Campus Progress National Conference
- John Edwards wants you to go to www.halfinten.org, an organization with a goal of lifting 18 million in America out of poverty in the next ten years.
It was my first time hearing him speak, but he was surprisingly.... unremarkable. There was nothing wrong with his speech or message, it was just delivered in a very bland manner. Both Hillary and Obama are better at talking. That was interesting to see. I've heard all three of the major Democratic candidates this year speak now!
- I was introduced to spoken word today! Well, I'd heard of it but never actually heard it. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I the Asian duo that performed, Yellow Rage, was enormously cool and... empowering? I think their performance tackles a lot of Asian stereotypes in a very dynamic way. See what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi2LoWPImZE, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CUbPPegCU4 [lots of profanity, both!]
I was a little too stunned to remember to take a picture. I don't agree with their entire message -- cultural ... defensiveness?, for example, is not something I support, but I just loved all of their ... rightly-placed anger, I guess.
- I went to a human rights panel, a hip hop panel (with M1 of Dead Prez? No, I haven't heard of them either), listened to Rep. Keith Ellison and John Podesta... and then a Darfur/Uganda panel at the end with John Prendergast, Betty Bigombe, a Darfurian man whose name I forget, and Ryan Gosling. It was very interesting to hear about their experiences, and the interactions amongst the panelists was cute. Ryan Gosling seems very earnest but also playful/funny. Aww.