OUT PEOPLE OF COLOR POLITICAL ACTION CLUB
Minutes of Wednesday, July 18, 2001 Meeting at Queens Pride House
1 . Review of June 28th Meeting Minutes: Approved, with thanks to Secretary Lidell
Jackson.
2 . Update on Candidate Endorsement Process:
Completed questionnaires were read at the Saturday, July 14th Subcommittee meeting.
The response deadline has been extended to Thursday, July 19th, after which the
Subcommittee will meet again on Saturday, July 21st, 10 am - 3 pm, at NYAC, after
which this Subcommittee will prepare endorsement recommendations to bring to the
"Candidates Endorsement Meeting," scheduled for Monday, July 30th, 6:30 - 9:00 at The
Audre Lorde Project in Brooklyn. Carolina agreed to draft an E-Mail regarding the
importance of this meeting -- and inviting attendance from new clubmembers – which
would also include the Membership blurb with concomitant voting privileges. It was
reiterated -- for the record -- that only LGTSBT People Of Color can be Voting Members;
non-LGTSBT People Of Color, and non-People Of Color LGTSBT individuals, can continue
to join the club as Associate Members and attend meetings/engage in discussions, etc.,
but cannot have Voting Privileges.
Lidell and Noel shared feedback from various candidates about the comprehensiveness
of the questionnaires, plus questions (and positive feedback) about our club in general.
At the meeting were presented completed questionnaires from Jeannette Gadson,
Brooklyn Borough President Candidate; and Miriam Faison-Lopez, 8th District City Council
Candidate. As of this writing, completed questionnaires have been received from Sheila
Flaxman, NYC Public Advocate Candidate; Jay Wilson, 1st District City Council Candidate;
Helen Marshall, Queens Borough President Candidate; and Giovanni Puello, 10th District
City Council Candidate.
3. OutPOCPAC Involvement with Upcoming Forums co-sponsored by The Center, Queer
Economic Justice Network, Pride Senior Network, ESPA, AVP and GMHC, et al.:
Joseph reported on the progress of organizing for the following co-sponsored forums --
Thursday, July 19th, 7 - 9 pm, Democratic Mayoral Candidates' Forum; Wednesday, July
25th, 7 - 9 pm, Public Advocate and Comptroller Candidates' Forum; and Thursday, July
26th, 7 - 10 pm, NY City Council Candidates' Forum with Out LGBT Candidates and
Opponents – all to be held at The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community
Center back at 208 West 13th Street in Manhattan. Panels for each of the three forums
will have one Moderator and four Speakers presenting questions for the candidates. The
various panels reflect a demographic grid including such factors as race, age, borough,
issues, etc. The next organizing meeting for this committee is Thursday, July 19th --
morning of the next forum -- 11 am at The Center.
OutPOCPAC is also involved in co-sponsoring the upcoming Monday, July 23rd "People
Of Color Changing the Face of Queens Politics" forum to be held at The Queens Pride
House and to be moderated by OutPOCPAC clubmember Pauline Park. A Mayoral
Debate is being tentatively scheduled by The Audre Lorde Project for sometime in
mid-August, as well as an early-September forum on the effects of these various races
on the LGTSBT POC community. There was a consensus that our club would like to be
a co-sponsor of both ALP events, and Carolina agreed to contact them and inform them
of our interest. Question arose as to our club's co-sponsoring actions, rallies, etc.
in-between OutPOCPAC meetings; it was determined that, if need be, a question of
co-sponsoring could be determined by the Executive Committee – 2 Co-Chairs, Treasurer
and Secretary – in between meetings. This issue will be revisited in the Fall when the club
has our By-Laws meeting.
4. Financial Report:
As of this meeting there is presently $245.00 in income (from 11 clubmembers' $20
dues paid, and one $25 payment – one more member paid dues at this meeting), minus
$50.00 postage for mailing out candidates' questionnaires, leaving net sum of $195.00.
5. Logo Decisions:
Three designs were presented by Tony and Noel for consideration at the meeting; 31
people had already voted on the web-site, with designs #1 and #3 predominating; after
considerable discussion and narrowing down, design #3 (featuring the megaphone) was
the winner. It will immediately be placed on all the club's correspondence, and will
eventually appear on the club's stationery.
6. Media Update:
There's still a need to schedule a Media Training for Carolina and Joe, who – as our
co-chairs – are also the club's media spokespeople, as well as a subsequent Media
Briefing at the first 15 minutes of an upcoming meeting. The E-Mail media release
originally drafted by Andrea was revised at this meeting, with the assumption that it would
be E-Mailed to the media the next day -- followed up on by Noel and Troy, who E-Mailed
draft release to clubmembers immediately after the meeting, and sent to media the next
morning.
It was also decided that at each of the upcoming co-sponsored forums, the co-chairs will
be designated as the official media spokespeople – which means that clubmembers can
speak to the media at these events, but more as individuals -- and whenever possible,
refer media to the appointed spokespeople.
7 . Outreach and Membership Updates:
Carolina agreed to send the aforementioned E-Mail announcement of our upcoming July
30th Endorsement Meeting to all clubmembers, urging us to send to our various
E-groups. Lidell passed out more palm cards, and agreed to make more to bring to the
upcoming Monday-23rd Queens Pride House Forum.
8. Steps After July 30th:
After the endorsements are made, it was decided that new palm cards should be
created to include the endorsements -- 3-in-1 rather than 4-in-1. Also, the Executive
Committee should send out E-Mails to clubmembers informing of the endorsements
made, and eliciting support from clubmembers for the various candidates endorsed by
the club.
Next Meeting Tuesday, August 7th, 6:30 at Queens Pride House, 67-03 Woodside
Avenue in Woodside, Queens – #7 train (Note: Local, not Express) to 69th Street
station, and 69th Street exit off the BQE. Again, this recently-created LGTSBT Center
still needs office supplies, so we should show our support by bringing supplies to this
meeting.
Minutes Respectfully Submitted by OutPOCPAC Secretary LIDELL JACKSON