number 40 winter/spring • 2020 first issue of volume xvii Newsstand $5ºº green horiZon Magazine .….….….… .….….….… AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL PUBLISHED BY THE GREEN HORIZON FOUNDATION a tribute to John Rensenbrink . table of contents The Green Horizon Team ............ 2 A Special Appeal The Primacy of Ecology ............. 3 STEVE WELZER John Rensenbrink’s Green praxis ...... 4 TONY AFFIGNE for a Special Issue A Fearless and Enthusiastic Educator .. 8 John Rensenbrink started Green Horizon just providing funding; they also request BARRY MILLS as a newsletter during the 1990s and then multiple copies of the magazine for Pathfinder Toward a expanded it into a notable international distribution to colleagues or for tabling Transformational Politics ............ 9 journal seventeen years ago. It’s now the at events. TED BECKER only major print magazine in the United A special way to honor John would be to States that features the coverage of Green sign up as a Sustainer. This would be an Friend, Mentor, Role Model. 10 CHARLES BROWN politics and the broad “greening” social- opportune time to do so because Green transformation movement. Horizon Foundation is making plans to John Played Key Role in Early US Green For the sake of maximum circulation branch out. We’re considering publishing Electoral Strategy ................. 13 we mail out copies to anyone who pamphlets and books, sponsoring conferences, MIKE FEINSTEIN requests to be on our Receivers List. In and hosting webinars. It would take Letter to the Green Parties that way it reaches some of the most additional resources for us to start reaching of the World ..................... 15 influential activists in the country. Our an expanded audience in those ways. experience has been that, over time, Meanwhile, in the immediate future, we’re Notes from a Long-Ago Meeting of the Merrymeeting Greens ............. 18 many show their appreciation by signing hoping to be able to print additional copies of ROSALIE PAUL up to become regular financial Sustainers this issue of the magazine for distribution at of the publication. literature tables during the upcoming Finding a “Larger Growth” ......... 20 The Sustainers are our lifeblood. Their campaign season. Please help us make it INTERVIEW BY TOM PUTNAM names appear on the inside back cover possible! Checks and correspondence can be Building a Party of a Different Kind .. 22 of each issue (though some choose to mailed to us at the postal address below or JOHN RENSENBRINK remain anonymous). Many go beyond donate at www.Green-Horizon.org. Thanks! Reflections Upon Reading John’s Book “Ecological Politics” ............... 23 With uncertain circumstances as we go to press, we express our concern for the safety ELIE YARDEN and health of all our readers, writers, and supporters. Greens are often “best builders” of their communities; the latter can be our refuge and solace during these times of trial. A Leader for Our Times ............ 25 For our next issue we’ll welcome your thoughts and experiences during the unfolding LINDA CREE crisis that may possibly augur a civilizational turning point. Some Thoughts ................... 26 . SCOTT MCLARTY THE TEAM Home Ground .................... 28 PUBLISHED BY THE GREEN HORIZON FOUNDATION • WINTER/SPRING, 2020 • VOLUME SEVENTEEN #40 CARLA, KATHRYN, GRETA, LIZ, JON EDITORS GRAPHIC DESIGN: John Rensenbrink: [email protected] “That’s All Right, Sam...” ........... 32 www.SharonPieniak.com Steve Welzer: [email protected] SAM SMITH LOGO DESIGN: Sean Hill MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF GREEN HORIZON FOUNDATION EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE: Mentor and Friend ................ 35 Ted Becker, Alabama Darryl! Moch, Washington, D.C. Carla Rensenbrink LINDA MARTIN Denise Brush, New Jersey John Rensenbrink, Maine Linda Cree, Michigan Liz Rensenbrink, Maine MEMBERSHIP & BOOKKEEPING: Some Notes About Me ............. 38 Greg Gerritt, Rhode Island Sam Smith, Maine Liz Rensenbrink Madelyn Hoffman, New Jersey Steve Welzer, New Jersey JOHN RENSENBRINK MEMBERSHIP & MARKETING MANAGER, HARDCOPY: INQUIRIES, GREEN HORIZON FOUNDATION Charlene Swift Sustainers ........................43 SUBMISSIONS, P.O. Box 2029 MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS DONATIONS, Princeton, NJ 08543 USA LETTERS: MANAGER, WEBSITE: www.Green-Horizon.org [email protected] Brielle Welzer DONATIONS VIA PAYPAL WELCOME! Green Horizon Magazine is indexed in the Alternative Press Index, which is available from: Cover photo by Jim McCarthy Alternative Press Center, PO Box 33109, Baltimore, MD 21218 2 green horizon magazine winter/spring • 2020 . The Primacy of Ecology n influential, insightful individual writes, speaks, organizes, * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Aand leads over the course of a lifetime. How to distill the essence of their vital contribution? This special issue of Green What you’ll read in this issue shows the extent to which John’s Horizon Magazine contains tributes to the work, presence, and insights and erudition have touched the lives and influenced the prescience of my co-editor, John Rensenbrink. They embody a thinking of one individual after another over the course of his variety of attempts to convey the essence. Here’s my own: career as an educator, activist, and organizer. Some members of The left of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the Green Horizon Board had the idea that this would be a good recognized that democracy and peace require social justice. time to commemorate his achievements. As close colleagues we This comprehension was important, yet attempts to base social- had much to affirm toward that end, but we decided to reach change praxis on that theoretical foundation were disappointing. out and see if others might join us in contributing material for a As of the 1960s it was apparent that a focus limited to class special issue of the magazine. We were stunned at the response. struggle, identity politics, wealth redistribution, and/or So many acknowledgments, reminiscences, appreciations, and economic socialization was failing to usher in the envisioned era pictures flooded in that our only chance to fit it all in one issue of democracy, peace, and justice. Meanwhile, a crisis outside the was to reduce the usual font size of the text! Over 70 submissions purview of traditional leftism was increasingly consequential. have been included. We apologize to those who heard about the It showed that, instead of making progress toward an ultimate project belatedly or weren’t able to meet the deadline. Perhaps “highest stage of history,” we appeared to be heading into we’ll accommodate the overflow with a special section in the an abyss of social breakdown, climate catastrophe and mass next issue. extinction of species. Particular thanks go out to Tony Affigne, Mike Feinstein, The theory and praxis needed to change. It did so on the basis David Doonan, Ralph Monö, and jacqui devenau, who of an emerging new worldview. During the 1970s the nascent (along with John) sent in the photographs that so enrich our Green movement suddenly presented an alternative to all the appreciation of the trajectory of John’s career. Tom Putnam old ideologies. It was based on Four Pillars. They included the obtained permission from publisher Matthew O’Donnell for us standard three of the traditional left, phrased as Grassroots to reprint an interview that originally appeared in the Bowdoin Democracy, Social Justice, and Nonviolence (peace). But the Magazine; and photographer Michele Stapleton graciously Green perspective pointed the way toward a paradigm shift via allowed us to include the photograph that accompanies the appreciation of a new factor—ecology. John Rensenbrink, early interview. on, was among those who realized the primacy of the “additional” I, personally, am honored to present this compilation of pillar: Ecological Wisdom. And he has worked tirelessly over the tributes to the longstanding, deeply effective, and widely years to enlighten the social change movement based on that cherished work of my co-editor, John Rensenbrink. I anticipate realization. The title of his masterwork, Ecological Politics: For that this issue will find special resonance among Greens and Survival and Democracy, indicates his recognition that more is at the broader social-change community—because, as you’ll see, a stake in our time. And more is required of us. Nothing less than survey of John’s life and achievements serves up a fascinating . a radical transition of our politics and a full transformation of our review of the history of the Green politics movement in this lifeways will be required to re-establish ecological balances and country. John was present at the creation! to restore our righteous citizenship within the community of life. —Steve Welzer winter/spring • 2020 green horizon magazine 3 . When I came into the Green Party in 2000 as an activist working on the Nader for President campaign in Toledo, Ohio, I was one of a small handful of people of color in the party. I found the focus on seeking consensus cumbersome and tedious. In short, it was a culture shock and I wondered if the Green Party was the right fit for me. John Rensenbrink was one of the visionary leaders of the GP who were willing to address the truly difficult issues of our time in a comprehensive and compassionate manner. This went a long way toward convincing me to give this fledgling party a chance. I noticed that there were many educators among GP leaders, and it made sense to me that people who spend their lives researching and educating would play an important John Rensenbrink’s role in building a political party that seeks to move humanity forward. John was one of those critically thinking Green praxis educators of the Green Party who laid the groundwork for the GPUS based on ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY TONY AFFIGNE a set of values, the Ten Key Values. As a Green Party leader, John is kind Few friendships in my life have been as important, or as fruitful, as my partnership with and compassionate while also being courageous and tenacious. He fights John Rensenbrink. Here’s why. the right way, with ideas, innovation, and vision.