Netroots Nation: Day One Highlights

Last weekend, MOMocrats Cynematic, LawyerMama, PunditMom, Julie and I traveled to Pittsburgh to take part in the annual Netroots Nation Conference. We spent four days attending panels, plenary sessions, and  parties, and participated as speakers on two panels.  It was an exhausting and exhilarating time, and we could go on for days about the great people we met and the stories we heard.

I wanted to share some of the highlights of my first day at Netroots.

The Myth of Post-Racial America Panel

This discussion, led by Keith Kamisugi, focused on the myth that since America has elected an African-American President, we are now in a "post-racial" period.  The first part of the panel was a screening of a part of the film "9500 Liberty," made by panelist filmmaker Annabel Park, whose documentary delves into a community initiative in Prince William County, Virginia to allow racial profiling, specifically of anyone suspected of being in the United States illegally.  She said that when they started making the film, she and her co-producer, Eric Byler, thought that they were making a film about illegal immigrants, but it turned into a film about race and the incitement of fear into a community.  The film illustrates how misinformation and agitation can take control of an issue and lead to disastrous ends. 

Must-See TV for understanding U.S. role in recent Iranian history

On Monday June 22 at 9 p.m, Eastern, the National Geographic Channel will air a new documentary, Iran and the West. About the relationship between Iran and the United States since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the film features interviews with several key players from some of the most significant interactions between the U.S. and Iran over the past thirty years, including former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, U.S. officials from the Clinton administration and the Bush administration, U.N. diplomats, European negotiators, and even one of the Iranian students who once held American citizens hostage at the American Embassy in Iran.

New Guantanamo Bay Documentary Premieres This Week on National Geographic

The National Geographic Channel will be showing a new documentary about the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba this Sunday, April 5th. Part of the National Geographic Explorer series, the documentary, Explorer: Inside Guantanamo, offers an exclusive look inside the infamous facility where hundreds of prisoners have been held for years without trial.

The U.S. Department of Defense granted the Directors John Else and Bonni Cohen and their crew unprecedented access to the prison camp for three weeks, beginning in August 2008, during the final months of the Bush administration. Although the camera crew were allowed to speak with government officials and soldiers at the camp, and were allowed to film some scenes inside parts of the Guantanamo compound, they were subject to several restrictions.