This diary is not meant to advocate my point of view. It is just meant to record my thoughts on the topics covered, and to formulate an action plan based on what I learned, or on what needs my further investigation. In that respect, it's more like a "diary" than any of my other DKos diaries. You can think of it as a brain-dump. And, if it seems I am talking to myself, I am :)
Reverend Barber
He is truly inspirational. He's the best speaker I've seen in person. The thing he said which got my brain to spinning fastest (I paraphrase): To truly be a part of the movement, you must be arrested. I have a wife and brother who need my support. Will my getting arrested affect my job and/or possibility of future employment? These are heady considerations for me. How committed to my activism am I? Am I committed enough to be arrested for the cause?
Kos
He pointed out that almost everyone at the meeting is white, and that he wanted DKos' diversity to match that of the Democratic electorate. Hence the creation of the Black Kos group was welcomed. I have occasionally read Black Kos, but have not joined it. I shall. I have not read the latino group on DKos. I shall join it as well. I have read the LGBTQ posts but have yet to join their group. I shall.
I'm not sure he mentioned this at the meeting or whether it is just in the DKos charter: DKos exists to give progressives a forum for their views and to elect better Democrats.
Freedom to express progressive thoughts.
Maybe it's just me, but I haven't felt particularly free to let my most progressive thoughts take flight on DKos. Reasons:
1. I'm a Bernie Sanders fan, and I know there are many Hillary Clinton fans on DKos who would take exception to my pro-Bernie thoughts even if I omitted any anti-Hillary thoughts. I guess they are so used to being attacked by pro-Bernie people that they leap to Hillary's defense even when she's not being attacked. I did notice at the meeting that although I saw several Bernie Sanders buttons, I never heard someone yell "Feel The Bern". Likewise, I never heard someone yell their support for any of the Democratic candidates. We were all careful to not offend. But, that has the double-edge of making us reticent to express our most progressive thoughts.
2. Any diary I write is opinion-oriented. Most of the Rec List diaries are fact-oriented. When any opinion-oriented diary (not just mine) is written, it gets picked to death by all sides in the comments: Pug trolls, Hillary-ites, and even Progressives. It's like it's open-season on anyone who dares put out their point-of-view. In this respect, progressives are not "free" to express themselves, unless they develop a hide of iron.
A recent Kossack of only a few months left a parting note to us expressing the same type of thoughts. Many commenters patted themselves on the back for driving him out of DKos. If he did write the troll-ish comments to which he is attributed, yes, I agree he's a hypocrite. However, much of what he said in his final diary is true.
When I wrote my first diary here, it was criticized for being too short. Then I wrote longer diaries and commenters would take exception to one phrase in a long essay, chew that phrase to bits, and then discard the entire diary because that one phrase was not well-made in their opinion. I do notice that most of these commenters rarely if ever put out a diary of their own. Is it for fear of similar treatment? Should commenting on others' diaries become a blood-sport?
At any rate, I'll endeavor to either grow a thicker hide or to disregard comments in my diaries.
Better "Democrats":
Though I'm a registered Democrat, I do not consider myself to be unfailingly loyal to the party itself. I am loyal to the ideals of progressivism. If the Democratic Party placed a plank in their platform that said "yes, we do agree that water-boarding is NOT torture", that would be reprehensible enough for me to quit the party and find one more progressive. Likewise, if the Democratic Party failed to fight for labor unions, I would quit the party and find one which supported Labor. Rich Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO, did say that if Democrats failed to support Labor Unions, the Labor Unions might form a Labor Party. He hasn't followed through on that threat yet. He still hopes, as I do, that the Democratic Party will come around. I won't support the Democratic Party's shifting to anti-progressive ideals, just to win elections.
"Better" Democrats:
I'm a Bernie guy because he is an FDR democrat. Everything Bernie supports came out of FDR's playbook. Bernie's no more a "socialist" than FDR was. "Better Democrat" to me means coming closer to embodying FDR's New-Deal Ideals.
I don't like the direction Bill Clinton has taken the Democratic Party. Clinton said "the days of Big Government are over". FDR would be rolling over in his grave. He also signed NAFTA and the repeal of Glass-Steagle. Hillary has yet to disavow these policy positions of her husband. As such, I feel that Bernie is a "better" Democrat than Hillary. For that matter, I feel that Bernie is a "better" Democrat than Barack Obama. Obama is following the Bill Clinton policies in terms of promoting TPP, and in terms of cutting deals highly favorable for Repugnicans: Do you remember John Boehner, after Obama signed the "sequester" legislation, stating, "I got most of what I wanted; I'm pretty happy." In my view, that should have been a sign to Obama that he had lost that negotiation. Apparently, he didn't read the sign, for he got TPA through, with a minority of his own party supporting it.
Given that I am promoting what I deem to be "better" Democrats, should I feel like I'm walking on egg shells for promoting Bernie Sanders on DKos. I would not think so. But I do because of the vitriol and nit-picking coming from the commenters. Of course, some of those commenters (the Hillary-ites) play the pug game of saying that they are the "true" victims of Sanders supporters. Pugs play that game to gain support from their base for attacking the other side. What say you, DKos commenters as to your reason for playing the victim?
DocDawg's talk on NC Pugs' Musical Polling Places Game
DocDawg's presentation was extremely effective at showing that blacks are being disproportionately disadvantaged by Pugs' closing polling places in black districts. Here is Joan McCarter's diary on Doc Dawg's presentation.
DocDawg said the best way to fight this tactic is to point out to the election officials in those districts that blacks are disproportionately disadvantaged, and to suggest adding polling places in certain locations to solve the problem. Then when those officials ignore the advice, you have grounds for the NAACP to file suit.
The NAACP official, Al McSurely, asked DocDawg for his research once DocDawg had officially published it. DocDawg happily agreed to this.
DocDawg's presentation sparked a question I've been pondering for a while now.
How to Best Use My Time to Help Get Progressives Elected
I worked for Kay Hagen's failed U.S. Senate re-election bid. They had us doing the supposedly tried and true method of phone banks and canvassing to known Democrats and Independents. Those methods were a miserable failure for Kay.
I believe Dems' path to victory lies in expanding the electorate. It seems to me that if we could get the names of these black voters whom the Republicans are trying to disenfranchise, visit with them, register them to vote, and then drive them to the polls, that would be much more effective than phone banks and canvassing white neighborhoods. It would also make me feel I was doing more to help Dems' cause.
Southerners on New Ground (LGBTQ Organization) - Mary Hooks
Mary Hooks is in a minority triple-whammy. She is a black woman who is LGBTQ. To boot, she was one of only four black people in the room, speaking to a bunch of older white folks. Courage. Two of her points: 1. If you want to really talk to poor, black people, have dinner with them on the porch. You have to really get to know them to have a chance of getting them to register. 2. White people's main responsibility in ridding this country of racism is talking to other white folk and convincing them that racism needs to be stamped out.
NC NAACP Attorney Al McSurely
Al McSurely shared some personal anecdotes about his efforts in the NAACP. He emphasized Mary Hooks last point about white people convincing other white people that racism is alive and well and needs to be stamped out.
He also talked about 5 (I think) new NAACP chapters in places where you would have never imagined them being.
The NAACP seems to be the most visible force fighting racism in our country. Reverend Barbour is the head of the NC NAACP and is also the leader of the Moral Mondays movement.
I talked to Al after his talk, and asked him what I could do to join the NAACP. He told me to contact my county's chapter and join for $30. I shall do so.
NC Dem Party Chair Patsy Keever Interviewed by Joan McCarter
This was the most frustrating of the segments for me. The Chair seemed to be totally bought into the phone-banking and canvassing methods I mentioned above. She did not mention expanding the electorate and pooh-poohed the idea of driving voters to the polls. She said that they have an abundance of volunteer drivers. Well, how about tying the drivers into the efforts of registering the voters they have pledged to drive? Soup-to-nuts voter fetching! I would think that idea would appeal to volunteers.
She also said that giving money had to be part of our efforts. I'll speak for myself. I don't have money to give, but I do have the time. Besides, we will never win the fund-raising battles with the likes of Art Pope/NC Branch of Koch Bros Buying Elections R Us. And, to boot, no candidate seems willing to say they will fight to overturn Citizens' United should they get elected. Yeah, I know there's not much a House member/Senator can do all by themselves to get that done. But, I want to see them fight for it! This rolling over for the Pugs has got to stop if we want a Dem majority in the future. The Pugs fight for things which are not possible to get until it becomes possible. Dems need to do the same!
Exploring the Power Of Local Media
This segment pertained to the Asheville area, which, fortunately has some progressive media. I regularly listen to Jeff Messer's show from 3-6PM weekdays on AM 880. Jeff not only has progressive political discussions with listeners but conducts interviews with local artists (music, theater, visual arts, movie critics, etc.).
During election sessions, Jeff hosts one-on-one conversations with ALL candidates who will come on his show. These candidates are running for City Council, Mayor, and even state or federal office..
Johnnie Nelson-Grant owns a newspaper called the Urban News. I'll have to pick it up.
Tom Sullivan writes for a progressive blog called "Scrutiny Hooligans". Once again, I'll have to look for it.
The Storms of 2016
FishOutOfWater gave an alarming talk about how climate change is affecting us now. I actually asked a question during this segment: "Is any candidate treating climate change with the serious attention it deserves?" He started to mention Bernie Sanders' name, but then he thought about it, and said "No". I agree with the speaker. I will say that Climate Change is second to Income Inequality on Bernie's policy list. But, "Climate Change" needs to be the top issue on all candidates' policy list. There are scientists out there wondering whether our species can survive to 2100. It's that serious!
Rural Healthcare Realities in North Carolina - Teresa Birchard
The speaker covered the same ground as Denise Velez-Oliver's post. Denise probably got much of her material from the speaker. One thought struck me: if we could make clear to the people of NC how many people are dying because they do not have insurance to see a doctor, maybe they'd vote out these shysters who are refusing the Medicaid Expansion. Do I have too much faith in North Carolinians' empathy for their fellow human beings? Perhaps.
If Democrats ever get a majority in Congress again, they'd better try for a single payer system. That system would eliminate these racist shenanigans by these Red States to deny people healthcare.
Video Interview of Campaign Zero Activist DeRay McKesson by Shaun King
I found this video compelling: Two black guys in the thick of the battle against the Police's use of brutal force against POC. Both Bernie and Hillary have discussed their policy positions with BLM, but I gathered from this interview that BLM is not totally satisfied with either of the candidate's plans. Perhaps, BLM is worried about a candidate's following through once they are elected. A valid fear judging from past history. It looked like these two guys would work well with each other in the future.
Leveraging Local & State Government Through Citizen Activism by Democrats
The major point I got out of this session is that some State Senators actually listen to knowledgeable activists when deciding which way to vote on a bill. But, the activist has to sink a ton of his/her time into finding out what the State Legislature (especially when the Legislature is mired in shady goings-on like the NC State Legislature is) is doing to become knowledgeable.
But, I also learned that lobbyists can supply useful information for a legislator. I've always thought of lobbyists as what is wrong with our political system, but I guess they can do good by supplying information to legislators.
Activism Leads to Coalition - Barry Summers and Elaine Lite
Barry Summers was the activist who brought to light the NC State government's attempt to take-over of Asheville's water system to light. All cities in all red states need to be leery of their state government's trying to usurp the city government's power to supply a city's resources.
Barry gave a slide-show of all stages in the court battle. Asheville's case is currently on appeal after winning the District Court ruling. Barry said he's fairly confident Asheville will win the appeal.
I talked to Barry before the Kos event, and he is currently working to reveal the Legislature's slipping in pro-Drone legislation into the budget. We in the NC citizenry are clueless about the state government's complicity in allowing drones to spy on us. As "Deep Throat" said "Follow the Money". Some state senator is probably getting plenty of campaign cash to slip this one in.
Two New Friends from TN
I made two new friends from TN. Darlene Stone is a Labor Union (Communications Workers of America) organizer who has met my man "Bernie" (her home state is NH). We talked about the VW-TN battle to have the UAW serve as the TN workers' union. Of course, being a pro-labor guy, I was torn when VW admitted to cheating the fuel emissions standards with their diesel models. On the one hand, I feel they should be punished for cheating. On the other hand, they are pro-union to the point it was practically a foregone conclusion for them that the TN plant would be unionized.
Laurie McLemore is a postal worker (pro-union as well, APWU) from Chattanooga. Another reason to vote for Bernie. He definitely supports the USPS. All Congress-people who support the USPS bring up the "killing" legislation which requires USPS to have 75 years of pension money saved for their employees (an outlandish requirement by any stretch, and unique to the USPS). Why they do not bring up the fact that it still costs 3 times as much to send a package via UPS or FedEx is beyond me. That is my experience, and it has made me a USPS fan for life! Show even a Pug voter where s/he can save money using the USPS, and they might just come around to supporting it.
I plan to keep in touch with these fine people.