The Coolest Moments of the CP Conference
| By Lizzie I - Jul 8th, 2008 at 9:17 pm EDT |
| Also listed in: 2008 Social Capital |
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Tags: campus progress conference, Keith Ellison, Linda Sanchez, Ryan Gosling, Soulja Boy
Tags: campus progress conference, Keith Ellison, Linda Sanchez, Ryan Gosling, Soulja Boy
1. Looking up from a fascinating lunch conversation to realize that I was sitting across from Amanda Marcotte, and then awkwardly expressing my girl crush
2. GIANT COOKIES!
3. Keith Ellison talking about twisty lightbulbs
4. 20 new facebook friends! (I mean... er... NETWORKING!)
5. My supersweet new totebag, and the "I *heart* pro-choice boys" ... and "I *heart* pro-choice girls" pins I got to go on it
6. RYAN GOSLING hitting on me Betty Bigombe
7. Discovering that I have a bigger crushy on Betty than on Ryan
8. Linda Sanchez making us picture Al Gore doing Soulja Boy
9. Linda Sanchez making us think about our Republican dates', er, Weapons of Mass Destruction
10. Linda Sanchez, full stop.
!
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so...i just got back from the campus progress conference. ridiculous. SUCH A HUGE OPPORTUNITY WASTED! some of the most interesting students from around the nation in the room, and the whole conference revolved around adults. limited Q&A sessions was the closest anyone got to hearing the views of these students. from that and the limited amount of people i was able to talk to in the 30 min "networking" breaks, which were more accurately unorganized bathroom breaks, i could tell that the people running the conference and the students were not on the same page.
With the campus progress people and speakers (80% of which were WAY WAY WAY over 30) in charge, the conference went away from figuring out WHAT THE HECK us students are going to do with this horribly messed up world we've been handed and turned into some subtle obama/democratic/sign up on this webpage and vote fest. There should have been organized group discussions, student run workshops, a giant town hall meeting...ANYTHING to get these kids talking to each other.
however i DID learn two things today:
1) all the stuff these students are doing is connected and we are finally figuring it out. we really support each other, and realize that race, class, gender and sexuality all collide in our issues. The world is a messed up place, because our relationships with other people and the earth we live on is messed up. Our attitude as a society NEEDS to change. This is scary, but also promising. At this conference, a lot of students saw that we can use a global campaign for respecting human rights, and earth rights as a platform to support and promote each others campaigns and actually SOLVE all these problems. we just need to change the way we think.
2) it really is all up to us. the generation before us is trapped in the idea that voting will solve everything. VOTING MATTERS! WE NEED GOOD PROGRESSIVE CANIDATES IN OFFICE!!! however, at a national conference...this should NOT be our main focus. I, and so many other students wish that the organizers had discussed way way more radical ideas. the issues of today cannot wait for politicians to understand what we understand. THE WORLD IS DYING! WE NEED TO SAVE IT NOW! seriously, the conference did make me realize. this is our generation's time.
ps- i knew the conference was not on the right track when i put up a "Why bottled water CP? Please Recycle" sign up near the EVIAN bottled water table and someone in a campus progress tshirt tore it down and threw it away. not. cool.
pps- i hope someone from campus progress reads this and thinks about it. you guys are doing great stuff, but seriously, listen to the youth. WE COULD DO SO MUCH MORE IF YOU JUST GAVE US THE CHANCE!!!
Its ever-present emphasis on electoral politics removed much of the "grassroots" that could have been emphasized, and the few instances of non-electoral organizing were far too short for any decent information to be conveyed. As a student organizer, it unfortunately didn't help me at all. I *did* however meet some great people who were doing awesome things on their campuses, and had stories of successes and failures that were more enlightening and instructive than anything scribbled on butcher paper that day.
I agree, Annie: Campus Progress needs to open space and time up at conferences for things like free-form breakout groups, and generally facilitate students learning from *each other.* CP should also, I think, find itself further left than most of its attendees: unfortunately the opposite is just about always the case (hence the constant election/voting drumbeat).
And wow, super-lame that they took down your sign! Sheesh. Maybe we should organize and set up a conference of our own. :)
what disappointed me most, though, was when one person in the audience started to speak "out of turn" in a panel meeting, he was chastised and told to raise his hand. isn't this supposed to be our opportunity to hear from each other? frankly, the opinions and stories shared by the panelists were predictable since they have all been so successful, but what affects us much more is the trial and error - the small successes and failures - that each of us face as student activists.
the conference was a great opportunity to hear from some incredible and established leaders, but some time we have to take up the banner of this movement without them and learn from each other.
what disappointed me most, though, was when one person in the audience started to speak "out of turn" in a panel meeting, he was chastised and told to raise his hand. isn't this supposed to be our opportunity to hear from each other? frankly, the opinions and stories shared by the panelists were predictable since they have all been so successful, but what affects us much more is the trial and error - the small successes and failures - that each of us face as student activists.
the conference was a great opportunity to hear from some incredible and established leaders, but some time we have to take up the banner of this movement without them and learn from each other.