Just as Hillary Clinton has claimed Barack Obama to be short on experience in the national political arena, some may say I have not been part of the political process for very long. I have not been. I was only recently inspired to become active politically because of Barack Obama. He inspired me to volunteer for his campaign, and I am now a Precinct Committee Officer. I volunteered at the Legislative District Caucus and plan to volunteer at the 9th Congressional District Caucus. I plan to campaign hard for Senator Obama, attend the State Convention in Spokane, and hopefully go to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. However, like Obama, I am certainly not short on experience. I've been a lifelong Democrat, and strongly believe in the core principles of the Democratic Party, particularly regarding civil rights and social justice. So I've devoted the last 17 years of my life to addressing these issues head on. Indeed, it has been my life's work.
This year marked the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sadly, our country has a long way to go when it comes to the area of race relations. It's a wonderful thing that we have our first viable African-American candidate. But we all see the ugliness surrounding this election as well, and all of the subtle and not so subtle race-baiting that has taken place to play on people's racial prejudices. It pains me to know that there are still people in this country that will not even listen to Senator Obama's message of hope or his stance on the issues because they only see the color of his skin and have decided they will not vote for him. It's bigotry, plain and simple.
I first started working in the early 90's in the diversity arena as an actor touring with a diversity theatre company called the Growth and Prevention (GAP) Theatre Company. Our group traveled throughout Washington and Oregon and as far as Idaho and Reno, performing musicals about racism and facilitating discussions about race with the audiences afterwards. We performed primarily at schools, but sometimes we performed for non-profit organizations. This was back in the early '90s. It was a great experience. What struck me was that many of the kids we talked to felt as if they themselves were open-minded, but they felt that their parents were not. This was a real source of frustration for them, because they felt as if their parents were unwilling to change their views.
I was inspired by that experience and decided to take it to the next level. In 1993, I began working as a corporate diversity trainer, facilitating workshops throughout the country on diversity-related issues. The difference in corporate diversity training, however, was that the focus was on how diversity and inclusion were good for the bottom line, productivity and morale. Also, the definition of differences tended to be focused on the differences that made a difference at a particular organization (for example, people's accents, their educational levels, the types of jobs they have, etc.) What people discover is regardless of what the difference is, people who feel disenfranchised, marginalized and devalued do not perform at their optimum level. This is difficult work. There were many times that I was the only person of color in the room, sometimes the only woman in the room, and I've experienced the passive aggressive behavior of people sitting in workshops, reading the newspaper or working on their laptops because they don't want to be there, they think talking about diversity is a waste of time. But I keep on doing it, because if someone isn't out there fighting for change, then how do things change? Is everything okay the way it is? Are we happy with the status quo? I'm certainly not.
I also started focusing on diversity within the educational arena. I worked for the Anti-Defamation League A World of Difference Institute where I facilitated prejudice reduction workshops in schools throughout Washington state. In 2003, I joined Green River Community College as an adjunct instructor, where I designed and continue to teach Multiculturalism and Anti-Bias in Education. This is a course for preservice Early Childhood and K-12 teachers that helps them explore diversity in the framework of a classroom. We explore issues of race, class, disability and sexual orientation and how to implement an anti-bias curriculum. This class not only is required for the AA in Early Childhood Education, but is also a prerequisite for the Master's in Teaching Program at the University of Washington. Many of my students have indicated that they felt ALL college students should be required to take this class. Click here for one student's response to my class.
On another note, there was a small detour in the midst of my diversity training career. I really shouldn't call it a small detour, because it was truly life-changing. On December 28, 1998, 45 minutes after the birth of my daughter, I went into cardiac arrest. I had suffered an Amniotic Fluid Embolism, an extremely rare and usually fatal complication of childbirth. Although I was resuscitated after 45 minutes of CPR, I suffered several life-threatening complications, and was in critical condition in a coma and on a ventilator for nine weeks in the Intensive Care Unit at Swedish Medical Center. Thanks to the wonderful care at Swedish, and prayers and support from hundreds of people around the world, I survived, and was released from the hospital after five months and one week. I went through a year-and-a-half of physical, occupational, and speech therapy to relearn how to walk, talk and function, and after five years, returned to work.
During my recovery, I started the Northwest ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) Support Network for survivors of this horrible disease. I co-chaired the 2nd Annual Conference for ARDS Survivors, Families and Care Providers, in conjunction with the American Lung Association of Washington and Harborview Medical Center for ARDS Survivors and Caregivers. During the outbreak of SARS in 2003, I worked with Mimi Gan of Evening Magazine to help increase awareness of ARDS (which was actually what many SARS patients were ultimately dying of). Click here to view the online Evening Magazine story. I continue to support people who are ARDS survivors, or whose loved ones are in ARDS crisis. I have also volunteered and raised money for the American Lung Association of Washington.
I am the Vice-President of the Woodmont K-8 PTA. I was also the only parent on the Federal Way School District Elementary Design Team, where I fought to ensure that an anti-bias curriculum was implemented in the elementary grades.
I, for one, am angry about the past seven years. When the election was stolen from Al Gore, I really felt hopeless--I was so shocked that something like that could have happened. And then John Kerry lost, to someone who clearly was a lesser candidate, and I thought to myself, what is our country coming to? The last seven years have been a horrible nightmare, but I feel that now we have hope, and that hope is Barack Obama!
My support for Senator Obama is unwavering. I have had conversations with countless people, some of them strangers, trying to convince them he is the right candidate. I've joined mybarackobama.com and Asian-Americans for Obama and made many friends. I've volunteered for the Obama campaign, at the 33rd Legislative District Caucus, and plan to volunteer at the Congressional District Caucus. I've become a Precinct Committee Officer and once Obama is nominated (which appears to be just around the corner), I will be very actively campaigning for him, as well as other local candidates who also support him. Once at the convention, I WILL NOT switch my vote. I am for Obama ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!
I am on mybarackobama.com, so if you are too, please send me a friend request!
The following people have endorsed me:
Tina Orwall - Chairwoman, 33rd District Democrats, Candidate for 33rd House Seat
Joan Hudyma Tucker - former director of Northwest Center for Equity and Diversity
Kelly Ogilvie - President and CEO of Blue Marble Energy, former Deputy Director of Outreach for Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels
Diana Holz - Director of Early Childhood Education at Green River Community College, Advisory Committee Member on Governor Christine Gregoire's "Washington Learns" Steering Committee
Akemi Matsumoto - Diversity Consultant, Faculty at Bellevue Community College, Seattle-area Social Justice Activist
Melissa Ponder - Seattle-area Civil Rights Activist
Patricia Hunter - Director, Programs and Policy, Alzheimer's Association
My life has been about walking the talk. Having the hard conversations. Talking about issues that people aren't comfortable talking about, because if we never talk about them, nothing changes. If you are a delegate in the 9th Congressional District, please consider casting your vote for me as your representative in Denver!
"We are the ones we've been waiting for." - Hopi prayer"We must become the change we wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
