Articles by AJ Segneri

What follows is my interview with Socialist Party USA presidential candidate, Emidio "Mimi" Soltysik. Soltysik previously ran in California's 62nd Assembly district in 2014. AJ: What is the motivation for running for an office, especially on a presidential ticket? I think we can acknowledge that a general election offers some pretty unique media opportunities for a radical socialist organization like the Socialist Party USA. Given the inclusion of Sanders and his use of "democratic socialism" t...

29,707. That is the number of signatures collected to get gubernatorial candidate Scott Summers onto the general election ballot in Illinois as the Green Party candidate. Around 40,000 signatures were collected to get Libertarian candidate Chad Grimm onto the ballot as well. Why does this matter? Because in Illinois a “new party” needs to get 25,000 signatures, minimum, in order to gain access to the ballot. To better understand this, it is important to know the difference between “established...

The Green Party of the United States held its Presidential Nominating Convention in Baltimore, Maryland last weekend. The first two days of the conventions had workshops ranging from "Youth Outreach" to "Building Community". Along with the workshops, the Green National Committee held a meeting to hear standing committee reports. The Green Party had international guests from Canada, Germany, and New Zealand, in order to strengthen the international relationship. Saturday was nomination day. Thro...

The following is an interview with Drew Langdon, an activist in the cooperative movement in New York as well as a Green Party candidate for the New York State Representative race. AJ: Could you please give us your background in politics and activism? Drew: I'd say that my first experience in political activism was as a student at Houghton College when I participated in an action organized by our campus's chapter of Evangelicals for Social Action. On this rural, politically conservative campus,...

The following is an interview with Socialist Party USA National Co-Chair, Billy Wharton. We discuss the past, present and future of the movement to get a better understanding of the Socialist Party. Could you give a summary of the history of the Socialist Party, as you understand it? Billy: In one sense, the history of the Socialist Party USA (SP-USA) is quite old. You can track our origins back to the formation of the old Socialist Party of America (SPA) in 1901. The SPA was the party of Euge...

The following interview is with Illinois Ron Paul Delegate, Greg Bishop, who attended the Illinois Republican State Convention held in Tinley Park, Illinois on June 9th. Bishop recently explained his first hand experience of the incident where the Ron Paul delegation was shut out of the state convention. AJ: Please provide for the readers your background? Bishop: 
I'm an activist at heart. Having been on the air with a politically-driven radio talk show for nearly 6 years, my experience in rea...

The following is an interview with Carl Davidson. Davidson is a long time activist who started back in the 1960s. Since then Davidson has been involved with many organizations, including currently serving as the national Co-Chair of the Committee of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. Read on to learn more about his involvement, and his perspective on what activism means to him. AJ: Could you give the readers a summary of your activism background? Carl: I started as an alienated "Beat ...

What will it take for the majority to understand voting for either Republicans or Democrats is counter-productive in changing our societal issues through politics? The Wisconsin recall is an excellent example. From day one of the recall campaign, people were confident that Democrats were going to be out in full force. People assumed resources were going to be handed out; such as finances, campaign staff, and media tactics designed and/or on behalf of Wisconsin Democrats. Instead, no help came f...

I interviewed former Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Bill Ayers. His various articles on education have appeared in countless publications, including the Harvard Educational Review, The Nation, The New York Times, and Rethinking Schools. Along with his academic career, Ayers was actively involved with the Civil Rights movement where he fought discrimination in Ann Arbor, MI. Could you provide your background in policy ...