July 10 - Today is the start of the Green Party's Political Convention. In Chicago, Illinois, the party's Presidential nominee will be decided among 4 Presidential, including front runner former US Representative of Georgia, Cynthia McKinney and her running mate, Rosa Clemente, Activist, Organizer and Journalist. Former Green Presidential candidate and Professor at Morgan State University, Jared Ball, says this convention marks an exciting time for American politics.

I think it represents the brightest moment in electoral political history in general, certainly in my lifetime. I think it represent the brightest moment for the Green Party, and the convention season.

I think that what we have here is the coming together of two women, as Rosa Clemente has .. accepting the invitation to run as Cynthia McKinney's Vice Presidential nominee.

Of two women.. with a strong powerful history in the struggle for Human Rights, here and abroad. That represent important and diverse aspects of that struggle. With Cynthia McKinney of course, being an African descendant or a Black woman in the United States, and Rosa Clemente being a Black Puerto Rican... from New York, and also coming from my generation, what is called the Hip Hop Generation.

Bringing together these two powerful forces, demonstrating not only the need for a new kind of leadership in terms of gender, but in terms of racial solidarity, in terms of class solidarity, as both women have a strong track record of representing to the fullest, the interest of Black people, and Latinos, and the Indigenous populations, and working class whites.

Absolutely, and this is .. unfortunately, the nature of the struggle in this country, and elsewhere round the world. But what this would represent should these two get the nomination of the party, is that there has been enough of a shift, enough of a demonstration in the power of this campaign, to warrant this shift in the party's direction and then, that would allow us to have a campaign, and a leadership, that could organize a new party.

Part of this is to develop the Green Party, expand it beyond what it is today, to be more inclusive of the majority of the eligible electorate ...

So we actually have a majority of the eligible electorate that is waiting for a campaign to come along, similar to this, that could speak to, or offer a place for them to go with their electoral political organization, and efforts. So that we could actually re-build a party here ...

Interview: Professor Jonathan Farley

Despite the ascent of Cynthia McKinney, an African American woman, to the top spot in the Green party ticket, some are still skeptical of the Green Party's inclusiveness. One of those critics is Cal Tech Professor Jonathan Farley. He ran for Congress as a Green party candidate in 2002. Farley spoke with producer Karen Miller.