Send Coco to The People's Summit
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I'm going to Chicago June 9th through the 11th for The People's Summit , an annual convention dedicated to economic, social, and racial justice. There will be speakers and workshops aimed at equipping progressives in the face of the myriad corporately-driven, predatory politics, politicians, and policies that are destroying us.
You have to apply if you want to go, which I did, and I earned a scholarship for my ticket to the convention. I'm pretty excited! Now I need to get there, stay somewhere, get back and forth to the convention each day, and, of course, eat a little. Which is why I'm coming to you.
Check it out here to see what the convention is all about and some of the people who will be there.
As a progressive blogger in eastern North Carolina, active and vocal in the political revolution, I'm going to The People's Summit to represent Southern progressives and the Southern LGBTQ community, particularly in North Carolina. You can imagine it's frustrating being a strong-willed progressive in a small, conservative town, and though I may hail from "Trump country," I respect my neighbors, no matter what their politics are. After all, in a small town we know each other, we work together, and very often we're friends. Besides, this is home, it's who I am, and I have as much reason and right to be here as anyone. Still, I'm in the minority when it comes to a few things, and because of that, it's all the more important that I speak up for my fellow North Carolina progressives and for the LGBTQ community, and really, for all of us, because my values are ultimitely about justice for everyone.
I grew up in the 70s, in the post-segregated South—it wasn't pretty, and it wasn't smooth. I was an optimistic kid and thought we'd get through all that and grow past it.
But we didn't. We really didn't.
Now, here I am in twenty-first century North Carolina, where a few years ago many of us fought against "Amendment One," which was the proposal to change the state's constitution in order to outlaw same-sex marriage.
We lost.
The whole thing cost the state a ridiculous amount of money, made a laughing stock of us, and was, of course, invalidated when the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide a few years later.
Right now in North Carolina we're living in the aftermath of HB2, better known as the "bathroom bill," legislating that people must use the restroom that corresponds with the gender on their birth certificate. And, just like Amendment One, the bill included more than what was on its surface; more than just transgender citizens were affected. And like Amendment One, HB2 has been incredibly costly, incredibly embarrassing, and has taken a great deal of our legislators' time and energy, which is not what we thought we were paying them for.
Now, though HB2 was repealed, we have a sad-sack replacement, and it's hardly any better. But at least the NCAA tournament will bring basketball back to NC, which may be profitable, but citizens' rights are still far from the priority.
So we didn't grow up after all.
Yes, things are better, but they're not good enough.
I advocate justice in all its iterations, and here are some of the things I want to see:
-Equal pay for equal work
-A $15 minimum wage
-Free college tuition
-A massive re-evaluation of our prison system
-A powerful and strong public school system where students are taught to think instead of take tests and teachers are respected and paid well
-Single-payer healthcare (Medicare for all)
-Full citizen's rights for our native peoples
-The end of predatory capitalism
-The end of the massive over-reach of our surveillance state
-The end of money in politics
-Replacing our reliance on fossil fuels with renewable energy
-The end of corporate control of our food and healthcare
-Decriminalization of marijuana
-A non-interventionist military
-The end of racism in all forms
-And spending our money, energy, hours, and focus in a balanced, just, non-violent, peaceful manner that benefits every human being.
It's simple, really—I believe in the Golden Rule. Treat others as we want to be treated.
You can see I'm still that kid; I'm still an optimist.
That's why I'm going to The People's Summit, and that's why I need your help. Please contribute any amount you can.
And follow me on my blog, ShinyButter.com , to see how the Summit went and what I learned.
Here's the breakdown of costs for this trip:
Flight: $400
AirBnB: $320
Other expenses—transportation from the airport and around town, food, and miscellaneous travel expenses: $280
Thank you very, very much for your support.
You have to apply if you want to go, which I did, and I earned a scholarship for my ticket to the convention. I'm pretty excited! Now I need to get there, stay somewhere, get back and forth to the convention each day, and, of course, eat a little. Which is why I'm coming to you.
Check it out here to see what the convention is all about and some of the people who will be there.
As a progressive blogger in eastern North Carolina, active and vocal in the political revolution, I'm going to The People's Summit to represent Southern progressives and the Southern LGBTQ community, particularly in North Carolina. You can imagine it's frustrating being a strong-willed progressive in a small, conservative town, and though I may hail from "Trump country," I respect my neighbors, no matter what their politics are. After all, in a small town we know each other, we work together, and very often we're friends. Besides, this is home, it's who I am, and I have as much reason and right to be here as anyone. Still, I'm in the minority when it comes to a few things, and because of that, it's all the more important that I speak up for my fellow North Carolina progressives and for the LGBTQ community, and really, for all of us, because my values are ultimitely about justice for everyone.
I grew up in the 70s, in the post-segregated South—it wasn't pretty, and it wasn't smooth. I was an optimistic kid and thought we'd get through all that and grow past it.
But we didn't. We really didn't.
Now, here I am in twenty-first century North Carolina, where a few years ago many of us fought against "Amendment One," which was the proposal to change the state's constitution in order to outlaw same-sex marriage.
We lost.
The whole thing cost the state a ridiculous amount of money, made a laughing stock of us, and was, of course, invalidated when the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide a few years later.
Right now in North Carolina we're living in the aftermath of HB2, better known as the "bathroom bill," legislating that people must use the restroom that corresponds with the gender on their birth certificate. And, just like Amendment One, the bill included more than what was on its surface; more than just transgender citizens were affected. And like Amendment One, HB2 has been incredibly costly, incredibly embarrassing, and has taken a great deal of our legislators' time and energy, which is not what we thought we were paying them for.
Now, though HB2 was repealed, we have a sad-sack replacement, and it's hardly any better. But at least the NCAA tournament will bring basketball back to NC, which may be profitable, but citizens' rights are still far from the priority.
So we didn't grow up after all.
Yes, things are better, but they're not good enough.
I advocate justice in all its iterations, and here are some of the things I want to see:
-Equal pay for equal work
-A $15 minimum wage
-Free college tuition
-A massive re-evaluation of our prison system
-A powerful and strong public school system where students are taught to think instead of take tests and teachers are respected and paid well
-Single-payer healthcare (Medicare for all)
-Full citizen's rights for our native peoples
-The end of predatory capitalism
-The end of the massive over-reach of our surveillance state
-The end of money in politics
-Replacing our reliance on fossil fuels with renewable energy
-The end of corporate control of our food and healthcare
-Decriminalization of marijuana
-A non-interventionist military
-The end of racism in all forms
-And spending our money, energy, hours, and focus in a balanced, just, non-violent, peaceful manner that benefits every human being.
It's simple, really—I believe in the Golden Rule. Treat others as we want to be treated.
You can see I'm still that kid; I'm still an optimist.
That's why I'm going to The People's Summit, and that's why I need your help. Please contribute any amount you can.
And follow me on my blog, ShinyButter.com , to see how the Summit went and what I learned.
Here's the breakdown of costs for this trip:
Flight: $400
AirBnB: $320
Other expenses—transportation from the airport and around town, food, and miscellaneous travel expenses: $280
Thank you very, very much for your support.
Organizer
Coco Q Cockerille
Organizer
New Bern, NC
