It was a long and busy day for your fave blogger that included waking up at 4:30 AM CDT so Dee Dee could get me to Hobby for a 7:25 AM nonstop flight to Washington DC so I could get there before noon Eastern time.My Southwest bird got me, Brandon Mack and Rep. (and hopefully future Houston mayor) Sylvester Turner here early, and after picking up our bags, we headed to the WMATA subway station to catch our DC bound train from DCA.
I met my homegirl Joanna Cifredo at the L`Enfant Plaza WMATA subway station befoore we headed to her place near the Columbia Heights station to drop off my bags, grab a bite and catch up on each others lives before I departed her place for that meeting.
The meeting was a roundtable discussion on LGBT Black women's health and wellness issues that started at 3:30 PM EDT.
And that invitation only facilitated discussion at the Beacon Hotel was a mix of 21 amazing and accomplised LGBTQ/SGL women. Some were my old friends in the struggle like Donna Payne, June Crenshaw, Valerie Spencer, Lourdes Hunter, Earline Budd, Stacey Long-Simmons, Samantha Master and Danielle Moodie-Mills along wih the amazing women I got to meet before and after today`s needed discussion like our moderator Dr.Linda Spooner and Bishop Allyson Abrams.
It was a fascinating and much needed intergenerational three hour conversation that covered intimate partner violence, historical anti-Black hatred, aging and elder care issues, safety, housing , building intergenerational ssterhood and what to do to get culturally competent health care that works for all Black, SGL, bi and trans women.
After that meeting concluded, it was post discussion eats and cocktails in which the enlightening discussions and conversation continued until some of us left to go check out the National Action Network reception over at HRC headquarters across the street.
After spending twenty minutes there, I headed back to Joanna`s place so I could begin to process what I have been blessed to just witness, and marvel at the conclusion of an amazing first day at #OOTH2015.
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