Sunday, June 19, 2011

Local Bloggers Get National Recognition

Netroots Nation is holding their yearly event this weekend in Minnesota. During this event, I received an email from one of the speakers with a bit of flattering, and humbling, news.  The email is from Tracey Conaty, AFSCME Director of New Media and Rapid Response. Her email follows and is slightly edited for blogging purposes:
Hi Chris:

I had the honor of starting off the opening Netroots Nation keynote session last night and was further honored by getting to recognize your efforts and that of the whole cheddarsphere. Remarks are below.

In solidarity,
Tracey

Tracey Conaty
AFSCME Assistant Director of New Media and Rapid Response

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From the school bus driver in Portland Maine who gets kids to school safely while getting by on $25,000 year. From the environmental scientist in Portland, Oregon making sure the drinking water is safe. From the home care workers in Baltimore barely making a living wage while caring for the elderly and disabled so that they can live at home with dignity and independence. From the retired human services worker here in Florida surviving on a $19,000 a year pension while watching Bill O'Reilly, Chris Christie and Rick Scott– to name a few -- vilify and scapegoat them as fat cat penioners.

From all AFSCME's 1.6 million members and our President Gerald McEntee and Secretary-Treasurer Lee Saunders, I say: Hello Netroots Nation!

My name is Trace Conaty, I am the Director of New Media for AFSCME -- The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. This is our third year proudly sponsoring Netroots Nation.

What a year it's been. There will be much talk in the next few days about the brazen and extreme attacks on workers this year. Make no mistake, we at AFSCME are clear: We would not have been able to push back as hard and effectively as we have without the power of the netroots. In Wisconsin for example, the Cheddarshpere, including Blue Cheddar, Illusory Tenant, Dane 101, Uppity Wisconsin -- and AFSCME members Cognitive Dissidence and Blogging Blue -- were telling the story of these attacks long before anyone else -- and in turn helping to galvanize the uprising that is now in 122nd day. In Ohio the fight back is just as vibrant. Indeed, the folks at We Are Ohio want you to know that they will be making a major announcement tomorrow. They want you to text OH to 225568so you can hear the news first.

This is not a new struggle. In 1968 Martin Luther King travelled to Memphis, TN to march in solidarity with AFSCME sanitation workers who were striking to win recognition as a union -- and as human beings. Their pro-test signs said it simply: "I am a man." These workers had no union, no vacation, no benefits, no pensions, no overtime.

The following is a short video – with song especially done by Aaron Neville -- about how that struggle continues today. A Main Street Movement in Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, Michigan and across the country is underway as working people fight back against attacks on their rights -- and for jobs that provide a living wage and decent quality of life.

We are proud and honored to be joined together as allies with you in this struggle. Thank you.
It then included a link to this video:



And if that wasn't kind enough, I also saw this tweet from Melissa Ryan, digital community organizer extraordinaire:


I keep telling myself that I am not doing this for the recognition, but I would be a liar if I said it wasn't nice to receive.

Thank you to Tracey Conaty and Lee Saunders for the recognition.

And congratulations to my friends at Blogging Blue and Blue Cheddar. I am honored to be counted among you.

5 comments:

  1. Congrats on your recognition, Chris.

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  2. Well deserved, both for the quality of the writing and for persevering through the wrath of the blackshirts.

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  3. Congrats to both you and Zach...nice job...and now back to keeping up the fight!

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  4. Nice note. Thanks for the warm thoughts. For the record a lot of WI blogger love was shared at Netroots. Zach hope you know you got kudos for the Hopper mistress story. I'm pretty sure I am known for rabid tweeting and having a yellow cheese hat on my twitter avatar. Yeah. Now get back to work you all.

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