I hadn’t lived in Thailand long when I got a call from a woman I greatly respected. She was very active with the Democrats Abroad Thailand organization. “I need a strong candidate to run for the position of Country Chair for Democrats Abroad Thailand (DAT), would you be interested?” she asked. The phone call surprised me. I had been attending meetings organized by a group of expats interested in starting a Bangkok DAT chapter and I hadn’t made many friends. I managed to step on a number of big toes being the outspoken, pushy woman I can be when I’m in an advocate mode. The inter-group conflict centered around two things: a disagreement over the organizational vision for the chapter and an old fashion personality clash.
I wanted the new chapter to be an organization that aspired to live up to the name “Democrats Abroad”, an official arm of the National Democratic Party. As I would later say, “I’m a member of the Barack Obama/Teddy Kennedy party of inclusion where we invite a diverse group of people to ‘pull up a chair and join us at the community round table.’” There were those who had a different vision. They wanted to create a “Democrats Abroad Social Club”. These were democrats committed to the organization’s core values of voter registration, education and participation, so long as the “deciders” were members of a select group of white males (an occasional white female was added to the mix.) I maintained (and still do) that the organization’s leadership wasn’t representative of the wonderfully diverse population of democrats living in Bangkok.
My profile within the group wasn’t helped by the fact I often argued passionately and vociferously for my position on procedural and substantive issues leading up to the formation of the new chapter, a practice that didn’t endear me to other members. They doubtlessly viewed my behavior as “nit-picking”, perhaps even as grandstanding, and certainly annoying. However, I know the devil is in the details. I was an unabashedly vocal advocate for the chapter’s future members during the pre-incorporation stage of the organization’s formation, the point where key changes/modifications can be made to the chapter’s structure before they are voted in and become intractable.
In view of my contentious relationship with the members of the local Bangkok group, I didn’t think I was the right person for the Country Chair position. In fact, I figured there were more seasoned members of the organization she could tap to run for the office. “There are other people in the organization who’ve been around longer, they have more experience so why me?” I asked out of curiosity. “There is no one else,” she replied, “The people with the experience aren’t interested in running. We need to bring in new blood. I’m impressed with you. I think you’ll make a fine Country Chair,” she said, “Think about it.”
I chuckled to myself at the thought an opportunity to take leadership of this esteemed organization came down to a simple but practical consideration, I was “a qualified, warm body”. I did give the offer some more thought. The United States had elected its first black president and I felt truly connected to my country in a way I hadn’t previously. I wasn’t thrilled it was a unpaid position because of the amount of time it’d siphon off from other parts of my life but I couldn’t afford to pass up an opportunity to support our president and my party.
I called my contact back and told her I’d run for the office of DAT Country Chair.
She was delighted. She put me to work reading books about the DAT, its rules ad policies. She also gave me the names and telephone numbers of board members she thought could helpful.
One of the names given to me was a that of a businessman. A man my contact said was a true-blue democrat and a great guy.
I gave Bill (a fictitious name) a call and scheduled an appointment to discuss my candidacy with him over a cup of tea at Starbucks. I wrote the poem, “A Cup Of Tea With A Patriot”, to try to recreate the flurry of emotions I experienced during and after this memorable meeting.
Bill, it turns out, wasn’t the neutral ally my contact had portrayed him as. He was there on behalf of a group of people who saw my candidacy as unacceptable. (To read a copy of the official letter I filed with the organization announcing my candidacy, visit: demsinthai.livejournal.com.) They were going to run an alternate candidate, who I learned from my conversation with Bill, had no experience working with the democratic party on any level beyond assisting with a Bangkok fundraiser for President Obama’s election campaign.
Bristling with indignation, Bill offered me the second position on their ticket which would allow me to serve as a board member where I could learn how to be a “er..er..er DAT Chair”. Why I didn’t pour my cup of tea in his lap I don’t know. I guess I was raised better that that. I made Bill a counter-offer, “Since I’m more qualified to hold office than your candidate, why don’t you let him run on my ticket so he can learn how to be a real democrat.” He bristled some more and flatly rejected my counter-proposal.
The meeting ended on a chilly but civil note. However, I was put on notice the gloves would be off from that point forward. After I recovered from the shock of Bill’s hateful behavior and general nastiness, I realized I was in for a helluva a fight. I agreed to run because no one else qualified wanted to run. Since I announced my candidacy, not only had this group of Bangkok-chafed-butts found an alternate candidate, they expected to trounce me, to give the uppity Negress a public “flogging”, so to speak.
I was determined not to let that happen. I joined forces with a sassy, smart hardworking, Korean-American lawyer named Jennifer Erickson and together we gave the old Bangkok democratic guard a real fight. We registered lots of new democrats from the wonderfully diverse community of expats living in here. In the end, the final tally was 55 votes for me and 80 for my opponent. My running mate, Jennifer, captured enough votes to be elected to the DAT Board. I consider this a huge victory.
When I see the faces of members of the tea party back in the United States,twisted with rage and hatred, I’m reminded of Bill, the true-blue democrat living here in Bangkok, and his ilk. Republicans aren’t the only people hostile to the presence of black leaders taking the helm of institutions and/or holding positions of influence in the United States, domestically and internationally.
Bill and his friends can’t stop the tide of change washing up even on the shores of this foreign outpost. President Obama has shown the world nothing is beyond the reach of any determined person. I may not have been successful in my bid for DAT Chair but there other determined people coming behind me. Millions of them.
Posted By: Ivory Simone
Saturday, November 13th 2010 at 3:38AM
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