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Congratulations to our presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden!
Vermont's Black Leaders: We Were 'Invisible' to Bernie Sanders
It seems that the Bernie campaign has been recently leaning on folks like Nina Turner and Cornel West to validate Bernie Sanders as a person who is responsive to the concerns of minorities. However, in terms of actual actions, Bernie has long ignored his own minorities constituents. Trump hiring Omarosa Manigault does not make mean that he is not racist, and Bernie Sanders getting Nina Turner and Cornel West to vouch for him does not erase his history of inaction with respect to his own constituents:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/vermonts-black-leaders-we-were-invisible-to-bernie-sanders
Back in 2006, the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, a Brattleboro-area civil rights organization, hosted a Candidate Night. The race for the open U.S. Senate seat between Bernie Sanders and Richard Tarrant, a Republican and one of the wealthiest people in the state, had grown increasingly acrimonious.
The audience of African-American activists and other Vermonters of color should have been a friendly one for the socialist congressman.
Instead, remembers Curtiss Reed Jr., the executive director of the group, it became something of a showdown. Sanders “was just really dismissive of anything that had to do with race and racism, saying that they didn’t have anything to do with the issues of income inequality,” Reed told The Daily Beast.
“He just always kept coming back to income inequality as a response, as if talking about income inequality would somehow make issues of racism go away.”
The audience of African-American activists and other Vermonters of color should have been a friendly one for the socialist congressman.
Instead, remembers Curtiss Reed Jr., the executive director of the group, it became something of a showdown. Sanders “was just really dismissive of anything that had to do with race and racism, saying that they didn’t have anything to do with the issues of income inequality,” Reed told The Daily Beast.
“He just always kept coming back to income inequality as a response, as if talking about income inequality would somehow make issues of racism go away.”
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
48 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
"Updated Apr. 13, 2017 5:44PM ET / Published Feb. 17, 2016 12:01AM ET "
An old article from 2016 about something that happened in 2006?
Ok....
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Old articles should be prominently labeled as such in the OP post, but that's just my opinion about being honest and transparent.
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
the anti-Biden crowd.
I just laugh at the hypocrisy. 
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
They do tend to be somewhat inconsistent. 
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Shela Linton, an African-American supporter of Sanders from Brattleboro, said the senator deserves credit for his outreach to the black community, especially considering that they are just under 2 percent of the state’s population.
“You don’t know what you don’t know, and he hasn’t had to be accountable to communities of color before,” she said. And others say that if Sanders was quiet on the issues before, he is making up for it now with his frequent mentions of the unequal justice system at his rallies.
“He could have been a little more forceful around the race issue” as a senator, said Paij Wadley-Bailey, the director of the Vermont Anti-Racism Action Team and a longtime supporter of Sanders’s. “It is good that he is beginning it now but it would have been even better if he had made it more a part of his positions before.”
“You don’t know what you don’t know, and he hasn’t had to be accountable to communities of color before,” she said. And others say that if Sanders was quiet on the issues before, he is making up for it now with his frequent mentions of the unequal justice system at his rallies.
“He could have been a little more forceful around the race issue” as a senator, said Paij Wadley-Bailey, the director of the Vermont Anti-Racism Action Team and a longtime supporter of Sanders’s. “It is good that he is beginning it now but it would have been even better if he had made it more a part of his positions before.”
[correction:] That's from your 4 year OLD article.
Sounds like good evolution on Sanders part, doesn't it?
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
The Black Sanders supporter I quoted was actually from YOUR four year old article, not the second one from 2018. Sorry for my confusing the articles.
As for this latest article from 2018:
In response, the Sanders Institute, founded by Jane Sanders and her son, David Driscoll, who serves as its executive director, told VTDigger: “There seems to be some confusion about what this event was, and was not, about. The Sanders Institute Gathering was not a Vermont meeting sponsored by Senator Sanders.
It was a gathering of progressive leaders from across the country and around the world hosted by the Sanders Institute. We understand the overall concerns the writers of the letter addressed and will continue to work for the same goals of racial, social, economic and environmental justice.”
It was a gathering of progressive leaders from across the country and around the world hosted by the Sanders Institute. We understand the overall concerns the writers of the letter addressed and will continue to work for the same goals of racial, social, economic and environmental justice.”
Have a nice day.
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
A schedule of speakers revealed that, amid such celebrities as Danny Glover and Susan Sarandon, only a half-dozen Green Mountain State residents would take the stage: Sanders and his wife, ice cream icon Ben Cohen, Burlington Associates partner John Davis, environmental writer Bill McKibben and Champlain Housing Trust CEO Brenda Torpy.
Lets look at the speaker list and see if your statement "rather than an attempt to be responsive to the needs of the people" holds water...
Shall we start with DANNY GLOVER?
OK...
Activism[edit]
Civil rights activism[edit]
Glover speaks at a March for Immigrants Rights in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2007
While attending San Francisco State University (SFSU), Glover was a member of the Black Students' Union,[28] which, along with the Third World Liberation Front and the American Federation of Teachers, collaborated in a five-month student-led strike to establish a Department of Black Studies. The strike was the longest student walkout in U.S. history.[29] It helped create not only the first Department of Black Studies but also the first School of Ethnic Studies in the United States.
Hari Dillon, current president of the Vanguard Public Foundation, was a fellow striker at SFSU. Glover later co-chaired Vanguard's board. He is also a board member of the Algebra Project, the Black AIDS Institute, Walden House and Cheryl Byron's Something Positive Dance Group. He was charged with disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly after being arrested outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington during a protest over Sudan's humanitarian crisis in Darfur.[30]
In 1999, he used his leverage as a former San Francisco cab driver to raise awareness about African Americans being passed over for white passengers. In response, Rudolph Giuliani launched Operation Refusal, which suspended the licenses of cab drivers who favored white passengers over black ones.
Glover's long history of union activism includes support for the United Farm Workers, UNITE HERE, and numerous service unions.[31] In March 2010, Glover supported 375 Union workers in Ohio by calling upon all actors at the 2010 Academy Awards to boycott Hugo Boss suits following announcement of Hugo Boss's decision to close a manufacturing plant in Ohio after a proposed pay decrease from $13 to $8.30 an hour was rejected by the Workers United Union.[32]
On November 1, 2011, Glover spoke to the crowd at Occupy Oakland on the day before the Oakland General Strike where thousands of protestors shut down the Port of Oakland.[33]
Civil rights activism[edit]
Glover speaks at a March for Immigrants Rights in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2007
While attending San Francisco State University (SFSU), Glover was a member of the Black Students' Union,[28] which, along with the Third World Liberation Front and the American Federation of Teachers, collaborated in a five-month student-led strike to establish a Department of Black Studies. The strike was the longest student walkout in U.S. history.[29] It helped create not only the first Department of Black Studies but also the first School of Ethnic Studies in the United States.
Hari Dillon, current president of the Vanguard Public Foundation, was a fellow striker at SFSU. Glover later co-chaired Vanguard's board. He is also a board member of the Algebra Project, the Black AIDS Institute, Walden House and Cheryl Byron's Something Positive Dance Group. He was charged with disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly after being arrested outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington during a protest over Sudan's humanitarian crisis in Darfur.[30]
In 1999, he used his leverage as a former San Francisco cab driver to raise awareness about African Americans being passed over for white passengers. In response, Rudolph Giuliani launched Operation Refusal, which suspended the licenses of cab drivers who favored white passengers over black ones.
Glover's long history of union activism includes support for the United Farm Workers, UNITE HERE, and numerous service unions.[31] In March 2010, Glover supported 375 Union workers in Ohio by calling upon all actors at the 2010 Academy Awards to boycott Hugo Boss suits following announcement of Hugo Boss's decision to close a manufacturing plant in Ohio after a proposed pay decrease from $13 to $8.30 an hour was rejected by the Workers United Union.[32]
On November 1, 2011, Glover spoke to the crowd at Occupy Oakland on the day before the Oakland General Strike where thousands of protestors shut down the Port of Oakland.[33]
Is Danny Glover not a prominent enough Black social Justice activist?
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Brenda M. Torpy
CEO at Champlain Housing Trust
Burlington, Vermont Area500+ connections
Join to Connect
Champlain Housing Trust
About
Brenda Torpy has 34 years of experience in the affordable housing field, starting with rural community development and affordable housing advocacy in northern Vermont. As the Community and Economic Development Office’s first Housing Director for the City of Burlington, Brenda led the development of the Burlington Community Land Trust, now Champlain Housing Trust, and served as the founding Board President. In 1991, she joined the staff as Executive Director. In 2008 CHT was recognized for its innovation with a United Nations World Habitat Award.
Brenda has also worked for the Vermont Housing Finance Agency as Development Director, and coordinated the $21 million tenant-led buyout of Northgate Apartments, 336 apartments that needed extensive rehabilitation and reinvestment to assure continued affordability. Brenda was a Ford Foundation Leader for a Changing World 2002, is President of the National Community Land Trust Network, and serves on the Governor’s Housing Council of Vermont.
CEO at Champlain Housing Trust
Burlington, Vermont Area500+ connections
Join to Connect
Champlain Housing Trust
About
Brenda Torpy has 34 years of experience in the affordable housing field, starting with rural community development and affordable housing advocacy in northern Vermont. As the Community and Economic Development Office’s first Housing Director for the City of Burlington, Brenda led the development of the Burlington Community Land Trust, now Champlain Housing Trust, and served as the founding Board President. In 1991, she joined the staff as Executive Director. In 2008 CHT was recognized for its innovation with a United Nations World Habitat Award.
Brenda has also worked for the Vermont Housing Finance Agency as Development Director, and coordinated the $21 million tenant-led buyout of Northgate Apartments, 336 apartments that needed extensive rehabilitation and reinvestment to assure continued affordability. Brenda was a Ford Foundation Leader for a Changing World 2002, is President of the National Community Land Trust Network, and serves on the Governor’s Housing Council of Vermont.
Gee... Brenda Torpy... 34 years of experience in the affordable housing field... that sure sounds like aperson active in social justice issues to me...
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Brenda M. Torpy
Chief Executive Officer
Brenda Torpy has 34 years of experience in the affordable housing field, starting with rural community development and affordable housing advocacy in northern Vermont. As the Community and Economic Development Office’s first Housing Director for the City of Burlington, Brenda led the development of the Burlington Community Land Trust, now Champlain Housing Trust, and served as the founding Board President. In 1991, she joined the staff as Executive Director.
The Champlain Housing Trust is the nation’s largest community land trust with over 6,000 members, 90 employees and 2,600 affordable homes in northwest Vermont, including 566 in their shared appreciation homeownership portfolio along with multiple non-profit facilities, retail and commercial tenants. Under Brenda’s leadership, CHT was selected as the 2008 winner of the UN World Habitat Award and Brenda has travelled extensively as a speaker and to assist start-ups of CLTs both nationally and internationally. CHT does $90 million in development annually, has an operating budget of $10 million and nearly $300 million in assets under its stewardship.
Brenda has also worked for the Vermont Housing Finance Agency as Development Director, Brenda was a Ford Foundation Leader for a Changing World 2002, completed the Achieving Excellence in Community Development program at the Kennedy School of Government in 2003, is past President of the National Community Land Trust Network, and serves on the Governor’s Housing Council of Vermont, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Community Development Committee and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston’s Affordable Housing Program Advisory Committee.
Chief Executive Officer
Brenda Torpy has 34 years of experience in the affordable housing field, starting with rural community development and affordable housing advocacy in northern Vermont. As the Community and Economic Development Office’s first Housing Director for the City of Burlington, Brenda led the development of the Burlington Community Land Trust, now Champlain Housing Trust, and served as the founding Board President. In 1991, she joined the staff as Executive Director.
The Champlain Housing Trust is the nation’s largest community land trust with over 6,000 members, 90 employees and 2,600 affordable homes in northwest Vermont, including 566 in their shared appreciation homeownership portfolio along with multiple non-profit facilities, retail and commercial tenants. Under Brenda’s leadership, CHT was selected as the 2008 winner of the UN World Habitat Award and Brenda has travelled extensively as a speaker and to assist start-ups of CLTs both nationally and internationally. CHT does $90 million in development annually, has an operating budget of $10 million and nearly $300 million in assets under its stewardship.
Brenda has also worked for the Vermont Housing Finance Agency as Development Director, Brenda was a Ford Foundation Leader for a Changing World 2002, completed the Achieving Excellence in Community Development program at the Kennedy School of Government in 2003, is past President of the National Community Land Trust Network, and serves on the Governor’s Housing Council of Vermont, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Community Development Committee and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston’s Affordable Housing Program Advisory Committee.
And I think she donate a TOTAL of $1150 OVER EIGHT YEARS to Sanders. lol
Seriously, you seem to be needlessly disparaging a woman that has been a positive force for social justice.
I think I understand where you are coming from now.
Thank you for making it very obvious.
Have a nice day.
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Burlington Associates in Community Development, LLC is a national consulting cooperative established in 1993. The firm's partners and associates operate out of offices in Burlington VT, Boston MA, Bozeman MT, and Petaluma CA.
Burlington Associates has worked in a diverse array of inner-city neighborhoods, suburban towns, and rural communities, assisting nonprofit developers of affordable housing, municipal governments, state agencies, and community development financial institutions throughout the USA, Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia, Belgium, and England.
Burlington Associates is the premier provider of technical assistance to community land trusts (CLTs) in the United States. Our partners have worked with over 150 CLTs, assisting many in getting started; assisting many others with long-term planning for the stewardship of their portfolios and the sustainability of their operations. The “CLT Resource Center,” which Burlington Associates added to its website in 2005 and is updated frequently, has become the first place to which practitioners and policymakers often turn when seeking training guides, legal documents, program evaluations, policy research, and other technical information about CLTs. Most of these materials can be downloaded free of charge.
Burlington Associates has worked in a diverse array of inner-city neighborhoods, suburban towns, and rural communities, assisting nonprofit developers of affordable housing, municipal governments, state agencies, and community development financial institutions throughout the USA, Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia, Belgium, and England.
Burlington Associates is the premier provider of technical assistance to community land trusts (CLTs) in the United States. Our partners have worked with over 150 CLTs, assisting many in getting started; assisting many others with long-term planning for the stewardship of their portfolios and the sustainability of their operations. The “CLT Resource Center,” which Burlington Associates added to its website in 2005 and is updated frequently, has become the first place to which practitioners and policymakers often turn when seeking training guides, legal documents, program evaluations, policy research, and other technical information about CLTs. Most of these materials can be downloaded free of charge.
Huh, another excellent speaker. Go figure...
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
One of us is needlessly disparaging people that have dedicated a large part of their professional lives to work hard for social justice.
I think people can read these bios for themselves and see that clearly.
So ignore his work for social justice, we should think badly of John Davis for donating a TOTAL of $1000 to Sanders, his Senator, over a 15 year time span?
Seriously?
That's an average donation of $66 per YEAR.
Have a nice day.
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Undecided
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Like Brenda Torpy, a speaker at that Sanders Institute meeting:
Brenda M. Torpy
Chief Executive Officer
Brenda Torpy has 34 years of experience in the affordable housing field, starting with rural community development and affordable housing advocacy in northern Vermont. As the Community and Economic Development Office’s first Housing Director for the City of Burlington, Brenda led the development of the Burlington Community Land Trust, now Champlain Housing Trust, and served as the founding Board President. In 1991, she joined the staff as Executive Director.
The Champlain Housing Trust is the nation’s largest community land trust with over 6,000 members, 90 employees and 2,600 affordable homes in northwest Vermont, including 566 in their shared appreciation homeownership portfolio along with multiple non-profit facilities, retail and commercial tenants. Under Brenda’s leadership, CHT was selected as the 2008 winner of the UN World Habitat Award and Brenda has travelled extensively as a speaker and to assist start-ups of CLTs both nationally and internationally. CHT does $90 million in development annually, has an operating budget of $10 million and nearly $300 million in assets under its stewardship.
Brenda has also worked for the Vermont Housing Finance Agency as Development Director, Brenda was a Ford Foundation Leader for a Changing World 2002, completed the Achieving Excellence in Community Development program at the Kennedy School of Government in 2003, is past President of the National Community Land Trust Network, and serves on the Governor’s Housing Council of Vermont, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Community Development Committee and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston’s Affordable Housing Program Advisory Committee.
Brenda Torpy has 34 years of experience in the affordable housing field, starting with rural community development and affordable housing advocacy in northern Vermont. As the Community and Economic Development Office’s first Housing Director for the City of Burlington, Brenda led the development of the Burlington Community Land Trust, now Champlain Housing Trust, and served as the founding Board President. In 1991, she joined the staff as Executive Director.
The Champlain Housing Trust is the nation’s largest community land trust with over 6,000 members, 90 employees and 2,600 affordable homes in northwest Vermont, including 566 in their shared appreciation homeownership portfolio along with multiple non-profit facilities, retail and commercial tenants. Under Brenda’s leadership, CHT was selected as the 2008 winner of the UN World Habitat Award and Brenda has travelled extensively as a speaker and to assist start-ups of CLTs both nationally and internationally. CHT does $90 million in development annually, has an operating budget of $10 million and nearly $300 million in assets under its stewardship.
Brenda has also worked for the Vermont Housing Finance Agency as Development Director, Brenda was a Ford Foundation Leader for a Changing World 2002, completed the Achieving Excellence in Community Development program at the Kennedy School of Government in 2003, is past President of the National Community Land Trust Network, and serves on the Governor’s Housing Council of Vermont, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Community Development Committee and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston’s Affordable Housing Program Advisory Committee.
AND, wait for this... she gets slammed for donating a TOTAL of $1150 OVER EIGHT YEARS to Sanders, her Senator.
I mean, seriously.
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Undecided
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Undecided
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
If I were to vote in a presidentialprimary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
