Political Boot Camp at Brown University
Monday, November 22, 2010
The first-ever RI Student Political Boot Camp was organized by a Brown University student group, Democracy Matters. Grant Gilles, one of the organizers, said the conference was an effort by Brown students to become more connected to the Rhode Island political community. “There’s … a lot of criticism that we come from out of state and we don’t have a long-term investment (in Rhode Island),” Gilles told GoLocalProv.
Gilles said that the long-term goal of the program was to create a youth movement for political change in Rhode Island. Students at the conference represented most local colleges - Providence College, Rhode Island College, the University of Rhode Island, and the Community College of Rhode Island.
From the raw data of get-out-the-vote operations to how campaign ads subconsciously appeal to people’s prejudices—attendees got a quick how-to lesson on the nuts and bolts of politics. They also heard from some of the biggest names of election 2010—including Providence Mayor-elect Angel Taveras, Congressman-elect David Cicilline, Treasurer-elect Gina Raimondo, and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.
Panel offers inside look at diversity
One panel, on diversity in Rhode Island politics, offered a rare and candid inside look at the issue from state leaders. Former state Rep. Ray Rickman, who is African-American, told attendees that race continues to be one of the biggest dividing lines of America—he noted ruefully that as a general rule no Democratic candidate has won 51 percent of the white vote since the civil rights reforms of the 1960s.
Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts, the second panelist, said it was one of the “funny things” about American and Rhode Island politics that a woman can be on a diversity panel—when women constitute roughly half of the population. She said young women have to stop dwelling on all the barriers to their involvement in politics. “There are so many barriers,” Roberts said. “You just have to get past all the barriers. You could put up a million barriers.”
The third panelist, Congressman-elect David Cicilline, came to the discussion not as only as Rhode Island’s soon-to-be first Jewish and first Italian U.S. rep—but as the first to be openly gay. Running as a candidate and identifying with a certain minority group, he said, had two benefits.
In the first place, he said it helps that particular community gain more representation in government. But beyond that, he said “it’s a powerful way to educate” the public about “breaking down barriers of discrimination.”
Cicilline recalled one anecdote from his mayoral campaign, when an African-American preacher asked what he should tell his conservative congregation about Cicilline’s sexual orientation. “I said, ‘You should tell your congregation this is how God created me and they should respect the creation of God,’” Cicilline recalled.
Pictured above left is Brown University Professor Barbara Tannenbaum, one of the speakers at the event.
Related Articles
- Wyclef Jean Named Fellow at Brown University
- BREAKING NEWS: Brown’s Orr discusses today’s Poll
- BREAKING: Brown Poll Shakes Up Political Race
- Barrett Hazeltine: Brown’s Most Beloved Professor
- Brown Grad Gains Inspiration Through Social Media
- Brown Named Among Top Intellectual Colleges in US
- Brown Poll Becomes Political Football Among Candidates
- Brown Study Finds New Links Between Alcohol, Diet, and Breast Cancer
- Brown Study Will Test Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Incentives in the Workplace
- Brown U. Professor Wins National Book Award
- Brown U. Professor Wins National Science Award
- Gates Foundation Gives $3M to Brown U.
Comments:
Roy Parson
11:48am on Tuesday, November 23, 2010
David Cicilline’s greatest value would have been as the “Before” icon in a lecture titled:
“The Face of Rhode Island Politics BEFORE ... Incompetence, Dishonor, and Treachery were Banished from State Politics ...
... BEFORE the Single-Handed Destruction of a City’s Public Education System and Economy Became Reasons NOT to Vote for a Candidate ...
... BEFORE Systemic Corruption in a City Hall and Municipal Police Department Became Reasons to INDICT Rather than ELECT a Candidate ...
... BEFORE Contempt for the Truth as Manifested in Pathological Lying was Enough to DISQUALIFY Rather than ELEVATE a Candidate ... ”
The truly frustrating question is not IF David Cicilline is hoisted on his own petard, but rather WHEN he will be frog-marched in chains out of Congress.
The truly unsettling question is WHEN, IF EVER, will an “After” icon appear in Rhode Island.
Max Diesel
12:47pm on Friday, November 26, 2010
Other news outlets reported that Ken Block was speaking at this Democratic Boot Camp. I'm a little surprised he's not mentioned here.