Since being elected in 1992 as the first African-American Congresswoman from Georgia, Cynthia Ann McKinney has gained national and international renown as a tireless advocate for human rights, voting rights and holding government accountable. McKinney’s voting record reflects her philosophy that government should serve to provide uplift to local communities and the dignity of the human spirit. This means promoting the rights of seniors, students, the disabled, minorities, veterans and workers. She was known as a passionate, intelligent, charismatic and effective member of the House of Representatives and of the Democratic Party.
After ten years of service, Congresswoman McKinney lost her seat (many believe because of her criticism of the Bush Administration’s lack of accountability for what happened on 9-11) in 2002 thanks to a concerted effort by Republicans to organize voters to “cross over” and vote against her in the Democratic Primaries.
Her experience as the target of such an orchestrated campaign has been documented in a film titled “American Blackout,” directed by Ian Inaba. This film, which won an award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival in Utah, features McKinney’s career as a Congresswoman and deals with the historical suppression of black voters in the United States. McKinney made a stunning comeback in 2004, a year in which Republicans took firm control of both Chambers of Congress and the White House, when she was elected once again to represent Georgia’s Fourth District.
Upon returning to Congress, McKinney brought ten years of experience with her, but was denied her seniority status and her seat on the International Relations Committee. This did not keep her from taking on challenging and controversial issues. On the first anniversary of the release of the 9/11 Commission Report, McKinney presided at a Congressional Briefing where dozens of experts and family members of 9/11 victims gave nine hours of testimony critiquing the Report’s errors, omissions, and recommendations. Further testimony on 9/11 was heard at the Congressional Black Caucus’ annual legislative weekend in September 2005.
When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, McKinney drove all night to be with the people of New Orleans to speak out against the inadequate government response. A long-time environmental advocate, McKinney introduced a bill to be a comprehensive environmental clean-up plan to deal with the toxic aftermath of the hurricane. Another bill introduced by McKinney would deny funding to the Gretna Police for one year for turning away desperate survivors in the aftermath of the hurricane. McKinney has cosponsored numerous bills seeking relief for the hurricane survivors, and has consistently spoken out on behalf of the survivors, demanding that their urgent needs be addressed. She participated in the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina, traveling with the Committee on a delegation to the Gulf Coast in January 2006. McKinney’s 70-page supplemental report was the only report by a Democrat to be included in A Failure of Initiative, the Select Committee’s Final Report.
At the end of the 2006 legislative session, McKinney introduced articles of impeachment against President Bush as (H Res 1106), which makes three charges against Bush: manipulating intelligence and lying to justify the war in Iraq, failing to uphold accountability and violating privacy laws with his domestic spying program. The second article also makes charges against Vice President Cheney for helping to “fix” the intelligence in order to justify the Iraq War, and against Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for making false statements concerning Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction program.
McKinney was mentioned among Green Party circles as a potential candidate in 2008. Green Party members attempted to recruit McKinney both in 2000 and 2004. In 2000, she was widely mentioned as a possible running mate (in the VP slot) for Ralph Nader; in 2004, attempts were made to convince McKinney to run on the Green Party ballot line for president. While there had been a great deal of excitement amongst party members concerning a possible McKinney run in those prior elections, the congresswoman had little to do with the party outside of Green Party loyalists working on her Democratic congressional campaigns. This changed drastically following her defeat in the 2006 election. McKinney attended the California Green Party strategy retreat in Sonoma, California, where she was the keynote speaker. On May 25, 2007, she was asked about a presidential run on WBAI and confirmed that she had thought about a Green run: “2008 has not been ruled out, some kind of effort. Certainly now it is questionable as to whether that effort would come under the banner of the Democratic Party.” Then on June 9, speaking at a Harlem fund raiser to retire her Congressional campaign event, she on three occasions addressed speculation that she might run for president in 2008. At the end of the program, Robert Knight of Pacifica Radio, who MC’d the evening’s events, took the pulpit to ask: “I can’t hardly wait for 2008. Ms. McKinney, in 2008, what color is your parachute?” McKinney responds from the audience, “it’s not red and it’s not blue.”
