Upcoming 2017 International LGBTQ Leaders Conference

This is a conference I would love to attend but not looking like I'll be able to be there this year

It's the International LGBTQ Leaders Cobference sponsored by the Victory Institute.  It has been held every year since 1984 when it started with a gathering of a dozen openly gay elected officials discussing the unique challenges of serving as an elected official while openly gay.



As the number of LGBT elected officials has grown to over 1000 around the planet, so has the popularity and importance of the conference.   Last year's event in Washington DC saw over 500 participants from around the world attend, with 141 of them being TBLGQ elected officials.

40 of those TBLGQ elected officials went into a closed door session at the beginning of the 2016 conference to strategize about the unexpected election of Trump to the presidency and what their response should be to it.

The 2017 edition of the conference is back in Washington DC at the Washington Hilton from December 6-9 with the theme of 'Representation Is Power'. 

Some of the speakers for this year's event include Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) , former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, Ca Senator Ricardo Lara, Long Beach, CA mayor  Robert Garcia. Guatemalan Congressmember Sandra Moran, and Peruvian Congressmember Alberto de Belaunde . 

Over the three days of the LGBTQ Leaders Conference attendees will engage in skills building, networking, plenaries and breakout sessions designed to help TBLGQ leaders harness and wield that power for the benefit of their constituents and our community.

And hopefully one day I'll get to be in the house for that event.   

Moni's In The ATL For #NN17

For the first time since 2004, I'm actually spending some extended time in Fulton County and not transiting the ATL airport as I've done a few times since then to make connecting flights either to or from Houston.

It's the first of two trips I'll mate to Atlanta over the next several weeks, and I'm here for my second consecutive Netroots Nation conference.  Compared to my maiden 2012 Netroots Nation experience in Providence and last year in St. Louis, it's going to a be a busy one for me with three panel discussion and making an appearance during the Pundit Cup as last year's champion.

And even better I didn't have to fly Spirit to get here since this is Delta's mother hub.

Unlike last year in St. Louis, I'm at the convention hotel this time, which means I'll get to hang out a little bit longer and talk to convention attendees.   Also looking forward to bumping into old friends and meeting new ones.

And once again for those of you attending #NN17, I don't bite.  If I'm not enroute to a panel or a meeting, I'll always have time to talk to people at these events.  

Don't be shy, say hi!

Moni's Headed To Netroots Nation 2017!

I'll be headed to Netroots Nation for the second consecutive year, and this year #NN17 will be held in Atlanta.

This will be the first trip I've taken to the ATL since 2004, and I'm so looking forward to going there and actually stepping out of the airport for a change

In addition to participating in two Saturday panels and on on Thursday/Friday, I'll also be making an appearance during this year's Fourth Annual Pundit Cup competition and the finals on Saturday since yours truly is last year's champ.



One of my panels is at 1:30 PM EDT in the Hanover F room, and is entitled Talking While Black. There will also be at 3:00 PM in the University room an LGBT POC Caucus.

But I'm definitely looking forward to wandering the Hyatt Regency Atlanta on Peachtree Street convention hotel, seeing some old friends, and as always meeting new ones.

So if you see me wandering the #NN17 convention hotel, don't be shy, say hi!

Texas Trans History- The Texas 'T' Party

In the wake of the recent death of Linda Phillips, one of the co-organizers of this event along with her wife Cynthia, been needing to talk about this event that grew to become one of the largest trans themed conferences events in the nation.

And even better, it was based here in Texas.

Back the late 80's, the trans community was tentatively beginning to come out of isolation and forming local transgender support groups that allowed crossdressers and trans people to meet each other, form friendships and go on public local outings as a group in addition to being informed about the latest developments in pre-Internet Trans World.

One of those support groups that sprang up was the San Antonio area based Boulton and Park Society that formed in 1986.

Linda and Cynthia Phillips joined it not long after its formation, and the couple soon ascended to leadership roles in the organization.  Linda became the secretary and treasurer of the Boulton and Park society, while her wife Cynthia became the Executive Director  

Linda and Cynthia also became board members of IFGE, the International Foundation For Gender Education in the 1990's along with doing the talk show circuit to talk about their marriage in which one partner is transgender and the other cisgender.

The Texas 'T' Party started in 1988 as a way for Boulton and Park Society members and other Central Texas area crossdressers to have an event that allowed them to be en femme for an entire weekend at a local San Antonio hotel.  They were only expecting 20-40 people to show up, but to their surprise the word got out and 128 people attended that inaugural event.

The second Texas 'T' Party in February 1989 had 75 people journeying to San Antonio a full day before the conference officially started on Friday, so programming was extended by a day to have events on Thursday starting in 1990.

The 'T' Party grew to include vendors, beauticians, manicurists, makeup artists, photographers, panel discussions, a talent show, programming for the spouses and a keynote speaker.  It also quickly assembled a large mailing list of attendees from across the nation and several countries.

The 'T' Party growth was so explosive that by the third annual one in February 1990 it was not only drawing over 300 regular participants, it had forged a deal with American Airlines to become their official air carrier.  As part of that relationship with American Airlines, a coupon discounting air travel to San Antonio for the event was included in the T Party event confirmation packet.

The Texas 'T' Party growing in a short time to major trans convention status was critical to the startup and success of another Texas based event that was the genesis of the political organizing and messaging of the modern trans rights movement in the International Conference of Transgender Law and Employment Policy.  (ICTLEP).

Phyllis Frye attended the 1992 'T' Party in order to help promote the inaugural August 26-30, 1992 one of what turned out to be six ICTLEP conferences in Houston with the blessing of the Phillipses, who became major supporters of the ICTLEP conference.

The explosive growth of the Texas 'T' Party led to it not only becoming a weeklong event, but outgrowing its original hotel to become arguably the largest trans themed convention in the United States.

After hosting the 1995 'T' Party at a new San Antonio hotel, it surprisingly moved up I-35 to Dallas for two years in 1996 and 1997 for its eighth and ninth annual editions before returning the T' Party back home to San Antonio for its 10th anniversary edition in 1998

But the 1990's also saw the growth of other trans themed conferences like the Southern California based California Dreaming, Fantasia Fair in Provincetown, MA and an Atlanta based one called Southern Comfort which was also rapidly growing in popularity in Trans World.

The Phillipses also being busy during the decade with television appearances, collegiate panel discussions, sitting on boards in addition to holding leadership roles within the Boulton and Park Society and being the principal organizers of the T Party led to the decision to end it with one final Texas T Party in 1999.

For eleven years the Texas 'T' Party was the destination convention for many crossdressers, trans people and their spouses who took advantage of the mild Texas winter-early spring weather to be themselves if only for a week in the Lone Star State before it ended.

Thanks to the Phillipses and the team that worked to put on the Texas 'T' Party for over a decade, it was more than just a weeklong party.  It was also an event that educated and informed our community, helped many find lifelong friends, helped many people come to the epiphany that they were definitely trans, and was a critical early informational building block in the modern trans rights movement.

And it did so with a Texas twang and that legendary Texas hospitality..
 

BTAC 2017- Day 6 Schedule

The final day and official event of BTAC 2017 takes place with the closing interfaith service starting at 11 AM followed by our traditional brunch at Blue Mesa.

We've had a record turnout of BTAC attendees, and many of them were first timers.  We've had folks come from Alabama to Jamaica    We've learned, laughed, networked and loved on each other, and witnessed the passing of the BTIPS crowns to a new king and queen.  

But now it's time for us to say so long to Dallas and head back to our home areas to implement the things we learned here.  It time for us to wish each other safe travels to our final destinations to do the work of building family and Black trans community power until we gather in Dallas next April for #BTAC2018

It's going to be a long 365 days until we're back together again.

BTAC 2017 -Day 5 Schedule

Thanks to all the winners who were honored at our awards gala last night.

When the sun rises in the Texas sky in a few hours, we'll be bouncing from the host hotel to take part in Black Trans Family Fun Day at the nearby Circle R Ranch in Flower Mound, TX.

It's a few hours of fun barbecue and Moni dishing out domino lessors to all who dare to cross her path.   Since these peeps are visiting my home state, I'll be nice and won't make them sign the score sheet once I'm finished giving that domino lesson.

And yeah, I still chuckle about the trash talking Syria was doing when she and her partner were at an adjacent table playing spades.

Once we return from the Circle R Ranch to the hotel, it's Black Diamond Ball time and then we'll probably be hanging out late in lobby or in our rooms as this BTAC 2017 week comes to a close. .

BTAC 2017-Day 4 Schedule

Congratulations to our new BTIPS pageant royalty in Mr. Black Transman Trenton Johnson of Dallas and Ms. Black Transwoman Tiffany Starr of Atlanta who were crowned during our pageant last night..

Hey at least we kept one of the titles in Texas.

It's Friday, Day 4 of the Black Trans Advocacy Conference, and the featured event for tonight is the Awards Gala hosted by Merrick Moses and Jade Lenore that will start at 7 PM tonight.

We also have a 12 noon press conference scheduled to discuss some issues of importance to the Black trans community along with our final day of seminars.

I'm definitely going to be interested to see who will be getting the Monica Roberts Advocacy Award that I'll be presenting tonight

Yep peeps, one of the foundation awards being presented tonight is named after me..  The other awards being presented tonight in the foundation category are the Louis Mitchell Empowerment Award, The Kortney Ryan Ziegler Awareness Award, the Kylar Broadus Equality Award and the Lawrence T. Richardson Humanitarian Award.

The Black Transmen, Inc. Man of the Year Award and the Black Transwomen, Inc. Woman of the Year Award will also be given out this evening.

There are four awards in the Community Choice category.  The Rising Star, the Trailblazers, the Ally and the Youth Leadership Awards

In the Community Advocate Category, there's the Trans Alliance, the Faith Based Alliance, Black Pride Alliance and the Black Trans International Ball/Pageant Alliance Awards

Congrats to all the award nominees and good luck to you.

Learning, Networking and Having Fun At BTAC 2017

We're passing the halfway mark of the BTAC 2017 conference, and in addition to yours truly doing my part to ensure it is an informative and enjoyable conference for all our attendees, I am enjoying my extended birthday week celebration.

It is my fave conference, and increasingly we have people attending from different parts of the world. Our brother Neish is back from Jamaica, Dora is repping Brazil, and Neo is repping The Congo.

That perspective is important for those of us African descended people who grew up here in the States, and helps give us visual evidence and proof that we are part of the African Diaspora.

One of the other things that takes place during BTAC 2017 that is important is all the networking and information sharing that happens in conversations large and small.

We have two more days of panels, with today's panels being focused on health and wellness issues

The other thing that is also important when we gather at BTAC is seeing old friends, meeting new ones from around the country and the world, and just getting to know people on a personal level you may have only regular connections with previously via Facebook or other social media.

There's also meetings with people from other organizations who wish to seriously engage with our Black trans community as we are gathered here in Dallas, and me handling my business as BTAC's Media Chair.

My BTAC siblings, like myself are taking time to have some fun.  It's not all serious business.  BTAC is at a basic level, a big family reunion and one of the few Afrocentric trans themed conferences in the US.

It's a time where I get to laugh and get loved on by my trans fam that looks like me and shares my ethnic background.

When you have a bunch of Black trans women gathered at a conference, it's gonna be a fashion show.  Mama Moni is damned sure ready and able to handle her fashion business in that department with several days of clothes and three pairs of shoes in her two suitcases.

I'm also enjoying the fact that in addition the record attendance we are having this year, we have a large contingent of trans women to go along with our trans brothers.   We also have a lot of first time BTAC attendees this year, and it makes me pleased and proud to see this happening.

You can keep up with the BTAC happenings at the #BTAC2017 hashtag.   We also have people doing Facebook Live events and I'm tweeting at my TransGriot Twitter handle when I'm not taking part in an event..

BTAC 2017- Day 3 Schedule

It's Day 3 of the Black Trans Advocacy Conference, after an amazing TransManifest Live!  talent show last night and a substantive Black Trans Community Summit conversation .

And as you probably guessed, I was busy with a Black Trans Summit panel discussion and a 'Beyond SB 6' one in conjunction with Trans United Fund.

I also read two of my poems during TransManifest Live!

This year's BTAC keynote luncheon will feature our 2017 speakers Vann Millhouse and Dee Dee Watters at 12 noon CDT.

We will also have our State of the Black Trans Union  town hall conversation at 2 PM.

The featured evening event will be the Mr. and Miss Black Trans International Pageant which for the first time will feature regional winners from different parts of the country competing for the title.

The pageant will take place starting at 8 PM

BTAC 2017- Day 2 Schedule

We're continuing to gather in Dallas for the 6th annual Black Trans Advocacy Conference,  and the first day of i t was a busy one for me.   In addition to a radio interview on KERA, I also was asked to take part in the opening interfaith service. and was part of a mazing AYOMBI conversation with my trans sisters from around the country until a little after 10 PM CDT that continued into the early morning hours.

Today is the second full day of the Black Trans Advocacy Conference here at the Dallas/Addison Marriott a the Galleria.  In addition to our second day of panel discussions starting at 9:45 AM CDT, we will have starting at 2 PM our annual Black Trans Community Summit

The featured BTAC event tonight is the TransManifest Live! open mic show that starts at 8 PM hosted by Taliyah Cassadine and  TJ Johnson

And as is the case at any conference , if you see me in the halls, don't be shy, say hi.

I'm I'm not involved in the event, I'll also be tweeting and talking about it at the #BTAC2017 hashtag along with my BTAC fam.

BTAC 2017- Day 1 Schedule

My behind is hopefully in bed as you read this instead of running my mouth, but this is what's on the agenda for the first day of BTAC 2017 from our host hotel, the Dallas/Addison Marriott Quorum by the Galleria.

So looking forward to Day 1 of the 2017 edition of BTAC.  The theme for this year's conference is Loving Ourselves Through Ultimate Service (LOTUS).  That's important in a time in which we have a hostile federal government and many of us live in states that are hostile to trans people as well.

On the agenda at 1 PM CDT is the BTAC Conference Welcome and Orientation along with the first two sessions of BTAC 2017.

At 7 PM the BTAC Interfaith Welcome Interfaith Service takes place followed by at 8:30 PM the AKANNI trans masculine support group meeting, the AYOMBI trans feminine support meeting and a new event this year, the ANCHORS cisgender women's support group.

We have always had cis women in our BTAC family who are either dating or married to trans men   This year we'll have a conference programming track set up to support them.

These women have also been invaluable in terms of breaking down to their trans feminine sisters what it's like and what the societal and community expectations are for being a Black woman as a person who has had to deal with those issues from birth.

Those conversations are vital to us building sisterhood not only in the BTAC and BTA ranks, but over time in the Black community as a whole.

Handling Our #LGBTMedia17 Business in Orlando

As you TransGriot readers were aware of, I've spent the last several days in Central Florida getting my learn on at the 8th annual LGBT Media Journalists Convening.

It's one of my fave events, and I get to spend some quality time  with my media fam in addition to get my learn on about the issues impacting our community in different parts of it.

Many of the premiere bloggers and journalists  of our community were in the Rosen Centre Hotel house including four of the five nominees for this year's GLAAD Best Blog Award.  

So yep, that meant that for the first time since the 2012 Netroots Nation me and Alvin McEwen of 'Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters' not only got to see each other, but plot and plan how we were going to piss off the haters next.   I also got to hang out once again with many of our kick butt women bloggers and journalists, but also content owners like the amazing Melanie Davis

The trans media fam was in effect with birthday girl and my suitemate Dawn Ennis, Gwen Smith, my Houston homegirl Cristan Williams, Brynn Tannehill, Meredith Talusan and Lewis Wallace.

I also got to spend quality time with and get to know people like Derrick Clifton, Jahnell La Mara Johnson, and Rosalind Bentley.with the amazing Lizz Winstead, who was our MC for the weekend, and kept the panels running on time.

Thursday night our mixer event was held at Mango's Tropical Cafe where we go to enjoy some great food and even better conversation.  It was nice hanging out with Joe Jervis and Colin Murphy and getting to talk to Andy Humm about community history.

 I also got a chance to hang out with my Orlando via Texas homegirl Melisa Gomez, meet Elixher's Associate Editor Jahnell La Mara, see old friends like new BiNet USA president Lynnette McFadzen, Trish Bendix, Ebone Bell, Fiona Dawson Zack Ford and Mary Emily O'Hara while eating some wonderful food and min lava cakes while seeing their show from a TV screen in our VP area that had a trio of Michael Jackson impersonators.

We also got to see upon our return to the Rosen Center Hotel from our excursion to Mango's the fountain in front of the hotel lit up in the rainbow flag colors in honor of our event being there.

Friday morning came way too early, and our first LGBTMedia17 day got started with breakfast and the morning talks from 9-12 noon

In addition to the extra day of informational panels and talks we were doing this year, there was also a new feature being initiated for this year's event in which we paired at a table with veteran and newbie attendees so the newbies didn't feel left out.

I was part of Trish Bendix's 'Trish's Magnificent Seven' table

The topics covered in those talks were Objectivity Is Dead by Lewis Wallace,  International News Coverage Begins At The Source by Michael Lavers,  Journalist Or Accidental Tourist: Covering International LGBTQ Issues  by Roberta Sklar, Visual Storytelling: A Guide To Showing Not Telling by Steve Johnson, When It Was Made About Me , I Learned It Had Nothing To Do About Me by Jana Shortal and we closed out the morning talks with Beyond Murder: Covering Transgender People Of Color  by Meredith Talusan.

We LGBTMedia attendees were also tweeting the proceeding via the #LGBTMedia17 hashtag, which we were proud to discover within an hour after the morning talks started, was the number one hashtag on Twitter.

We were also happy to discover during lunch that our gender neutral restroom sign was not only well received by other people sharing the hotel with us and being used, it was sparking conversations.

After lunch we had two deep dive sessions scheduled to run from 1-2:45 PM  to choose from that lasted 45 minutes with a 15 minute break to switch between session if you wished.

Steve Johnson moderated the Showing Not Telling session while Roberta Sklar moderated the Practical Considerations For International Coverage  one

After a snack break in the main meeting room from 2:45-3:15 PM  we began the Afternoon talks in which the topics covered were LGBTQ Equality and Religious Freedom: You Can Have Both  by Sally Steenland, #PopCulturePivot by Twanna Hines, Highlighting Experiences of Family Members Of Transgender People by Brynn Tannehill  and to close out the business end of LGBTMedia Day 1 Audience Engagement Is Like Dating by Joy Mayer.

After remarks from our MC Lizz Winstead, we had a break from 5:30-7 PM before we returned to Salon 3 for dinner, drinks and a speech from Atlanta mayoral candidate Cathy Woolard.

But before Cathy was brought on to speak to the LGBTMedia 17 fam by Jen Christensen, we were introduced to the owner of our amazing host venue Harris Rosen, who is also known in the Orlando area for his wonderful philanthropic work

Something I ate at breakfast that morning didn't agree with my stomach, and I left early during Cathy Woolard's speech to retire to my room and purge whatever was upsetting my stomach.  I got over it, but it kept me up most of the night as I made frequent trips to the porcelain throne room.

Yeah I know, TMI.

So after that mostly sleepless night, my phone alarm rang way too early to start Day 2 of LGBTMedia17   After breakfast, we started Day 2 at 9:30 AM by talking about one of the things that was on everyone's mind since we were here in Orlando by discussing the PULSE club mass shooting attack.

The Covering Pulse panel featured Jeff Truesdell, Billy Manes, Erik Sandoval and Meredith Talusan.

It then moved on to introducing Ricardo Negron-Almodovar, who as a survivor of the Pulse attack told his perspective on what the media, and specifically the LGBTQ media got worng about their PULSE coverage and his hope it gets corrected before the looming one year anniversary of it on June 12.

Ricardo was also given extra time to talk because our MC correctly thought it needed to happen.

Andy Humm then took to the podium for his talk entitled There Is No Substitute For Face To Face Interaction, followed by Intersectionality and Storytelling by Derrick Clifton ,

The morning sessions closed out with a Science of Storytelling one by Matt Sheehan and Ann Christiano before we broke for lunch in Salon 3 at 12:30

Intersectionality is s topic that can't be discussed in 5  minutes, and it was something that myself and several people tweeted about in terms of wishing that it was a subject for a deep dive discussion.

Well, you know the old saying about putting something out in the atmosphere with the hope , speaking it into existence and it will happen?  We did so on the intersectionality topic and were rewarded with an intersectionality deep dive discussion moderated by Derrick Clifton.  But it was starting at 1 PM, so i had to finish my lunch a little faster than I would have liked in order to get back down to the Signature 1 main room where Derrick's session was happening.

It was a needed and necessary topic added in addition to the previously scheduled #StoryScience one by Sheehan and Christiano and How To Build Audience By Watching Movies and TV by Twanna Hines.

The 2:45 snack break came way too soon to end it and set us up for the Afternoon talks

Moya Bailey talked about via video Social Media and Social Justice Ethics, and took some questions from us before we moved on to the next topic .Prophecy and Proof: How A Half Century of Medical and Media Narratives Came To Define Transgender People  by Bethany Grace Howe.
Mary Emily O'Hara then took the podium to talk about Creating and Owning A New Beat.

Fiona Dawson then took the podium to discuss Leveraging The Intersection of Advocacy and Journalism.  She laid out in her discussion how her story about Logan and Laila Ireland eventually led to ending the ban on trans military service.

The final afternoon talks of  LGBTMedia17 covered the topics of the Power of A Single Story by Rosalind Bentley and my Texas homeboy David Taffet discussing Covering A Murder When The Story Leads Back To Your Office.   

After filling out some evaluations and some down time taken either in poolside conversations or retreating back to our various rooms to get ready for out on the town forays later that evening, we gathered in the Rosen Center hotel lobby at 6:30 PM to board the buses again.

We were traveling first to the PULSE nightclub to pay our respects to the 49 predominately Latinx people who died there, and then head to dinner in downtown Orlando at Kres Chophouse.

I and my dinner companions after being seated at the chophouse began to have discussion ranging from classic Black movies to neo-soul artist to me doing an impression of Anika Noni Rose's Grace Makutsi character from the short lived HBO cable TV series The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency.

News flash, I do have a sense of humor I unleash upon the world at times.

And yeah, they weren't kidding about those pork chops,.  They were thick, meaty and amazing

While some of us headed back to the hotel, others headed to The Parliament House or Southern Nights for a well deserved night on the town.   When we got back, I satisfied my Slurpee craving since there was a 7 Eleven less than a block from the hotel and paired it up with a slice of the pizza from the deli inside the Rosen Center hotel for a midnight snack.

Then I settled down to do some writing before I flipped the TV to SportsCenter to see how my NCAA men's and women's brackets were doing.  .

Sunday dawned with us gathering near the pool to have brunch and say goodbye to each other until we got the chance to see each other again either at some upcoming conference or next year's #LGBTMedia18 event.

Definitely looking forward to #LGBTMedia18, wherever it happens next year.

Moni's Headed To Creating Change 2017!

At one point I was debating whether or not I would go to Creating Change in Philadelphia after going through the contentious and mentally draining 2016 edition of it in Chicago.

But my presence was requested for some events taking place at #CC17 like the National Black Justice Coalition's (NBJC) Black Institute and by the Trans United Fund , so that means I'll be leaving the Lone Star State and heading up to the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection for this 2017 edition of the Creating Change Conference.

Creating Change will be taking place from January 18-22, and the #CC17 host hotel will be the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown.   With the start of #CC17 coming a mere 48 hours before a president hostile to our TBLGQ community will be inaugurated, the timing of this Creating Change couldn't be more crucial or critical to our human rights movement, especially for the transgender contingent of it.

I'm looking forward to witnessing the plenary keynote by the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II that will happen Thursday night.   I've had the pleasure of not only meeting Rev. Barber, but hearing him speak at previous events I've attended in Louisville and the last LGBT Media Journalists Convening hosted in Philadelphia in 2015.

I'm also looking forward to participating in the events I will be involved in that I know abou like Thursday's NBJC The Black Institute.  Also looking forward to tearing into a few Slurpees and some cheesesteaks while I'm there.

Speaking of being there in the #CC17 house, as always, when I step into the Marriott Downtown host hotel, don't be shy, say hi.  If I'm not rushing off to a panel, some off the hotel property event or engaged in conversation with someone, I'm more than happy to talk to people, and my trans, bi and SGL younglings will get priority.

See y'all in Philadelphia next week, #CC17.

NBJC OUT On The Hill 2016 Starts Wednesday!

Unfortunately I won't be there in DC because of other commitments, but had to let you TransGriot readers know that the National Black Justice Coalition's (NBJC) OUT on the Hill Black LGBT Leadership Summit is one of my favorite events.

The 2016 edition of OUT on the Hill will be taking place September 14-17, with the theme of The Post-Obama Era: What's Next?   Since this also takes place at the roughly the same time as the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference,

OUT on the Hill has always had some collaborative panels with the CBC-ALC event and provided opportunities for OUT on the Hill attendees to access the CBC-ALC event taking place over at the DC Convention Center.



OUT on the Hill kicks off with an Issues Advocacy Day at the US Capitol on September 14, a welcome reception on Thursday sponsored by HRC, the OOTH 2016 one on Friday  and the closing State of the Black LGBTQ/SGL Community brunch on Saturday.

While I won't be in the OUT on the Hill house this year, as always I hope this event is megasuccessful, and hope my schedule will allow me to attend it in 2017.

And if your schedule allows you do do so, here's the link to register for the OOTH2016 conference.

Moni's In The NABJ-NAHJ Convention House!

Well people, I'm at this moment sitting in the Washington Marriott Wardman Park hotel. I'm registered and ready to get my learn on for this joint NABJ-NAHJ conference.  Got up early this morning so I could beat the rush and get registered for it.

Looking forward to seeing the speech that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will be delivering to this conference of 4000 African American and Latinx journalists tomorrow.   Donald Trump was invited, but doubt he is going to want to appear at not only a media conference, but one chock full of media people who are members of two of the ethnic groups he has demonized during his train wreck of a campaign.

And I'm pleased and honored to have gotten an opportunity to be here, meet some people in the various seminars and watch the plenary sessions.  

This is one in which I get to wander around and just soak in the atmosphere instead of being one of the headlining participants as I'm used to being.  

It was also cool after four years of conversing with him on Facebook, I FINALLY get to meet Alberto Mendoza, who is now the head of the National Assn of Hispanic Journalists and a busy man around here working to keep the convention trains running on time.

Well, time to check out some of the interesting panels, represent our community and wander this historic hotel.

Clinton To Speak At Joint NABJ-NAHJ Convention

Looks like I'll definitely need to get to the hotel early to get a seat for this event on Friday.

I'm leaving Houston on Wednesday morning to attend the joint convention of the National Assn of Black Journalists (NABJ) and National Assn of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) that is taking place August 3-7 in Washington DC..

I was happy to hear that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has accepted an invitation to speak at the convention this Friday that will have 4000 Latinx and Black media professionals on hand to hear her speech.

As you probably guessed,  no word on whether Donald Trump has accepted his invitation to speak to the joint convention.   I presume he is going to turn down that invite, especially since he has demonized Black and Latinx people throughout his campaign and is probably terrified of the prospect and the optics of a convention full of members of the ethnic groups he demonized professionally calling his butt on the carpet for it as the nation gleefully watches it happen on the news.

Should be fun to see Sec. Clinton's speech, and I'll be blessed to be in the house for it.