Last night, Dr. Jill Stein became the first presidential candidate to step foot in Oxford this election season.
The Green Party candidate has made a career out of speaking her mind and relentlessly pushing progressive policies to the front lines of political discussion. When the talk hasn’t been enough, Stein isn’t afraid to walk the walk; she recently faced misdemeanor charges in North Dakota for spray-painting a bulldozer in protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Sophomore Jaz Brisack welcomed Stein to The Lyric’s stage Monday night in front of 215 UM students, faculty and Oxford locals.
Jill Stein speaks at a town hall meeting Monday in the Lyric.
Brisack is a public policy leadership major and founder of the student group Popular Resistance. Popular Resistance supports grassroots political movements and nonviolent direct action, according to their mission statement. Brisack said she formed the organization last year to fight for human rights, no matter the category under which they fall.
“A candidate like Dr. Stein is what we want. If you keep fighting for what you believe in, people will gravitate to you,” she said.
Stein is the first speaker Popular Resistance has brought to campus. Brisack said her organization supports Stein because they are both fighting the same fight, something Stein made clear on Monday night.
“Are you ready to make history, Mississippi?” Stein asked as she took the stage.
Stein began by thanking UM students for taking charge to remove the state flag on campus and no longer sing Dixie at football games.
“It’s always the younger generation that’s leading the charge,” Stein said. “Democracy needs a moral compass, and we need to be that compass.”
Stein echoed Brisack’s call for an end to the American politics of fear. She said this is a re-alignment election, where Americans have the chance to make a different way forward.
“This lesser-evilism in politics has brought us everything we were afraid of in the first place,” Stein said.
Stein stressed the importance of coming together for humanity instead of arguing over whom we hate the most. She criticized the two other major candidates, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, for their race to the bottom floor of integrity. Stein shamed Clinton for her pro-fracking history and expansionist military views, and Trump for what she called his colonialism on steroids.
“The solution to Donald Trump isn’t more Clintonism. We are the solution to Trump,” she said.
Lifelong Democrat Cliff Sommers is the Mississippi volunteer coordinator for Stein’s campaign. He started paying attention to Stein a few months ago, like many other Bernie Sanders fans did after the Vermont senator endorsed Hillary Clinton. Sommers said he was drawn to Stein because she’s offering something none of the other parties are.
Sommers said the Stein campaign was planning to hold Monday’s event in Tennessee but changed course to Oxford at the last minute. He said Brisack’s work with Popular Resistance was essential to the Town Hall’s success.
“How many kids that are 18 or 19 years old can engage a group of kids to come out and see a third party candidate at a 200-person event in Oxford?” Sommers said. “Jaz and the students were absolutely fantastic.”
Other members of Popular Resistance came out on Monday to help run the Town Hall. Sophomore public policy leadership major Jarrius Adams handed out buttons and said he supports open democracy.
“My candidate is Hillary Clinton, but I do believe that in a time like this, young people need more options,” Adams said.
Students looking for options this election have turned to Stein and her Libertarian counterpart Gary Johnson. Stein has invited Johnson to debate her publicly but says she hasn’t gotten a response.
“Gary needs to stand up and defend himself like he’s not running scared,” Stein said.
Many students, such as sophomore international studies major Sarah Kavanagh, heard about the Town Hall through Facebook and brought friends along.
“It’s important for young people to be politically active because this directly affects us,” Kavanagh said. “Everyone should be involved, and everyone should register to vote.”
Voter registration is open until Oct. 7 at the Oxford Court House to any Mississippi resident of 30 days.
Stein ended her remarks Monday evening with a call to political action.
“This is like the perfect storm,” Stein said. “The house of cards is coming down, and the quicker we can get in and turn us a different direction, the better.”
