He was educated in the New York City public school system and graduated from Southern Illinois University, where he attained a triple major in Cultural Anthropology, International Affairs and Government.
After graduation and return to Brooklyn, he became involved in local politics, joining several civil rights groups and community organizations concerned with the elimination of racism and social injustice.
During his tenure in public office, he distinguished himself as an architect of laws, policies and institutions that defined his commitment to civil and human rights within New York State, the nation, and the world community.
In response to the deaths of Luis Baez, Randolph Evans and Eleanor Bumpurs, Green authored legislation creating the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College.
In 1983, Coretta Scott King and labor leader Cleveland Robinson asked Green to serve as the New York State political coordinator for the Memorial March on Washington.
In 1994, Ralph J. Marino, the N.Y. senate majority leader of the Republican Caucus, presented Green and Eve with an opportunity to pass their bill if they would agree to drop "gay rights" language from their proposal.
It was the largest anti-apartheid demonstration in the history of the U.S. After the march, the U.N. Special Commission on Human Rights appointed Green as one of eight U.S. delegates to the World Conference Against Apartheid in Paris, which was organized to develop strategies to eliminate this injustice.
[8] On the same day, Hakeem Jeffries, Green's long-time political opponent, was elected to succeed him in the Assembly district which he had retired from to launch his unsuccessful bid for Congress.
In 2007, shortly after the end of Green's term in the State Legislature, the chancellor of the City University of New York and the president of Medgar Evers College, appointed him as a distinguished lecturer.