Last night, The Queens' Council began our own line of questioning concerning allegations of voter suppression of African Americans. The name of the accused agency is "Women's Voices, Women's Votes", and we spoke live to their President and CEO Page Gardener.
I am planning to do a full post on this later tonight -- but let me begin that I ended this interview with MORE questions than when I started out.
I was prepared to either dismiss this issue as a mistake that was being rectified, or to take up weapons of warfare if I discovered activity that was truly nefarious in nature.
So far, I think that this situation is somewhere in the middle.
I found a couple of Ms. Gardener's answers quite disturbing; for example, I reject any notion that a creating a certain amount of voter confusion is tolerable. And even if it was, I believe that the community is the agency that should decide exactly how much 'voter confusion' is acceptable.
So far, I do not think that it is outside the realm of possiblity that this is all an 'innocent mistake'. My concern is what I perceive is their LACK OF CONCERN, and absence of remorse about the trouble caused by what they are calling 'a mistake'.
I also agree with Professor Tracey: If this agency has the high level of concern for African American unmarried female voters that Ms. Gardener claims, why aren't there any of us on her board? I can name close to a hundred intelligent, willing Black women who would do an amazing job in this field; we are not hard to find.
Listen to the podcast for yourself (there is a period of silence due to technical difficulty, just fast forward through it). And give us your initial thoughts! Hopefully, we can hear from the North Carolina NAACP soon to get their side of the story.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
The Queens' Council begins the Royal Court of Black Female Opinion
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16 comments:
Excellent job as usual Shecodes! I missed hearing from Attorneymom though.
You have a soft voice, but you ask the hard questions. I don't think that woman realized that you were making her look like crap!
Phew! Last night was a whirlwind. Great podcast. How did you get her to appear? I have to say you were extremely patient and impartial. That woman was defensive and condescending and didn't really answer any questions. She had been prepped for her appearance and stuck to her script. I personally think she is a liar, her ties to Clinton are too close to be coincidental and she is not the white savior to help us poor Black women get our voting rights. I think the plan was the wreck havoc in North Carolina at a time when the vote was at critical mass. It was a coordinated effort to disrupt OUR votes, OUR voices for THEIR gain. Can I prove this? No...this is just my opinion, but I watched American Blackout and I am not a fool! There's an audio on jasmynne cannick's blog from an African American super delegate discussing how they have already decided the outcome of this primary and how people would have to wait to run things! I was sooo mad when I listened to it and if it has any shred of legitimacy....I just don't know how to respond at this point but want as many people to hear it and weigh in as possible.
Hey faith... yes it was hard to be civil and professional at times. I've come a long way, lol!
I too, take umbrage whenever non-black groups try to take credit for the increase in Black registrations. That is certainly not what I have observed. Frankly, I think that Barack Obama's team did an outstanding job wooing new voters, and many African Americans finally found someone that they could get excited about, despite the black 'old guard' opinion and political pessimists like me!
American Blackout was a wakeup call for a lot of us. We need to start an 'observer' drive for black American women -- recruiting women who will stand at the voting booths and make absolutely sure that there is no funny business during the voting process.
What do you think?
Note: I'm always happy to hear on the podcast or read comments from BlackSea Goat. lol.
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Also, I agree with Attorney Mom! I also didn't like her attitude as well. Very unaffected and non-apologetic at the results (intentional or not).
Yay, Attorney mom.
(Also agree w/ Prof. Tracy: why not put a disclaimer. all good point! okay.
From Ms. Gardner's/WVWV reactions(and not interactions), she gave a legal response of who they are and what they do even though not answering the questions. (Usually a tip-off for guiltiness)
I concur w/"observer" drive WITH a series of voters' education.
**I'm curious, is anyone trying to DE-suade Latina and other women of color in a similar manner??
Yes having trained observers to monitor the elections is a great start. And a back up paper trail for all votes would be good too! Those Diebold machines have been problematic. I can now deposit a check in an ATM that scans the image and prints a receipt but the same company doesn't produce a paper trail for votes?
@miriam: I love blkseagoat. We're opposites, and maybe that's why we like each other so much -- there's a certain level of completion when you have friends with traits that you yourself don't have.
@privychairlady: Concerning latinas: I don't think so! At least I have not heard of any complaints concerning latina voters.
@faith: Don't get me started on the Diebold systems! I am a software engineer and know what a hot mess that is! I wish somebody would sue them for malpractice... seriously.
Blog hosts need to post the voter's registration policies (or at least a link) on their blogs because TOO MANY black people are going to vote and told some rule exists that they didn't know about and they don't even know if what they are being told is the truth.
That's a great idea, Lisa!
I'm already planning a drive to create an army of black female polling observers for November... opefully starting this summer.
We can also post voting rights for each of our respective states on our blogs so that people to print out and take with them to the polls with them. We can add a 1-800 number that they can call to voter advocacy groups (they always have lawyers on tap during elections)
As for the McCain shout out... girl I hope that you know what you're doing. Not too many people want to hear his name 'round here! :-P
shecodes this totally off topic, but would you consider a newsletter/bulletin to give further reach and an offline presence to the work? it could be printed off/distributed etc
halima, I love the idea, and would definitely do it if I could find one or two women to help me execute it.
I'm taking applications for interns, folks! :-)
I would love to intern for you SheCodes... how to apply? :-D
Hey mari-djata,
Email me your contact info, ok?
i'll do what i can from across the seas!
will resend my details shortly.
So WVWV is at it again! This time in West Virginia and SD! http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/11/22744/7424/5/513582
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