We will be sending one-of-the-largest delegations of Miami Dems to this year's 2015 State Party convention. The convention brings together activists, operatives, candidates, and elected officials from across Florida every two years to decide the future of the Democratic Party. This year's convention will be at Disney's Yacht Club Resort in Orlando from Friday, 10/30 through Sunday, 11/01. 

The deadline to register as a delegate and pay your registration fee has passed. 

Agenda

The agenda for the convention can be found here. Some of the special events require you to purchase an extra ticket including: Friday night reception, Saturday breakfast, Saturday night gala and reception, and Sunday brunch. Those tickets can be purchased here.

Travel

Delegates are expected to pay for their own travel to Orlando. For the convenience of our delegates, we are arranging a chartered bus. The round-trip price is $50. The bus will leave Friday morning at 7am from the parking lot of the Central Labor Council office located at 4349 NW 36th St, Miami Springs, FL 33166. And it will make another pick-up in Broward at the AFL-CIO office located at 1700 NW 66th Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33313. 

The bus will leave Sunday at 3pm and be back in Miami by 7pm on Sunday. Get your tickets now.

Hotel Accommodations

Delegates must make their own hotel reservations. The hotels we will be staying at are:

• Disney’s Yacht Club: $219 special room rate. You must book the room before October 15. To book, call 407-934-7000 and mention that you're booking for the Florida Democratic Party Convention. 
• Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista $109 special room rate. There are only 25 rooms available at this rate. You must book the room before September 29. You can book your room online or call 407-827-4000 and mention that you're with the Miami Dems Delegation.

Delegate Only Activities

• Pre-convention reception is being planned for Thursday, October 8 at 6:30pm at Fado's Irish Pub. This will be a delegate meet & greet/ orientation. The first drink will be on the house and light appetizers will be provided.
• Welcome reception is being planned for Friday, October 30 at 6pm at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista. This is for Miami Dems delegates only.
• A social media contest is being organized. More details soon to come.

We will be sending one-of-the-largest delegations of Miami Dems to this year's 2015 State Party convention. The convention brings together activists, operatives, candidates, and elected officials from across Florida every two years to decide the future of the Democratic Party. This year's convention will be at Disney's Yacht Club Resort in Orlando from Friday, 10/30 through Sunday, 11/01. 

To become a delegate, you must fill out the delegate filing form below before Monday, July 6th 5pm EST.

Isn’t it time to change the dialogue? 

an op/ed by Ghazala Salam

As French police close in on the suspects that killed at least 12 people in a shooting attack on a French satirical magazine in Paris, the American Muslim Democratic Caucus joins the world in mourning the loss of lives taken by the masked murderers.

While we don’t know exactly who is responsible, many have assumed immediately that Islamic Extremist have once again wreaked havoc on humanity as we know it. While I agree that extremists of some sort have wreaked havoc in Paris, I don’t agree and condemn the use of the term “Islamic Extremist” because, the use of this term is incongruous and an oxymoron. A person cannot be Islamic and an extremist due to the simple fact that Islam prohibits extremism of any kind and promotes balance in all aspects of life.  It is as simple as that.

Yet a cacophony of voices around the world continue to blame Islam and create false narratives that spread the fear of Muslims instead of questioning other factors involved in creating the insanity that basically leads us to the same intolerant path as the terrorist. Most people lack the understanding of Islam when it comes to knowing the true teachings of the faith. Yet, how issues such as blaming Islam for the evil acts of a small group of extremists are perceived, have shaped and promoted misconceptions towards the 1.6 billion globally-diverse Muslims.

 The American Muslim Democratic Caucus is united against all those who terrorize innocent people in our nation and around the world, and those who permit the killing of other human beings.  We strongly believe that it is necessary to apprehend the perpetrators of these crimes, as well as those who aid and abet them through incitement, financing or other means of support, and they must all be brought to justice.

It is ironic that, as many around the world wonder what is wrong with Islam, Muslims unequivocally wonder what is wrong with those who turn to terrorism? Why do they choose the path of destruction and crime? Why do they go against the teachings of Islam, why do these murderers shout the name of God before committing these acts of crime?

Continuing to blame Islam does nothing more than create fear of Muslims giving way to yet another form of extremism and hate, as we currently see in Germany with the growing strain of Xenophobia and Anti-Islamic demonstrations. The misperceptions held by Islamaphobes as well as terrorists present a clear danger to our universal values of freedom, equity, and justice.  

It really is time to change the dialogue and defeat the intolerant mentality of terrorists and Islamaphobes with unity and humanity by looking deeper into the root causes and external motivators such as the social, economic, cultural and political environments that breed evil and cause others to act in ways that demean, dehumanize, harm, destroy and kill innocent people.

This will certainly give more insight as to why someone would detonate an explosive outside of the Colorado Springs NAACP office, or what motivated the Gunman to hold hostages in a café in Sydney Australia, or why some hear GOD telling them to kill their children? Why murders think they can be martyrs?  Why mass shooting have become so frighteningly common yet mundane in our nation. 

It is one thing for public opinion to be shaped by perceptions of factual matters that breed violence and extremism and another when people choose to make assumptions to feed and satisfy misconceptions. Changing the dialogue will certainly present clear issues for a more informed public debate and policy making.

Ghazala Salam is the President of the American Muslim Democratic Caucus

Dear Miami Dems –

As we prepare for Thanksgiving with family and friends, I wanted to drop a quick note to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for all that you do.

While the results of this election were not what we hoped for, there's no better time than Thanksgiving to reflect on all we are grateful for: our many courageous elected leaders, from President Obama all the way down to our new commissioner Daniella Levine Cava, and the incredible social change that Democrats have been able to achieve together over the years.

Last night's results may not have been what we wanted. We know from his first term that Governor Scott will be no friend to working families. This is why we must continue our push to make Florida BLUE. That effort begins with us here in Miami-Dade County.

We must meet this new reality with renewed vigor and determination. There are too many families counting us to defend their right to vote, expand access to health care, protect our children and place them on a pathway to success from "cradle to career" and provide a ladder to prosperity for families struggling to make ends meet.

I would like to THANK all of our volunteers, contributors, supporters, and candidates. I would like to congratulate Congresswomen Wasserman-Schultz and Wilson who will continue to move our issues in Congress, Senator Braynon and Representatives Geller, McGhee, Campbell, and Rodriguez who's victories assure us that we will have champions working for us in Tallahassee. I would also like to congratulate our local elected Democrats in areas like Aventura, North Miami, Opa-Locka, Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay who will support a progressive agenda here at home.

We are on the side of equity and social justice and will continue to push for it.

With gratitude,

Sen. Dwight Bullard
Miami-Dade Dems Chair

I know I can count on YOU to vote, but have all your friends already voted?

Time's running out.

Update your Facebook profile picture right now, and remind them to vote today!

1. Right click and save the image above.

2. Go to your Facebook profile.

3. Hover over your Facebook picture. Click "Update Profile Picture" and "Upload Photo..."

That's one simple reminder you can take right now to remind all your friends to vote.

Are you voting blue this year? This is the Miami Dems slate card for 2014.