Netroots Nation 2010: Wrap-up

I attended the fifth annual Netroots Nation Conference last week in Las Vegas Nevada. I didn’t do any liveblogging because I didn’t think anything in particular would be interesting to you all, but I did do a few video interviews that I will be posting eventually (after I edit and make transcripts!).

I wanted to at least share a few of my thoughts about the conference. This was the first time I’ve ever attended, but Feministing folks have gone before.

Netroots Nation, despite their efforts to promote diversity, is still a majority straight white male blogger space. I don’t know if that will ever change, unless the demographics of the political blogosphere change radically.

But, like Samhita, I was able to find my crew–those with more radical politics, the young people, the queer folks. I met some amazing activists at Netroots, like Yahaira, an undocumented woman who is in the midst of so much amazing direct action around the DREAM act. Her willingness to put her life (and her ability to say in the US) on the line to get undocumented students a path to citizenship was inspiring. She and a crew of DREAMers showed up to Netroots, and made the issue of immigration heard and felt in that space. So important. You can see a video of the action they hosted during one plenary session here and the silent protest they conducted during Senator Reid’s speech here.

So I found my crew of like-minded folks, and ran with them throughout the conference. Mostly on the periphery, sometimes at the center of things, but always together and supporting one another.

My voice may never be the mainstream voice–the one that is featured front and center. But if I can find my people amongst the crowd, I’ll feel at home.