Some say the committee ignored evidence or drew the wrong conclusions.

John Judge, founder of the Coalition on Political Assassinations and one who believes, like some in King's family, that Ray did not pull the trigger, scoffs at the panel's work. "Look at what they call conclusions," said Judge. "They can't determine anything except that Ray did it."

. . .

Over the years, efforts to make those sealed records available have been attempted through Freedom of Information Act requests and federal legislation. In 2005, then-Representative Cynthia McKinney (D-Georgia) picked up 64 co-sponsors, including many members of the Congressional Black Caucus, for a measure that would have opened the King files as well as sealed court files and grand jury records, too.

[Neither Representatives Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tennessee) nor Bennie G. Thompson (D-Mississippi) signed on as co-sponsors, records show.]

The McKinney legislation, with an identical Senate bill sponsored by John Kerry (D-Massachusetts), died in committee.

Cynthia McKinney received a majority of the votes cast in the Wisconsin Green Party Presidential Preference Primary Saturday at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

. . .

Green Party members chose a total of 24 delegates to go to the national convention on behalf of Wisconsin – 19 for Cynthia McKinney, two to Kent Mesplay, one to Ralph Nader, one to Kat Swift, and one for uncommitted.

The Green Party of the United States Presidential Nominating Convention is July 10-13 in Chicago. There, 836 delegates from around the country will determine the Green Party's nominee for President of the United States.

Those of us who oppose the war, who believe that all U.S. troops should be withdrawn and the network of permanent bases in Iraq dismantled, have only two options in the coming presidential elections . . .

“When will the American people actually vote to give to the world more than bombs and missiles, sweatshops, dubious science, frankenfood, poverty and misery?” Cynthia McKinney, the presidential candidate in the Green Party primaries, told me. “Not only do we need an immediate, orderly withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, we need an end to the militarism that has placed U.S. troops on the soil of over 100 countries. A true peace agenda means a complete redefinition of security. I remain convinced that if people in Haiti, Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua can vote a peace and justice agenda into power, then so too can we.”

. . .

War is not an abstraction to me. I know its evil. It is time, if we care about the state of the nation, to take an unequivocal stand against the war. If Clinton and Obama do not want to join us, so be it. I support those candidates and organizations that fight back. We should, in solidarity, strike with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union on May 1 against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We should support Code Pink’s refusal to pay the portion of our taxes that go to funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But most of all, we should refuse to be suckered by Democratic candidates who use fuzzy language and will not commit to a total withdrawal from Iraq. We owe it to the hundreds of thousands of dead and injured. We owe to those Iraqis and Americans who will die in the coming days, weeks and months. We owe it to ourselves so, at the very least, we can salvage our integrity.

. . .

We will be told - including by many of Obama's “critical supporters” - to be patient, and then more patient, while at that very same time Obama puts into place the corporatist-type structures used so craftily by the ruling parties and institutions in Europe in the recent period (both of the right and of the so-called left) to co-opt, silence, demobilize and ultimately demoralize the working class and social protest movements.

Central Importance of Cynthia McKinney Campaign

This is why Cynthia McKinney's “Power to the People” candidacy so important today? Brother Larry Pinkney, an editorial board member of Black Commentator, explained it this way:

“Sister Cynthia McKinney has both the credibility and the capacity to truly excite the people in a substantive vs. superficial fashion; and can inspire people to see that they themselves / we ourselves are the only viable solution to the Republicrats and their flawed and corrupt electoral system. We must move the people from being excited about meaningless superficialities that do nothing to address systemic change - to being excited about substance that is the catalyst for systemic change.”

. . .

This sentiment was expressed concisely by Washington, D.C., activist Netfa Freeman on his blog:

“We need to be about the business of thinking and acting outside the box and building political parties that are outside the box, parties that serve the economic, social, and political interests of the masses of people. This is precisely why the candidacy of former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney for President and the Power To The People Coalition is of such enormous importance for the present and for the future. This coalition is all about collectively laying the foundation for systemic change - which is the only way that we can enjoy real change.”

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"I'm just a peace and justice activist," she said.

As well as taking a vocal stand against environmental racism and the for-profit prison system, she pointed out that it is the minority mortgage holders who are suffering the disproportionate brunt of losses in the current subprime foreclosure crisis striking our nation.

In a conversation at Café Roma following her lecture, McKinney described leaving the Democratic Party to seek nomination on a third party ticket as an overdue act to "disengage from an abusive relationship."

As the political-clock winds down, . . . We can no longer subscribe or submit to the mainstream-media’s attenuated version of political coverage. We must harness the power of the internet and become independent thinkers through diligent, responsible and keen analysis of this historical and crucial presidential political race.

And so, this is what we’re reading and hearing in the media–the same assumptions are being made about how much Senator Clinton “deserves” the presidency (why, exactly?); the same argument abounds that the success of black men has somehow exceeded that of white women in government and corporations (patently false); the same claims of Senator Obama being unqualified and his successful candidacy the result of “affirmative action” (a charge that could easily be lobbed at Senator Clinton as well); the same erasure of black women from the discourse, except for when we’re being insulted or our experiences exploited. (In Jong’s effusive memorializing of mistreated female leaders, she notably leaves out Shirley Chisholm’s presidential run in 1972. Steinem and Morgan both talk about imaginary black female candidates as though we haven’t had them before–and don’t have one now in Cynthia McKinney, running for the Green nomination.)

The Talented Tenth continues to dictate to the masses of Blacks who, as Professor Marc Lamont Hill writes, “remain consistently assaulted by the forces [of] white supremacy” (“Not My Brand of Hope”). In collusion with corporate power, the Talent Tenth works to suppress the possibility of real change that can only come from the poor, lower working class that consists of mainly Black, Latino/as and Native Americans.

. . .

Where’s the courage?

While I don’t support the Green Party, former Georgia member of Congress, Cynthia McKinney is running on the GP ticket for president. She has no problems being human, honoring her Black heritage, and standing up to corporate imperialism. To realize a truly singular moment, think outside the Republicrat box!

Wikinews: Why are you running for president?

Congresswoman McKinney: It is clear that the country needs an additional political party that is not beholden to special interests or corporate lobbyists. Just 5% of the electorate, voting for a third party candidate gets the nation just that. Therefore, for those who are tired of the ability of special interests and corporate interests to subvert the will of the people, their values, or change their policy makers,winning the 5% is the best way to infuse structural change into our political system.

A victory for the Green Party in this election is possible and necessary. The alternative we present will appeal to the large numbers of disfranchised voters who do not see the major party candidates addressing their issues. In order for a democratic government to work in the public interest, it has to be both transparent and accountable. If 5% vote Green, it will put a third chair at the table of American politics, and it will open the door to the people to see what is going on inside the two-party system that has become controlled by corporations and the expanding power of a military, industrial, and intelligence complex that President Eisenhower warned of in 1960. The Green Party will represent the voices of the majority of diverse and disfranchized voters and citizens and will directly and effectively address their issues.

while Tuesday night meant Republican John McCain secured his party's presidential nomination and the two Democrats duked it out for delegates in Ohio and Texas, locally it meant an opportunity for the Green Party of Minnesota to throw its hat into the presidential race.

About 20 people turned out for the party's Minnesota caucus on Tuesday night at Van Cleve Recreation Center. Straw poll results at that caucus show Cynthia McKinney won the contest handily, claiming 13 of 17 voters.

Perennial presidential hopeful Ralph Nader received one vote according to the poll, but he has said he doesn't want the party's nomination.

There will be a party convention June 7 and 8.