I’ve been away for awhile, but am back for a quick post. As Campaign Chair of the Hillsborough DEC, or as we’re trying to re-brand it, the Hillsborough Democratic Party, I’ve been tied up with election stuff for the past few months. Hopefully, I’ll be back to posting on a more regular basis soon.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend Netroots Nation in Las Vegas this year due to the passing of my beloved cousin Drake Turrentine. You can read about him here (though even this tribute doesn’t quite do justice to his incredible life).
While I was in Washington for some family time, several Florida Kossacks were in Las Vegas enjoying the Netroots conference. I asked NN10 attendees to write about their experiences and share them on the Florida Progressives listserv. The first response came from my friend Maria Hernandez, so I decided to post it, and any other responses, on the FPC blog. Here’s what Maria had to say:
1. We had some direct action going on from the LBGT community! This: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/7/20/886035/-Choi,-McGehee-Do-It-in-Vegas!And-More. and this: fast forward to about 27:00 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8489433 Lt Dan Choi had received his dishonorable discharge earlier that day because of DADT, and when Sen. Reid opened his session, he acknowledged it. But that wasn’t enough. See what happens when he sits down for Q&A with Joan McCarter at the 27:00 mark. It was very powerful, we weren’t expecting it.
2. TIM WISE! This was my first exposure to him, during the session on Civil Rights in The Modern Era, fast forward to 26:22 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8462101 This is a 10-minute, red-hot explanation of why we can’t get any major public programs through. And to enter the room for the session we were all “inspected” at the door by people in ICE uniforms asking to see our papers. Some people were genuinely irritated, so it worked well!
3. the Texan women running for school board, and Linda Chavez-Thompson who is running for Lt Gov of Texas, were amazing at the conference. They were telling the story of the “Save History” campaign regarding the Texas school board erasing Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall from textbooks and justifying McCarthyism. This is their ActBlue page, hot off the press. I hope we can help make it viral, especially among teachers groups.
https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/savehistory2010
Finally, you may want to check out the last few minutes of Sen Al Franken’s closing speech when he focuses on corporations and Net Neutrality. Fast forward to 2:21:00. http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8492742
There were so many great moments and panels. Elizabeth Warren and Richard Trumka. Jeremy Scahill was riveting as usual on a panel about private military contractors. Spend some time browsing through the NN10 section on the ustream site, I’m sure you’ll find more.
For others who weren’t able to attend this year, I hope you’ll sign up to join Maria and me (and other Floridians!) in Minneapolis next June for Netroots Nation 2011. Registration is a very-reasonable $195 now, but will go up to around $400 by next summer. Don’t miss out on the fun!
This was my third time at Netroots — Chicago, Austin, and now Las Vegas. I’d call this the best for the improved organization and the training sessions run by DFA, of which I attended five and now will shuck the Clark Kent disguise and fly off as Superdem! It was always hard to decide among many competing panels and training sessions what would be most productive. I blogged two spot news reports from the convention, to be found on the blog I edit, available I think at the links attached to this comment. Darcy Burner and Van Jones were my topics. Both super. Don’t you miss Van Jones? That was my title. Cheers, Larry