Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Working for a candidate who actually cares about my community. Yay!

It has been incredible to work for a candidate who genuinely cares about my community. I have been able to hire Valerie Martinez, one of the best community organizers in the state. We have been given resources for ads in tribal newspapers, literature targeted to American Indians and, most importantly, the candidate's time.

Yesterday, Franni Franken attended a Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors (MUID) meeting with me. She gave a heartfelt speech about Al's commitment to Indian people. Franni also shared personal stories about Al as a husband and father. I am always amazed by her ability to connect with anyone. Go Franni!

After the meeting, it was off to a lunch event with the former acting president of the United States, MARTIN SHEEN! He gave a really funny and inspiring speech. I can't remember what he said exactly but I do remember laughing and feeling inspired. I got an opportunity to speak with him briefly and get two, count 'em, two hugs. I told him I was on the school board and he was very congratulatory. We chatted about Native American outreach efforts in Minnesota. Valerie and I got a photo with him (it will be posted here as soon as it's available). Finally, he gave me another hug and told me, "Congratulations on your accomplishments. You are at the beginning of a long career of positive change. Don't ever stop! Keep fighting!". OMG, thank you President Bartlett, thank you.

Next it was off to a roundtable meeting with U. S. Senator Byron Dorgan, chair of the Indian Affairs Committee. We had about 30 urban Indian leaders at the table and got to speak with the Senator for about 40 minutes. It felt great to be able to give the urban community an opportunity to speak with him. Urban Indians rarely get the chance to talk to congressional leaders, too often, reservation Indians are the only folks who have a voice in Washington. Yay, urban Indians!

Over the next few days, we're prepping for Al Franken's Rez Tour on Sunday, October 19th. We'll be taking Al to Leech Lake, Red Lake and White Earth. I am excited and terrified all at the same time. It's a short amount of time to organize 3 events in one day.

I'm off to a 4 hour meeting. Woot!

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