Interview with Tara Colon
For the People’s Tribune, Sandy Peery interviewed Tara Colon. She is a mother of five and served as the Spanish Language Outreach Organizer for the Green Party during the 2012 Jill Stein-Cheri Honkala campaign.
People’s Tribune: What is the Green Party doing on the ground now in Philadelphia?
Tara Colon: Right now we are organizing a Green Party voter registration drive, especially in the Kensington area where I live. Kensington is the poorest area in Pennsylvania. We are trying to build a Green Party presence in the neighborhoods the Republicans and Democrats have abandoned. We are trying to expand the Green Party base.
At the same time, we try to integrate Green Party politics into some of the ongoing anti-poverty and anti-foreclosure campaigns we were already involved in here. Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala were just found not guilty for the sit-in they participated in at Fannie Mae last summer. They were trying to save the homes of Rhonda Lancaster and Ms. Fran. As a result of this sit-in, Rhonda Lancaster is still in her home today, and Ms. Fran, although she was evicted, has been able to find other housing to keep a roof over her head.
The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign (which is separate from the Green Party) is working to bring the World Courts of Women to Philadelphia this October. This gathering will bring together international human rights activists with local anti-poverty, cultural, labor, and youth leaders. It will collect testimony, document the human rights abuses in our communities, and develop resolutions of action. Although it is a broad, non-partisan social movement event, many Green Party members will be participating.
Another key initiative is our Green Party Youth Committee, where my daughter Luisa is active. Although they have to be accompanied by adults, the youth bring extra energy and enthusiasm to our voter registration and petition campaigns. The youth are also important because the main way austerity is hitting Philadelphia is school closures. We lost 65 schools this year and now you have to get on a waiting list to get your kid into kindergarten. The kids are suffering. My daughter’s high school was in chaos this year because it got combined with two others that closed.
The youth have also been mobilizing for kids to get legalization. The Dream Act is not enough. We have children in our community who are five or ten years old. They need legalization now. They can’t wait until they get to college age.
The most important thing today is for everyone to get involved on some level. The Green Party helps people do that. The whole concept of a people’s party based on people’s needs is an idea whose time has come. The Green Party can become that party. But only if you speak out. Let us know what you are doing. Make a cell phone video and we will put it on You Tube. We need more testimony, more ideas, more art, and more poetry. Break your silence!
Sandy Perry is a longtime housing advocate from San Jose, CA.
