The power of coalition politics vs. the "new gay movement 2.0"

JoeMyGod today reported on State Senator Diaz issuing a statement of support for Rick Warren. He then quoted one of our supposed new leaders, Jeff Campagna, of the Facebook group The Power as saying:

"As the leader of the movement to call on Diaz and his cronies to be good Democrats and to support their party's takeover of the New York State Senate, I'm disgusted to hear that Diaz is now using Rick Warren's invitation to the invocation as evidence that bigots like himself are welcome at the table."

Sorry, this is where facebook groups and silent protests fail. As a way to get out information fast, Facebook can't be beat. As a way to canvas a new generation, terrific. But who cares about Rick Warren, who actually affects no legislation in NYC. Diaz is the target, and to just ask people to write Change.gov about Warren is waste of time. There are a lot of big names attached to The Power group. I know they are doing more, and want to work smarter than this.

For example, ESPA has built a coalition with unions whose members live in the district Diaz represents -- because they understand that it's not just about us, it's about workers. So Elizabeth Benjamin at the Daily News reports that:

...some 8,000 Bronx members of 32BJ will receive direct direct mail pieces targeting two of the so-called Gang of Three - Senator-elect Pedro Espada Jr. and Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. - in an effort to crank up pressure on the dissidents to come back to the Democratic fold and back Malcolm Smith for majority leader.

The mailers, which are in both English and Spanish, are part of a wider campaign by a number of labor interests that were instrumental in helping the Senate Democrats win a majority of seats this fall for the first time since 1965 and don't want to see the fruits of their labor scuttled by three renegades.

Other union members of this pro-Democrat alliance include: Unite-HERE/ New York Hotel Trades Council, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and the Communications Workers of America.

All will be sending mail to their respective members to "prioritize a progressive agenda which puts the agenda of working families ahead of their own," according to 32BJ spokesman Eugenio H. Villasante.

Yep, we've got unions, strong unions, working with us. Because we have joint goals and a partnership that has been nurtured over time. This is what went wrong in California -- there was no outreach to minority communities or working class people. This is activism as narcissism. If you don't find common cause with people, then they sure aren't going to be there when you need them.

I may have worked on Madison Avenue for the last 30 years, but I come from lower middle class Brooklyn. And I know the power of unions, coalition building and simple door to door, face to face organizing. You don't get that from a Facebook group. Yeah, I know, I am old school. Or just old. But the web is only one tool in the arsenal. If you forget that you actually have to reach out to real people, they won't see us or our cause as real.

Yeah, a facebook group can fill a street full of people who are angry real fast-- people who can carry placards and march. But then what do you do? To quote Joan Baez singing about Joe Hill: organize.

Comments

[gay Power Living]

Living in Riverdale, I hope I can find ways to express my ANGER at Diaz and his thuggery.

[25 Yr Veteran Activist]

ESPA urged activists to do nothing against Diaz. Alan Van Cappelle yelled at the organizers of the 2 protests in the wake of Prop 8 to cancel. After the LDS protest got 10,000 attendees and the City Hall protest got 20,000 Alan tried to hijack a town hall organized by one of the protests sponsors.

Mr Campagna's phone zap of Diaz shut down his district office phone lines for 3 weeks straight. Diaz was receiving 2-3000 calls daily. Before the phone zap Diaz was planning on introducing a Prop 8 bill in NY within the week. As the calls came in, plans for the anti-marriage referendum were tabled. More importantly Diaz went from publicly promising to caucus with Republicans to saying he will support a Democrat but maybe not Smith. By the end of the week Diaz declared Smith was his BFF.

Campagna's group THE POWER knew that they weren't going to sway Diaz on marriage. However that wasn't the point. EVERYONE in Albany watched what was happening to Diaz. That was a major part of Smith taking any anti-LGBT deals off the table.

ESPA has never been a strong coalition and is rather weak at field organizing. More than 90% of their budget goes back towards raising more money or to staff. ESPA could never get their "coalition" to generate 2000 calls a day for 3 weeks straight. That is more than 30,000 calls in 3 weeks.