I have not watched the news since Wednesday, 6 November 2024. Which has not been easy but it has been extremely healthy for me. I only read my nine papers per day which does not put the stress on or anger me as much as watching the talking heads. Whom by the way spew lies on both sides of the aisle, just one side spews a lies in just about every sentence—I will let you guess which side I am referring to—they start with F and N.

I am the former Alinsky trained Mesa/East Valley and Arizona Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now or ACORN Head Grassroots Organizer. Unfortunately I am unable to work because I have secondary progressive multiple sclerosis—SPMS—and I have all of this knowledge, aptitude, and expertise that I fear I will never get to share because my cognitive abilities, my memory, speech, language, my brain are all being destroyed. I was the Mesa/East Valley and Arizona ACORN Alinsky trained Grassroots Political Organizing, Grassroots Community Organizing, Legislative Director, Head Organizer of National Statewide campaigns, union negotiations, union organizing, Grassroots Lobbyist, along with a lot of other jobs that I held at the same time. I was also a Senior Strategic Political Communications Consultant for predominantly Democratic political and progressive public affairs campaigns. While I worked as a Senior Strategic Political Communications Consultant I was required to deal with union contracts, conflicts, organizers, and their opposition. I was also a Senior Political Advisor for National Campaigns. My degrees and my skills have always been in politics. I just wanted to offer my expertise, experiences, and my knowledge to anyone that would like assistance.

Temperature check. How are we doing? How are YOU doing? And when was the last time you shut off the news for three weeks straight? For those of you that have been checking in since the summit, I just want to say thank you. I cannot overstate the importance of caring for yourself (or trying to, anyway) following the inevitable crash after huge exertions of energy, brainpower and honestly, mental stability like this. Once the magic of being surrounded by likeminded individuals that share your vision of a liberated existence for all, not just some, begins to fade... Things can get dark. Really, really dark. Full transparency, this is why I actually hated DEI consulting. It wasn't for me. The idea of putting every skill, strategy and instruction manual I could recount into a bucket with holes in the bottom was depressing. Unfulfilling. And obviously, ineffective. One thing the summit did do for me, however, is show me how much I've grown my network, my audience and my community. The rooms were buzzing. Our guests were shining. The audience was equal parts captivated and catalyzed to go out there and do their part—even if it would take the rest of their lives. I'm still processing it all. And you can forget about any elaborate post-summit upsell scheme because I have nary a spoon for anything remotely strategic. I'm trying to just find a few to get The Reparations Race 4th Edition on the map so I can now REALLY dig into my purpose, which has become even more clear to me since the summit—as in, I understood MY assignment. And that's to help changemakers generate the money they need to make the impact they want to make without burnout, without fancy titles, without having to bend to the will of performative socio-politics. To those waiting for me to excitedly follow up with next-steps and save-the-dates, I promise they are coming. All of what I'm writing here is really barely scratching the surface on the fatigue I'm recovering from. But for once... It isn't fatigue from trolls or the walls burning down around me.

I am sorry for not being able to attend The Future of DEI Summit. I was admitted to the hospital for more than two weeks. From reading everyone’s comments about it is my loss.

I am the former Alinsky trained Mesa/East Valley and Arizona Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now or ACORN Head Grassroots Organizer. Unfortunately I am unable to work because I have secondary progressive multiple sclerosis—SPMS—and I have all of this knowledge, aptitude, and expertise that I fear I will never get to share because my cognitive abilities, my memory, speech, language, my brain are all being destroyed. I was the Mesa/East Valley and Arizona ACORN Alinsky trained Grassroots Political Organizing, Grassroots Community Organizing, Legislative Director, Head Organizer of National Statewide campaigns, union negotiations, union organizing, Grassroots Lobbyist, along with a lot of other jobs that I held at the same time. I was also a Senior Strategic Political Communications Consultant for predominantly Democratic political and progressive public affairs campaigns. While I worked as a Senior Strategic Political Communications Consultant I was required to deal with union contracts, conflicts, organizers, and their opposition. I was also a Senior Political Advisor for National Campaigns. My degrees and my skills have always been in politics. I just wanted to offer my expertise, experiences, and my knowledge to anyone that would like assistance. My social networking sites: https://linkedIn.com/in/amandathorson https://substack.com/@azdemocrat youtube.com/@boomersooneraz81 @azdemocrat81.bsky.social skool.com/@amanda-thorson-4776 https://www.facebook.com/81boomersooneraz? https://newsie.social/@poliscinerd https://mastodonbooks.net/@bookaholicaz81 https://union.place/@poliscidem