Greek Goddess

Name: Greek Goddess Location: Shelbyville, IN

A little about me

I am a writer, editor, former English teacher, and the single mom of an outstanding 12-year-old son. For the past year and a half I have run a liveblog every Sunday morning on Daily Kos called “Press the Face” for viewers of the Sunday political talk shows. I lost my job as Marketing Manager for a New York architecture firm in November 2008 (my story was profiled twice on “Good Morning America”). As a result, I sold my house on Staten Island and returned to my mother’s farm in Shelbyville, Indiana, where I joined the struggling local Democrat Club and was elected Secretary. The club recently sent me to Citizen Journalism Boot Camp ’10, sponsored by the Indiana Coalition for Open Government, which gave me some excellent tools to begin to bring the power of blogging to members of our Democrat Club.

I would describe myself as a

blogger

Why I deserve a Netroots Nation Scholarship

As a New Yorker, I enjoyed many effortless years of being surrounded by progressives, liberals, and every other euphemism for Democrats. Now that I have relocated to a small Midwestern town with a fierce Republican stronghold, I see my mission clearly: to help empower those Shelbyville progressives who helped turn Indiana blue in 2008 but who too quickly retreated into their customary shells in the shadows of far more vocal conservatives—a tenacious bunch with a firm grip on our local newspaper’s editorial agenda. Attending Netroots Nation would provide me with the resources to lead Shelbyville progressives to speak out through such citizen-based media outlets as blogging and online forums. Local progressives don’t lack for passion, but they do lack for a sense of community, and I see online communication as the key to bringing this community together so their now-scattered voices can be heard as one.

The blogs I use most are

Daily Kos

What first inspired me to get involved

My father was a die-hard Democrat to the bone, a force of nature who often won arguments with Republicans by sheer dint of his relentless zeal and uncompromising stance on what he championed as right, fair, and just. I worked alongside him from the age of 10 passing out Democratic candidates’ pamphlets at the polls, hammering yard signs at election time, and going door-to-door during his own run for Delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1976. If my father were alive today he would espouse the powerful potential of online communication, and I intend to carry on his spirit and his legacy through the medium of online citizen journalism.

How I've gotten others involved

I am working with members of our local Shelby County Democrat Club to utilize blogging as a means of rallying local progressives and providing them with a context for their platforms. It has been a very slow process, as many in our community are of an older generation and don’t have ready access to or knowledge of the Internet. But I hope that with time and encouragement, they will grow to embrace the blogosphere as a vital environment for the support of our political community.

The blog post I am most proud of

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/3/701978/-Will-Bush-Stand-Trial-in-The-Hague-A-Primer.

Why I think participation in the blogosphere is important

The blogosphere has become the front-line source of news, polling trends, opinion, and analysis. It will only grow with time, and those who fail to appreciate its power will fall behind not only in their store of information, but in their communication toolkit.

More about my volunteer work

Prior to moving to Indiana from New York City, I worked as a volunteer for the Obama campaign making phone calls to red states, including Indiana. Currently I serve as Secretary of the Shelby County Democrats, and I have been active in recent local primary campaigns, particularly for Dr. Nasser Hanna, candidate for 5th Congressional District.

My Twitter manifesto on online activism

Unless you can produce photos of Cheetos-eating, underwear-clad, basement-dwelling bloggers, you mock the power of blogging at your peril.

My suggested bumper sticker slogan

Primaries Matter. Because all politics is local.