What are you #Thankful for? I went to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade today to find out….enjoy and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thanks to Peter Corbett of iStartegy Labs, Goldy Kamali of FedScoop, and the other hosts, sponsors and participants at Big Ideas Big Action (BIBA). The conference was filled with people from the private and public sectors, non profits, academic institutions — and entrepreneurs who spanned across each. They key to the program was coming up with the next BIG ideas – ones that can provide social, economic or cultural good.

The political, technological and economic shifts in the last two years have made Washington, D.C. a hub of idea generation and industry change. Look no further than Nigel Ballard, Director of Federal Marketing at Intel, who made the trip from Portland, Oregon, to talk at the BIBA conference.

Big Ideas Big Action Conference D.C. from Erica America on Vimeo.

Glenn Stegall isn’t your average University of Georgia senior. On November 15, 2009, the 20-year-old political science major announced his candidacy for Mayor of Athens-Clarke County. The election is on November 2nd, and while Stegall is not the first ambitious undergrad to go after the college town Mayorship, he has a new advantage: a Barack Obama fund raising model, Facebook, and a life that began in poverty and transcended into the middle class – an advantage that he thinks, sets him apart.

“I believe being able to live in both poverty and the middle class allowed me to see two different worlds,” Stegall told me via e-mail. “I hope this unique experience will give me the insight and understanding a public servant needs to serve a diverse group of citizens.”

Athens-Clarke County is a city of about 100,000 people. As Stegall pointed out in our GChat video interview (see clip below), Athens is one of the poorest city in the United States. According to the Wall Street Journal, it is also one of the most unequal cities in terms of income. Could a 20-year-old possibly have the life experiences to address such a dreary reality?

“My life has also prepared me for this journey. I grew up in a small south Georgia town. The socioeconomic status of just about everyone was poor. Most people I came in contact with on a daily bases had little education…The difference I can make by simply talking about the issues, and raising awareness is worth my effort alone. If we wait for the perfect time to help people, the problems they face may not persist anymore. Our ability to help may not be the same. So I say why not, why wait, and why not step up to the plate now.”

But perhaps what is most intriguing about Stegall’s run is his ability to stay in the race financially. The top contender who has yet to announce his candidacy, Spencer Frye, has raised over $11,000, according to the Athens-Clarke Board of Elections. Stegall has a little over $3,000 on hand, a surprising amount for a candidate who has only been on the trail for two months.

Frye’s contributions have come from less than a dozen individuals. Stegall – over a hundred.

Helen Thomas on San Francisco Chronicle

Originally uploaded by ericaamerica08

Every week the online news team at the San Francisco Chronicle publishes Helen Thomas’s weekly column. The Chronicle, or SFGate.com, is part of Hearst News Corporation, who Helen works for.

Today I decided to email one of the Politics Blog writers, Mr. Michael Collier. The reason? If SFGate.com’s audience is receptive to Helen’s columns, why not publish my video interviews alongside? We’ll see if Mr. Collier gets back.

Two things. First, I am reading a book.  For those political media junkies, it’s “The Boys on the Bus,” by Rolling Stone journalist, Timothy Crouse. Crouse, at the time, who was barely old enough to drink, got the assignment of a lifetime to cover the 1972 Nixon | McGovern campaign.

As I look at the shape of our news media – the ecosystem if you will – I always consider lessons of the past to find a new way forward. And what Crouse writes in Boys, gives us a glance into the relationship between journalists, the news agenda, and the White House.

Second, Helen Thomas makes several cameos in the book as the UPI correspondent along for the ride. My favorite line so far is when she lost her restraint and said to Ron Ziegler, Nixon’s Press Secretary: “Lies. We get nothing but lies. And someday those lies are going to catch up with this Administration.”

Ziegler responds back with a jab. She gives him a “hard look.”

“I’ll say one thing for you, Ron. You’re never lied to us directly. But I don’t know how you stomach your job.”

So why do I bring this up? Well, like I said, the keys to the future are in treasures of the past. And two of those treasures – Boys on the Bus, and Helen Thomas, are telling us where to go from here.

Deviating from the Script to Understand Motives

On January 9, Salon.com writer, Glenn Greenwald, wrote a post about last week’s White House Briefing, where Robert Gibbs, Janet Napolitano and John Brennan addressed the White House Press Corps, about the Flight 253 bombing attempt. In his post, Greenwald focused on the question from Helen Thomas, who once again, parted from the restraint her colleagues share… and said point blank to John Brennan, “What is the motivation of the terrorists – where does it come from?”

In other words, how do American policies fuel terrorism?

Right away I went back to my video archives and pulled out an interview I did with Helen Thomas in July 2009. I had wanted to do something with it earlier – but the timing wasn’t right – and as you will see, the quality – of the video, unfortunately blew. (My fault for needing to use my back up Flip Cam). But regardless, I think this is an important interview – one that will help folks like Glenn Greenwald consider what it means when a Press Corps is intimidated, what questions don’t get asked, what questions get shut down- and what we can all do to get the process back up to the standard.

I got a call on my way into work this morning from a producer at CNN who was reviewing my iReports that I submitted last night. We had a conversation about the amount of time I spent at the National Equality March and the range of people I interviewed – and then that was that. At about 3:00PM another producer then reached out to me and asked me if I was up for a live interview with CNN Reporter, Nicole Lapin. Can you guess what my answer was?

Here is a link to the official CNN video. The embed is below.

I just got back from the National Equality March that is taking place right now in Washington. Thousands of GLBT equality advocates have descended on Northwest D.C. and are in full force as they march from McPherson Square to the steps of the Capitol.

The march has been met with some skepticism, especially by openly gay Member of Congress, Barney Frank (D-MA), who told Associated Press: “The only thing they’re going to be putting pressure on is the grass.” He went on to allude to more effective ways the GLBT community could push their equality agenda – constituent lobby days and grassroots efforts in the states, such as Maine, where gay marriage will soon be voted on. But even with that valid point, the thousands of marchers in Washington had ample reason to be here.

Over the last two decades, our government has actually established legislation that prohibits equality. First there is Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT), a ban of openly gay people in the military, which reduces military effectiveness. Then there is the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which conflicts the Constitution by connecting church and state with a legal definition of marriage: between a man and a women.

On the other hand, you have the Employee Non-Discrimination Act (EDNA), a piece of legislation that protects people from wrongful termination – except GLBT people. In fact, in 29 states, employers can fire or not hire someone based on their sexuality. And the list of policies that dictate civil rights for a minority group in America goes on.

In sum, our government is actively producing policy that makes some U.S. citizens less than equals. We all know that no matter what, it is not right. But somehow that message has not reached all of America. Here are some people who want to change that.

Just Released – Unedited, unfiltered interview with Helen Thomas about the health care debate. With more than 60 years of White House experience, Thomas dissects the interests against a “public option” in the health care debate: “Profiteering,” “Misinformation” and an “atmosphere of hate.”

This interview was recorded on Wednesday, August 19, 2009.

It was day 26 of the hunger strike at the White House and I decided last night to keep it up and go again. I talked to some young people this time about why they are involved. While I have frequently been asked by the organizers if I “support their cause,” (probably because I have been the only “media” there and they are anxious for attention), I have to quickly answer with this, “I am an advocate of anyone exercising their right to peacefully assemble and address issues with the government. It’s what this democracy is all about.”

I always get a calm smile and an invitation to film whatever I like.

Here is part three of the Hunger Strike series. Each has been considered for, or has been, aired by CNN:

Previous Reports:

Unwelcome at the White House, August 9, 2009 Currently 2, 315 views, 35 comments

Hunger Strike at the White House: Day 19, August 17, 2009 Currently 1, 404 views, 83 comments

I have finally decided what I do. It’s called First Amendment journalism and wherever I can find anyone exercising the right to peacefully assemble, petition the government, establish their religion, or just advocate for freedom of speech or press, I will be there.

Here is the second part of my series on the Hunger Strike at the White House. As I wrote on my Facebook page,

There is a common thread I can’t ignore as I continue to cover this story about a minority group in Iraq that is now a target of violence as the US prepares to pull out: minority groups of all kinds, gays, MEK, Kurds and more – are all likely to… become victims – as the majorities are given arms to establish Iraq as their own.

Here is the video. Let me know what you think.

Last night I went down to the White House on a little walk. It was probably 80 or 90 degrees. Man was it hot. But when I got there, the heat quickly escaped my mind. As I approached the White House, I noticed the same flags, and a mass of people, that I came across in early August. It was a group of Iranian Americans, present now at the White House 24/7, for a duration of six months. You can imagine with this kind of presence, they have something to say.

You might not have heard of Camp Ashraf – so if that’s the case, let me fill you in. In the 1980s, a group of Iranians, the People’s Mojahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), rose up against the Iranian regime. They demanded democracy and engaged in armed opposition of the government of Iran.

At the height of the opposition, some 3,400 members of the PMOI, also known as MEK, were placed in Camp Ashraf, just north of Baghdad. In 2003, when the U.S. invaded Iraq, the MEK were all disarmed, in exchange for the U.S.’s protection of the camp. Now, as the U.S. pulls out, the MEK are vulnerable – unarmed, and targets of decades of animosity from the Iranian regime.

Two weeks ago, the Camp was brutally attacked.

“It means that after everything America has done, Iran really has the upper hand in Iraq,” Zahra Amanpour, an Iranian-American, told me.

What is the U.S. going to do? Do we have a responsibility to the MEK?

This just can’t be cost efficient.

What does the most decorated Olympian, Michael Phelps, have to do with Obama’s user-generated voting tool from Change.gov, Open for Questions?

Funnily enough, they both found themselves near dangerous waters. Face-to-face with America’s drug policy laws.

On January 31^st – Michael Phelps was caught on camera using a marijuana bong. Not six days later, Kellogg suspended his contract. And now, groups like NORML have been given a new platform to bring up the most voted on question on Barack Obama’s Transition Web site, Change.gov:

“Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age imits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.?”

That question, which has been voted on by more than 7,900 people and got this response:

“President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana.
Transition Team, Washington, D.C.

Ok – but engage the 7,947 who took Change.gov’s Web 2.0 tool seriously enough to use it: Can you provide more information?

On January 20^th, NORML, a non-for-profit that works to decriminalize marijuana offenses, published a blog post that stated the information for marijuana policy was “invisible” on Obama’s post-transition Web site, Whitehouse.Gov.

NORML was partially correct in their blog post when they said info was invisible. The search function on Whitehouse.gov does not turn up anything for “marijuana,” “drugs” or “cannabis.” On the other hand – there is one place the Administration addresses drug policy, albeit brief:

• Eliminate Sentencing Disparities: President Obama and Vice President Biden believe the disparity between sentencing crack and powder-based cocaine is wrong and should be completely eliminated.
• Expand Use of Drug Courts: President Obama and Vice President Biden will give first-time, non-violent offenders a chance to serve their sentence, where appropriate, in the type of drug rehabilitation programs that have proven to work better than a prison term in changing bad behavior.

But nothing on marijuana, which leaves me to wonder: What is the Transition team doing with the information they polled from interactive users on Open for Questions, particularly in regard to the #1?

UPDATE: Seattle Policy Chief is Obama’s Drug Czar Choice, Associated Press, March 11, 2009

Wow, Kim. Though we’ve never met, I have to tell you. Speaking at the rally took balls.

Today, as any day, we need to be indifferent to the uninformed judgement that being gay might bring – and encouraged by the fact that our nation, gay and straight, are organizing against the passage of Prop 8. This is the kind of conversation we need to keep on having, until all of our rights, from Medicare to Marriage to the Military, are equal.

My name is Erica Anderson, and I’m gay and I want the rights, the same 1,069 federal marriage rights and the same equality for those who defend our nation, that others have. It is really as simple as that.

You can check out Kim’s blog here.