Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Politics/National
NationalNewsPolitics

DNC Staffers Exposed for Making Fun of Black Woman’s Name in Wikileaks Emails

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: CommentsComments (1)
Flicker

Flicker

Ahead of this week’s Democratic National Convention, Wikileaks published 1,900 emails exposing messages between Democratic National Committee staffers. One email includes two members making fun of LaQueenia Gibson’s name. She is a Black woman who works as an executive assistant for children’s clothing and accessories company Haddad Brands.

In an exchange between Zachary Allen of the firm TIPAH Consulting and DNC Finance Chief of Staff Scott Comer, Allen seems surprised that Gibson’s name is real. Haddad Chief Product Officer Rob Smith sent Comer a message about sorting details for an upcoming event.

“I’m going to have LaQueenia send out some options for next week,” wrote Smith. “Hopefully we can all get on the phone and reenergize this event.”

laqueenia-wikileaks-3

Comer forwarded the email to Allen writing, “just kill me now.”

Allen responded by focusing on Gibson’s name. laqueenia-wikileaks-2“LaQueenia is a NAME! I’m sorry, boo. I hope you got a raise with this title,” he wrote.

Comer replied by letting Allen know he did get a raise.laqueenia-wikileaks-1
“LaQueenia is already my favorite,” he said. “And I did. Praise the Lord.”

The exposure brings to light one racist email that did not attract attention when the emails were initially published. Instead, most attention was focused on the tensions within the DNC and Democratic presidential nominee Hilary Clinton’s former competitor, Bernie Sanders. Wikileaks warned the exposure was “part one of our new Hillary Leaks series,” hinting that more were to come.

Julian Assange, the organization’s founder, suggested the leak was coming in a June 12 interview with ITV. He noted he opposed her candidacy and regarded her as a personal foe.

“We do see her as a bit of a problem for freedom of the press more generally,” he told the British news outlet in part.

Response to Gibson’s name shaming has been disapproving.

Keish questioned how anyone could be OK with the DNC members’ actions.

https://twitter.com/quichemonster/status/757358118498017280

Vicky Hammond, one of many conservatives quick to pounce on the incident, pointed to the DNC as “bigots/racists.”

 

Independent journalism still matters.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top