After some cheering about the fact we finally knew who the nomineee was the lights went down and the video projector started playing a music video version of POWER TO THE PEOPLE, with the original John Lennon vocals and some very stirring footage.

When the lights came up the moderator explained that we needed to pick Rosa Clemente as VP. He asked for a show of hands.

Lots of people liked the idea. The only person who I saw voting no was Warner Bloomberg. Me, I hadn't heard of Rosa before her name started floating around the convention hall.

  

Pat LaMarche, our Vice Presidential candidate in 2004, took the stage to say that Rosa Clemente was a powerful hip-hop writer and poet. She spoke in glowing terms about the message that having a youngish Puerto Rican New Yorker on the ticket sent. Then, over a thundering round of applause she introduce Rosa Clemente.

  

For a long time I felt like most of the words out of Rosa's mouth were the names of friends from the Hip-Hop community. The only one I recognised was Michael Franti of Spearhead. The others were so new to me I've forgotten most of them. I think she also dissed a few mainstream rappers like Fifty Cent as "whores to the money" or something like that. I kept listening and it started to make more sense. She is a caring artist that knows too many important things are being forgotten.

     

David Cobb, the Green Party's 2004 Presidential Nominee, took the stage to remind us of Cynthia McKinney's many years as a Civil Rights activist and her twelve years in Congress. Then he introduced Cynthia McKinney.

     

Click the TRUTH just above to read the version of Cynthia's speech that her campaign emailed out after the convention.

  

The house went nuts after that speech. There was much chanting of things like "paint the white house green!"