Ciora Thomas Named To PA Commission of LGBT Affairs

That was fast.

Just posted yesterday about the Pennsylvania Commission of LGBT Affairs being devoid of Black trans representation, and now comes word that the oversight has been fixed.

Ciora Thomas of Pittsburgh has been added to the commission as of today.   And yes, she's a proud girl like us.

She's the founder of Sisters PGH,  serves on the Pittsburgh LGBTQIA+ Advisory Council secured a partnership and position on the board of Proud Haven, an organization that provides a safe shelter for homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) youth/adults.

Congrats Ciora!  I know you'll be an unapologetic voice for Pennsylvania trans folks.   Kudos also to whoever was reading and listening to Ernest and myself, and fixed the representation problem with the LGBT Commission that Ernest Owens and I were calling out.

Sharice Davids Wins Kansas 3rd District Dem Congressional Primary!

This 2018 election cycle is shaping up as one in which Native American women will make potentially historic gains if things break right for them on November 6. 

Paulette Jordan captured the Democratic nomination for Idaho governor.  In New Mexico Deb Haaland won the Democratic nomination for the 1st Congressional District seat by double digits back in June, and she is favored to win in the general election.

Now in Kansas we have Sharice Davids, who knocked off a Bernie backed candidate that he and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez controversially came west to campaign for.

Davids beat Brent Welder by over 2000 votes in the Kansas 3rd District race to capture the nomination.

Hillary Clinton won this district in 2016 by a single point over Trump 47%-46%

Davids will face off against incumbent Rep. Kevin Yoder (R), a House Appropriations Committee member who has held this seat since 2011.   Yoder won his GOP primary race with only 68% of the vote after casting votes for Obamacare repeal and the steep GOP tax cuts.

That primary performance was noted by the esteemed Cook Political Report, who moved this KS-3 race from Lean R into the Toss Up category

This is another race in which a woman has beaten a male candidate on the Democratic side, and now Davids gets a shot at sending Yoder back to Kansas while making some electoral history of her own.

If she wins on November 6, she would become one of two Native American women elected to Congress.

Here's hoping that happens for her in 91 days. 
 

CNN's Don Lemon Puts Dolt 45 On Blast

You long time TransGriot reader know that over the history of this blog I've had my issues at times with CNN's Don Lemon.   But since Trump's election he has been calling out Dolt 45 on the regular and tellin' it like it T-I-S is.

After Dolt 45 made more racist tweets attacking him and Lebron James, Lemon took some time on his CNN show to put Dumb Donald on blast.



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Will Kim Coco Make More Electoral History This Saturday?

Kim Coco Iwamoto is no stranger to making electoral history in her home state of Hawaii.

She was twice elected to the Hawaii State Board of Education in 2006 and 2010, becoming the first out trans person to be elected to a statewide office.   Now the former member of the Hawaiian Human Rights Commission is attempting to become the lieutenant governor of the Aloha State

She has a contested Democratic Party primary election that she has to get through first that takes place on August 11.   There are four other Democratic candidates besides Iwamoto in the lieutenant governor's race, and should she win this still tight race that is up for grabs, that will put her one step closer to becoming Hawaii's lieutenant governor.

Iwamoto has been endorsed by the UNITE HERE Local 5 union that reps over 11,000 Hawaiian hospitality, health and food service workers and the Maui Times.    The Local 5 endorsement is considered a major one in Hawaiian politics, and she has been surging in the polls in the runup to the election with a lot of people still trying to make up their minds about who will be their next lieutenant governor. 

Here's hoping that happens for Kim Coco and for our community.   We'll find out if it does this Saturday.

Dale Hansen Calls Out Jerry Jones Anthem Hypocrisy

"The young, black athletes are not disrespecting America or the military by taking a knee during the anthem. They are respecting the best thing about America. It’s a dog whistle to the racists among us to say otherwise.

They, and all of us, should protest how black Americans are treated in this country. And if you don’t think white privilege is a fact, you don’t understand America."
-Dale Hansen, September 2017 

As someone who lives on the southern end of I-45 and unapologetically roots for every Houston sports team, I've always had my hate on for the Dallas Cowchips.  One NFL game I'll definitely be watching in this 2018 season is on October 7 when my beloved Texans play the Cowchips in a nationally televised game at NRG Stadium 

It's not about as Cowchip fans like to crow Houston envy for their Super Bowl titles they won in the last century, but their faith based arrogance in running with the 'America's Team' moniker bestowed upon them by NFL Films.

And Jerry Jones has given me more ammo to despise them with. 

Despite the fact the NFL Players Association and the NFL are currently in talks to come to a happy medium on the anthem protests, Jones decided to kiss Trump's anus and declare along with his son Stephen Jones that Cowboys players would not be allowed to sit in the locker room during the anthem.    He also declared that any Cowboys player who protests during the anthem will be fined or cut from his team. 

But Jerry loves America so much that when the anthem was played before a Cowchip practice last Saturday, he left his cap on.   When told about his mistake, he left it on anyway.

Dale Hansen made an eloquent statement last year in one of his Hansen Unplugged segments concerning why the NFL anthem protests are happening. 

Here's Hansen again calling out Jerry Jones' anthem hypocrisy

The PA Commission of LGBT Affairs Is Black Trans Free

Governor Tom Wolf (D) signed an executive order yesterday that created the Pennsylvania Commission of LGBT Affairs.  It is the only one like it in the entire nation.

But it has a seriously problematic omission as pointed out on his FB page by NABJ award winning journalist, CNN contributor and Philly Mag LGBT editor Ernest Owens.

***

Ernest Owens

2 hrs · 

THIS IS DISAPPOINTING. Finally getting back in the groove from a long week off and see a lot of things remain the same.

There is something very wrong with this list of 40 LGBTQ names chosen to take place in this historic moment for Pennsylvania.

THERE ARE NO BLACK TRANSGENDER PEOPLE ON THIS LGBTQ AFFAIRS COMMISSION. NONE. NOT A SINGLE ONE.

Looking even closer, I don't think there might be any trans people of color on board for that matter. THIS IS ERASURE. THIS IS A PROBLEM.

To make matters worse, out of the 40 people -- TWO DO NOT EVEN IDENTIFY AS LGBTQ -- State Rep Dan Frankel and State Senator Larry Farnese.

So in other words, two cis-gender straight white "allies" are taking up space in a position of leadership that could be designated by more of our people.

Furthermore, the majority of this list is most of the same ole' respectable token LGBTQ leaders who dominate the conversation within the state all the time.

The fact that none of them spoke out about this glaring omission speaks volumes. The fact that they felt comfortable being in a room that ignored a subset of our community that lead the call for LGBTQ equality long before any of their cis-gender, non-diverse assess says a lot.

I'm disappointed by this list and by the fact that in 2018, we are still acting like transgender people of color aren't out here putting in that work.

To the 40 people on this list, including the two straight white cis-gender men, change this ASAP.

***

Once again, out of the 40 Pennsylvanians that have been named to this groundbreaking commision, none of them are part of the most marginalized group in the commonwealth, Black trans people.

And it's not like you don't have Black trans people that could have been picked to serve on it. 

I do know of one who has national respect in Black trans circles who was not only a 2016 DNC delegate for Pennsylvania, but would be an excellent addition to that commission in Sharron Cooks. 

She is probably the most high profile Black trans leader in Pennsylvania, and she's not on this LGBT commission?   But I guess Sharron is 'too Black' and 'too woke' for y'all, huh? 

And before you go there, Amber Hikes is a Black cisgender woman.   While she's part of the LGBT fam, I've met her during one of my trips to Philly and personally like her, that's not the same as having a Black trans person who deals with the daily microaggressive slights of living life in Pennsylvania while being unapologetically Black and trans.

We need Black trans people like Sharron, who are well versed in the issues that affect Pennsylvania Black trans people, to be on that Pennsylvania LGBT commision to unapologetically talk about them.

It also occurred to me there are no Latinx trans people on this commission either.   Where's Naiymah A.Sanchez's name?   Was she even extended an invitation to join it?   Latinx trans voices are needed as well if you're going to craft effective policy that helps the Pennsylvania trans Latinx community.   

But I see you had no problem putting Tyler Titus on it, and doing so as a co-chair.   Congrats to him for being tapped as a co-chair of this LGBT commission, but I still have to call out the fact that it looks like so far he's the only trans person on this commission, and as usual, the interests of white trans people will be repped and articulated on it from the outset.

And yes, there are also Black trans masculine leaders in Pennsylvania.  Where are they on this list?

The bottom line is that Black, Latinx and other trans persons of color live in Pennsylvania and deserve representation on this statewide LGBT commission. 

If you're going to create this commission, Gov Wolf, in order to craft policy that improves the lives of trans Pennsylvanians, the voices of trans people of color must be at the table at the outself to help shape equitable policies and procedures that come out of it.


TransGriot update:  Not long after writing this post, discovered a Latinx trans man was part of the original list of members of this commission.   Ciora Thomas was added the next day  

Moni's Netroots Nation 2018 Diary

This was my fourth Netroots Nation event, and the third consecutive one I have attended. 

One of the things I was doing besides the eventual three panels and two radio interviews while I was in New Orleans was a daily recap about my NN18 experience for the Houston based OutSmart magazine. 

There's a lot going on at a conference like this, and I wanted you to see them as you can see through my eyes as a participant with some movement gravitas

So here are the NN 18 recaps I wrote while I was here in NOLA

The Pre Conference - August 1 

I  awoke to a sunny New Orleans day basically ready to handle my business and check out some of the pre conference events taking place here at Netroots Nation 2018.

But first, Moni was getting and destroying those beignets.  The Hilton New Orleans Riverside hotel is our official #NN18 hotel.  The best part is that particular hotel is connected to the Riverwalk Mall and the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, where the #NN18 panels and keynotes will take place.

One of the things I like to do is get a feel for the convention venue and know exactly where the rooms are located for my panels.  The Cafe Du Monde in the Riverwalk opened at 8:30 AM, and the plan was to stop, get my six beignets to go (they come in sets of three), and keep stepping all the way to the EMCC.   The journey through the Riverwalk also allowed me to burn off the calories from those beignets.

My next task after I arrived at the cavernous EMCC was to find out what room the LGBT pre conference event was taking place in since it started at 8:30 AM.

I eventually discovered that the pre conference events, like all the panels, would be taking place on the second floor of the EMCC.  After another few minutes of walking, riding up escalators to that floor, and passing the Emily’s List sponsored Women’s Caucus, I finally arrived at the already in progress LGBT one.

My arrival was a surprise to my LGBT Media homies and homettes facilitating this event, Zack Ford, Liz Owen, Dana Rudolph, Daniel Villareal and Mike Rogers. They all gave me big hugs before they returned back to conducting their daylong event that started at the same time I was purchasing those beignets and ended at 5:00 PM.

After talking to Sunnivie Brydum and a few other attendees of the LGBT pre conference event during the break, I left at noon to handle some other pressing off campus business with the BiNet crew at their Airbnb in the French Quarter. I also needed to move out of my 19th floor room to a suite a few doors away on the same floor for the rest of the conference.  

The 19th floor room I was already in wasn’t bad. It had a view of the Mississippi River and I loved watching the paddle boats, barges and ships cruise by as I was writing.  The suite I’m now in has a much better view of downtown New Orleans and the Mississippi River bridges to the Westbank where I once lived.

After hanging out at the BiNet Airbnb for a few hours to work on our Friday presentation, we headed back to the EMCC at 4:30 PM to pick up our #NN18 programs and badges.  

I also found out while I was hanging out in the Quarter with my BiNet fam that I now have a 9:00 AM panel to participate in..   I received a call from the Trans United Fund Operations Manager Daye Pope that our TUF Executive Director Hayden Mora had a family emergency in New York that required his immediate attention.  She asked if I could cover for him in the reproductive justice panel he was scheduled to be on..

The MomsRising panel I’m scheduled to participate in on Thursday was taking place at 10:30 AM, so I agreed to do it.  That means I won’t be staying up late tonight. I'll have to get up a little earlier to make that happen.

We entered the Hall B part of the EMCC that will serve as the Netroots Nation Town Square, AKA the vendor area. . I noticed that Radio Row was being set up on that side of the building we were entering as well.

Egberto Willies and the KPFT-FM crew were setting up, and after talking to him for a few minutes to coordinate a radio interview for his show during the afternoon, I headed to the registration desk to pick up my #NN18 badge.  

After talking to a few longtime friends, we headed back to the hotel via the Riverwalk route so I could get busy writing about and recapping what happened on the #NN18 pre conference day
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Well, must get my beauty sleep on this end of I-10.  Have a long first day of Netroots Nation 2018 ahead of me in the morning.          

Day 1-August 2

The first full day of the 2018 edition of Netroots Nation was a full one for me.  It started with back to back panels before lunchtime, followed by two radio interviews.  

The first panel I was a participant in started at 9:00 AM and was entitled Igniting The Lit in Litmus Test: How Leading With Repro Justice Helps Us Win

It was a discussion moderated by Heidi Sieck with my fellow panelists Alison Dreith and Atima Omara.  It was focused on the how and why Democrats and progressives need to become more literate on reproductive justice issues and no be shy about it. because they are a winning one for our side.  

This is an issue I haven’t explored as much, so I was in active listening mode for the first 15 minutes of it.  But once I started to feel comfortable around the topic, I had no problem pointing out how transgender people fit into the reproductive justice framework.

Then I headed across the hall to the 10:30 panel I was scheduled to do with Moms Rising entitled Keep Marching 2018: Connect Locally, Build Power and Win..

Our panel moderator was MomsRising CEO Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, who I have known since the 2016 Netroots event in St Louis when she interviewed me in the semifinals of the Pundit Cup competition I won.

It was a reunion of sorts with her, myself, and my fellow panelists Almas Sayeed and Monifa Bandele.  I was also happy to see my Texas activist homettes Fran Watson and Sissi Yado in the room as we talked about how critical this election happening in 96 days is, and how local action can bring about positive change and wins for our side.
We went over the scheduled 11:45 AM end time of the panel by 10 minutes, but it was lunchtime so that was okay.   I then headed downstairs to the Town Square part of the EMCC to check out Radio Row and look for Egberto and do the interview I’d promised him.   

While I was there I ran into Michaelangelo Signorile, who I hadn’t seen since the 2012 NN event in Providence.  He was busy at that moment interviewing VA Delegate Danica Roem, who when she was done, I talked to for a few minutes before heading a few spots down Radio Row to do my interview on Kristin’s show.    Alicia Garza of BLM showed up when I finished, and we chatted for a few minutes before I settled into my KPFT-FM interview with Egberto for his Politics Done Right show

Sunnivie spotted me, introduced me to her boss at Free Speech TV, and set up an interview for Saturday.   

After lunch back in the Riverwalk, headed back to the EMCC and tried to figure out what panels I wanted to watch, but  didn’t see anything that appealed to me on the conference matrix, so I just wandered the NN Town Square to talk to old and new friends.   Was also stopped more than a few times by people who had either attended the pre conference event or the panels and liked what I had to say.   

It was also a bittersweet first NN 18 day because of the death that morning of a longtime friend of Netroots Nation and the progressive political world in Joel Silberman. He’s the media trainer extraordinaire for Democratic candidates, and II met him when I did the GLAAD POC Media training in New York back in 2012.   

We also found out at the afternoon plenary session that this NOLA Netroots Nation event is the best attended one ever.  Detroit used to hold the record, and New Orleans will probably add to it before the event ends on August 4 because people are still arriving.

And if they ever bring Netroots Nation to Houston, we’ll probably shatter NOLA’s record   

But back to the story.   New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell was just one of the speakers firing up the crowd along with Texan Gina Ortiz Jones  before I called it a day and headed back to the hotel to chill and do some writing.

Ready to see what August 3 brings.  

Day 2- August 3

NN18 Day 2 was one in which I did not have a scheduled panel until 4:15 PM. That meant I got the opportunity to sit back and actually enjoy a few presentations from the audience.

One of those presentations was a 9 AM one featuring four elected Black women legislators entitled Black Women Teach : Perspectives from Black Women Legislators.   It featured Reps Park Cannon and Renitta Shannon from Georgia, Rep Leslie Herod from Colorado, and Rep Emilia Sykes of Ohio.

They not only talked about some of the issues they were passionate about and why,  they also discussed some of the challenges of being Black female legislators.

I then moved on to watch the LGBTQ Women Out To Win panel moderated by our Houston homegirl and my former mayor Annise Parker. It featured Rep. Leslie Herod in her second consecutive one of the day, Del. Danica Roem of Virginia, and Sen. Pat Spearman of Nevada.

This discussion was similar to the Black female legislative one I’d just attended, but also focused on the challenges and advantages of running as a LGBTQ person    It also mic dropped the amazing stat that an out LGBTQ candidate is 67% more likely to win a race because they are seen as more authentic in the eyes of the voting public.

Sen Spearamn also shared lessons from her recent unsuccessful campaign for a congressional seat.   

And yes peeps, after the panel I got a chance to chat with Rep. Herod, who I have known for several years, Delegate Roem and Sen. Spearman.

At lunch we were treated to the keynote speech that Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) was supposed to have delivered Thursday but couldn’t because of bad weather in the DC area that delayed his NOLA arrival

There was also the show tunes singing in the NN18 Town Square in memory of Joel Silberman, who will be missed by his Netroots Nation family and all  who loved and admired him in progressive political circles.

I also bumped into my friend and Daily Kos writer Denise Oliver-Velez, Ambalika Williams and other old and new friends as I wandered the cavernous Morial Convention Center halls

Other NN18 attendees stopped me in the halls of the EMCC and even the Riverwalk to tell me how much they enjoyed what I had to say on the Thursday panels I participated in the day before.

4:15 PM arrived quickly, and that meant it was time to do my final panel for NN18.  It was entitled Don’t Fear The Black Activist: How To Communicate Without Anti-Blackness and was moderated by Faith Cheltenham and Ashton Woods.  

The panel discussed anti-Black attitudes within progressive organizing spaces,  why eradication of anti-Black attitudes needs to become a priority in the progressive movement if we are to be successful, and how we can get busy doing that.

I also had fun watching the younglings at an after party sponsored by Democracy For America  until they chased up out at 7 PM.

Aslo got to enjoy dinner with several friends at Drago’s, a NOLA seafood place well known for its charbroiled oysters (yes, they were delicious).

Have one more full day of Netroots Nation 2018 before we have to say goodbye to NOLA and focus on the 94 days of a midterm election that will determine whether we still have a democracy after November 6

Those of us gathered here in New Orleans are determined to do our part to make sure that we do

Day 3-+August 4  

The final day of Netroots Nation in NOLA.   Even though there were a few panels that piqued my interest as I perused the Saturday schedule matrix, I decided to focus on hitting the caucuses.

One of the panels I was interested in was the Disaster Capitalism: New Orleans and Puerto Rico in Dialogue one featuring San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz.

We would also find out on this final NN18 day where and when Netroots Nation 2019 would take place.   That will be in Philadelphia July 11-13 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

The LGBTQ Caucus, The LGBTQ POC Caucus  and Black Women Caucuses wee definitely must attend for me.   They were well attended, ranging from 20-30 people in each one of them hem

The highlight for me on this day was the Black Women’s one.  I got to finally meet one of my sheroes in Melissa Harris-Perry, and discover o my delight she was a fan and avid reader of TransGriot.   We had a chance to talk politics and a few other subjects during and after the caucus.

There was also another caucus that organically popped up organized by NN18 African American attendees entitled the BlackA** Caucus.

In that caucus discussions were held about the problematic scheduling of panels oriented toward discussing issues affecting our community against each other, microaggressive and anti-Black behavior encountered during the event, NN18 touting the fact 67% of the presenters were people of color, but we weren’t being paid for our intellectual labor among other issues.

The issue was also discussed in the caucus of being your authentic Black self in a convention space that is overwhelmingly white.  

Those Black A** caucus conversations led to the planning of a takeover of the NN18 stage during the closing plenary that was executed later that evening.   Demands were articulated from the plenary stage in the EMCC Great Hall that Black attendees want to see implemented in time for NN19 and beyond.

What were those demands?    Hiring of Black Netroots Nation staff, inclusion of Black members on the NN board and oversight of a team of Black activists over Netroots programming submitted by Black people to ensure they aren’t scheduled against each other  

Time and their actions will tell if the Netroots Nation Board of Directors was listening.    

The bottom line is that if you want to win, Black progressives MUST be at the table.  Black progressives are the key to consistently winning against conservatives, and you ignore African American voices at your electoral and movement peril .   

Black women are the base of the Democratic Party, and will be the voting bloc that powers the expected blue wave happening in 93 days

Netroots Nation 2018 is now one for the history books, and the hosting torch has been passed to Philadelphia.   Will be interesting to see when NN19 opens what the country’s political landscape looks like when it takes place.  

Rest In Power Joel Silberman

I was saddened to hear that Joel Silberman lost his battle with cancer on August 2 just as we started this 13th edition of Netroots Nation.

Silberman came from the world of Broadway, but is well known and respected in liberal progressive political circles as the political media consultant and trainer extraordinaire for Democratic candidates who also was part of the Netroots Nation family

I first met Joel when I traveled to New York in 2012 for the GLAAD POC Media training which he conducted.  It was because of him I learned the basics of how to do television interviews and got to feel more comfortable in front of the unblinking eye of a camera.

Netroots Nation honored his memory by signing show tunes on Friday in the Town Square area of the convention and this memorial.

I ran into him again at a subsequent LGBT Media journalists convening in Baltimore, and again in 2016 at Netroots Nation in St Louis.   I considered him a media mentor, and I believe he was prouder that I was when he witnessed me become the 2016 Pundits Cup champ.

I last talked to him during the 2017 Netroots Nation in the ATL, and was stunned when I heard the news.   He is a person who is going to be deeply missed by all of us in the liberal progressive political world 

Rest in power and peace ,Joel

Netroots Nation 2018- Day 1

Looks like I'll now be doing three panels when this conference starts in a few hours at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center . Two of the three panels are on this first full day of it. 

Fortunately for me they are across the hall from each other. 

At 9:00 AM in RM 215/216 I'll be taking part in a panel entitled Igniting The Lit in Litmus Test How Leading With Repro Justice Helps Us Win.   

At 10:30 AM  my second panel starts in Room 214 that is sponsored by Moms Rising entitled Keep Marching 2018: Connect Locally, Build Power and Win.   

Kristin Rowe Finkbeiner will be moderating this panel that I'm on with my fellow panelists Monifa Bandele and Almas Sayeed.

After lunch, I'll be figuring out what panel i want to attend next.   I also have a possible radio interview scheduled with Egberto Willies on my hometown Pacifica station KPFT-FM.

Now, I need to get some sleep.  Don't want to be doing those panels with bags under my eyes.

NABJ and Philly Trans Wellness Conference Also Meeting This Week

There are two other conventions important to my life as an unapologetically Black  trans feminine writer and journalist that are happening as I sit here in New Orleans awaiting the start of Netroots Nation

And noting when I looked at the calendar that three events I wanted to attend were happening in different parts of the country at literally the same time meant I had to make a hard call on which one I would attend 

Being asked to do the panels at Netroots Nation and it occurring in NOLA made that hard call easier,  but it still isn't going to be easy to miss my trans fam or my NABJ family, much less the convos taking place at both conferences.

In the Motor City, the National Association of Black Journalists are gathering starting today and running through August 5  at the Detroit Marriott at Renaissance Center.

I've always wanted to attend an NABJ event, and the first time I got to do so came when it was held in Boston in 2014.    I was there to participate in a panel with Kellee Terrell and Kenyon Farrow on the topic of properly reporting about transgender people moderated by Tiq Milan.

Two years late I received the amazing experience of attending the joint NABJ-NAHJ Unity event in Washington DC at the historic Wardman park Hotel.

During a presidential election year, both the NABJ and the National Assn of Hispanic Journalists organizations hold their conventions there.  It is an amazing opportunity to network with members of both organizations    In addition to meeting my journalistic heroes and sheroes in the African American and Latinx journalism worlds , I also got to witness the panels and the press conference with Hillary Clinton

Starting at the same time as #NN18 is one of the largest trans conference s in the United States in the now Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference at the Philadelphia Convention Center.

Probably because of its location in the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection, it draws up to 3000 people for its panel discussions and professional medical tracks.

It's the event where I also met Jazz Jennings and her amazing family, and met Nicole Maines and her family in addition to having the opportunity to participate in some panels. 

I have been attending the now PTWC since 2012, and the last time I was there for it was in 2016 for not only the conference, but a Trans United Fund board meeting.

That 2016 one I got there after a fun ride up I-95 with Fiona Dawson after we'd been to the White house for the LGBT Pride Reception.  I got to spend some quality time with not only the TUF board and my friends in the community, but my homegirl Dionne Stallworth

That 2016 event is also memorable for me because the morning I was preparing to leave the city to go back to Washington DC, I began hearing the news about the horrific Pulse mass shooting in Orlando.

To my friends attending the NABJ and PTWC, sorry I can't be there because I'm in NOLA, but definitely will be thinking about y'all as I'm scarfing down my beignets.