Spring Break
Rosa Clemente talks politics at the Student Union Theatre
Joseph Adinolfi
Issue date: 11/9/09 Section: News
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Rosa Clemente, 37, a community organizer, hip-hop activist and founder of "Know Thyself Productions," spoke in the Student Union Theatre on Friday night to an enthusiastic crowd.
Raised in the South Bronx, Clemente is a graduate of SUNY-Albany and Cornell University.
The UConn ACLU and Lambda Upsilon Lambda, a Latin-American service fraternity founded last spring, co-sponsored the event.
On July 12, 2008, Clemente was nominated as the Green Party's vice-presidential candidate at their national convention in Chicago, becoming former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney's running mate on the first all-women-of-color ticket in United States history. Their progressive platform was defined by a number of contentious issues - universal healthcare, state-funded higher education and a Palestinian state, to name a few.
"We are living in a revolutionary time," Clemente said. "We are at a point where we have people that run for president, but they don't get to debate. They say that every vote counts, but you know it doesn't."
Clemente cited the existence of the electoral college and the established two-party monopoly as causes for concern. Using Ross Perot as an example, she contended that without a large source of independent wealth, it is impossible for third-party candidates to achieve a level of media exposure comparable to their well-funded mainstream peers.
Clemente stood at the podium for about two hours, speaking continuously without any notes. Her improvisational talent was evident as she seamlessly leapfrogged from topic to topic.
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