| The Soulful Politics of
Dennis Kucinich "Follow the upward spiral path to the unseen heights of human endeavor, to create an evolutionary politics of creativity, of vision, of heart, of compassion, of joy; to create a new nation and a new world, using the power of love, of community, of participation, to transform our politics and, yes, to transform ourselves." -- Dennis Kucinich, Baraboo, Wisc., September 2002 (from his N.Y. Times bestseller A Prayer For America) by Lydia Howell Exhilaration rippling through crowds that hear Dennis Kucinich contradicts media pundits' dismissal of the Ohio congressman's presidential campaign. The only candidate to vote against war on Iraq, Kucinich isn't just a fierce critic of destructive policies, but a practical visionary. His proposed a Cabinet-level Department of Peace (with 50 Congressional co-sponsors), would "make non-violence an organizing principle of our society": from healing the microcosms of domestic violence and child abuse to addressing gangs and police brutality, expanding globally to human rights, international treaties (abandoned by the Bush Administration) and strengthening co-operation. Kucinich won the 2003 Gandhi Peace Award, joining past recipients Eleanor Roosevelt, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Ramsey Clark and Dorothy Day, the woman Kucinich says most inspired him in her spirit-based social-justice activism Catholic Worker movement. Oldest of seven, the first in his family to go to college, Kucinich grew up in inner-city Cleveland. Speaking about laid-off workers, families devastated without healthcare or youth priced-out of college, lived experience resonates through his positions. "I can still hear my parents trying to pay the electric bill, counting out the pennies on our kitchen table: click, click, click," he said in his October campaign announcement. Painfully describing bargains with the Devil that families make in a medical crisis -- homes sold, retirement liquidated, children's college funds spent -- in a July interview, I remember Kucinich's truck-driver father "died with his first retirement check in his pocket -- uncashed." As a Cleveland Plain Dealer copyboy, he visited many homes "paint peeling, furniture worn out, and on top of the TV, a framed photograph of the son in uniform." Kucinich gathered those photographs of young men killed in Vietnam for publishing in the newspaper. It's clear he's never forgotten them. "The corporatization of thought, the militarization of thought, SEPARATES us from our human nature, separates us from our REAL selves," Kucinich said, speaking about sustainability. From energy to foreign policy, Kucinich holds human possibility at the center of issues. Where others tinker around the edges of pressing problems, Kucinich fearlessly goes to the heart of the matter. His book A Prayer For America is a clarion call for the best of our democratic tradition, rooted in "ordinary" people accomplishing extraordinary change: expanding equality, setting nurturant priorities, protecting our environment, peacemaking. Kucinich offers an antidote to the paralyzing cynicism infecting so many Americans, echoing a kind of New Age FDR merging with the 1960s hopefulness that Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. embodied. What he's called his "Sea Biscuit campaign" (referring to the "longshot" racehorse that won the Kentucky Derby) is winning eclectic endorsements: Ram Dass, Deepak Chopra, Ani DiFranco, Ed Asner, Danny Glover, Rep. Barbara Lee, Willie Nelson, among others. Skeptics about Kucinich's "electability" should recall history: At this point in their campaigns, Jimmy Carter had under 5% and Bill Clinton had zero in the polls. Kucinich wins 50% of Republicans in his district. While belligerent swagger marks George Bush's speeches and photo-ops, Kucinich expresses strength grounded by integrity. In 1978, as the nation's youngest mayor in Cleveland, Kucinich faced pressure to sell the publicly owned Muny Light to corporate interests. He'd inherited a looted city budget and banks threatened not to extend loans unless Kucinich capitulated. He refused corporate interests put the sale on a referendum, outspending Kucinich and his grassroots supporters two-and-a-half to one. Kucinich's ability to unite people prevailed in victory. After last summer's East Coast power outage, even his critics say Kucinich was right. He pre-dated current challenges to corporations corrupting our political process against the public interest. "My concept of the American Dream? It's not the America of ITT and Exxon. It's the America of Paine, Jefferson and Samuel Adams," he told Studs Terkel at the time. "Increasingly, there are two Americas: the America of multinationals dictating decisions in Washington and the America of neighborhoods and rural areas who feel left out. I see in the future a cataclysm: popular forces converging on an economic elite which feels no commitment to needs of people." Kucinich's stand cost him re-election. His almost 15 years journey to political comeback was obviously both (to quote Thomas Merton) a "long night of the soul" and continued rising consciousness. Kucinich helped create campaign finance reforms and refuses corporate contributions that fatten opponents' budgets -- and narrow their ideas. In a St. Paul rally, Kucinich's repeated refrain was "Come, my friends! It's not too late to seek a new world!" He lays out practical policy and quotes poetry. He points to the necessity of alternative energy and affirms the power of human spiritual energies. At the Florida Democratic Conference in December, John Lennon's "Imagine" announced Kucinich's bounding on stage. He often refers to the statue that presides over the entrance to Congress: "A woman with arms out-stretched to a child atop a pile of books -- called 'Peace Protecting Genius.' Not with nuclear arms, not with weapons -- but, with arms of nurturance and love." On his first day as president, Kucinich vows to "repeal NAFTA and withdraw from the WTO, negotiating trade agreements nation by nation, based on workers' rights, human rights and environmental protection." His thread linking domestic and foreign policies is unity. This 5'7" dynamo can't be contained in soundbites. Inspiring students, WW II and Vietnam-era members of Veterans For Peace, labor organizers and environmentalists, Dennis Kucinich is redefining politics as the creation of community and the realization of spiritual democracy. "As we understand all people of the world are interconnected, we can achieve nuclear disarmament and peace," Kucinich told the House of Representatives in March 2002, "upholding a holistic vision...where each person living on this planet is entitled to a life where he or she may consciously evolve in mind, body and spirit." For more information on Dennis Kucinich, visit www.kucinich.us Lydia Howell is a Minneapolis-based activist, poet and print/radio journalist, producer-host of "Catalyst: politics & culture" on KFAI Radio, archived at www.kfai.org Copyright © 2004 Lydia Howell |
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