Thursday, August 09, 2018

No White Supremacist Express Subway Train For Their DC Hate Rally

dc metro
The white supremacists are coming to Washington DC's Lafayette Park on August 12 to celebrate the one year anniversary of their 'Unite The Right' Rally in  Charlottesville, VA.

As you are aware of, many of DC's 700,000 residents are Black and not feeling the Klan affiliated hatemongers coming to town.  You can count DC Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) as one of the many people who aren't feeling this march.

"We have people coming to our city for the sole purpose of spewing hate," Mayor Bowser said. "We denounce hate, we denounce anti-Semitism, and we denounce the rhetoric we expect to hear this Sunday."

Image result for foggy bottom metro
One of the things that was suggested for security purposes was to give the Klan affiliated hatemongers a special WMATA subway train comprised of three rail cars to transport them from their assembly point near the Vienna, VA station to the Foggy Bottom-GWU station.  The haters would be subsequently escorted by police from that station to the Lafayette Park rally site.

The proposal was made by WMATA officials as a way to avoid a repeat of the violent confrontations that happened in  Charlottesville.

That plan got derailed (pun intended) quickly when the Amalgamated Transit Workers Union Local 689 declared in a statement their members would refuse to drive those trains.  They correctly felt it would give special treatment to hate groups and a courtesy that hasn't been extended to any other group planning a march or rally in Washington DC.

D.C. transit union: No special subway cars for white supremacists!“Local 689 is proud to provide transit to everyone for the many events we have in D.C. including the March of Life, the Women’s March and Black Lives Matters rallies," ATU Local 689 president Jackie Jeter said in the statement.“We draw the line at giving special accommodation to hate groups and hate speech,” Jeter said. “We find it hypocritical... to make these unprecedented special accommodations for a hate group.”The union said that people of color make up “more than 80 percent of Local 689’s membership...  the very people that the Ku Klux Klan and other white nationalist groups have killed, harassed and violated. The union has declared that it will not play a role in their special accommodation.”

WMATA has dropped the idea, and is now coordinating via talks with the Virginia State Police, the MPD and Metro Transit Police what they will do to keep everyone safe on hate rally day and keep it peaceful.

Image result for Amalgamated Transit Workers Local 689 metro rally train
Good luck with that.   But one thing to note is there will not be a white supremacist express subway train for their DC hate rally. 

Wonder if Dolt 45 will make an appearance at Lafayette Park so he and Stephen Miller can hang out with all the 'good people' that will be at that hate rally?   

Variety's First Ever Transgender In Hollywood Roundtable


As many of you TransGriot readers are aware of, I'm a huge supporter of trans actors playing trans people in film and television roles, and trans writers predominately writing those characters.

The success of the FX TV show POSE speaks to what can happen when you let trans people tell their stories.  It also speaks to the authenticity that shines through it when you cast trans actors to play trans roles.

FYI Hollywood, trans actors can also play cis roles.   How about hiring some of my Hollywood trans peeps to do just that? 


Image result for Variety Transgender In Hollywood
Variety magazine, the media publication of record for Hollowood, just released a Transgender In Hollywood issue. 

It also conducted this first ever Transgender Artists Roundtable discussion that included Laverne Cox, Alexandra Billings, Trace Lysette, Brian Michael, Chaz Bono, and Jen Richards.

Enjoy.



I'm Midterm Election Ready - Are You?

Image result for Voter registration card texas 2018
One of the informational nuggets that emerged from the MomsRising #NN18 panel last week was making sure that you are registered to vote for this critical to our democracy 2018 midterm election.

Our panel  moderator Kristin Rowe Finkbeiner pointed out that the staff of MomsRising recently checked their registrations.  Two of them discovered to their horror that despite being active voters, they had been chopped from their local voting rolls. 

So before November 6 gets here, please check to make sure you're registered to vote before your state's deadline day, and keep checking it on a regular basis for the next 91 days.

This is going to be crucial,  especially if you live in a state with a Republican secretary of state or a county with a Republican voter registrar.   The GOP knows they are going down hard, will be desperate to purge people off the voter rolls, and the conservative controlled SCOTUS will look the other way as they do so. 

I had concerns about mine since I just moved, but with my new license arriving on Monday and my new voter registration card arriving yesterday combined with me spotting my name on the county Harris Votes database, I'm midterm election ready and will be cross checking it all the way to the October 9 deadline date to register in Texas.

And yes, I plan to be at the polls for the first day of early voting in Texas on October 22 

So handle your electoral business and make sure you are midterm election ready.

Wednesday, August 08, 2018

Ciora Thomas Named To PA Commission of LGBT Affairs

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, closeup
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.

Image may contain: 1 person
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. 

Image result for sharice davidsPaulette 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%

Image result for kevin yoder
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

Image result for don lemon cnn
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.



.

Will Kim Coco Make More Electoral History This Saturday?

Image result for kim coco iwamoto
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.

Tuesday, August 07, 2018

Dale Hansen Calls Out Jerry Jones Anthem Hypocrisy

Dallas sportscaster Dale Hansen calls out hypocrisy of Jerry Jones' anthem policy

"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 
Related image
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

Image result for Gov Tom Wolf
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.

Image result for ernest owens philadelphia
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.

***


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.

***

Image result for Sharron CooksOnce 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? 

Image result for Amber Hikes
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.

Image may contain: 1 person
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.   

Image result for tyler titus
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  

Sunday, August 05, 2018

Moni's Netroots Nation 2018 Diary

Image may contain: 2 people, including Almas Sayeed, people smiling, indoor
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 

Image may contain: text
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.

Image may contain: foodOne 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.

Image result for ernest morial convention centerI 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
.
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..
Image may contain: Monica Roberts, Almas Sayeed, Monifa Bandele and Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, people smiling
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.   

No automatic alt text available.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

Image may contain: 4 people, including Monica Roberts, people smiling, people standing and indoor
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


Image may contain: 1 person, standing
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.
Image may contain: 26 people, including Ashton P. Woods, LadyAshley Gregory and Monica Roberts, people smiling, people standing
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
Image may contain: 8 people, including Monica Roberts, Lynnette Beth Mcfadzen, Faith Cheltenham and LadyAshley Gregory, people smiling, people standing and text

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


Day 3-+August 4  

Image result for Carmen Yulin Cruz netroots nation
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 .   

Image result for Kamala Harris netroots nation 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.