Transcript: The Daily Kos Equity Council presents a panel on implicit bias

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Wednesday November 09, 2022 · 6:18 PM PST

2022/11/09 · 18:18

Dr. Calvin Lai explains the impact of implicit bias in the workplace and beyond. — Dr. Calvin Lai explained how implicit bias impacts folks in the workplace and beyond, along with three other great panelists.

Living in a patriarchal, white supremacist, ableist, transphobic, and homophobic society means we’re all susceptible to acting on biases we may not even be aware we have. The Equity Council programming committee has assembled an incredibly talented group of panelists to help us all identify and fight against our implicit biases as individuals, teams, and an organization. A video of that panel, which was held earlier this year, is below, along with a transcript.

April Siese

Community

Friday April 08, 2022 · 1:26 PM PDT

2022/04/08 · 13:26

Holiday Simmons speaks on a Daily Kos Equity Council panel about trans rights — Holiday Simmons, who is the Resident in Resilience and Healing at the Campaign for Southern Equality, speaks during a Daily Kos Equity Council panel on trans rights.

Transgender rights are consistently being threatened, with a record number of anti-trans bill being filed in just the first few months of this year alone. According to NBC News, nearly 240 such pieces of legislation have been filed, ranging from bills that target trans athletes and youth to restricting health care access and barring students from learning about LGBTQ issues. As part of Daily Kos’ commitment to better covering trans issues and uplifting the trans experience, the Daily Kos Equity Council on Thursday facilitated a discussion with three panelists about trans rights. Hosted by Trending News writer Marissa Higgins (she/her), staff heard from KB Brookins (they/them), Holiday Simmons (he/him), and S. Leigh Thompson (he/they).

Brookins, whose book of poetry How to Identify Yourself With a Wound delves into intersectional inquiry, expertly answered questions about the trans experience and offered fantastic advice for those looking to be better allies. When the subject of health care arose, Brookins was able to connect the medical system that fails us all with trans-specific issues in that space. Brookins discussed a piece they wrote for the Huffington Post about their experience seeking care from a gynecologist as a Black trans man in Texas and the power imbalance between providers and patients. “If you have someone in front of you who has the power to alter the experience of your body or your mind, that is a large responsibility and I think it's super important that people are competent around giving health care to trans folks,” Brookins said. “This is a thing that absolutely everybody should care about, because having legislation that hinders how you can support your child is an issue that everyone should care about. And the misconception is, I think, that people think it's a trans issue. I think it's a human rights issue.”

April Siese

Community

Friday April 08, 2022 · 1:25 PM PDT

2022/04/08 · 13:25

KB Brookins speaks on a Daily Kos Equity Council panel about trans rights — Poet, essayist, and culture worker KB Brookins speaks during a Daily Kos Equity Council panel on trans rights

With draconian and cruel laws that target transgender folks of all ages being passed nationwide, it’s important to revisit what we can do as an organization and as progressive Democrats to elevate trans voices and fight for trans rights. On Thursday, the Daily Kos Equity Council facilitated a discussion on trans rights that included three incredible panelists who brought their expertise before moderator and Trending News writer Marissa Higgins (she/her). As part of this panel, we present the full video and transcript for y’all to enjoy.

A bit about the panelists: KB Brookins (they/them) has a wealth of experience putting words to pressing issues that impact the trans community as both a poet and essayist. They are a culture worker and an Artivism Fellow with Broadway Advocacy Coalition, a stellar group that similarly finds creative means to help advance pressing issues; Holiday Simmons, MSW (he/him) is the Resident in Resilience and Healing at the Campaign for Southern Equality. His work focuses as much on equality from a holistic and wellness standpoint to supporting groups that advocate for environmental justice and similarly intersectional causes; S. Leigh Thompson (he/they) uses an array of techniques to creatively explore equity, diversity, and inclusion while also helping to facilitate dialogues with folks similarly interested in DEI work.

RELATED STORY: Trans rights: How to center trans voices and tips for allies (VIDEO)

Lauren Sue for Daily Kos

Community

Friday April 08, 2022 · 8:57 AM PDT

2022/04/08 · 08:57

no image description available — Pictured from left to right are disability rights and inclusion activist Imani Barbarin, writer and activist Ariel Henley, and mental health activist Dior Vargas.

When people talk about their experiences, listen. Truly listen. Take in what they’re saying and not just how what they’re saying affects you. It’s a simple means of education, but the good news is, it’s completely free—no tuition, no registration. Someone else does all the work, and you get all the benefits.

Those benefits with regards to a virtual panel we hosted with our Daily Kos staff in December simply cannot be quantified. Disability rights and inclusion activist Imani Barbarin, writer and activist Ariel Henley, and award-winning mental health activist Dior Vargas talked transparently and honestly about ableism and the real costs of having a disability or mental illness. Some costs are more literal than others.

Henley said that when she aged out of her mother’s health care coverage, she wasn’t able to afford hearing aids until she received a six-figure book deal for her memoir, A Face for Picasso: Coming of Age with Crouzon Syndrome.

Marissa Higgins

Daily Kos Staff

Monday November 29, 2021 · 4:26 PM PST

2021/11/29 · 16:26

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 13: SF poses as she holds a sign during the Brooklyn Liberation's Protect Trans Youth event at the Brooklyn Museum on June 13, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough in New York City. Brooklyn Liberation organized a march and rally as an emergency action response to legislation to restrict trans rights across 34 states. According to the Human Rights Campaign, there have been over 250 bills introduced in state legislatures aimed at the LGBTQ community in 2021. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

As Daily Kos continues to chronicle, school board meetings across the nation have been steadily picking up both local and national media attention, and for an important reason. Why? If it’s not people protesting mask mandates, it’s people speaking up for (or, sadly, against) trans rights. In both of these cases, the people affected are students and the people who work with them—teachers, janitorial staff, bus drivers, and so on. As reported by CNN, a school board election in the small town of Hastings, Minnesota, involves conservative hysteria on both masks and trans rights—and led to an 8-year-old trans girl being outed. After she was outed, she was allegedly bullied by her peers.

Who did the outing? According to CNN, anti-mask parents took it upon themselves to attack and out the little girl, who is the daughter of Kelsey Waits, the school board chair, because they disagreed with COVID-19 policies at the school. Waits, interestingly, is also a conservative but has enough decency to be pro-mask and supportive of her daughter. Now, she says she and her family are leaving the town altogether due to the harassment.

Marissa Higgins

Daily Kos Staff

Monday November 15, 2021 · 1:49 PM PST

2021/11/15 · 13:49

Members of the transgender community shout slogans during a demonstration to a protest against the killing of a transgender woman in Lahore on September 14, 2020. - Unidentified gunmen in Pakistan shot and killed a transgender woman in the northwest city of Peshawar, police said last week, in the latest violence to target the community. (Photo by Arif ALI / AFP) (Photo by ARIF ALI/AFP via Getty Images)

As we kick off Transgender Awareness Week, which spans from Nov. 13 to 19, it’s important to celebrate all of the wins and victories the trans community has to celebrate. Whether it’s brave youth speaking out against transphobic legislation that affects them, family members showing up as allies, or peers rallying to support one another in the classroom, there’s plenty of warmth and encouragement. Unfortunately, however, there’s still a lot of violence, and according to a new report from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), some of that violence is literally deadly.

According to a Nov. 9 press release from the HRC, 2021 is already the deadliest year on record for trans folks. According to the HRC, at least 45 openly transgender or gender nonconforming people have been killed so far in 2021 alone. In 2020, for comparison, at least 44 trans or nonconforming people were killed. “At least” is an important caveat as crimes against trans folks are notoriously underreported, or people are misgendered after death.

Lauren Sue

Community

Wednesday November 10, 2021 · 12:35 PM PST

2021/11/10 · 12:35

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette executive editor Keith Burris (left) and journalist Alexis Johnson — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette executive editor Keith Burris (left) defends banning journalist Alexis Johnson from covering George Floyd protests.

Let's talk about newspapers, specifically the big-hitters in terms of circulation. Many consider newspapers the most dogged pursuers of truth and accuracy, the originators of journalism, tasked with bringing to light pressing societal issues like workplace inequity. But what few may realize about these media staples is that they often replicate the same destructive cycles in-house that they are quick to call out in other industries, namely inequity in their ranks.

A study released last month by the nonprofit Women's Media Center found that on average, top newspapers have tasked men with reporting the news more than twice as much as they have tasked women. Masculine bylines were featured 69% of the time compared to 31% for feminine bylines, the Women’s Media Center found. The narrowest gender gaps were at The New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today, where feminine bylines were spotted some 40% of the time while masculine bylines were spotted about 60% of the time. The most gaping gender gaps were at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), Newsday, and the Los Angeles Times.

Irna L Landrum for Daily Kos Liberation League

Daily Kos Staff

Thursday November 04, 2021 · 10:16 AM PDT

2021/11/04 · 10:16

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - AUGUST 17: A person holds a sign of George Floyd during a demonstration on August 17, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Community members came together for a rally to protest the city's potential forceful reopening 38th Street and Chicago Ave, an unofficial autonomous zone known as George Floyd Square. Community activists and city council members are in negotiations for the square, but the community has expressed disapproval in the city's phased reopening of the area without honoring their list of demands. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) — A good campaign builds for the next, no matter the outcome. This campaign is built to last.

On Nov. 2, Minneapolis residents voted on an innovative proposal to reshape community safety: de-center police in public safety, employ more capable first responders, and only deploy police when absolutely necessary. Nearly 45% of voters supported this bold change, but it sadly was not enough … for now. But there is so much to celebrate.

It's been 17 months since George Floyd was brutally murdered in broad daylight, during a call that in no way warranted police restraining Floyd. For too long, police have shrugged off these needlessly deadly encounters as collateral damage of a tough job. Getting Question 2 on the ballot was already victorious in putting police on the defensive, forcing them to justify their role.

Marissa Higgins

Daily Kos Staff

Thursday November 04, 2021 · 10:16 AM PDT

2021/11/04 · 10:16

screenshot-www.youtube.com-2021.11.04-09_14_31.png

As we process results from the elections on Tuesday, Nov. 2, it’s all too easy to fall into despair and frustration about the races that didn’t go our way. While work absolutely remains to be done, it’s also important to acknowledge victories where we had them, including in some surprising instances. One example? 27-year-old Indira Sheumaker, a Black Lives Matter activist who campaigned on defunding the police, beat out an incumbent for a seat on the Des Moines City Council, representing Ward 1.

According to the Des Moines Register, Sheumaker will be the first Black city council member in Des Moines since 1985. As of the Jan. 10 swearing-in, she will also be the youngest person to serve on the council (coming in as the only person under 30) and the only person of color. Sheumaker, a first-time candidate, defeated 69-year-old longtime incumbent Bill Gray, who had served in the office since 2014 with 542 votes.

Christopher Reeves for Daily Kos

Community

Saturday October 30, 2021 · 3:27 PM PDT

2021/10/30 · 15:27

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 19: Activists march for missing and murdered Indigenous women at the Women's March California 2019 on January 19, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Demonstrations are slated to take place in cities across the country in the third annual event aimed to highlight social change and celebrate women's rights around the world. (Photo by Sarah Morris/Getty Images)

Connect! Unite! Act! is a weekly series that seeks to create face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups meet regularly to socialize, get out the vote, support candidates, and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert influence on the powers that be. Visit us every week to see how you can get involved!

I don’t often talk directly about what it is I do here at Daily Kos. In the past, I’ve been proud of the organizing efforts we’ve put together to arrange for in-person meetings in New York, San Francisco, Texas, Kansas City, Asheville, Minnesota, Philadelphia, and so many Netroots Nations and partner events. Beyond that, however, was always an effort that would expand our Daily Kos community with new members who can provide their unique voices and experiences. Part of bringing these new voices into our community involves acceptance and understanding—attracting alumni of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, immigrant workers, candidates, and even just advocating for participating on our site when I attend meetings of activists who want a platform to get their message out there. There are, however, complications that I don’t normally get into in a diary on Daily Kos. As we move forward with the new rules of the road and we start to talk frankly about how we treat members and each other, I want to explain exactly why being a more welcoming and understanding community makes all of us better in the end.

Irna L Landrum

Daily Kos Staff

Friday October 29, 2021 · 10:16 AM PDT

2021/10/29 · 10:16

black-police-movement-racism-protest-minneapolis-minnesota-blm-black-lives-matter-defund-the-police_t20_2Wg6E6.jpg

Welcome to Pathways to Liberation. Pathways to Liberation is an abolition-ish podcast where we explore police accountability activism and wrestle with the question: Could we possibly be safe in a world without police? You can take a look on our YouTube playlist, or tune in for a listen on our Libsyn podcast, also on Apple and Spotify.

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Ian Reifowitz for Daily Kos

Community

Friday October 29, 2021 · 9:27 AM PDT

2021/10/29 · 09:27

The most important result of the 2020 elections is that Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump. Second-most important is that Democrats took back the Senate. These were tremendous victories that, along with keeping the House, have given our party a chance to make real, lasting change that will improve the lives of every American.

But (you knew a “but” was coming) we didn’t do as well as we thought we might. A shift of merely 44,000 total votes in Georgia, Wisconsin, and Arizona would’ve meant a tie in the Electoral College, and, ultimately, reelection for The Man Who Lost The Popular Vote (Twice), thanks to the rules laid out in the Constitution. Likewise, if David Perdue had gotten just 13,500 more votes in November (he won 49.7% of the vote), he’d have won outright and avoided a runoff in the Georgia Senate race. In that scenario, Mitch McConnell would still be presiding over that chamber—and any new COVID-19 relief bill would either be a shell of the current version, or nonexistent. Republicans also flipped fifteen House seats without losing a single one, and gained full control via trifectas in two new states: New Hampshire and Montana. The hoped-for Blue Wave did not materialize.

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Transcript: The Daily Kos Equity Council presents a panel on implicit bias

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