I am now rested enough to pull my first thoughts together about my first Netroots experience. My thanks go first to LoE for having offered to drive/share the grueling 9 hour journey with me in her car to get to Pittsburgh. I had no idea what to expect. As my UID here is high, it indicates that I'm relatively new to blogging, and though in the past I've attended many progressive gatherings, this was the first time I would be face to face with a gathering of folk who represent what for me is a new medium.
As an anthropologist I am trained in participant/observation and will also follow the practice of keeping some of what I observed or discussed anonymous.
Since my area of study encompasses "race", ethnicity, class, gender and social stratification, this diary is not about the "big" events at Netroots; I did make it to Valarie Jarrett. I did not attend Bill Clinton's speech, or the Sestak/Specter showdown. When I arrived and picked up my packet with a nice one page summary of the panels and caucuses that would take place I sat down and made a plan about what I would attend, (and who I would focus on)and stuck to it throughout the event, with few changes. My first decision was to attend the caucuses of color or panel sessions that would address diversity. I did not participate in the Women's caucus, due to a schedule conflict, since I went to "The Myth of Post-Racial America" panel instead, but did manage to get to a session that would make up for that exclusion. Nor did I get to attend the Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus, and I hope someone who did will comment here.
Before diving into this, let me talk about overall impressions. I was pleasantly surprised to find more Boomers than I expected. As a 1947 baby (I'm now 62) my impression of Netroots (in advance) was that I would be part of yet another minority group. I was heartened by the presence of many graying lefties in the mix. More than I expected. The biggest difference between the older and younger participants seemed to be technological. During panel discussions the older folks sat, listened and directed their attention to the speakers. Many of the younger folks seemed more focused on twittering their experience as it happened, heads down, engaged in this phenomena that I have no clue about. I don't "text message" barely know how to use my cell phone, and found the intense engagement in this new medium of exchange to be jarring. To observe a group of people seated at a table in the common area, none talking to each other - intensely engaged in their laptops rather than discourse with the human next to them was also interesting to watch. I left my laptop in the hotel room, and only used it once, to post a quick message to Black Kos on Friday. I was there to talk to people f2f, not to blog.
The first caucus of color I was able to attend was the Native American one on Thursday. Sadly, the most under-represented group at Netroots. There was a bare handful of people in the room, and though I make no claims to "Indianness" since I have only a sprinkle of Native ancestry, I was warmly welcomed to the gathering. Stories were exchanged, and information passed out by the dynamic moderator Neeta Lind, known here at DKos as navaho, about Native American Netroots ,
...a forum for the discussion of political, social and economic issues affecting the indigenous peoples of the United States, including their lack of political representation, economic deprivation, health care issues, and the on-going struggle for preservation of identity and cultural history
. The flyer also linked The Indigenous Democratic Network INDN's List.
The Indigenous Democratic Network, INDN's List, is the only grassroots political organization devoted to recruiting and electing Native American candidates and mobilizing the Indian Vote throughout America on behalf of those candidates. INDN's List was officially launched Feb 28, 2005, in Washington DC in conjunction with the National Congress of American Indians Annual Meeting. We are dedicated to making a unified Indian voice heard at the local, state and national levels by helping Indians build and run effective campaign organizations and to win elected offices across America.
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The discussion opened with talk of the wonderful star quilt on display, depicted in Sara R's diary Netroots Nation Star Quilt - All My Relations.
Sadly DKos diarist cacamp was not able to attend, I had been looking forward to meeting him. I was however delighted to meet navaho and Meteor Blades, among others. A young blogger from Peru, Carlos in DC, who I would run into throughout the conference raised the issue of the mistaken identification of millions of Native/Indigenous Americans being classed as "Hispanics" or "Latinos", rather than as First People. An important point we should all consider. There was no representation of the First Nations people from the North East, the great peoples who contributed to our shared Constitution in the Great Law of Peace. My bias is showing here, so forgive me. I have spent much of my "Indian-Time" among the tribes here in the North East, and constantly drum into the heads of my New York students the fact that "Indians" are among us, not just in the West.
I would hope that future panels at Netroots would incorporate more Native voices, on the environment, on women's issues, on education...and that those of you who are not Native would support that effort.
As I stated earlier, I didn't attend the Womens Caucus, attending instead the panel on The Myth of Post-Racial America, where I got the opportunity to hear Annabel Park, who was one of the panalists, which led me to the screening of her documentary 9500 Liberty.
Prince William County, Virginia became ground zero in America's explosive battle over immigration policy when elected officials adopted a law requiring police officers to question anyone they had "probable cause" to believe was undocumented. 9500 Liberty reveals the startling vulnerability of a local government targeted by national anti-immigration networks using the internet to frighten and intimidate lawmakers and citizens. Alarmed by a climate of fear and racial division, residents form a resistance using YouTube videos, blogs, and virtual townhalls, setting up a real life showdown in the seat of county government. The devastating social and economic impact of the Immigration Resolution is felt in the lives of real people in homes and in local businesses. But the ferocious fight to adopt and then reverse this policy unfolds inside government chambers, on the streets, and on the Internet. 9500 Liberty provides a front row seat to all three battlegrounds.
Though we are all consumed with the health care debates and battles right now, let us not forget that the battle over immigration reform is looming, and the same right wing racist voices who are shrieking about health care will double when addressing the "invasion" of "their America"(read "white" America) by brown, yellow and black peoples. If you have not yet gotten a chance to see the documentary, please do so.
A young woman, Margaret Haule, recipient of an immigration blogger scholarship I met in the African-American caucus pointed to the overlooked issue of African migrants to the US, so let us not forget that immigration is not simply a matter of the Spanish speaking.
Next on my agenda was the African-American caucus, moderated by Netroots board member Cheryl Contee, co-founder of a blog Jack & Jill Politics, where she writes as Jill Tubman, which you will find on the DKos blogroll.
Digression time. I blog here, and at two other places currently. I made a political decision to dedicate my time to Daily Kos, and do not blog in what is currently referred to as "the Afrosphere". I do however participate actively in our own sub-community Black Kos, and was delighted to finally get to meet and spend time with dopper0189, its managing editor. I spent some time discussing the ubiquitousness of Jack and Jill politics in Netroots. They seem to have become the black gatekeepers of the event. No insult intended, but I must now proffer a critique raised by several young black persons in attendance, and echoed by me. For those of you who live outside the black community, the symbolic significance of the term "Jack and Jill" has no meaning, and you may think it has some reference to the school age rhyme of "Jack and Jill went up a hill to fetch a pail of water". Not so. In the context of the historic black experience here in the U.S. it specifically references an organization historically known for nurturing the children of black elites, who tend to be "beige" in skin color, and whose practices at times were highly exclusionary, rejecting those of lower social class, and darker hues. The blog proclaims itself to be not associated with that organization, but the name of the blog gives me the shudders, so I have never chosen to read it.
Their co-founder stated recently in a post Top 6 Reasons You Should Be At Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh Next Week
It’s funny because I was speaking to a reporter from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about Netroots Nation in my erstwhile capacity as a board member. When taking a look at our little blog here and at our tagline "A black bourgeoisie perspective on U.S. politics", she remarked that Pittsburgh has no black middle class. Just the poor and struggling. I’m guessing that Pittsburgh has a pretty racist core worth exploring. Let’s give em a taste of the black middle class (which is the majority of African-Americans btw) and maybe inspire some of the folks living there. Show em what Black can do and be.
A majority of black Americans are not members of the black bourgeoisie, (read elite) nor were the voices of those black Americans who are struggling to survive, even those present in the Afrosphere adequately represented. I was however pleased to see and meet several members of the Pittsburgh black community at the conference, and took a side trip at their invitation to go to a black club, and meet more of the local youth (and adult) activists.
Sadly, the voices of black welfare mothers or those struggling in underpaid positions, youth movements, union and AIDS activists, those engaged in prison projects and those fighting the criminal injustice system in America were almost invisible. I have nothing against upwardly mobiles, but they are hardly the face of black America in the year 2009. They are not even the face of the Afrosphere. Allow me to refer you to two listings. Electronic Village "Top Ten Black Blogs" or "2009 Black Weblog Awards".
I would hope that there would be more diversity in future Netroots. The black communities of America are neither monolithic, nor overwhelmingly upwardly mobile. An interesting side note from the African-American caucus was when one participant raised the issue that was discussed elsewhere of the future formation of a Netroots "white caucus" to address racism and white privilege. Will see where this leads.
The rising tide of open right wing racism was discussed, and there were interesting comments made by a black radio host who did speak of the voices he hears from daily from "the hood".
On to the Latino Caucus,held on Saturday where I was delighted to meet and get to spend time with our own TexMex, among others. It opened awkwardly, and there was some tension. I was not happy to observe a woman who has done years of work organizing in Spanish speaking venues ignored, in the beginning, simply because she is not a Latina. This was corrected. The meeting got sidetracked by an issue that arose between two attendees, which I will not go into here, but a mailing list was circulated so that many of us interested in issues affecting Spanish speaking communities can stay in contact with each other. Though much emphasis was placed on the up and coming immigration reform issue, I would have liked to see Netroots deal better with the diversity within our communities - education, housing, criminal injustice, health care, rural versus urban, and reproductive health issues. "Latinos" or "Hispanics" as folks are boxed, does not adequately reflect regional or cultural differences in the expanding demographic that will in the near future create a majority for people's of color in the US. We all as Democrats must strengthen efforts to turn red states blue, and Latinos will be the deciding factors in those races. Florida is no longer a bastion of the right wing Cuban elite, as more and more Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Central and South Americans as well as Mexican Americans have migrated in.
Speaking of Latinas, there was collective elation over the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor as a symbolic victory, but her appointment to the Supreme Court is only a first step. We have a long way to go.
This gives me an opportunity to segue into my final section for this diary. I will have more to say in the future, and in comments, but I am running out of steam. The most jarring panel I attended was one on Friday, addressing "Building a Conversation across Generations of Progressive Women". I was excited about the description, as a long time feminist activist in communities of color, and as a professor of women's studies. Much to my surprise, the panel was singularly undiverse, not just in color (not one woman of color on the dais) but in social class, and even the one "youth voice" did not reflect youthful diversity. Nor were seniors in evidence. There was an underlying tone of Pumaism - the "blacks voted for Obama versus women voted for Hillary" meme was raised, much to my shock. I did comment from the audience, in a paraphrase from Sojourner Truth "Ain't I a Woman", since the "black community" of voters is weighted in female voter participation. The moderator was visibly defensive, and cited her "black friend who couldn't make it" (as in some of my best friends are Negroes) and I was pleased to see that those in attendance at the panel, majority white younger women were also not happy with the panel as selected. I saw no working class, or union women on the panel, nor were LGBTQ issues among women addressed.
I will end here. Other diaries have covered and will cover different facets of Netroots. I will say to all of you I met for the first time I was elated with the warm welcome from those of you who have read and commented in my diaries here. I cannot name you all - but many thanks to those of you who gave me hugs, shared long intense conversations, and made me feel welcome to this new community. I will look forward to next year in Las Vegas.
The conference ended for me on a moving spiritual note. On Sunday morning I attended the "Service About Service" and was moved to tears by the beauty and inclusiveness of the service, both in spoken word, and songs and music of activism, praise and reflection. My heart was uplifted by "If I had a Hammer" and "Teach Your Children" the testimony of the speakers, the readings and the simple joy of fellowship in spirituality. I'm glad I took the time to get up early Sunday to attend. Thank you to those who put it together.
Peace be with you.