What a lovely morning, with no alarm and no appointments on my calendar today. Perhaps not a typical Monday for most, but one of the joys of having gone freelance earlier this year. Don't be too envious, though. August was relatively still and silent -- and then explosively active with a trip to Charlotte for the Democratic National Committee Convention and a return home to Hay House Publishing's I Can Do It Conference.
I'd never really expected to attend a political conference before, let alone work at one, especially for the Democratic Party since I'm not a member, but as a woman, as a small business owner, as a person of color, as an LGBT supporter and a person of compassion, I feel a strong sense of support for President Obama and am finding some general alignment with many of the platform's principles and messages in contrast to the other.
It is not a perfect party, by any means, as shown in this clip from early Wednesday evening when rules were suspended (although willingly), in order to sneak in an amendment to the platform language to add "God" and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. It was extremely early in a long evening and over half of the delegates were still arriving. Had they been informed of the incoming motion, I bet many of them would have shown up not just on time, but early. Even of those present, it is pretty clear from the video that it wasn't a 2/3rds majority that voted in favor of the amendment. All three times the voice vote was taken, it may not have even been a majority.
Despite this shameful stain, I appreciated the messages of inclusion and support at the various meetings. I photographed the AAPI Caucus meetings and a few other events, capturing some unique moments like Senator Daniel Inouye demonstrating to former Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta the differences between "Hang Loose" and "Texas Bullhorns." Totally gansta!
It was so inspiring to see so many Asian American & Pacific Islanders at their various stages of leadership, especially the KAYA and the Filipinos for Obama folks who always make my jaw drop whenever I see them.
Probably most meaningful for me was getting to see an old friend from college, Michael Golojuch, as a delegate from Obama's home state of Hawaii. I had so much fun hanging out with him, his parents and his friend, Ralph during the week, especially one afternoon, while Michael, his dad Mike and Ralph were out doing delegate business, Michael's mom, Carolyn and I had fun playing around town causing all sorts of havoc, like this moment when Rahm Emanuel poked at Carolyn's chest declaring how much he loved her button that said, "I love my gay son."
I have so many photos to process from the DNC week alone and I have yet to even touch on the Hay House conference. Stay tuned for updates and more pics.
I'd never really expected to attend a political conference before, let alone work at one, especially for the Democratic Party since I'm not a member, but as a woman, as a small business owner, as a person of color, as an LGBT supporter and a person of compassion, I feel a strong sense of support for President Obama and am finding some general alignment with many of the platform's principles and messages in contrast to the other.
It is not a perfect party, by any means, as shown in this clip from early Wednesday evening when rules were suspended (although willingly), in order to sneak in an amendment to the platform language to add "God" and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. It was extremely early in a long evening and over half of the delegates were still arriving. Had they been informed of the incoming motion, I bet many of them would have shown up not just on time, but early. Even of those present, it is pretty clear from the video that it wasn't a 2/3rds majority that voted in favor of the amendment. All three times the voice vote was taken, it may not have even been a majority.
Despite this shameful stain, I appreciated the messages of inclusion and support at the various meetings. I photographed the AAPI Caucus meetings and a few other events, capturing some unique moments like Senator Daniel Inouye demonstrating to former Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta the differences between "Hang Loose" and "Texas Bullhorns." Totally gansta!
It was so inspiring to see so many Asian American & Pacific Islanders at their various stages of leadership, especially the KAYA and the Filipinos for Obama folks who always make my jaw drop whenever I see them.
Probably most meaningful for me was getting to see an old friend from college, Michael Golojuch, as a delegate from Obama's home state of Hawaii. I had so much fun hanging out with him, his parents and his friend, Ralph during the week, especially one afternoon, while Michael, his dad Mike and Ralph were out doing delegate business, Michael's mom, Carolyn and I had fun playing around town causing all sorts of havoc, like this moment when Rahm Emanuel poked at Carolyn's chest declaring how much he loved her button that said, "I love my gay son."
I have so many photos to process from the DNC week alone and I have yet to even touch on the Hay House conference. Stay tuned for updates and more pics.
