by Melissa S. Green

A second report from Minneapolis, this time from Netroots Nation proper, as the participants of the LGBT Netroots Connect preconference mix in with the population of the more general NN11 attendance, and have a very very long day. But a day that, one hopes, gets us somewhere.

It’s been a plenty long day, so this post will be plenty less formal than yesterday’s post (if, indeed, that one could be deemed formal).  Trite to say, but a conference of this nature packs so much in that it’ll take some time to unpack it, even assuming I can do that in a way that communicates what I learn to the community I’m trying to serve through Bent Alaska before the concerns of my day-to-day life in Anchorage kick in.  I’ll just try to do my best.

This day was different than yesterday in part because it was a full-blown conference day, dedicated to many more issues than those that specifically affect the LGBT community. And  yet, all issues affect us: as illustrated most effectively by the intersection of LGBT issues, immigration issues, and youth issues in the activity around the DREAM Act.  Which, sad to say, I know little about before coming to Minneapolis, and know only a tiny bit more now. Enough to say: it didn’t pass when repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) did, and has to do with the innocent children of “illegal” immigrants, among whom number many of “our” kids: LGBT youth. But because my knowledge of that is still fairly small, writing further about that will have to wait.  The point it: our issues, and those of the larger progressive or liberal — what have you — community are more intermeshed than perhaps we generally realize. (But let me not forget that, in any case, not all LGBT people are progressive/liberal, at least not in a fiscal sense.)

Where am I going with this? Oh yes: the differences between today, and yesterday. Another difference was that today I wasn’t the only Alaskan in the mix. Early on this morning I ran into John Aronno of Alaska Commons — whose candidacy for a Democracy for America scholarship to Netroots I supported back in March — and Shannyn Moore was one of the “Morning News Dump” panel, and both she and Jeanne Devon of The Mudflats were to be seen pressing “No Pebble Mine” stickers onto attendees’ lapels. Later, purely by coincidence, I discovered in one session that I was sitting right next to David Bremer of the Alaska Democratic Party, who told me that he was aware of at least 10 Alaskans attending Netroots Nation.

But other than chance meetings, I saw very little of my fellow Alaskans. That’s okay: there are many issues, many concerns — and I’d rather that we collectively be attending to all those concerns with wide participation in all that Netroots has to offer, than not. I’m really interested to see what they’ll write about on their respective blogs.

As for me, my principal concern all along has been the pragmatic issues facing us at Bent Alaska, and I generally chose the sessions I attended with Bent in mind.

So: what I had considered probably the most important session: “Managing a State Community Blog.” As I tweeted at the time,

Now at session on managing a state-level community blog. This is goal for @bentalaska : getting more ongoing bloggers & voices. #nn11

As it turned out, I think that between me & E. Ross, we’d begun to figure out some of the strategies we need to strengthen and grow Bent Alaska, but the session helped organize some of my thoughts around it.  I’ll be bringing that back to the Bent Alaska crew that has begun to form up.

Later, I briefly attended a session called “What to Do When the President is Just Not that Into You.” I had a conflict in attending this session: a session held at the same time on “Moving Forward With Faith,” which I considered important because I, along with that session’s presenters, am convinced that we should stop ceding discussion of our issues in religious/moral contexts to those the narrow viewpoints of the extremists on the religious right.  But the “Prez” session was compelling, if only because Dan Choi — famous for his coming out in uniform and being ousted from service under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell — was one of the panelists.  I ended up sitting in the “Prez” session for 20 or 30 minutes, taking some photos (not yet uploaded), and then skedaddling over the “faith” session — which I’m still glad of, in spite of me missing the altercation at the “Prez” session between Choi and an Obama campaigner which led to the sensationalist headline in Huffington Post announcing,

Progressives ‘Break Up’ With Obama

Right. As I tweeted later, after a new LGBT blogger pal pointed the headline out to me with some upset,

Someone @ Huffpo blogging some shit abt progressives divorcing Obama b/c of incident at #nn11 w/ Dan Choi. It’s stupid. Simplistic. Shit.

I.e., there is obviously disappointment with President Obama among many LGBT and allied activists — but to claim that the panel speaks the will of all LGBTs, much less all progressives, is simplistic sensationalism at its very worst.

And came to illustrate some of the what was said in what was perhaps the most valuable session of the day for me: “How to Be the Media” with presenters Davey D, Jason Barnett, and Eli Pariser. I quoted these guys often in my tweets — which, again, will automatically post to my personal blog Henkimaa tomorrow as a “Daily Tweets” post (I’ll link from here).  One representative tweet, relevant to my earlier point about Huffpo sensationalism:

Are we going to fall into same trap if just telling same story over & over that MSM does? #NN11

(MSM = mainstream media)

In this case: are we going to be such fools as to betray our wider and more complex understandings of complex and important issues to the quick & sensationsalist soundbite of a Huffpo headline like Progressives ‘Break Up’ With Obama.  I mean, really? Are we about the National Enquirer?

I’m sorry. It’s late. I need to sleep. Even though I haven’t talked about the issue at LGBT Netroots Connect that led to some controversy yesterday; even though I haven’t said a whisper about the inspiring speeches at tonight’s keynote with Howard Dean, Russ Feingold, and more; even though I haven’t shared the laughter from tonight’s “Laughing Liberally” comedy.

Nope. I need to sleep. More in coming days. (Including more pics.)

Except I did want to share one little thought. As I stood in a line for food at the AFSCME reception in the Minneapolis Convention Center’s exhibition hall, I looked around at all the exhibits… the people of so many constituencies and interests… all the issues represented here. I thought, what would a similar conference of the people who are against us look like?  And the words just formed up in my mind:

A tiny tight ball of “against”

They are against so much, including us. But we are for so much. We are more than just one nation. But we are one nation, nonetheless.