2025)
• Media Outreach Coordinator (term expires January 2024)
• GPUS National Committee Delegate (1 seat up for election, term expires January 2025)
• GPUS National Committee Alternate Delegate (1 seat up for election, term expires January 2025)

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all for being Greens and wish you the happiest of holiday seasons. Here's to a new year of growth and success for the Arizona Green Party!

In Solidarity,

Cody Hannah, AZGP Co-Chair

Statement from AZGP on Court Ruling to Uphold AZ Abortion Ban

Saturday, September 24th, 2022

The Arizona Green Party stands firmly in opposition to the decision by Pima County Superior Court Judge Kellie Johnson allowing the State of Arizona to enforce a near-total ban on abortion-related healthcare in the state that is over a century old and not in line with current views of the electorate on the issue of abortion. This decision puts the lives, livelihoods, and liberties of all Arizonans in grave danger, and we hope and expect for an appeal of this disastrous and regressive decision.

While the GOP are currently relishing in the fruits of their decades-long attack campaign on reproductive healthcare and bodily autonomy for people who can get pregnant, the Democratic Party has sat on their hands the whole way, promising each election cycle that if we just elect a few more Democrats, they would codify Roe into law, among other progressive promises that would never come to fruition like universal healthcare, meaningful climate action, etc. However, what we’ve seen from the Democratic Party leadership in action is support for incumbent anti-abortion legislators like Henry Cuellar in TX, as well as active financial support of the very same right-wing extremist candidates that the Democrats claim to be ‘defending’ us against. 

It is clear to us and to many others that neither corporate duopoly party actually cares for the needs of working people, our communities, or our environment. They see our lives as games to be toyed with for their own short-term gain, be it through the hoarding of money or the procuring of institutional power. If we want to truly codify the right to an abortion as law, we as the progressive working class will need to organize ourselves into an independent, grassroots political vehicle to do it. Our belief is that the Green Party is the best-prepared organization to serve as that vehicle.

The position of the AZGP is and will always be that abortions are healthcare, and healthcare is an unalienable human right that must be provided to all without financial, social, or legal barriers to access. Decisions about one’s health care should be made voluntarily between patients and their providers; the government has no business dictating what health care options a patient and their provider may or may not pursue based on outdated, puritanical, and anti-scientific views on abortion.

The Arizona Green Party supports an approach to reproductive justice in the State of Arizona that ensures all Arizonans have the appropriate and necessary resources, knowledge, and autonomy to make their own informed decisions about their reproductive health. This includes guaranteed access to abortion through a universal healthcare program, comprehensive sex education that is LGBTQIA+ inclusive and teaches consent, free and unrestricted access to menstrual products and contraceptives, and a science and equity based approach to public health, among other policies.

While this is, without a doubt, a heartbreaking turn of events for many of us, we must not allow ourselves to give up hope or our will to fight for our human rights. We urge you to let this radicalize you rather than lead you to despair. Connect with others that share your pain, and let a lush, vibrant, and strong community grow from the soil where our tears fall today. This is not and cannot be the last word on the subject of abortion rights in Arizona, and we must all collectively commit to continue the fight for the right to a free, legal, and unrestricted abortion for all Arizonans.

In Solidarity,

Arizona Green Party

State Committee

AZGP Statement on S.C.O.T.U.S. Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade

Friday, June 24th, 2022

The Supreme Court’s decisions in the past week have been incredibly troubling, and the official ruling out of SCOTUS today overturning Roe v. Wade is an attack on all of our rights to personal privacy and autonomy. Those who will inevitably be the most harmed by this decision will disproportionately come from economically and socially disenfranchised communities. 

While Republicans have made it clear for decades that this erosion of our fundamental rights is an essential part of their political program, the Democrats have sat on their hands and refused to codify these rights into law, despite having many opportunities to do so, while having no problem fundraising and campaigning on the fear of this day. Both corporate duopoly parties have failed us, and more people are waking up to this truth. Now, because of their hubris, incompetence, and inaction, we are faced with the unthinkable. 

We reaffirm our unflinching support for the rights of all people to personal privacy and reproductive autonomy, and specifically the right to a safe, free abortion on demand. We are committed to our work of building the AZGP and GPUS into a strong, progressive opposition party that will stand up for working people and the planet against the theocratic fascists and milquetoast corporatists who are responsible for these attacks on our rights.

If you are able, please consider attending a local demonstration to support abortion rights and/or donate to a grassroots organization providing abortion-related services on the ground to people who need it. We are strongest when we stand together for the greater good of us all. We will fight this, and we will win.

In Solidarity,

Arizona Green Party

State Committee

May 3, 2022

PRESS RELEASE

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

Let’s be real, either you believe that women have the right to decide when they want to subject their body to procreation; or you believe that society should make that decision for all people with uteruses.

Abortion advocates truly wish that we lived in a society where abortion was unnecessary. However, until healthcare is fair and equitable to all, then abortion rights will serve as the line in the sand.

Making abortions illegal will not stop all abortions. Nor will it stop the reasons that individuals seek out abortions. This blatant encroachment on women’s rights is a transparent attack on the most vulnerable of our society.

Wealthy individuals that have disposable income will continue to have access to any doctor or procedure they can pay for. This is specifically an attack on the healthcare of predominantly poor women of color. 

Restricting access to abortions does not stop them from happening, it just makes them less safe for people who give birth and their doctors. 

Democrats have had decades to codify Roe v Wade into law and have instead used the ‘fear of loss’ of that access as a political chess piece.

Why Congress did not codify abortion rights after Roe v. Wade

Green Party members believe that as a matter of right, all persons must have the opportunity to benefit equally from the resources afforded us by society and the environment. We must consciously confront in ourselves, our organizations, and society at large, any discrimination by race, class, gender, sexual orientation, age, nationality, religion, or physical or mental ability that denies fair treatment and equal justice under the law.

*** Arizona Green Party State Committee ***

Continue reading below for links to actions.

The Arizona Green Party strongly condemns the actions of the Russian government and military forces in their illegal invasion of Ukraine. The AZGP calls for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory and a return to peaceful relations between nations. Further, the AZGP calls for the United States and its N.A.T.O allies in the region to end their decades-long tactics of escalation and provocation with Russia. All parties involved in this conflict must immediately commit to seeking a simultaneous, nonviolent, diplomatic resolution and de-escalation of military tensions in Eastern Europe.

The AZGP, as a matter of core principle, respects and supports the rights of the peoples of all sovereign nations to their own autonomy, and abhors violence and warfare of all kinds. In the case of Ukraine, the U.S./N.A.T.O alliance and the Russian Federation have, both presently and historically, impeded upon and violated the Ukrainian people’s rights to security and self-determination. Though President Putin and the Russian government are ultimately responsible for initiating the current military invasion and occupation of Ukraine by Russia, the U.S. and N.A.T.O. have continuously escalated tensions and agitated for armed conflict in the region, largely to the benefit of international war profiteers, weapons manufacturers, and fossil fuel companies. Both the U.S./N.A.T.O alliance and the Russian Federation share responsibility for the horrific violence, destruction, and displacement of civilians we are currently witnessing in Ukraine. The AZGP calls on both sides of this conflict to commit to peacefully ending their imperialist war games in Ukraine and to respect the Ukrainian people’s rights to safety and autonomy without foreign intervention.

As we condemn the actions of President Putin and the Russian government/military, the AZGP would like to highlight the fact that the actions and motives of the Russian government are not that of many of the Russian people. Just as many of us Americans do not feel represented by, do not wish to be associated with, and in many cases are actively speaking out and fighting against the actions of our own government; the same can be said for a significant population of the Russian people as well. We applaud the bravery of the Russian citizens who have organized and participated in anti-war protest actions across Russia in the past few days, despite the risk to their own personal safety and freedom, given the harsh state response to civilian protest of the Russian government. 

Further, we reject the reactionary, xenophobic calls for deportation of Russian citizens living, studying, and/or working in the United States floated by Rep. Eric Swalwell and supported on Twitter by Arizona’s own Rep. Ruben Gallego. Collective punishment of Russian citizens for the actions of their government is not a feasible or effective answer to the current conflict, as it disproportionately affects those with the least power over the situation. As we navigate these crises, we must remember that wars between nation-states are only ever beneficial for the ruling classes of those states, who would decimate our ecosystems and send our children to their deaths in a foreign land if it meant they could gain more money and power. We, as the working classes of all nations, must stand together united in solidarity against imperialist wars of aggression- no matter from where they originate.

However, once again, we are seeing that both the congressional Democrats and Republicans alike are beginning to beat their familiar rhythm on the drums of war in the name of maintaining and expanding Western capitalist global hegemony. With our government controlled by two corrupt, war-mongering political parties, and a corporate-owned media monopoly content to gleefully parrot and amplify the bloodlust and calls for war from those in the ruling class who stand to benefit from war with Russia, it is an absolute imperative that the people of Arizona and the United States have the option of supporting and voting for uncorrupted candidates from an independent, grassroots political party that stands unflinchingly against violence at home and abroad, and, rather, prioritizes the interests of People, Planet, and Peace above profits. That party is, and always has been, the Green Party.

The AZGP extends its support and solidarity to the working class peoples of all nations involved in this conflict. They are the ones who will suffer the most from war, as will our planet. We hope for a swift and peaceful resolution in the region and an end to the illegal Russian invasion and occupation of Ukraine.

Signed,

The Arizona Green Party - State Committee

As of the AZGP Statutory Annual Meeting on January 22nd, 2022, the Arizona Green Party has officially ratified sweeping revisions to our party bylaws through a unanimous vote of approval from the AZGP members at that meeting. Among these changes- which include efforts to make our party processes more democratic, efficient, and true to our 10 Key Values- is a significant change to the state party’s definition of an “AZGP Member” to require monthly/yearly dues payments to the party.

Why Dues-Based Membership?

From 2020 Green Party Presidential Candidate Howie Hawkins’ “The Case for an Independent Left Party: From the Bottom Up”;

If the Left in America is to challenge the capitalist two-party system, it will have to build a political party based on working-class independence from the corporate rulers and their political representatives in the Democratic and Republican Parties. To build that kind of party, it will have to build a mass-membership party that is structured quite differently from traditional American parties. Its members will have to be organized into local branches and finance their party with member dues, just as labor unions do, which is why unions have by far the most resources of any institution on the popular left. A dues-paying mass-membership party has been the missing ingredient in third-party politics throughout American history.

There are several reasons that the proposal to transition to dues-based membership was introduced and ratified. Financially, it allows our party to have an initially humble, but steady flow of individual donations to our county chapters to help fund their operations. Administratively, it gives us a method of keeping track of our currently active members, whether or not our county chapters gain or retain their ballot access and party recognition. Finally, and maybe most importantly, dues-based membership reinforces the collective ownership that we all as members have of this party, and ensures that the individuals who are “buying-in” to this party with their time, funds, and energy are the ones who have grassroots democratic decision-making power in our organization.

Dues-paying members exclusively are afforded the following privileges;

• The right to participate in and vote on state party issues at AZGP general membership meetings, including the nominations, elections, and/or recall of Officers of the State Committee
• The right to join and participate in any of the AZGP’s active Working Committees
• The right to submit proposals to the AZGP State Committee for consideration/ratification
• The right to be nominated and elected to an internal party position as an Officer of the State Committee following an initial 6-month period of active dues-paying membership.
• The right to be considered for an official endorsement/nomination for political candidacy by the AZGP

How to Pay Dues?

Members determine their own level of dues based on income or ability to pay.* Our suggested dues rate is a simple 0.3% of income. A few examples:

• $5 a month or $60 a year (for an annual income of $20K)
• $10 a month or $120 a year (for an annual income of $40K)
• $15 a month or $180 a year (for an annual income of $60K)
• $20 a month or $240 a year (for an annual income of $80K)

* The minimum dues required to be an AZGP member are $12 a year ($1 a month). The AZGP recommends $12 a year for those experiencing extraordinary financial hardship.

Dues may be paid as a donation(s) to the county chapter that is active where an individual resides. If there is no active county chapter in your county, individuals can retain an “at-large” membership with the AZGP by paying their dues directly to the state party through our website donation link at the same recommended rate. Every dollar goes towards building, growing, and maintaining the Green Party as an independent political party here in Arizona!

We’ve set up the following options to make participation as easy as possible. If you live in...

Maricopa County:

• Online Payment (click here)

Pima County:

• Online Payment (click here)

Anywhere outside of the above counties:

1. Monthly Online Payment (click here)
2. Annual Online Payment (click here)
3. One-Time Online Payment (click here)

Annual Statutory Elections General Membership Meeting on Zoom

Saturday, January 22, 2022, 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM

- Election of AZGP State Committee Officers

- Bylaw amendments proposal

Full Agenda

last updated by 

Sam Hales

January 16, 2022

Join us in the Arizona Green Party and our friends in the Arizona Libertarian Party for an “End The Damn Wars!” rally on September 11th in Phoenix! You won’t see this kind of cooperation on the issues that matter from the Dems and Republicans, so come out, join us, and get to know us & some of the other electoral parties in AZ fighting for peace!

Facebook RSVP

Website RSVP

The monumental increase in the use of energy is provoking conflicts across the Earth.  We express our solidarity with those struggling against extraction, including these examples.

• Standing Rock, North Dakota

We stand in solidarity with the on-going Native American protests at Standing Rock in North Dakota protesting environmentally irresponsible and culturally damaging pipelines that transport crude oil extracted from tar sand, destroying their ancestral lands. So-called “clean” and “renewable” energies depend on the climate killer oil for their production. 

blog.nationalgeographic.org/2017/04/28

• Ogoni People vs. Shell

We stand in solidarity with the Movement for Survival of Ogoni People against Shell. The Niger-Delta was devastated and traditional culture weakened by soil, surface and groundwater contamination that makes farming and fishing impossible. 

Local communities still seek to receive denied compensation, clean-up, a share of the profits and a say in decision-making. 

Ogoni People vs. Shell

• Coal extraction in India

We stand in solidarity with the Centre for Policy Research in India as it opposes efforts by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to to open 41 new coal mines because burning coal is a major factor in climate change, leads to asthma, premature births, and spreads toxins (including mercury) by air, water and land. 

energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/coal

climatechangenews.com/2020/06/19/india

• Fracking in Pennsylvania

We stand in solidarity with the Green Party of Pennsylvania which has opposed fracking since 2008 when it realized that use of volatile chemicals could harm local communities and waterways and contribute to climate instability. Local residents have become ill and major waterways and delicate ecosystems have been damaged.   

gp.org/pa_greens_push_for_an_end_to_fracking

gp.org/municipal_efforts_against_fracking_are_grassroots_democracy

• Nuclear power and Olympic Games

We stand in solidarity with the No Nukes Action Committee of the Bay Area who are demonstrating against the Olympic Games slated for Tokyo in order to raise awareness of the ongoing disaster of Fukushima nuclear power since nuclear power is deadly and intimately connected with the potential for nuclear war. 

nonukesaction

mronline.org/2018/08/24

• Uranium Mining in Africa 

We stand in solidarity with “Solidarity Action for the 21 Villages” in Faléa, Mali against the French multinational COGEMA/Orano. After years of struggle, this NGO defeated a uranium mine through community mobilizing, aware of the detrimental effects on health, environment, agricultural land, water sources and cultural heritage, still fighting to undo already done infrastructural damage.

 wise-uranium.org/upafr

beyondnuclearinternational.org/2020/03/16

• Solar arrays in Washington State 

We stand in solidarity with rural Klickitat County, WA residents who are being invaded by industrial solar facilities which would exceed 12,000 acres and undermine wildlife/habitat, ecosystems, ground/water, and food production because solar panels and lithium ion batteries contain carcinogens with no method of disposal or re-cycling and could contribute to wildfires from electrical shortages.

cease2020.org

• Wind turbines in Broome County NY

We stand in solidarity with the Broome Tioga Green Party’s fight against industrial wind turbine projects that would increase drilling and mining, dynamite 26 pristine mountain tops, and destroy 120,000 trees while requiring precious minerals and lithium for batteries and being dependent on fossil fuels for their manufacture, maintenance and operation.  

OurWeb.tech/letter-21

 electronicsilentspring.com

• Hydro-power in Honduras

We stand in solidarity with the indigenous Lenca people opposing the Agua Zarca dam on the Gualcarque River in Honduras whose leader Berta Cáceres was murdered for uniting different movements to expose how dams destroy farmland, leave forests bare, disturb ancestral burial sites, and deprive communities of water for crops and livestock. 

greensocialthought.org

• Lithium mining in Thacker Pass

We stand in solidarity with activists aiming to stop Lithium Americas’ Thacker Pass open-pit mine (Nevada).  Essential for electronic devices including electric cars, the mine would destroy rare old-growth big sagebrush, harm wildlife including many endangered species and lower the water table. Its operation would require massive fossil fuel use and toxic waste ponds.

protectthackerpass.org

• Cobalt Extraction in DR Congo

We stand in solidarity with the child laborers slaving and dying in Democratic Republic of Congo cobalt mines. 

Cobalt is an essential ingredient for some of the world’s fastest-growing industries—electric cars and electronic devices. It co-occurs with copper mining, used in construction, machinery, transportation and war technology worldwide. 

enoughproject.org

Most of all, we stand in solidarity with thousands upon thousands of communities across the Earth opposing every form of extraction or transmission for energy which seeks to cover up human health and environmental dangers.

*****************************

In Solidarity,

Arizona Green Party