The following statement was passed by consensus of the GPNJ Black Caucus - of which Mr. Dixon and all others should be aware is composed of registered members-in-good standing of the Green Party of NJ, with bylaws ratified by the GPNJ-BC membership and approved by the NJ Green Council via the GPNJ Membership Committee, conducts regularly scheduled meetings, and holds a seat on the NJ Green Council under the established bylaws of the Green Party of New Jersey.
The GPNJ Black Caucus strongly abhors and condemns the recent Black Agenda Report article written by Bruce Dixon. Its inflammatory remarks and false narratives are not only offensive to several of our members, but are also based on conjecture and hearsay, as Mr. Dixon was not present during the Annual National Meeting.
The GPNJ Black Caucus strongly abhors and condemns the recent Black Agenda Report article written by Bruce Dixon. Its inflammatory remarks and false narratives are not only offensive to several of our members, but are also based on conjecture and hearsay, as Mr. Dixon was not present during the Annual National Meeting.
At least 4 members of the GPNJ Black Caucus, two of them officers, participated in the protest and/or events which led up to the protest on July 15. All of them, completely and without doubt, refute the notion that there was any sort of collaboration with other political factions, parties and/or opportunism in any form involved. The protest was organic and rose up with grassroots support, led by the GPUS Black Caucus and joined by members other Green Party groups in solidarity. The notion that any other parties were involved is not only offensive, but in and of itself racist, divisive, and counterproductive.
Furthermore, Mr. Dixon’s article betrays the trust of national Black Caucus members and the privacy of discussions on the listserv. If we can't discuss, debate, and even argue amongst ourselves without fearing that one of our own members will trash us publicly before we've reached any consensus, then we are finished as a caucus. The GPUS Black Caucus was created to provide a safe space for a marginalized & disenfranchised community both nationally and within the party - Mr. Dixon polluted that safe space. Without safe spaces, the recruitment, organizing, and mobilizing of the Green Party's Black members and members of other identity caucuses will become severely impeded.
Mr. Dixon’s false narrative will only serve to hurt our efforts to combat racism and a pervasive atmosphere of white supremacy within this party, which he makes no mention of. Sadly, he also makes it clear that his loyalties lie not with the popular uprising that gained broad-based support across the full spectrum of Annual National Meeting participants, but with those interested in maintaining the status quo. His decision to release his self-serving diatribe publicly has also severed the trust within the national Black Caucus during what is potentially its greatest hour.
The GPNJ Black Caucus stands firm with our national Black Caucus comrades in their struggle to call attention to and combat the racism and white supremacy that has tainted the Green Party. Mr. Dixon's actions are counterproductive to the processes currently underway by the Black Caucus and other bodies of the GPUS. Spreading misinformation and slander isn't helpful to the Black Caucus, the National Committee, or the Green Party in general, nor is it objective and effective journalism. We ask that Mr. Dixon retract his statements; that going forward he respects the privacy of any discussions taking place in the safe space that is the GPUS Black Caucus; and that he refrains from making further public statements via his blog/Black Agenda Report on this matter until all above processes have come to conclusion.
