Monday
Sep282009
My Adventures at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference
Monday, September 28, 2009 at 7:52AM The Blogmother
Yes, there were parties. No, I didn't go to any therefore I cannot confirm any of the rumors of debauchery and bacchanal behavior associated with "CBC Weekend." Although I did hear some firsthand accounts the following morning after the "Black Party" from some folks who were staying at the Grand Hyatt.
After going to the Democratic National Convention, I am no longer shocked or even mildly irritated by the scrum that can be created vying for the attention of a member of the US House of Representatives. I didn't see Roland Burress anywhere. Yes, there were plenty or parties and sponsorships, dranks and vittles, but there were also lots of panels, forums, town halls and seminars. I saw lots of what looked like high school students in the hallway at the convention center and you did have a gathering of Black "thought leaders" and I use that word loosely.
So now for the cellphone photo trifecta ( Click photos to enlarge):
Here is your candid shot of Rev. Al Sharpton. He was doing what looked like his radio show in the hallway. Its the ghosts of Reverends Past whooooo.
Here is Kwame Kilpatrick with his cellphone glued to his ear in the Lobby of the Grand Hyatt.
He kept that cellphone glued to his ear as he sat there. I went off to my breakfast meeting and he was still in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt with the cellphone glued to his ear. If you are in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt during CBCF ALC you want to be seen. Kwame wanted to be seen.
Here is a photo of Jesse Jackson at the restaurant at the Grand Hyatt. He came in giving everybody in the restaurant a "thumbs up."
Its interesting people try to lump Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton in the same heap. NO COMPARISON AT ALL! Night and Day I have never seen Jesse Jackson not looking as if he was ready to give a speech at any moment. You ain't gon' ever see Jesse Jackson walking around in a house coat and some slippers at any public function. If you do, send us the photos :)
Social Media Panel
Now I was there for a panel hosted by Donna Brazile and Majority Whip James E. Clyburn. We were preceded by Robert Townsend and the cast of Diary of a Single Mom. I made the mistake of tweeting that the title was Diary of a Single Mad Mom.
Diary of a Single Mom is part of One Economy's Public Purpose Content project on pic.tv. People who read this blog know how I feel about Black women always being depicted as long suffering and struggling. Yes, that's the life of far too many Black women, but that's not a reflection of all of our lives. I can't say anything other than... here is a clip.
SO the entire cast was there including Billie Dee Williams looking old school cool.
Leon, Monica Calhoun and Richard Roundtree were there too.
Leon looks BETTER in person if you can believe that.
Here is Donna Brazile being charmed by the smoothness of Billie Dee Williams. I heard folks in Detroit are upset because they brought back some Colt 45 Malt liquor ads recently. That blog post I just linked to has the amazing, yet disturbing history of malt liquor.
"Die Flesh Die"
I thought I did well on the panel. I managed not to say 95% of the things that were running through my mind. I had to tell my flesh to die about 56.7 times. I reached for the microphone and didn't talk about 14 times. It didn't end up being what I thought the panel was going to be about, but I got in a few helpful thoughts apparently.
I finally got to meet Donna Byrd of TheRoot.com. I missed chatting with her when she spoke at Blogher. She was extremely nice and provided some important historical perspective. I got to hang out with Carmen, Shawn, Angela, James and Krystal again. I got into a "discussion" in the hallway with a guy from the National Urban League. Apparently he's a lawyer too so we were doomed to a never ending philosophical debate before we started :)
That's about all y'all would be interested in from my perspective. Its not the kind of place I would choose to go hang out. I would only go back if I had a particular reason for being there. I was happy to be home.
Funniest imagery of the weekend, Jawn Murray's tweets.
That's all folks
After going to the Democratic National Convention, I am no longer shocked or even mildly irritated by the scrum that can be created vying for the attention of a member of the US House of Representatives. I didn't see Roland Burress anywhere. Yes, there were plenty or parties and sponsorships, dranks and vittles, but there were also lots of panels, forums, town halls and seminars. I saw lots of what looked like high school students in the hallway at the convention center and you did have a gathering of Black "thought leaders" and I use that word loosely.
So now for the cellphone photo trifecta ( Click photos to enlarge):
Here is your candid shot of Rev. Al Sharpton. He was doing what looked like his radio show in the hallway. Its the ghosts of Reverends Past whooooo.
Here is Kwame Kilpatrick with his cellphone glued to his ear in the Lobby of the Grand Hyatt.
He kept that cellphone glued to his ear as he sat there. I went off to my breakfast meeting and he was still in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt with the cellphone glued to his ear. If you are in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt during CBCF ALC you want to be seen. Kwame wanted to be seen.
Here is a photo of Jesse Jackson at the restaurant at the Grand Hyatt. He came in giving everybody in the restaurant a "thumbs up."
Its interesting people try to lump Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton in the same heap. NO COMPARISON AT ALL! Night and Day I have never seen Jesse Jackson not looking as if he was ready to give a speech at any moment. You ain't gon' ever see Jesse Jackson walking around in a house coat and some slippers at any public function. If you do, send us the photos :)
Social Media Panel
Now I was there for a panel hosted by Donna Brazile and Majority Whip James E. Clyburn. We were preceded by Robert Townsend and the cast of Diary of a Single Mom. I made the mistake of tweeting that the title was Diary of a Single Mad Mom.
Diary of a Single Mom is part of One Economy's Public Purpose Content project on pic.tv. People who read this blog know how I feel about Black women always being depicted as long suffering and struggling. Yes, that's the life of far too many Black women, but that's not a reflection of all of our lives. I can't say anything other than... here is a clip.
SO the entire cast was there including Billie Dee Williams looking old school cool.
Leon, Monica Calhoun and Richard Roundtree were there too.
Leon looks BETTER in person if you can believe that.
Here is Donna Brazile being charmed by the smoothness of Billie Dee Williams. I heard folks in Detroit are upset because they brought back some Colt 45 Malt liquor ads recently. That blog post I just linked to has the amazing, yet disturbing history of malt liquor.
"Die Flesh Die"
I thought I did well on the panel. I managed not to say 95% of the things that were running through my mind. I had to tell my flesh to die about 56.7 times. I reached for the microphone and didn't talk about 14 times. It didn't end up being what I thought the panel was going to be about, but I got in a few helpful thoughts apparently.
I finally got to meet Donna Byrd of TheRoot.com. I missed chatting with her when she spoke at Blogher. She was extremely nice and provided some important historical perspective. I got to hang out with Carmen, Shawn, Angela, James and Krystal again. I got into a "discussion" in the hallway with a guy from the National Urban League. Apparently he's a lawyer too so we were doomed to a never ending philosophical debate before we started :)
That's about all y'all would be interested in from my perspective. Its not the kind of place I would choose to go hang out. I would only go back if I had a particular reason for being there. I was happy to be home.
Funniest imagery of the weekend, Jawn Murray's tweets.
At Congressman Bobby Rush's reception now. Mississippi Mass Choir singing. Folks w/ wine & champagne clappin & shoutin! Love it!5:46 PM Sep 24th from mobile web
That's all folks
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Reader Comments (7)
hey ms. gina. glad you had a great time at cbc in dc. i wasn;t able to make it to the panel discussions due to work. however, i attended the cbc receptions sponsored by sigma gamma rho sorority, inc. for the march of dimes (my sorors rocked with service oriented event) and the national minority aids council (nmac). nmac displayed some amazing quilts. dedicated to people who died of aids.
I love CBC ALC. I've gone several times over the past four years or so. I always think of CBC ALC as kind of like a big church revival for black community activism. Yes, there's a lot of "talk", but the sessions are inspiring and motivating.
And yes, the parties are great! I'm sure there's some foolishness going on some places, but overall I think the parties are a good thing too (even for those who happen to only make the parties - there's still good conversation and contacts to be had).
Nothing ever ventured, nothing ever gained. Same clown show...even with a black president at the helm. But it's still fun to attend the stuff, from the Root's "Good Hair" screening to the silly banking panel blaming Wells Fargo for every evil befalling blackfolks.
Sounds quite interesting...
Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Kwami Kilpatrick, I know you were ready to read them their rights. As long as you had a good time.
So glad you were there girl! Your perspective, as always, was invaluable and you KNOW you were my kindred on that panel! It reminds me of what you said at BWB this year--if you see something you don't like, or you think something is missing from the discussion, THAT'S your opportunity. I think there is a lot of work to be done, but thank goodness we have conscious folks in the wings ready to do the work that needs to be done!
oh oh somebody didn't take to kindly to me recap. I've been accused of "self hatred" Um, I thought it was a pretty funny post actually with the info MY BLOG AUDIENCE would find mildly interesting.
But no good deed goes unpunished.