My name is Jocolyn Bowser-Bostick and I am happy to be endorsed by the Green Party of PA as a candidate for Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania. 

I was born in Philadelphia and attended public schools first in North Philadelphia and then later in Media, PA where I also lived. I took classes at Yale University and CCP before graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in biology from Temple University. While attending college I worked at several different jobs and got married. My husband and I moved from an apartment in Media to our own house and home in Chester, PA in 1989. A few years later I graduated, and I spent the next 24 years working as a laboratory technician at a medical research facility & biorepository in New Jersey. I left this position when I was laid off, and I found that it was very hard to find employment again (possibly because I was over 50) especially in a full-time position. I have spent a lot of time volunteering, gardening and teaching English as a second language to adult students with my extra free time. I am currently working part-time as a pharmacy technician. Many years ago my husband and I became the parents of my late brother’s youngest son and eventually home schooled him so he could get a better education than he was receiving in Chester’s public schools. He now has his Ph. D. in biology and is doing AIDS research in Portland, Oregon.

I am both an active member of my county level Green Party by serving as the chair of the Green Party of Delaware County PA and the state level Green Party by serving as an At-Large Delegate on the steering committee of the Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA). I am enthusiastic about being a Green Party member because I am neither suicidal nor homicidal and the goals and values of the Green Party make it the most life-affirming political party I know of on the planet. Our Green Party is not only one of the best tools or strategies for improving the peace of mind, health and safety for ourselves, our loved ones and the rest of the human race, but also for maintaining the beauty and diversity of the land, the seas and all other living species.

The Green Party’s Ten Key Values which are succinctly expressed by its four pillars which advocate for grassroots democracy, social justice, peace and ecological wisdom equate to putting the welfare of people and the planet always above the quest for financial gain. I feel that working with other people who have the same goals on issues and are interested in electing people who are committed to the same values that the Green Party is dedicated to is much more effective than trying to do the same work by myself or within either major political party which lets the money and ideas of the rich and powerful dictate its values and goals. Therefore, both major parties are ineffective at reducing widespread poverty and oppression and too often support policies and spend our tax dollars with little or no consideration toward eliminating these large and persistent problems. 

The attitudes of Greens and the policies and changes in society for which we work such as excellent universal healthcare for all in the U.S., improvements to K-12 public education, tuition-free college education, cutting the U.S. military budget by more than half, ending U.S. funding of and involvement in violent conflicts around the world, ending fossil fuel extraction and use, and making our economy 100% reliant on clean and renewable energy sources benefit the physical, mental and emotional health of people within the United States and around the world. 

As a Green Party member and the GPPA’s 2018 candidate for Lt. Governor of PA I feel obligated to those who put their trust, support or money into Green Party projects and candidates to make the following statement a permanent truth about the Green Party: Defenders of workers’ rights on and off the job, environmental activists, those working to make high quality healthcare obtainable by all, social justice advocates, anti-war/peace activists, reformers of our criminal justice system, and protectors and expanders of civil liberties, human rights, political expression, and economic justice for all and especially historically marginalized groups—You can all find a nurturing home in the U.S. Green Parties where people are fighting through electoral politics and activism to make the solutions you want a part of our everyday reality. The commitment to make society more compassionate and just through a greater expression of the Green Party’s Ten Key Values in all aspects of our daily lives is what makes the Green Party such a uniquely superior political party. 

To volunteer now, contact Green Wave in our efforts to secure ballot access.