Netroots Nation 2014 was my fourth NN experience, and I found it to be both informative and uplifting. In some ways, this year's conference was the most uplifting because our actions had a direct impact on injustice at the local level, at least for the time being. For NN09 and NN12, I wrote detailed diaries about my experiences there. I took extensive notes for NN13, but never had the time to organize them into a diary. This time, I'm going to be a lot less detailed. Which may not be a bad thing.
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As I have never been sufficiently organized to actually get a room at the official NN hotels at any of these events, we stayed at a hotel about 30 miles south of downtown Detroit. That sort of cramped our ability to attend certain social functions. I've finally gotten tired of this, and will, in the future, make reservations at one of the official conference hotels. In any case, we arrived fairly late on Wednesday night, so we did not participate in any of the pre-NN events.
We got to the Cobo Center during the News Dump and were immediately approached by Dave in Northridge, who would be coming back to Pennsylvania with us for a few days after NN. brillig also found us and gave us a hug, and peregrine kate gave us her personal welcome to her hometown. (I have to be careful here to apologize to anyone we talked to whom I don't mention, because either (a) I don't remember or (b) I'm trying to keep this diary brief. Please don't feel insulted.) We attended two interesting panels in the morning, and after lunch, went to the Daily Kos caucus, the first time I've done so in all of my previous NNs. It was great to be in the same room as so many fellow kossacks, many of whom I had not met before, among those Puddytat. Also, sometime on Thursday, we ran into cooper888 and gotmooned, with whom we socialized thoughout the conference. Indeed, we were chatting together (with yet another kossack whose handle escapes me at the moment) when we were approached by a fresh-faced young reported to be interviewed about our opinions of Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren. That was a first for me. Among other kossacks we met over the course of the conference were figbash, maggiejean, jlms qkw, ramara, a gilas girl and others (some to be mentioned later).
By now, plenty has been written about Biden's keynote. I was actually able to get some work done during the interminable delay, so I at least felt productive. The delay was entirely understandable, and his speech was worth the wait. On the other hand, the delay ultimately backed up some of the panel sessions, so we were not able to attend one of the panels we wanted to go to after Biden's keynote.
We were among those who did attend the evening keynote session and saw the line-up of inspiring speakers, culminating with Rev. Barber's barn-burner of a speech. Again, several diaries have already been written about this speech, including TrueBlueMajority's transcription of it.
Friday was a truly remarkable day, Starting with Elizabeth Warren's keynote in the morning. (It was interesting to observe that behind the bank of coffee urns outside the ballroom, there were boxes of "Ready for Hillary" coffee mugs that pretty much stayed where they were, while people were rapidly picking up "Warren for President" placards and hats. Is there a message here?) Warren's speech was what I have come to expect. My partner, who had never heard her speak before, was transfixed.
We attended the LGBT caucus, and then grabbed a very quick lunch so as not to be late for the Detroit water protest march. The march was not the first such protest action I had ever done, but it felt more important and immediate than ones I've participated in in the past. We marched all the way to the City Hall complex, but had to depart before 2 PM in order to make it to our state caucus. So, yes, we missed the rally, but we did it in order to educate ourselves with regard to the political situation in our home state. (Adam B provided some inside-baseball insights, such as that it might be more likely for the State House to flip Democratic than the State Senate.)
Rather than attending any more panels in the afternoon, after the Pennsylvania caucus, we decided to go try to find food (again). We went to Greektown and had a very nice dinner, in order to prepare for the Pub Quiz. I was a spectator to the pub quiz in 2012 and 2013, but this time I wanted to participate. I was hoping that there would be a Top Comments team, but no such luck this year. Instead, we were able to form a team consisting of a bunch of kossacks that, for the most part, I had never met before. Unfortunately, in the confusion of the game, I didn't have the wit to write them all down, though I did manage to run into a few the next day and grabbed their kos handles then. The team, The Alpha Geeks, consisted of my partner and myself, SolarMom, 2thanks, bakers dozen, Horace Boothroyd III, wesvolk, and three others. We didn't do too badly as a first time out: we tied for 9th. Every member contributed crucial correct answers. Being the team's scribe, I realized I screwed up a few of the answers by not completing them, or forgetting to correct wrong answers before turning in the answer sheet. We could have easily done better, but I learned quite a bit from this experience.
After the Pub Quiz, we gathered at the grand piano on the second level of the Cobo Center, where Paul Hogarth played and we all sang show tunes until security kicked us out. Who knew? This experience will certainly change the way I look at the next mass e-mail I receive from Paul.
All participants in the LGBT caucus were invited to a party for LGBT people and allies on the 64th floor the Marriott on Friday evening, so that's where we went next. On our walk along the river, we made the acquaintance of Jamila Bey, and had a very interesting conversation with her. We were to meet with her again on Saturday. As we approached the Marriott, we passed a concert in progress. It was an old white guy with a long beard at the piano, singing an old Gospel song. It took me a little while to realize that he was Leon Russell, a performer I like but hadn't thought about for quite a few years.
The party itself was in an elegant suite with a fabulous view, but the volume of conversation was earsplitting. We ran into cooper888 and gotmooned again, had conversations with other activists, got congratulated on our impending marriage by Mike Rogers (which got mentioned at the LGBT caucus), and almost rubbed elbows with Michelangelo Signorile. However, at best I was understanding no more than about one-third of what anyone was saying to us, and it was getting late, we're old, and our hotel was 30 miles away, so we left after about an hour.
What a day!
On to Saturday. The Saturday morning keynote was not well attended, presumably because it was the "morning after." Mark Shauer, candidate for Governor of Michigan, and Senator Debbie Stabenow spoke of the challenges facing Michigan. Then there was a panel on the Detroit water crisis, consisting of local activists fighting for those who have had their water service cut off. This panel was deeply affecting. More than once, tears were shed over the outrageous and humiliating conditions that the citizens of Detroit have had to live through. But then came the news, from Maureen Taylor, that after the march and rally on Friday, City Hall had agreed to meet with community leaders. The march had had a positive effect! How cool is that?
We then meandered over to the "Ask a Sista" panel. I had not attended this panel in previous years, but had heard so many good things about it that I thought, this was the year to do it. And who was one of the panelists? None other than Jamila Bey, the woman we chatted with on our walk to the Marriott on Friday night! All of the panelists were intelligent, well spoken, and focussed like a laser; they had a great deal to say with regard to the contradictions and injustices facing African-American women in the U. S. today. However, the most practical takeaway message I got was something that Jamila said: Ask your Congressional Representative or Senator what s/he is doing to preserve the separation of church and state as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Now there's a life's purpose! I had the opportunity after the panel to tell her how what she said had affected me, and she said asking that question to politicians makes for excellent radio, in that it makes some politicians extremely uncomfortable.
We also discovered that my partner and Horace Boothroyd III grew up in neighboring towns in the same part of California, though they were born a decade apart. Who could have guessed that?
We enjoyed the rest of the panels we attended, and the closing keynote as well. We skipped the closing party, as we had to leave early the next day, Dave in Northridge in tow.
For me, this year's Netroots Nation was a fantastic experience. I felt I really learned some things, and I feel like I even helped to make a difference in the lives of some desperate people. Now, as always, the task is to try to apply what I've learned in my ordinary life, which is a real challenge.
And now I see that this diary is still significantly longer than I intended it to be. Oh well.
Let's get to the main event: The comments!
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July 23, 2014
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