Barackface

When I came into town it was like I landed on the DFNYC helipad, no regrets. I am a Deaniac, DFNYC is a great group. But I might be growing out of it. I am looking for other groups more to my bent. DFNYC is too structured for me. I am not aspiring of event planning and stuff like that that the DFNYC leadership folks do. And I am not exactly trying to become a foot soldier, nothing wrong with that.

Through DFNYC itself I have bumped into two groups of interest. Drinking Liberally and DL21C. First time was at the Fernando Ferrer's debate with Bloomberg. Then the State Of The Union watch party. I am particulary leaning towards Drinking Liberally. I am not a big drinker. But what I have missed most at DFNYC is relentless, hard core political conversations with no deadlines. I want to be up at 2 AM. Talk is action. I want to blog, and I want to talk, and I want to go back and blog the talk.

I am surprised it has taken me this long. But I am warming up to the idea. I am not walking away from DFNYC. It is just that I am going to be more selective in terms of what events I show up for. And I am going to expand to attending events of some other groups. The Nepal related events themselves are expanding. I am going full time political in a professional way. Make the money, talk the talk. Do the work. Meet the people.

And look what I just found: The Cosmopolity Calendar. I knew there had to be a clearinghouse of this sort. There is. Wow. This Drinking Liberally thing is like having 20 LinkUps a month, and these are probably free flowing stuff.

There is a forest out there. Look.

Click Back America Makes online activism easy and effective. Anonymous philanthropists donate $1 to progressive action groups for every act of one-click participation in web-based campaigns.

DL21C Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century organizes terrific gatherings at which high-profile politicians and authors speak to 20- and 30-something crowd.

Democracy in the Park Putting the grass back in grassroots, this group basks in the sun and shade in the park on weekend afternoons, and uses free weekend cellular minutes to reach out to swing-state voters. A ll you need is a cell phone with weekend minutes and a willingness to spend a few hours under the trees helping uproot a particularly malignant Bush.

Drinking Liberally A weekly Democratic drinking club in Hell's Kitchen, where young progressives share ideas while sharing pitchers.

Move On Encourages its 1.6 million members to join nation-wide petitions, donate money to progressive causes and take individual acts for innovative publicity and fundraising events.

New Democratic Majority New Democratic Majority is a grassroots organization growing out of the energy of the 2004 Democratic Primary. Our mission is to get progressive Democrats elected and get elected Democrats progressive. From our base in New York City, we are dedicated to turning back the tide of the radical right, reclaiming the Democratic Party for progressive values, renewing individual involvement in civic life, and working together to elect candidates to local, state, and national office.

This is looking good. But I am primarily interested in events, not organizations. I just want to show up.

NYC is the progrssive supermarket, not your corner store. There is so much to choose from.

What tops it all is my own little franchise:

A Take Back The White House 2008 Meetup.

Are you the in crowd? Show up. I am barely starting.

Whas has it been like in NYC? The day I moved in I felt like I own this city. It felt like breaking the sound barrier: there was too much to leave behind. That feeling never left me. I got this tremendous sense of belonging. I vowed to never again step outside the city boundaries. I once broke the vow and regretted it.

It is not like the evil is gone, it is just that there is so much to choose from. There are people and times that remind me I am right back in Kentucky and Indiana. Like you would be talking to some woman who happens to be white and there will show up some asshole out of the blue who would like to buy that woman a drink, in the middle of your conversation. Dogs claim their territory by raising one leg. How do white males do it? I mean, it is not humanly possible I am romantically interested in every member of the opposite sex I meet. And if white women get treated as territory, it is primarily their problem, not mine.

Or the lousy childhood crowd. Because the guy had a lousy childhood, he feels the strong urge to make racist comments. He never heard of counsellors or therapy sessions. It is not personal, it is purely statistical. If you meet nine white guys, the tenth will be an asshole. You just have to ask them out of your face. I am too busy thinking of fascinating things and prospects. I don't have the time to help cure your sick heart. Go get yourself a doctor. I don't know about Staten Island yet, but the rest of the city is mine. (My Back Against The Wall)

The beauty of the 90-10 rule is the 90. The vast majority of people you meet are just great. Like Brett Buzzini; no, he is not Italian. He emailed me to meet because he had been reading my Nepal blog. He just got his Masters at Columbia. He did a search on Nepal, ended up at my blog, started reading it. And we met over coffee, he bought me coffee.

Alvaro Larrain is actually French. Met him at the Hillary event. Great guy. (Hillary In Person) He actually is from Chile though. He is from the Global freaking South.

I don't have the time to be dwelling much on white racism. We all have our problems, the white people have theirs. What I do have time for is my blacness: blac. It feels like stargazing. Keep your mouth shut. I don't want to watch you eat. I don't have the time to deal with racist comments. I am plenty busy doing other things. Besides, this city is mine. You are just passing through. This is a huge solar system, you speck of dust.

NYC & Company: New York City's Official Tourism Website for ...
NYCtourist.com - Official Guide to New York City Hotels & Tourism
New York City Guide - Recommendations and Reviews by Citysearch
NY.com, The Paperless Guide to New York City
EarthCam - Times Square
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: metmuseum.org

Barackface

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Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Contents 2006

DFNYC, Drinking Liberally, DL21C, Cosmopolity

A Take Back The White House 2008 Meetup.