On Race, Networks, and Access
by Latoya Peterson
Okay, a little over my self-imposed posting limit for today but I wanted to get this out while all the ideas were fresh in my mind.
In the wee hours of the morning on Monday, a friend of mine dropped me an email. She asked if I could make it to a meeting that day to talk about communications for the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Now, this friend has taught me more than I ever thought I could know about national security tactics, nation building, underground democracy movements, and back room deals in Washington. At this point, when she says “Hey, you should check this out,” I mentally prepare myself to take the red pill and fall down the rabbit hole.
So she said “Show up at 4 at this Congressional Building” and I told my job I had to take off early. I arrived at 4:15 and entered a room, and quickly realized:
1. I was one of a handful of people of color.
2. That most of these people knew each other, and were bloggers, congressional employees/aides, or think tank employees.
3. That what we were talking about was how to shape the messages that made it to the Congressional floor.
Specifically, the discussion revolved around engaging and shutting down the messages from the right – think George F. Will’s misinformation on global warming and John McCain’s tweets on the stimulus package - using the power of blogging to counteract these messages and harnessing other networks to mobilize the base.
So, by this time I’m going, “where’s everyone else?” Where’s Jack & Jill, Colorlines, ARC, Color of Change, and all the other anti-racist peeps that cover politics?
The Congressional Progressive Caucus is changing their messaging and plan of attack and we aren’t there. And why is that? It’s because we aren’t in the network.
When I raised this observation in the session, I was also surprised at the response. Refreshingly, there were no excuses made. The general attitude was “oh yeah, we want to do that too. We should reach out more.” After the meeting, there was a time for meet and greet where I spoke to quite a few other people who were also aware that the blogosphere was segregated and it would take more than a couple of casual emails to right this.
We talked a little about strategy and part of that will be getting people to communicate across networks. So that’s where you all come in.
What bloggers do you think would be interested in being a part of this conversation? I have some folks on my to contact list, but I wanted to throw this one out to the room and see who you all are reading for political coverage.
And also, what experience have you had with race and networks? I know this is a common issue in the workplace and I am just wondering what people’s experiences were with being included or excluded in an office setting.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
cocolamala wrote:
sepia mutiny likes to cover politics from a desi perspective
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 12:39 pm ¶
Elton wrote:
Uh, what? If the so-called “Congressional Progressive Caucus” doesn’t know anything about us, well, in all honesty, I don’t know anything about them, either.
The problem with “networks” is that the general public are not welcome to join in, like they might be with a blog on race and pop culture. All of this Washington insider stuff makes my eyes glaze over. I know that’s not a good thing, because that’s ultimately where a lot of American power lies, but there you have it.
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 1:25 pm ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
@Cocomala – Thanks, will add them.
@Elton – Those are *other* things she told me, not related to the CPC. She’s a national security expert.
I disagree on networks – some are open and some are closed. Agreed on the Washington insider stuff – it’s why I don’t work on the Hill. But the things they are talking about DO affect us – I brought up the Colorlines compacts and how that was an effective way of getting information out and they seemed to be receptive to that. And you are right – this is where American power lies and is shaped. And like I said, our voices aren’t there.
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 1:56 pm ¶
PPR_Scribe wrote:
Part of what you are talking about involves coalition-building. Smaller, more narrow coalitions often can garner greater consensus, but may lack the power and visibility of larger ones. Larger ones have the force of numbers and are more visible, but the more voices that are added the harder it is to maintain unity and focus of mission.
I do not doubt that the organizers of this particular network mean well in wanting to include multiple voices. However, the fact that it has not been done to much extent shows pretty clearly where inclusiveness falls on their list of priorities. There may be good, pragmatic reasons for this (e.g., not the result of overt “-isms”). But it is likely not 100% accidental.
As for who to include, I’d just start with the AfroSpear blogroll, if you haven’t already, and go from there. BTW I am glad that you were there and brought up this issue!
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 2:19 pm ¶
atlasien wrote:
I like reading Lenin’s Tomb at http://leninology.blogspot.com. My own leftism is much milder and I don’t agree with his viewpoint anywhere near 100% of the time, but it’s still a very interesting and also very popular site. I like the combination of old-school leftism plus head-on approach to racism and imperialism (as opposed to other leftists who take the reductive class-over-everything approach).
I also read more typical U.S. stuff like Daily Kos and Wonkette. But there is definitely a disconnect between the sites I read that focus on politics and the ones that focus on race. Very few are half and half. The average progressive Democratic site does racial analysis on a level varying from superficial to intermediate… they don’t have to work too hard, because criticizing conservatives on race is like shooting fish in a barrel.
This goes down to the local level as well. I read a lot of local Atlanta blogs but have yet to find one with really in-depth coverage of race and politics, on the level of producing something like this article.
As for the second question, I’ve had some great experiences networking with other adoptive parents of color online. I wrote an older blog post about it here.
It doesn’t truly fall into the realm of either business or politics, but it’s still pretty serious stuff.
But when it comes to my job, I don’t have to do any networking at all, I like it that way and I hope it stays that way.
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 3:11 pm ¶
thebiblophile wrote:
Racialicious (of course)
What About Our Daughter’s?
Diary of an Anxious Black Woman
The Saartje Project
Document the Silence
rosettathurman.com
Afro-Netizen.com
I’m ignoring the word choice and reading for the information this article: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080804/alexander
How do you feel about blogs/sites like bossip and ybf? In thinking re: the interchange with Elton around inclusiveness – is there a way to include those sites re: thinking about “spreading information” and then providing a link to other blogs, etc…just throwing out a thought -
I’d also love to help out over at http://www.thebibliophile.wordpress.com
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 3:22 pm ¶
gatamala wrote:
WAOD definitely
The Magnes Zionist
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 3:35 pm ¶
Sara Ryan wrote:
Over at Confessions of an Aca/Fan, Dayna Cunningham from MIT’s Community Innovators Lab has been talking with Henry Jenkins about related issues, in the context of new media tools. She asks in the first post: “Which tools and platforms will help collective deliberation and debate, not just aggregate or pass on information? What venues and mechanisms will aid formation of political identities of dispersed and despised groups? How can these groups find opportunities for speech back to the majority?”
There are four substantial posts in the conversation; well worth checking out.
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 3:48 pm ¶
Miss Profe wrote:
To me, they’re not very progressive if they’re making no concerted effort to cast a broad net.
They need to review what the term, “progressive” actually signifies.
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 5:24 pm ¶
JC wrote:
I read DailyKos often and they have talked about this issue before, when their YearlyKos conference invited only a handful of PoC bloggers. Eventhough markos himself is a minority (Hispanic), the site and other similar sites are dominated by the white liberal/progressives. There are many incidents of hipster/liberal racism on this site but I’ve gotten used to it. I’ve since learned that the whites on left and the right just have their own brands of racism.
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 6:44 pm ¶
Lorraine wrote:
I wrote something similar to this on my own blog.
http://honkytalkantiracism.blogspot.com/2009/02/dialogue-speaking-of-diversity-why-am-i.html
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 7:43 pm ¶
Clara wrote:
The Black Snob
And the bloggers at hyphen magazine
In my one summer’s experience of interning on The Hill, the most important thing I learned was probably the importance of building up networks. It’s sad, but true that in this world, success isn’t always determined by hard work but by the people you know.
I’d say the Asian Pacific American networks in DC are pretty tight knit and do a great job at supporting each other. When I was in DC, I probably (or, it seems like I did) met or saw almost every Asian American intern that was in a government or nonprofit or policy themed internship. The people running these programs really wanted to make that these networks were always active.
So I’m kind of disturbed that the Congressional Progressive Caucus was so devoid of POC because I know for a fact (and personally) that there are plenty of POC groups, politicians, caucuses, committees, individuals etc who would want to be in this conversation and are based right in DC. Concerned and political POC aren’t hard to find in DC, really.
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 8:25 pm ¶
Ernest wrote:
As a recent resident of Washington D.C.–by way of Cleveland, Ohio–this is an issue I have been trying to tackle since my arrival. D.C. is known as a place of power, politics and non-profits. With that there is a since that the general population would somewhat reflect the diverse population of our nation–it does not.
I currently work for one of the nations lead asset-building organizations that promote economic prosperity for all. Though our message is timely, given our current economic climate, I do not think we practice the message we preach.
Our office is consumed of a majority white ivy-league graduates, who cover ‘minority issues.’ Many whom started in D.C. as an intern because their parents could afford to send them on non-paid internship. Subsequently they would be hired. It’s almost like the system is set so that blacks do not have the opportunity to reach a position of potential power–if they do, major decisions are validated by whites.
Maybe this is relevant to your issue with the caucus. I’ll make a broad generalization and say that the majority of your meeting was supported by a majority whites, possibly with ivy-league degrees that are highly knowledge about the ‘issues’ but have rarely or never consulted a person of color for a different perspective.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but every day I walk in NW Washington D.C. I can’t help but wonder why this ‘racial melting pot’ of a nation seems to be frozen in ice.
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 8:36 pm ¶
Lxy wrote:
“Congressional Progressive” is a contradiction in terms.
That creature does not exist–exist as a political deception.
What exactly is their definition of “progressive”?
Mostly, it stands for the Democrat Party and its supporters.
But the Democratic Party is anything but progressive, although it loves to play political Good Cop to the Conservative Bad Cop and present itself as such.
See the Democrats’ flag-waving support of the USA’s global War of Terror; or its continued funding of the American colonial occupation of Iraq; or its support of that obscene $700+ billion bailout of Wall Street, etc.
These are all issues, it should be mentioned, that Barack “Change that We Can Believe In” Obama has supported.
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 11:50 pm ¶
Rchoudh wrote:
@LXY
Co-sign regarding the Democrats. Just another side of the same coin pretty much in American politics.
Posted 11 Mar 2009 at 9:31 am ¶
blip wrote:
Great post Latoya! This is my usual experience. Always the ‘only.’
But my mindset has changed. I’m not hopping to be included in anything. I’m apt to invite people into my universe than to try to live in theirs. I think after enough living, you get tired of bumping your head in the same spot. My universe is a lot smaller, but I delight in the fact it is one of my own making.
Posted 11 Mar 2009 at 11:12 am ¶
brownstocking wrote:
cosign on Sepia Mutiny! Gotta be brief i hate typing on the touch. leery of CPC, outside of sa farr. seen some prejudice, but its like big orange as others pointed out. being in cali we dont get access to these great networks. i feel alone in my neck of woods.
Posted 11 Mar 2009 at 1:17 pm ¶
JC wrote:
I think both Washington and Hollywood are places of power, and in these places white people gather and form their own, comfortable cliques that’s fairly inaccessible to non-whites. The election of Obama certainly threw a monkey wrench in the clique of the powerful white liberals, but I’m certainly they see him as a honorary white more than anything else. Membership in decision making groups is still going to be mostly lily white. This remind me how all the white Hollywood elites rally around Obama only to continue their white supremacist casting policy in their own fields (lead role of a movie based on a Japanese comic book based on a Chinese legend? Let’s make him white!). Obama must be super-human to deal with all the liberal racist BS he has to deal with on a daily basis.
Posted 11 Mar 2009 at 1:48 pm ¶
Sobia wrote:
For those suggesting Sepia Mutiny just a quick question. Are they for all Desi’s or just Indians? My understanding is that they don’t do a great job of representing non-Indian South Asians, but my source could be wrong.
Posted 11 Mar 2009 at 3:56 pm ¶
The Opoponax wrote:
Re Sepia Mutiny – they blog about Desi issues, but are they progressive, or even political, at all? I used to check them out occasionally and stopped because their total lack of analysis of anything beyond “ooooh, South Asian person did something worthy of note!” kind of bored me. I think it was their support of Jindal that finally killed it for me.
I think there are definitely other blogs that deal with South Asian issues in a more politically progressive way – will ask a friend who knows better and try to recommend some other Desi blogs later tonight…
Posted 11 Mar 2009 at 6:05 pm ¶
The Opoponax wrote:
Uber-Desi is a start – remember you linked them in the Big Bang Theory post? I’m pretty sure that’s the blog a very politically progressive (and Punjabi) friend was telling me had replaced Sepia Mutiny for most of his Desi politics needs. I still feel like there’s another I’m forgetting, though…
Posted 11 Mar 2009 at 9:04 pm ¶
Rchoudh wrote:
Regarding Sepia Mutiny: they try to cover South Asian issues from an international perspective not just Indian. However I often get turned off by their commenters who mostly seem to hold anti-Pakistani and anti-Muslim biases that seep through onto their comments. Besides that they don’t always cover political issues in depth (at most they’ll just bring attention to who the latest desi working in DC is).
Posted 11 Mar 2009 at 11:38 pm ¶
Sobia wrote:
Thanks The Opoponax and Rchoudh for that info. I thought so. I had only visited their blog a couple times and I too noticed a bit of an anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim feel. However, considering I had only been there a couple of times I didn’t want to assume that was the norm. To me, a truly politically progressive South Asian site would be one that looks at politics from an Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan etc. view. But too often South Asian = Indian only.
Posted 12 Mar 2009 at 10:27 am ¶
Sobia wrote:
Just checked Uber-Desi. It should be Uber-Indian. *sigh* Yet again false advertising.
Posted 12 Mar 2009 at 10:35 am ¶
Lamees wrote:
i def. detected an anti-pakistan streak and anti-Muslim bias at sepia mutiny too that has made me dislike the blog. its focus is definetly on India and kind of ignores other non-India/Indian related desis news IMO
Posted 12 Mar 2009 at 10:50 am ¶
tallulahbankhead wrote:
Pam from Pam’s House Blend
The Field Negro
should be added to the list.
Posted 12 Mar 2009 at 1:08 pm ¶