Thoughts on being an Obama delegate

I just received an email this morning from Kyle Forar, who is heading up the Obama campaign for the 33rd Legislative District. I am really fired up and ready to go! Never before have I been so excited about the political process. And I am truly impressed by the young people who are still in high school who are actively engaged in this election! I truly believe that it is Barack Obama who has inspired the historic groundswell of participation in the democratic process that we've seen in this election.

Every day I get onto my computer and I log on to msnbc.com and Huffingtonpost to get my political "fix". Yes, I've become a political junkie. I watch video clips of Hardball and Keith Olbermann online. On Sunday morning, I can't wait until the netcast of "Meet the Press". (I won't wake up at 6:00 AM to watch it on TV--I'm not that addicted.)

To be honest though, I do wish the Democratic primary situation would come to an end soon. Obama is clearly ahead in all indicators--contests won, popular vote, pledged delegates. Every day he is gaining a superdelegate, whereas, Hillary has lost superdelegates. The writing is on the wall. The only thing Hillary is hedging her bets on is that the superdelegates overturn the will of the people, and if that happens, it will be a dark day for the Democratic party. It will show that Hillary cares more about herself than about the good of the party.

I actually used to like Hillary Clinton, but there were so many things that she did during this campaign that were so negative that made me lose respect for her. The lies she told about her trip to Bosnia. When she told "60 Minutes" that Obama wasn't Muslim "as far as she knew". The story she told about the pregnant woman who died, which again wasn't true. The fact that she did not renounce Geraldine Ferraro on the spot after Ferraro made racist comments about Obama. The twisting of the facts about Obama in North Carolina. Her twisting of Obama's stance on abortion in New Hampshire. The 3 AM ad. How she said that McCain was more ready to be commander in chief than Obama, yet implied that Obama might be a good VP (that was weird).

Don't even get me started on McCain. Maybe he isn't as conservative as the right-wing wackos would like, but he has a temper on him that would not serve him well as POTUS. It was recently reported that he went on a profane tirade at his wife when she playfully said to him that his hair was starting to thin. Apparently, his face reddened and, in full view of aides and reporters, he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt." Read about it here.

And this is who the Republicans want as their president. Scary, Scary, Scary.

I'm a State Delegate!

Yesterday was the 33rd Legislative District Caucus for the Democratic Party in Washington State. I arrived early at 9:00 AM to help out (and ended up getting an Obama sign and button because I volunteered--woohoo!). I received a short training on how to register the delegates and alternates, then was assigned to the table for the Burien precincts with a woman named Rose. There was a bit of confusion for a while as to whether to hand out index cards. At first we were told to hand them out, then not to, then they changed their minds again. They told us to hand purple index cards out to Hillary delegates, white index cards out to Obama delegates, and then ultimately, it didn't matter when we got into the gym.

I saw several friends there. I sat with my long time friend Vance Bader, who was a delegate from Des Moines. I also saw my friend and former Seattle neighbor, Carla Jones, who is a real estate agent for John L. Scott, and a delegate from Kent. My friend Chitra Solomonson, a physics professor at Green River Community College and fellow Blue Thunder soccer mom was an alternate from Kent who ended up getting seated as a delegate. And new friends and neighbors, Bill Smith and Stephanie Jurado-Smith, delegates from Des Moines were also there.

When I first arrived, I was not intending to run for state delegate. I had heard that you had to actively campaign and network and shmooze, and I thought to myself, this is just like being a politician. I really didn't want to do that, so I decided against it. But when I got there, so many people encouraged me to do it, particularly Stephanie, and when I saw 100 people get up to sign the sheet to make their speech, I thought, okay, why not?

So I was #37. I went up and talked about my life's work battling racism and bigotry as a diversity trainer and as an educator teaching Multiculturalism and Anti-Bias in Education. Apparently it struck a chord in people because my friend Stephanie, who stayed late to help count ballots, called me and told me I was elected! Stephanie is an alternate! So we are headed to the Congressional District Caucuses now and to the State Convention in Spokane!

The Hurt of One is the Hurt of All

I just finished reading a post by a former colleague of mine, Patti Digh, who writes an award-winning blog, 37 Days. It's called "Stop doing insignificant work in the world" and it provokes those who are white and straight to ask themselves, would they really want to be treated the way people of color and GLBT people are treated in our society, and if not, what are they going to do about it? Very provocative. Here's the link:

http://37days.typepad.com/37days/2008/02/stop-hate.html

I think this is so appropriate, given the fact that today is the 40th anniversary of the assasination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We have so far to go when it comes to racism and homophobia. Yes, we've come a long way, but we're not there yet.

I cannot tell you how many times I have been to social events, and people use gayness as the punch line. Do people not stop to think that maybe the people sitting in the room have gay friends, or gay siblings?

I've gone to social events where people go on and on about "illegals", as if they're some sort of enemy. Yes, these are parties where I'm the only person of color and I'm not sure if I'm the only progressive there, so I don't say anything. But it's very uncomfortable.

I've gone to parties where the hostess, perhaps not through ill intent but rather through ignorance, made comments like, "I can't believe he tried to Jew me down!" or "We didn't have a Chinaman's chance!" Once I ignored it and felt awful for doing so. Another time I confronted the person who made the offending remark, and the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

When Patti talks about doing significant work, how many people really make a point of getting to know people who are different than them? How many people read about people who are different than them? How many people confront others when a racist joke is made? Or a homophobic joke? How many people stand up to racism or homophobia? It is difficult to do, because, as one of my diversity workshop participants put it, you're labeled as "that person". But so what? If none of us stands up to racism and homophobia, how will it ever go away?

Take a look at the presidential candidate you're supporting. How do they do in terms of dealing with racism and homophobia? Not so good? Then maybe it's time to switch your support.