I walk into the ‘We’ve Got Issues Panel’, a few minutes late after talking to many friends in the hall. I believe the speaker is Jessy Tolkan from the Energy Action Coalition. She is speaking with great energy. She does a big pitch for Power Shift 2007 and itsgettinghotinhere.org

Elandria Williams from the Highlander Research and Education Center talks about the privilege that so many of us have and that so many of her people do not have, about being able to come to conferences like this, about being able to go to college. She does a speech, repeating, “If you knew me, you would know….” Incredibly powerful. She absolutely rocked. She is the person who should have been the keynote for Take Back America. I cannot begin to capture a small portion of what she has said.

She is a hard act to follow for Juan Pancheco from Barrios Unidos, but he does a great job. Pulling in a peaceful follow up to Elandria. Talking about overcoming gang violence, talking about challenging assumptions. He hands off the mike to another person, whose name I miss, who talks wonderfully about peace, peace that includes black, brown and white, young and old.

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