Moni's Headed To Netroots Nation 2016!

Wasn't expecting to be able to go this year, but it worked out for me and I will now be part of the #NN16 crowd wandering the America's Center Convention Complex in downtown St Louis for this year's edition of Netroots Nation.

This will be my second one after a four year absence from my inaugural one in Providence in which I was part of the historic all-trans Blogging For Transgender Equality panel.  

It was an overall positive experience for me.  I ended up during my time at #NN12 doing two radio interviews on This Week In Blackness (TWIB) and Michaelangelo Signorile's show and meeting a lot of people in the national liberal-progressive movement that i still converse with to this day.

And just as I did during #NN12, I'm not just going to hang out in my LGBT community comfort zone.  I'm planning on hitting some panels geared toward the Black community and letting my unapologetic Black trans voice be heard in those spaces as well.

We'll see what happen next week, but I'm looking forward to going.

Netroots Nation 2015 Starts Today!

The 2015 edition of Netroots Nation starts today and it is coming to you from Phoenix, AZ. starting today until July 19.   And nope, I won't be there to cover all the exciting things that are going to transpire at the Phoenix Convention Center and the various hotels.

As badly as I would have liked to have been there, just didn't work out for me to be able to come for the first time since the 2012 event in Providence, RI.

But like every one else that couldn't go for various reasons, I'll check out the #NN15 hashtag on Twitter to see what people are saying about the largest progressive conference in the country. 

There's also the Netroots Nation website in which I and others who couldn't be there in person this year will be able to check out some of the seminars and speeches being webcast.

For those of you who did make it to Phoenix or are headed that way, y'all have fun, get your learn on and I hopefully see y'all at Netroots Nation 2016 in a locale to be determined later.

Netroots Nation 2014 Is Headed To Detroit

I couldn't make it to Netroots Nation 2013 in San Jose, CA to my sorrow after being part of the fun last year in Providence and a historic first ever all trans panel discussion..  

I was busy with my own stuff during the June 20-23 period of Netroots Nation's San Jose run so I didn't get a chance to check out the news from the just concluded convention to see if what I wrote at the end of the Providence 2012 Netroots Nation event as to what I would like to see at #NN13 actually came to pass. 


They announced the city that will be hosting Netroots Nation 2014 a few moments ago and it will be in Detroit

It will take place July 17-20 at Cobo Hall in the Motor City and will be coming at a critical time.  The crucial 2014 midterms will be taking place a few months later on November 6 and the citizens of Michigan will be striving to throw off the yoke of Republifool oppression and toss Rick Snyder and their Tea Klux Klan dominated legislature out of power in addition to selecting a replacement for retiring US Senator Carl Levin (D).

So the peeps in Detroit are excited about this opportunity to show a different side of Detroit than the one that has been depicted on the national news lately and will be wanting to roll out the red carpet for the over 3000 progressive activists headed there next July.

And with a little luck, hope I'm one of them.

What I'd Like To See At Netroots Nation 2013

It's been almost a week since I was part of that historic trans panel at Netroots Nation 2012 in Providence and in the room for the LGBT pre-conference event that was a week ago today. 

I'm still sorting through the e-mail from the people I met, the conversations we started, pondering some offers and invitations, and fleshing out the parameters of some of the commitments I made on behalf of myself and the African-American trans community during the event.

I'm following up on many of those and want to make them happen. 

It was announced on Sunday that Netroots Nation 2013 will be held June 20-23 on the West Coast for the first time in the history of the event in San Jose, CA and they are expecting 3000 people to attend.  Of course I enjoyed my first timer experience in Providence so much I'm seriously thinking about being in the house at the San Jose Convention Center if my schedule allows it to happen.

But lets presume I'm standing there as an attendee, a panelist, or a speaker a year from now. and I'm checking in at the desk to get my credentials and my Netroots Nation 2013 programming guide.

What would the TransGriot like to see in terms of some of the panel discussions being offered at NN13 to the huddled liberal-progressive masses yearning to breathe free from conservatism?

You know I've been pondering this, and I'm about to share some of those thoughts with you.

One of the things I'd love to see, and I kicked this idea around in Providence with Viktor, Pam Spaulding and Alvin McEwen is a Black LGBT bloggers panel to discuss some of the issues and challenges we face in the liberal progressive blogosphere..

I'd also like to see multiple trans specific panels spread throughout the convention calendar and that sentiment was echoed by my fellow trans panelists as well.

One of the panels that is definitely needed is a trans POC only panel.  One of the things that bothered me with this Netroots Nation 2012 one I was cognizant of is we didn't have a trans Latina on this panel or a trans man, and before I left Houston I reached out to trans Latinas to ask what issues I needed to bring to the table during this 90 minute discussion.   Immigration and police harassment were the ones that came up, and we did get to discuss both.

Speaking of trans men, there needs to be a trans men only panel that allows them to discuss the issues unique to them and interpret trans human rights events from a transmasculine perspective.  

I'd like to see trans people discussing issues not specifically part of the rainbow community on different panels throughout the Netroots Nation programming blocks in the various communities we intersect and interact with.

I also want to see trans people as moderators of panels or even keynote speakers leading the discussions.

If we have an LGBT pre-conference event in San Jose like we did in Providence, I'd like to see some of the discussion time during that day long event geared toward the issues of transfolks and TBLG people of color so we can continue to have those honest discussions and formulate better policy in our rainbow community movement..

Well folks, we have a year to make it happen.  Y'all know my e-mail address and some of you lucky peeps have my phone number.  So let's get busy making it happen.

Blogging For Trans Equality Panel Video

For those of you who didn't get to see it, the video is up for the historic Friday, June 8 Netroots Nation trans panel that involved myself, Dr. Jillian Weiss moderating, Autumn Sandeen, Jos Truitt and Jennifer Levi of GLAD.

Watch live streaming video from fstv2 at livestream.com

Netroots Nation Post Trans Panel Thoughts

Autumn, Jennifer, Jillian, Jos and I only had an hour and thirty minutes to discuss Blogging For Transgender Equality and the wide variety of issues, challenges and triumphs that have resulted in us engaging in this new media medium.

And yes, we started on time at 10:30 AM EDT in doing so and still the hour concluded with us not being able to talk about a long list of issues I would have liked to have addressed.

But in the wake of this historic panel and the discussions it generated at Netroots Nation and hopefully will continue across the liberal progressive political sphere, y'all know the TransGriot has some things to say that I didn't get to articulate during that panel and in the two radio interviews I was a part of during that event.

One of the things that was glaringly clear to me even before I arrived in Providence was that we needed a Latin@ trans blogger on that panel and a trans man.   GLAD did a wonderful job in putting it together and even they recognize that point.

We also need at future Netroots Nation events (and any other liberal progressive conferences) several trans panels dealing with a wide range of subjects.   I would also submit a trans POC panel is desperately needed to highlight and give exposure to our emerging and long time trans leaders of color, touch on and explore those issues that deleteriously affect us and highlight the intersectional overlaps with the other communities we are part of.

I was honored to be part of that historic Friday discussion, the LGBT pre-conference event on Wednesday and the Netroots Nation Black Caucus on Thursday.  Only thing that prevented my participation in the LGBT caucus was me flying back to Houston. 

Netroots Nation 2012 helped me make some contacts, meet some people and drive home the point that yes, trans African-Americans exist and yes we are capable of speaking on behalf of this community and many others.   The question remains that will the people I made contact with follow up and how serious are they about their commitments?  

I certainly plan on doing so and letting you know how successful those efforts are as I attempt to honor the commitments I made on behalf of myself and the African-American trans community.   I want to do my part to ensure that the conversation, policies and political strategies that result from these conversation include input from us and benefit our community as well.   

NBJC ED Sharon-Lettman Hicks' 'Own Our Power' words were ringing in my ears when I stepped off the plane at TG Green Airport Tuesday night along with a conversation I recently had with Leslye Huff when we were talking about out Out On The Hill and ALC 2011 experiences.  I decided I wasn't just going to hang out in my LGBT comfort zone, but also make my voice heard in African-American spaces as well.  

When I walked into that Black caucus meeting Wednesday afternoon and made my statement that the Black community needs to stop treating the Black TBLG one as a separate entity, pointed out politically astute down with the Black community's uplift and progress trans people exist, and Black BTLG people were part of the kente cloth fabric of the community little did I realize that two hours later that would get me on Elon James White and L. Joy Williams 'Blacking It Up radio podcast.

They  moderated that Black Caucus event, and my interview with Elon and Joy also got the attention of Michaelangelo Signorile's producers because he was hearing and watching it as well.

Note to my haters (and you know who you are), and still I rise despite your best efforts.

It also for the remainder of the event got me much love from African American LGBT peeps of all ages and our allies who were thinking the same thing but Moni was bold enough to state the obvious.

The point is that trans human rights coverage not only benefits me personally, it expands your human rights and is good for you and all the communities trans people intersect and interact with.