We need your help to get the word out about this great opportunity to build back up the enrollment of women in the CIS Department. More detailed information http://www.famu.edu/index.cfm?a=headlines&p=display&news=602&archive.You can also contact Dr. Black by email at jblack@cis.famu.edu
Peace, Leslye J Allen
Just in case you had not heard the latest pile of manure that has been brewing about Obama and HBCUs. Here is a short piece by Essence Magazine's Cynthia Gordy that sheds much light and is certainly worth taking note of just in case you need some talking points.
You may have heard grumbling this week about a funding cut for historically Black colleges in the 2010 federal budget. I've read the articles and outraged headlines, but held off on commenting until I’d taken a closer look at the budget myself. It seemed like there was some information missing.
The outcry is in response to the absence of $85 million in extra funding that has been given to historically Black colleges and universities for the past two years. This has been framed as a budget cut and, according to some critics, proof that “Obama doesn’t care about HBCUs.” One thing to note, however, is that this was a temporary two-year fund enacted by Congress in 2007, and already a done deal for 2010.
Rather than revisit the temporary idea of a pot of extra money for HBCUs, the administration instead increased spending in student aid. They also boosted direct discretionary funding for HBCUs from $238 million to $250 million. Now, the increase in direct discretionary funds isn’t much (especially when pitted against the $85 million that expired). But the administration argues that supporting students with more student aid—especially in the form of increasing the maximum Pell Grant for low-income students by $200, to a total allowance of $5,550—will help HBCUs.
“Half of students at historically Black colleges and universities receive Pell Grants, compared to 27 percent of students at other institutions,” Massie Ritsch, a spokesman with the U.S. Department of Education told me regarding the boost in student aid. "We expect that over 10 years, students at HBCUs will receive $3.2 billion in increased Pell Grants, an average of $320 million a year. That money will directly benefit HBCUs by making it easier for the students they serve to attend."
The budget also increases the need-based Perkins Loan by $5 billion, up from the current volume of $1 billion, and offers $2.5 billion for programs that help low-income students enroll in and graduate from college. “This shouldn’t be seen as any indication that there’s not support for historically Black colleges and universities,” Ritsch said. “The budget and the Recovery Act provide more money for the students that disproportionately attend HBCUs, and provide additional funds for the institutions themselves.”
I’m not saying this is necessarily the better way to do it, but it’s a far cry from the idea that Obama is effectively saying, “To hell with you, Black students!” Let me know what you think. Should the President renew the fund that gives money directly to HBCUs, or do you agree with his emphasis on increasing student aid that goes directly to minority students?
This article available at:
http://essence.typepad.com/obamawatch/2009/05/obama-vs-hbcus-lets-review.html
There is nothing in the United States Constitution that allows the U. S. Senate the clear-cut capacity to deny Roland Burris the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. Indeed, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich seemed to be thumbing his nose at all of Illinois, if not all of the United States, by appointing Burris. As best we can tell, Burris has a clean political record and has done nothing wrong. Yet Blagojevich seems well on his way to being convicted of attempting to sell Barack Obama’s former Senate seat to the highest bidder.
After Burris was denied access to the Senate chambers on Tuesday January 6, 2009, black pundits of every ilk came out of the woodwork to claim that denying Burris his Senate seat was a blatant attempt to prevent an African-American from becoming a member of the United States Senate. I watched former Georgia State Senator, a founder of SNCC, and former chair of the NAACP Julian Bond attempt to make a case for racism. This was one of his least convincing arguments. For a moment, I wanted to cry.
Bond likened the blockade of Burris to the U. S. Senate to the one Bond received in the state of Georgia back in 1966. I was in kindergarten when a very young and dashing Julian Bond was denied admittance and acceptance to the Georgia State Senate because he had dared to speak out against the Vietnam War. He was bold, defiant; and he was right. Later in 1966 the Supreme Court ruled that the Georgia House of Representatives had denied Bond his right to freedom of speech, and further ordered Georgia’s House of Representatives to seat him. He took his seat in Georgia's House of Representatives in early 1967. Everyone in the state of Georgia and America were the better for it. Today Bond suggested that House Democrats surely must have considered that it might look racist to deny Burris entry to the Senate. I wanted to scream.
There is no evidence that Roland Burris is anything other than an upstanding and highly experienced public servant. What no one, including Julian Bond, seems to want to ask is why Burris would accept an appointment from a governor that has so clearly and blatantly violated the public trust? Why would Burris accept such an appointment from a governor who has refused to step down when propriety and decency demands that the people of Illinois would be best served if he did so? Burris cannot be ignorant of the evidence stacked against Blagojevich, even if Blagojevich has yet to be tried and convicted of his crimes.
It appears that some compromise between Burris and House Democrats has been reached. It appears he will be seated. However, he was not initially denied entry to the Senate because he is black; he was chosen by Blagojevich precisely because he was black and a member of a dying breed of black politician. In vulgar arrogance, Blagojevich knew he could count on old-guard black politicians to yell racism should Burris’ appointment be questioned; this is why he chose a 71-year-old Burris, rather than a younger, less-Illinois-politics-tethered individual to fill Obama’s vacant Senate seat. Many members of the black old-guard are proud of Obama. Yet far too many of them are scrambling for political capital and social relevancy as many of them erroneously hitched their political wagons to a Clinton nomination and presidency in the mistaken belief that a person with African ancestry could never occupy the highest office in the land. The old guard clings to an era that has passed and arguments that have long since lost any semblance of validity.
I fondly remember a young Julian Bond winning election to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1965. He was finally seated in 1966. I was proud of his actions then. Racism was blatant and visceral then; it is real, visceral, but often more inconspicuous now. An Obama presidency will not eliminate racism; he cannot make racism less severe. Yet Obama’s election will make confronting issues of race, racism, and race-baiting more complex; this is precisely why it is important to remember the lessons of the mid-1960s without confusing them with the lessons of 2009.
Copyright © 2009 by Leslye J Allen
Back on January 25, 2008, I received a phone call from my mother telling me that her closest and dearest friend and mentor—and my “Nana”—had passed away. Her friend, Mattie P. Harris died the day Barack Obama won the South Carolina primary. She was one month shy of her 106th birthday. She had witnessed more history than most of us can imagine. The minute Mama said that Nana was gone, I immediately uttered that Barack would win South Carolina. Mama asked me what I had just said, and I repeated the statement. “Are you all right?” Mama asked. “Yeah, it was just a thought,” I answered. It felt extremely weird to have that sensation. I am not one to believe in a lot of hocus-pocus; I have no real superstitions. I do believe, however, in ancestral signs.
This past week I took my mother to the dentist. A retired school teacher and early childhood specialist, at 87 years of age and with two mild strokes behind her, I do not expect my mother to be spry. She has always been a busy body with a keen wit and fierce independence, only recently acquiescing to my demand that she have a housekeeper come to clean up her house. Yet she looked extremely frail to me this week. As an only child, I worry much more than I care to admit. My mother admitted to me that she forgot my phone number the other day, but she has always managed to find her Barack Obama buttons when we are headed out for the day. When I took my mother to vote a month ago, I heard an elderly black man say that he was voting early for Barack Obama just in case he “kicked the bucket before November 4th.” Everyone laughed, but the statement worried me.
Back during the Democratic convention, my cousin Billie, an 83-year-old director, actor, and drama coach called me as if to reinforce how historic and unbelievable this moment in time was. She talked about how she never dreamed she would see such a day. This was coming from a woman who has not only performed with the very best actors of any era, but who has trained some of the best that Hollywood and Broadway have to offer. I worry about her health in almost the same way as I worry about my mother’s health. She admitted that she had endured some recent health problems but was seeing a nutritionist that had prescribed a diet that had improved her overall well-being. She sounded good on the phone, so I worried less. Yet I still worry. In addition to being a supremely talented director, actor, and drama coach, she is a skilled diplomat and when necessary, a gifted liar (smile)—all great actors are! I have heard her skirt around the truth to deter me from worrying. Sometimes it works; sometimes it does not.
This week I found out that Barack Obama’s grandmother Madelyn Dunham was in declining health. The fact that Barack’s grandmother is a year younger than my mother Syble, and only a few years older than my cousin Billie made me a bit more anxious. I am not worried about Barack’s ability to win the Whitehouse or his ability to chart a new course for this nation. I do admit, however, to worrying that there might be some people who might not be around to see it.
I want Obama to win, not simply for myself, and all of us who have made phone calls, donated money and time, but for all of those old folks who never thought such a day would happen. My older relatives have seen this nation at its absolute worst. They remember having to keep silent as they endured the insults of racist whites; they remember being beaten and jailed for looking in the wrong direction or for staring at some white man's ugly cousin. And, too many Black women remember a time when any attractive Black female had to be cautious around white men. Rape was often the payback to a black woman who had spurned the attention of any white man. There was not likely to be any trial, and if so, there would be no conviction of the rapists. These Black elders, male and female, have waited their entire lives for a moment like the one we will see in less than a week. As an African-American, I have heard all the varied responses to a potential Obama presidency. I even heard one misguided white woman admit that she feared Blacks would retaliate against white Americans for past grievances. Oh well.
I do not know any black person who wants to settle two-hundred-year-old plus scores. All that I, and they, wish is to see Barack Obama win this election, and then strut himself, and his wonderful, brilliant wife and two daughters into that Big House on Pennsylvania Avenue. I personally wish this for my country and my elders who have paid the fullest measure for this moment in time!!
Peace and Love!
YES, WE SHALL!!
Copyright © 2008 by Leslye J Allen
I must confess that I am a James Baldwin fan. Baldwin was one of those rare writers who had the capacity of speaking about race and racism while making everyone culpable and vulnerable to the pathology of racism. Black folks and white folks alike, according to Baldwin, had distorted visions of themselves due to the poison of racism.
In too many cases, we all were/are guilty of protecting and promoting our self-definitions and group definitions with a zeal that borders on the pathological. Never mind what someone says they are or what someone says they believe in. Someone will swear that the person cannot be telling the truth simply because that person defies the definition that has been created for them. Barack Obama defies many folks’ definitions.
Obama is from all appearances a devoted husband and father. America, black and white, is not accustomed to seeing black men in the media spotlight in that capacity on a regular basis. Many of us have not only grown up adoring our fathers, but were recipients of support from a steady supply of male relatives and friends. Obama is obviously well educated. Yet the current statistics on black male dropouts in some parts of the United States is frightening. Yet some of us grew up around black male scholars in every discipline. Obama is seeking the highest political office in the land. And if we tell the truth, none of us was certain, when he announced his candidacy in February of 2007 that he would win the Democratic Party nomination. For all of his credibility and decency, he has been called an elitist, terrorist, the pal of a terrorist, and a left-wing liberal. Do not expect the attacks to stop!
James Baldwin once said that, “You must embrace what you fear.” It took me a long time to figure out what he meant. The things that we fear most are not monsters hiding under our beds or bumping into a stranger in a dark alley. The things we fear most are those things that defy our comprehension and our definitions even when they have done nothing to us and even when they promise to do something for us. All of us have been (or will be) guilty at some point in our lives of avoiding that which we do not fully understand even when we suspected it would be beneficial to us.
YES, WE CAN.
Copyright © 2008 Leslye J Allen
This is one of the best speeches made by anyone on the delicate subject of race and racism in this current presidential campaign. Below is the transcript of AFL-CIO's Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka. Enjoy the piece.
Peace,
Leslye J Allen
There's only one really bad reason to vote against him: because he's not white.
And I want to talk about that because I saw that for myself during the Pennsylvania primary.
I went back home to vote in Nemacolin and I ran into a woman I'd known for years. She was active in Democratic politics when I was still in grade school.
We got to talking and I asked if she'd made up her mind who she was supporting and she said: 'Oh absolutely, I'm voting for Hillary, there's no way I'd ever vote for Obama.'
Well, why's that? 'Because he's a Muslim.'
I told her, 'That's not true -- he's as much a Christian as you and me, so what if he's muslim.'
Then she shook her head and said, 'He won't wear an American flag pin.'
I don't have one on and neither do you.
But, 'C'mon, he wears one plenty of times. He just says it takes more than wearing a flag pin to be patriotic.'
'Well, I just don't trust him.'
Why is that?
Her voice dropped just a bit: 'Because he's black.'
I said, 'Look around. Nemacolin's a dying town. There're no jobs here. Kids are moving away because there's no future here. And here's a man, Barack Obama, who's going to fight for people like us and you won't vote for him because of the color of his skin.'
Brothers and sisters, we can't tap dance around the fact that there are a lot of folks out there just like that woman.
A lot of them are good union people; they just can't get past this idea that there's something wrong with voting for a black man. Well, those of us who know better can't afford to look the other way.
I'm not one for quoting dead philosophers, but back in the 1700s, Edmund Burke said: 'All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.' Well, there's no evil that's inflicted more pain and more suffering than racism -- and it's something we in the labor movement have a special responsibility to challenge.
It's our special responsibility because we know, better than anyone else, how racism is used to divide working people.
We've seen how companies set worker against worker -- how they throw whites a few extra crumbs off the table and how we all end up losing.
But we've seen something else, too. We've seen that when we cross that color line and stand together no one can keep us down.
That's why the CIO was created. That's why industrial unions were the first to stand up against lynching and segregation. People need to know that it was the Steel Workers Organizing Committee -- this union -- that was founded on the principal of organizing all workers without regard to race. That's why the labor movement -- imperfect as we are -- is the most integrated institution in American life.
I don't think we should be out there pointing fingers in peoples' faces and calling them racist; instead we need to educate them that if they care about holding on to their jobs, their health care, their pensions, and their homes -- if they care about creating good jobs with clean energy, child care, pay equity for women workers -- there's only going to be one candidate on the ballot this fall who's on their side... only one candidate who's going to stand up for their families... only one candidate who's earned their votes... and his name is Barack Obama!
And come November we are going to elect him president.
And after he's elected we are going to hit the ground running so that, years from now, we're going to be able to tell our grandchildren that 2008 was the year this country finally turned its back on men like George Bush and Dick Cheney and John McCain.
We're going to be able to say that 2008 was the year we started ending the war in Iraq so we could use that money to create new jobs building wind generators, solar collectors, clean coal technology and retrofitting millions of buildings all across this country
We're going to be able to look back and say that 2008 was the year the tide began to turn against the Rush Limbaughs, the Bill O'Reillys, the Ann Coulters and the right wing hate machine."
Watch him at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QIGJTHdH50&eurl=http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/1/22234/6599/102/617219
This weekend I sat in my car for over half an hour in a line at a local gas station. Why? Well, Hurricanes Gustav and Ike have damaged the coast and hampered oil production in both Texas and Louisiana. Was I thrilled about this turn of events? In a way I was quite thrilled in spite of the fact that I could end up being inconvenienced to the point of only leaving the house for an emergency. Let me explain.
Back in 1973 Republican President Richard Nixon asked Congress to grant him emergency powers to lower fuel consumption and circumvent environmental regulations in order to meet the demand for fuel as the nation faced a natural gas, fuel oil, and gasoline shortage. The Arab-Israeli War, that had begun in October of 1973, had forced oil-producing Arab nations to make the decision to cut oil production and shipments to the United States. In the mid-1970s, after Nixon's fall from grace, Democratic President Jimmy Carter donned heavy sweaters in the Whitehouse and asked Americans to lower their thermostats to conserve a certain finite source called oil. The nation suffered a brief oil shortage back during his administration. President Carter tried to warn a largely disinterested public about the danger of America's dependence on foreign oil. There were public service announcements about how oil was (and remains) a finite resource and that we needed to conserve it and find other means to fuel our cars and warm our homes. Carter was right back then, but I doubt if anyone was really paying attention.
I have been involved in environmental issues for over ten years now as a member of the National Resources Defense Council. I proudly recycle plastic, glass, and all kinds of paper. I buy as many biodegradable products as I can find and take my canvass bags to the grocery store rather than use store-brand petroleum-based plastic bags. I drive a fuel efficient car and pray that when it is time to buy another car that the hydrogen car can be purchased nationwide rather than in a few enclaves of California. I have had numerous debates with an assortment of nitwits who refuse to believe that Global Warming is real. I have often been called a "tree-hugger." I ran into some of those folks at the gas pumps this weekend. I did not gloat. I did not have to.
I watched Barack Obama debate an out-of-touch John McCain on Friday September 26. I watched Barack tie our dependence on foreign oil to our missteps in Iraq. The Bush administration's unwillingness to promote investment in alternative energy solutions is also a problem for our economy. Alternative energy solutions is the way out of oil dependence, further environmental degradation, and a means of jump-starting a sluggish economy. It has taken a while for some folks to catch on, but Jimmy Carter was right. Barack need only continue connecting the dots.
When John McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his vice-presidential running mate, I wondered if he had taken leave of his senses. Here was a woman who did not even own a passport until a year ago being chosen for the Republican vice-presidential slot at the very time the McCain camp was shouting about Barack Obama’s lack of foreign policy credentials.
Then there were rumblings from white women who would not vote for McCain because he was pandering to them. He picked an inexperienced woman to be his running mate because he assumed that women, white Democratic women that is, would come running in the aftermath of Hillary Clinton’s losing the Democratic nomination for president. Then there were those white women who felt vindicated and decided to jump on the McCain bandwagon because there she was—a woman on a major party’s political ticket.
As the economy has taken a nose dive and Americans of all persuasions are anxious about their jobs, homes, and retirements, the allure of Palin is slowly fading. But we who support Obama need not rejoice so soon. We need to remember McCain and the Republican Party’s psychological, if not political, motivation for having chosen her for the V-P slot in the first place. It has to do with a little something called “privilege.”
The one thing at stake in this country right now is the "American Dream.” The other thing at stake is “white privilege.” White Americans do not like to hear that they escape a good deal of discrimination, annoyances, slights, and real dangers, by virtue of being white. “White privilege” is always a sore subject because to acknowledge it is to acknowledge that your problems and particular disadvantages might pale in comparison to other peoples of color. What does this have to do with Sarah Palin? Everything!!
As a woman I know that sexism does exist. Sexism is ugly, painful, ridiculous, and downright counterproductive. As a Black woman, however, I know that when most of the pundits on CNN or any other network say the word “women” or “women voters,” they are not talking about me or any other woman of color. “Woman” and “women” are synonyms for “white women.” Just like Obama being labeled by some political nitwits as an “elitist” is simply their way of calling him an “uppity n****r” without their being accused of using a racial slur against him.
Palin was chosen to fill a psychological void for many white women who feel that they have been cheated out of something—namely a potential woman president or vice-president. What they have not fully sorted out is whether they feel cheated because they are women or because they are white women. I rather suspect the latter, and so does McCain. We need only consider that back in 1972, Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm, the first black woman elected to the U. S. Congress, lost her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. I was a young girl back then, and no one expected Congresswoman Chisholm to win the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. But it was Chisholm who always insisted that she was “unbought and unbossed,” that she encountered more discrimination due to her gender than her race.
Is it not strange that Chisholm was never mentioned or even acknowledged by Hillary Clinton or any other woman during the primary season? She certainly will not be mentioned by Palin or any of her supporters. Chisholm spoke out against the Vietnam War, spoke out and up for Native Americans, Spanish-speaking Americans, Black Americans and yes, women. Her bold assertions about sexism—often in the face of opposition from some segments of her own black community—should have earned her a place among all women who believe that sexism is a stain on our nation’s character. Yet why has she been reduced to a footnote? If you can answer this question honestly, then you know that the battle to win the Whitehouse is not over until it is over.
We need not delude ourselves into believing that race doesn’t play a real factor for white women voters anymore than we need not acknowledge that the pundits often forget that some of us black folks are women.
Back in August 1963, Washington, D.C. closed all of its liquor stores and prohibited the sale of alcohol in the belief that over 100,000 crazy Black folks were going to descend on the district, get drunk and create all kinds of mayhem. Police officers were equipped with riot gear. White women were warned that because so many Black men were coming to town, they needed to be cautious about possibly being raped. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was not seen as the love fest that we see it as now. It was viewed as a recipe for disaster and mayhem. Importantly, most major newspapers did not mention Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. At that time, that speech was not seen as particularly exceptional. Time has aged it and the nation well. I was approximately two years and eight months old; Barack Obama was exactly two years old. We are the first generation of Black Americans who would be one part witness, and one part recipient of the kind of opportunities that M. L envisioned for peoples of color. Time does bring about change.
As Barack gave his monumental address, I thought about Fannie Lou Hamer again. Hamer was a Black woman from Mississippi who organized the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party that arrived with its own legally elected delegates at the Democratic Party’s 1964 convention. A few years earlier in 1962, Hamer was arrested after registering to vote, taken to a jail cell, and beaten so severely there that she suffered permanent kidney damage. So disfigured from her torture, for weeks she would not even allow members of her own family to see her out of the fear that one of them would become so angry they would retaliate against her captors and subsequently get themselves killed. She made the decision to organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party after meeting young black college students (who made up a majority of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s membership) traveling throughout the South spent their summer vacations educating Black citizens about their voting rights.
Hamer recognized that many counties in Mississippi held a Black majority. She believed that even she, a sharecropper with a sixth grade education, could make a difference. Hamer’s testimony on August 22, 1964 before the Democratic Conventions’ Credentials Committees was so emotional that news networks made the decision to cut away from it. Fortunately, her voice and words are preserved for future generations in numerous biographies and sound archives. (Visit: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fannielouhamercredentialscommittee.htm to hear her statement in its entirety.) When Hamer spoke to the DNC’s Credentials Committee about why the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party delegates should be seated, I was three years and eight months old; a few weeks earlier Barack Obama had celebrated his third birthday.
I have made references to how old we were for a reason. It has been during our lifetimes that these epic changes have occurred. In a span of less than fifty years Black Americans have gone from being beaten and killed for daring to register to vote to a moment when one Black man has become a nominee for President of the United States. As I listened to Barack’s speech this past Thursday August 28, 2008, he invoked a rather forgotten section of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech when he said that, “we cannot turn back.” I am glad that Barack chose that section to highlight.
What we have witnessed has been earned. Martin Luther King, Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, and countless others are not here in the flesh to see this moment. Yet they made the down payment on this moment. It was never their speeches and statements that mattered most, but rather their willingness to go to jail, risk being shot at, bombed, fired from their jobs, along with their efforts to politically organize their neighbors that made what we witnessed on August 28, 2008 possible. They literally gave their lives. It is my sincere hope that none of the folks younger than I will ever have to endure what those who have gone before them have endured. But it is also my sincere hope that none of those who are younger than myself ever forget that they too may be called to extreme moments of sacrifice, particularly in the next few months before November 4, 2008. May we all remember that “we cannot turn back,” and “we cannot walk alone.”
Everyone that has ever been on a job interview has seen these words: Experience Required. Or you discover that the job requires two to three years of experience. In many instances the inexperienced do not get the job or even the interview. Eventually we job seekers begin to wonder exactly where one can get experience, if no will hire anyone who does not have any experience. It sounds like that which-came-first?-the-chicken-or-the-egg question. It makes us wonder exactly why employers are so reluctant to hire the eager, rather than the experienced.
There will be those that will say that the job of president should not be “on-the-job-training.” Well, I’ve got news for those folks. The job of the president is exactly “on-the-job-training.” You have experience governing whether you have spent thirty-five years in Congress or four as the governor of a state. What you do not have is presidential experience. As a congressperson or senator, you are likely to learn how to deal (or fight) with folks on the other side of the aisle. A president is dealing with the entire nation, and his or her cabinet; and a cabinet is not elected, it is hand picked.
The point I am trying to make here is that much of this election has been about change and continuity. I have found that most people do not like change even when they say they want it. Significantly, I have learned that when people really do want change they often believe that they can get it without a brutal battle. And if you believe that change occurs without some serious suffering; then I ask that you think about the United States’ Civil War, think about how long it took after Reconstruction for Black Americans throughout the country to secure full civil and voting rights. Think about the fact that when Barack Obama was a year old, a Black woman from Mississippi named Fannie Lou Hamer was jailed and nearly beaten to death simply for registering to vote. But I digress….
In the weeks and months ahead, much will be made of the fact that Senator Joe Biden has a long track record in Washington; that he is, so to speak, a Washington insider. Biden’s credentials in foreign policy shore up Obama’s alleged weaknesses in that area. In the weeks and months ahead, much will be made of the fact that Obama has little foreign policy experience. But consider these few facts. Our current president has experience as a Texas governor. Hell, our current president has access to a father who is not only a former president, but a man with long credentials as a specialist in foreign affairs. Yet our current president has managed to bungle us into a costly war, destroy this nation’s reputation abroad, and create what has to be the worst energy policy in human history. Yet he had previous experience governing.
I am going to ask you to think of that moment when you finally found that job, when you walked into that room and looked the interviewer dead in the eye and said, “I know I do not have much experience, but I know that I can do this job.” And the interviewer said, “You’re hired.”
YES, WE CAN!!!
Hey folks. The one thing that we all can count on is the American people going into a panic when prices rise too high on something we all use and need. Gasoline prices are about to make those of us with good sense lose all reason. In a previous blog I posted an article citing a rather obvious, but overlooked, fact about offshore drilling: the oil that we dig up will not belong to the US! The real issue is whether or not we want massive oil spills and an even more soiled environment for the sake of a finite resource. It is time for us, Obama supporters, to make our voices heard. Obama needs to take an unequivocal stand against offshore drilling for the economical and environmental mistake that it is. Importantly, Obama needs to emphasize what has already arrived in a limited section of California--Honda's new Hydrogen-powered vehicle that has zero emissions!!
You want to jumpstart the economy?!?! Then start developing a plan to open hydrogen filling stations across the United States!! In the meantime, make sure Obama does not flirt with the idea of offshore drilling by placing your name on the petition below. So far, he has resisted this idea. However, the last thing we need is an Obama that starts playing politics. Visit the hyperlink and sign your name: http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/no_drilling_obama/?r_by=701-1493127-qhyCTcx&rc=paste
After you read and sign the above, be sure to read "Hondas non-polluting car of the future" at: http://www.rustylime.com/show_article.php?id=1027
A cleaner future is upon us, if we can just press on!!
Peace.
I can't rightfully take credit for the ideas below in the article about offshore drilling. That idea comes from author Cenk Uygur that points out what should be obvious to anyone paying attention. But I do want to mention one talking point that Obama needs to hammer when discussing the war in Iraq and when discussing the environment. He needs to remind voters that if we don't stop (or at least reduce) warfare, the environment is going to remain in the toilet. Plainly put, war is an environmental issue!!
Obama rightfully connected the dots when he said that our dependency on foreign oil helps this nation finance dictators. He was correct when he said that creating green jobs would help stimulate our failing economy. He was correct when he said that investing in clean, renewable energy sources would help wean us off of foreign oil, clean up our environment, and create jobs. He was correct when he said that our nation never should have waged a war in Iraq. But there is one more point Obama needs to make: We need to make certain that war is envisioned as a threat to the environment. Enjoy the piece below.
"If We Drill in the U. S., We Don't Get the Oil"
By Cenk Uygur, Huffington Posthttp://www.alternet.org/story/93619/
One thing has been driving me crazy about this drilling debate -- everyone seems to assume that if we drill for oil in the US, that we will get the oil. And hence, we won't be dependent on foreign oil anymore. But we won't get anything, Exxon-Mobil will.
The oil that comes from that drilling will not be United States property (Republicans aren't suggesting we nationalize the oil companies, are they?). It will be the property of whichever oil company got the rights to that contract. They can then sell it to whoever they like -- and they will. They will sell it on the world market, so the Chinese will have just as much access to the oil that comes out of the coast of Florida as we will.
The Democrats have done a decent job of beating back the argument that this will effect prices in the short run, or even in the long run. But no one has addressed the point above. The Republicans make it seem like we won't be dependent on foreign oil -- and that prices will go down in the US -- if we have our own oil. But it won't be ours. And it will be sold on the world market, so its effect on global oil prices will be even smaller.
When we ask the question of whether there should be drilling off the coast of Florida or in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, we should ask the question this way -- would you be comfortable with the Chinese or the Germans or Russians or the Saudis drilling on American land? Because for all intents and purposes, they will be.
Large multi-national firms like Exxon-Mobil are not US property. They sell to the world and their allegiance is to corporate profits. So, when they drill, they drill for the whole world, not just us. Some might find that heart-warming, but it certainly has nothing to do with the US having more oil or lower prices.
Cenk Uygur is co-host of The Young Turks, the first liberal radio show to air nationwide.
Well, I am not thrilled by Obama's vote on the FISA Bill. But I cannot exactly join the chorus of Obama supporters who are beside themselves about his vote on the FISA bill, or his decision to forego public financing. I do think that Obama supporters who are on the Left and/or Far Left need to take a deep breath and face some hard realities here. There is no such thing as getting everything you want in any candidate. And there is no such thing as getting everything done in a single season. One of the great misfortunes of the last two decades is not that the fire and determination of the 1960s and 70s has gone out, but rather the hard, tedious work that was actually done has been forgotten.
I also want to point something out for those of you who are not black. Yes, I said it. When you are black, you already know that some stuff is not going to happen unless you do one of two things: boycott or play the game. If anyone believes that Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech produced any legislation, you are sadly mistaken. It was not M. L's rhetoric, but his economic and political strategies that helped usher in the Civil Rights legislation of the early 1960s. The same Martin that later protested against the Vietnam War, subsequently losing the support of President Johnson, also had some earlier moments of having to compromise with enemies to insure that basic laws to protect the voting and citizenship rights of peoples of color would not be lost in the shuffle. Martin played the game. Playing the game does not always mean you have sold out or gone back on your principles. It means that you have chosen to get in the game, find out how the game works, so you can then change the game. As bad as I hate to admit it, I know many legislators who vote against everything I want them to vote against. Yet these same legislators never get anything tangible accomplished.
The other alternative to playing the game is boycott. The economic boycott is designed to economically cripple oppressive entities. In the late 1950s into the early 1970s, blacks all over the North and South stopped buying from certain stores, and went without certain luxuries in an effort to take the money out of the pockets of those businesses and business owners that exploited and/or refused to hire black people. You want to punish the telecom companies? Then stop buying and using their products. I doubt if any of us--including some of Obama's harshest critics--are able to pull ourselves away from our cellphones long enough to admit that the cellphones in question are produced by the companies that we want Obama to punish by voting to insure that they have no immunity should they ever wiretap us.
Do not misunderstand. I do not like that telecommunication companies have immunity. I do not care for Obama's vote on the FISA bill. But I understand why he voted in the manner that he did. Importantly, I understand the unique position he is in as a person of African descent. Obama's ascendancy has always been something most of us black folks believed we would never witness in our lifetimes. Why? Because what we are witnessing has taken nearly 400 hundred years. And as much as Obama's candidacy has been and remains about change, he knows as well as we do just how long change can take.
YES WE CAN!
A worthy piece of news from The Nation of Nairobi. Enjoy!
Barack Obama's nomination as the presidential candidate of a major political party in the US has caused a great deal of excitement in Africa. Nation correspondents ARGAW ASHINE in Ethiopia, ANGELO IZAMA in Uganda, CHRISTOPHER KIDANKA in Tanzania, and TONY ELUEMUNOR sample the reactions in a few countries. Africans clearly seem ecstatic and the American with Kenyan roots has a huge fan club. Until he started making news as a possible contender for the US presidency, Barack Obama, who this week won the Democratic ticket in the White House race, was almost unknown in Ethiopia. Now, he has a huge fan club in the country, with one of his greatest fans being Ms Birtukan Mideksa, former deputy chair of Ethiopia's opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) party. Mideksa, who was jailed by the government of Meles Zenawi for two years for 'treason and inciting genocide' said that George W. Bush's administration backed the Zenawi government despite its 'betrayal of Ethiopia's democratisation effort in 2005'. Mideksa is inspired by Obama's promise of change and hopes that, if Obama becomes president, the US will be more willing to nudge Mr Zenawi in a more liberal political direction. 'Senator Obama is an agent of change. I am sure he would restore basic civil rights, which many are being denied in the name of war on terror all over the world,' she said. 'I am highly impressed by his determination, courage and wisdom. He is my role model and I have fallen in love with his philosophy of change.' She said she hoped African leaders would learn from Obama how to win the hearts of their people and also respect their rivals instead of fomenting hatred and confrontation. Meanwhile, Abreham Kumela, a young NGO worker, has been nicknamed 'Obama' because of his strong support for the Illinois senator. 'He is not a politician; he advocates tolerance. He teaches us all how to effect change,' Kumela said, explaining his admiration for Obama. He pointed out that, although Ethiopians at home will not vote in the American elections, he is campaigning among the thousands of Ethiopians in the US, who are also raising funds for Obama, to vote for Obama. 'Obama is bigger than just an politician with African roots; he is a symbol of tolerance and multiculturalism,' Kumela said. Equally hopeful, but on for different reasons, was Dr Costentinos Berhe, former UN adviser to Nigeria. He believes that, if elected president, Obama might just solve the complex situation in the Horn of Africa. 'The war on terror should not just be a military project,' said Berhe. 'It should also address the cultural, social and political changes in this part of the world. 'I hope that, because of his African heritage, Senator Obama realises that this change is necessary.' Human rights When Obama spent a day in Ethiopia during his African tour in 2006, many Ethiopians realised that he did not support the actions of the current Ethiopian regime. His support for the Bill accusing Ethiopia of having a poor human rights record and proposing serious sanctions, including aid cuts, helped strengthen that view. Indeed, Dr Rewodros Kiros, an Ethiopian lecturer at Harvard University, US, argues that Obama's victory might be disastrous for régimes like Ethiopia's, which do not respect human rights. Evne in Uganda, where the British Premier football league is a must-watch for many, Obama is as recognisable as the premiership superstars. 'I support Obama for ethnic reasons,' said a university lecturer. He is a black man doing something extraordinary. In the capital, Kampala, Obama merchandise is highly visible, from locally made T-shirts bearing the senator's picture and the words 'Change you can believe in', to bumper stickers. Masaka town, 130 kilometres Kampala, has even named a road after the US Presidential candidate. 'Obama Boulevard', though not a boulevard in the ordinary sense of the word, was the brainchild of a local businessman, Frank Gashumba, who together with his neighbours, decided to bestow the honour on the Illinois senator. 'Obama has shown us all that you can come from a humble background and give the entire world hope. He makes you proud [to be] black,' the businessman said. Meteoric rise Younger educated Ugandans have formed an Obama fan club. And their name, Ugandans for Obama, gives a notable ring to the senator's meteoric rise in American politics. The founder, Bernard Sabiti, said he was inspired to form the group when he found people in a bar asking, 'How is a Kenyan going to rule America?' The group mainly comprises university students with access to the Internet, where they campaign for him. Another group, the Obama Support Group, says it admires Obama because of his oratorical skills and inspiration. Their aim is to lobby Ugandan-Americans as well as US citizens in Uganda to vote for Obama. Excitement about Obama's candidature is also evident in neighbouring Tanzania, where many people view him as one of their own. After all, his father was a Luo from Kenya, but Luos are also found in Tanzania, some argue. The Obama-mania cuts across the different sectors of society, with many city commuter taxis now having the name 'Obama' emblazoned on them. As news of Obama's victory in the Democratic party nomination spread in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, a local fan, Ave-Maria given remarked: 'At least America can have a president who is one of our own!' Peter Tumaini-Mungu, a lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam, gave a somewhat philosophical explanation for his support for Obama. 'Being a person of African origin might not be that important,' he said. 'Obama's policies towards Africa are ambitious, and he has a keen interest in the continent. That is something a person of any origin can have.' The lecturer, who has attended several Obama campaign in the US, says Obama is a passionate and visionary whom the world needs to make it a better place. 'Obama articulates his policies in favour of the poor and the marginalised, something both Africa and Tanzania need,' he said. And in West Africa, The Lagos State House of Assembly in Nigeria in April this year launched a website to popularise the Illinois senator and campaign for his White House bid. During the launch, Lagos was turned into an 'Obama state', with taxis draped with banners bearing the senator's pictures. Their Vote Obama Initiative website explains their stand thus: 'Though without a voting right in the ongoing party primaries of the Democrats in the USA, like everybody around the world, we are very much involved because of the global implications the outcome of the elections would have on the world. 'We are particularly thrilled by Obama's feat because, for the very first time in the history of the US, he has successfully broken the colour bar. We are even more thrilled that white voters can rally forcefully behind this charismatic black man in his quest to become the first black president in the most powerful nation on earth. Like Martin Luther King Jr said, today he is no longer being judged by the colour of his skin, but by the content of his character, which has propelled him from near obscurity to international limelight. In Barack Obama, the agitations of early black nationalists such as Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey and so many others found concrete expressions as he attains leverage in the political calculation of the US that would no longer ignore Afro-Americans and their electoral strength. To us, this is a feat worthy of celebration as the dawn of a new era.' Obama spell So potent is the Obama spell that a group of militant youths in Nigeria's Niger Delta were taken in by the tricks of a creative-minded security agent who, left with no answer to the fire power of the militiamen, decided to send them a message they could not ignore. He simply sent an e-mail purportedly from Obama, in which he asked that the militants stop the war in the area. Surprisingly, the militants agreed and announced to the world that Obama had been requested to observe a ceasefire by a person they could not defy! World oil prices were just starting to fall when the real Obama denied that he was the one who asked for a ceasefire. The young men of Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta returned to their trenches immediately. Obama also enjoys huge support in Ghana, where Godwin Yaw Agboka, a columnist, tried to explain his appeal thus: 'Obama appears to have a magic wand that appeals to the youth, independents, and liberals. For the first tim, in many decades, the expectations among voters, are reaching boiling point - call it a crescendo. Voters seem to want things to change in Washington. Obama represents the change they want. Forget about the fact that he is black. Obama has transcended race. He talks about hope, and believes that 'there is nothing false about hope'. He knows how to say the right things at the right time'. African initiative With Obama now the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, one can expect the African Initiative for Obama group to swing into action - selling posters, caps, and other merchandise, all to support him. The group has affiliates across West Africa, and plans to spread throughout the continent. On Tuesday, its chairman and continental coordinator, Elvis Agukwe, told Daily Nation in Abuja that in about a week, they will approach church leaders and Imams to ask their congregations to begin special prayers for God to guide Americans in their choice of president. Beyond the buzz, however, Obama has clearly touched something profound among many Africans. As Patricia Jebbah Wesley, a Liberian poet, puts it, 'It is a good thing that I am alive to see all of this, and it is a good thing that you are reading this ,and you too, are alive to record this for your children'. Africa Insight is an initiative of the Nation Media Group's Africa Media Network Project Copyright © 2008 The Nation
Barack Obama's nomination as the presidential candidate of a major political party in the US has caused a great deal of excitement in Africa. Nation correspondents ARGAW ASHINE in Ethiopia, ANGELO IZAMA in Uganda, CHRISTOPHER KIDANKA in Tanzania, and TONY ELUEMUNOR sample the reactions in a few countries. Africans clearly seem ecstatic and the American with Kenyan roots has a huge fan club.
Until he started making news as a possible contender for the US presidency, Barack Obama, who this week won the Democratic ticket in the White House race, was almost unknown in Ethiopia. Now, he has a huge fan club in the country, with one of his greatest fans being Ms Birtukan Mideksa, former deputy chair of Ethiopia's opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) party.
Mideksa, who was jailed by the government of Meles Zenawi for two years for 'treason and inciting genocide' said that George W. Bush's administration backed the Zenawi government despite its 'betrayal of Ethiopia's democratisation effort in 2005'.
Mideksa is inspired by Obama's promise of change and hopes that, if Obama becomes president, the US will be more willing to nudge Mr Zenawi in a more liberal political direction.
'Senator Obama is an agent of change. I am sure he would restore basic civil rights, which many are being denied in the name of war on terror all over the world,' she said. 'I am highly impressed by his determination, courage and wisdom. He is my role model and I have fallen in love with his philosophy of change.'
She said she hoped African leaders would learn from Obama how to win the hearts of their people and also respect their rivals instead of fomenting hatred and confrontation.
Meanwhile, Abreham Kumela, a young NGO worker, has been nicknamed 'Obama' because of his strong support for the Illinois senator.
'He is not a politician; he advocates tolerance. He teaches us all how to effect change,' Kumela said, explaining his admiration for Obama. He pointed out that, although Ethiopians at home will not vote in the American elections, he is campaigning among the thousands of Ethiopians in the US, who are also raising funds for Obama, to vote for Obama.
'Obama is bigger than just an politician with African roots; he is a symbol of tolerance and multiculturalism,' Kumela said.
Equally hopeful, but on for different reasons, was Dr Costentinos Berhe, former UN adviser to Nigeria. He believes that, if elected president, Obama might just solve the complex situation in the Horn of Africa.
'The war on terror should not just be a military project,' said Berhe. 'It should also address the cultural, social and political changes in this part of the world. 'I hope that, because of his African heritage, Senator Obama realises that this change is necessary.'
Human rights When Obama spent a day in Ethiopia during his African tour in 2006, many Ethiopians realised that he did not support the actions of the current Ethiopian regime. His support for the Bill accusing Ethiopia of having a poor human rights record and proposing serious sanctions, including aid cuts, helped strengthen that view.
Indeed, Dr Rewodros Kiros, an Ethiopian lecturer at Harvard University, US, argues that Obama's victory might be disastrous for régimes like Ethiopia's, which do not respect human rights.
Evne in Uganda, where the British Premier football league is a must-watch for many, Obama is as recognisable as the premiership superstars.
'I support Obama for ethnic reasons,' said a university lecturer. He is a black man doing something extraordinary.
In the capital, Kampala, Obama merchandise is highly visible, from locally made T-shirts bearing the senator's picture and the words 'Change you can believe in', to bumper stickers.
Masaka town, 130 kilometres Kampala, has even named a road after the US Presidential candidate.
'Obama Boulevard', though not a boulevard in the ordinary sense of the word, was the brainchild of a local businessman, Frank Gashumba, who together with his neighbours, decided to bestow the honour on the Illinois senator.
'Obama has shown us all that you can come from a humble background and give the entire world hope. He makes you proud [to be] black,' the businessman said.
Meteoric rise Younger educated Ugandans have formed an Obama fan club. And their name, Ugandans for Obama, gives a notable ring to the senator's meteoric rise in American politics. The founder, Bernard Sabiti, said he was inspired to form the group when he found people in a bar asking, 'How is a Kenyan going to rule America?' The group mainly comprises university students with access to the Internet, where they campaign for him.
Another group, the Obama Support Group, says it admires Obama because of his oratorical skills and inspiration. Their aim is to lobby Ugandan-Americans as well as US citizens in Uganda to vote for Obama. Excitement about Obama's candidature is also evident in neighbouring Tanzania, where many people view him as one of their own. After all, his father was a Luo from Kenya, but Luos are also found in Tanzania, some argue. The Obama-mania cuts across the different sectors of society, with many city commuter taxis now having the name 'Obama' emblazoned on them.
As news of Obama's victory in the Democratic party nomination spread in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, a local fan, Ave-Maria given remarked: 'At least America can have a president who is one of our own!'
Peter Tumaini-Mungu, a lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam, gave a somewhat philosophical explanation for his support for Obama.
'Being a person of African origin might not be that important,' he said. 'Obama's policies towards Africa are ambitious, and he has a keen interest in the continent. That is something a person of any origin can have.'
The lecturer, who has attended several Obama campaign in the US, says Obama is a passionate and visionary whom the world needs to make it a better place.
'Obama articulates his policies in favour of the poor and the marginalised, something both Africa and Tanzania need,' he said. And in West Africa, The Lagos State House of Assembly in Nigeria in April this year launched a website to popularise the Illinois senator and campaign for his White House bid.
During the launch, Lagos was turned into an 'Obama state', with taxis draped with banners bearing the senator's pictures. Their Vote Obama Initiative website explains their stand thus: 'Though without a voting right in the ongoing party primaries of the Democrats in the USA, like everybody around the world, we are very much involved because of the global implications the outcome of the elections would have on the world.
'We are particularly thrilled by Obama's feat because, for the very first time in the history of the US, he has successfully broken the colour bar. We are even more thrilled that white voters can rally forcefully behind this charismatic black man in his quest to become the first black president in the most powerful nation on earth.
Like Martin Luther King Jr said, today he is no longer being judged by the colour of his skin, but by the content of his character, which has propelled him from near obscurity to international limelight.
In Barack Obama, the agitations of early black nationalists such as Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey and so many others found concrete expressions as he attains leverage in the political calculation of the US that would no longer ignore Afro-Americans and their electoral strength. To us, this is a feat worthy of celebration as the dawn of a new era.'
Obama spell So potent is the Obama spell that a group of militant youths in Nigeria's Niger Delta were taken in by the tricks of a creative-minded security agent who, left with no answer to the fire power of the militiamen, decided to send them a message they could not ignore. He simply sent an e-mail purportedly from Obama, in which he asked that the militants stop the war in the area.
Surprisingly, the militants agreed and announced to the world that Obama had been requested to observe a ceasefire by a person they could not defy!
World oil prices were just starting to fall when the real Obama denied that he was the one who asked for a ceasefire. The young men of Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta returned to their trenches immediately.
Obama also enjoys huge support in Ghana, where Godwin Yaw Agboka, a columnist, tried to explain his appeal thus: 'Obama appears to have a magic wand that appeals to the youth, independents, and liberals. For the first tim, in many decades, the expectations among voters, are reaching boiling point - call it a crescendo. Voters seem to want things to change in Washington. Obama represents the change they want. Forget about the fact that he is black. Obama has transcended race. He talks about hope, and believes that 'there is nothing false about hope'. He knows how to say the right things at the right time'.
African initiative With Obama now the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, one can expect the African Initiative for Obama group to swing into action - selling posters, caps, and other merchandise, all to support him. The group has affiliates across West Africa, and plans to spread throughout the continent.
On Tuesday, its chairman and continental coordinator, Elvis Agukwe, told Daily Nation in Abuja that in about a week, they will approach church leaders and Imams to ask their congregations to begin special prayers for God to guide Americans in their choice of president.
Beyond the buzz, however, Obama has clearly touched something profound among many Africans. As Patricia Jebbah Wesley, a Liberian poet, puts it, 'It is a good thing that I am alive to see all of this, and it is a good thing that you are reading this ,and you too, are alive to record this for your children'.
Africa Insight is an initiative of the Nation Media Group's Africa Media Network Project
Copyright © 2008 The Nation
I had to wait a couple of days for the reality to sink in. I am from Atlanta, Georgia; a child of the sixties; exactly eight months older than Barack Obama. As a black child growing up in Atlanta any news about M. L. was the news. His death haunts us. So many deaths haunt us. It is not natural for children to grow up around so many reports that say so many of the people their parents respect have been murdered--in cold blood. I did. So did my friends, We never dreamed that we would get old enough to see a Barack Obama.
Then there is the date--August 28, 2008. Barack officially accepts the Democratic Party nomination for the presidency 45 years to the day Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (August 28, 1963). Barack accepts the nomination 53 years to the day a fourteen-year-old black boy from Chicago named Emmett Till was visiting relatives in Mississippi and actually had the nerve to say "Bye, baby" to a white woman. On August 28, 1955 Emmett was abducted from his uncle's home. His penalty for having been so bold was having his eyes gouged out and having a cotton gin fan tied around his neck to weight his body down as he was thrown in a watery grave (August 28, 1955). Barack will sanctify and absolve August 28th when he formally accepts the nomination.
For all the celebrating; for all the worrying about who will be his running mate; never forget what this moment means. Please enjoy the words below by the Reverend Jim Wallis who, like myself, remembers a very different America from the one we have right now.
When the historic legislative milestone of the Voting Rights Act finally passed in 1965, I was still a young teenager. Until then, black people in America didn’t have the right to vote. And until the Civil Rights Act passed the previous year in 1964, black Americans had to drink from separate drinking fountains, eat at separate lunch counters, ride at the back of buses, and watch movies only from the balconies of theaters. Then there was all the violence. I remember a civil rights worker from my hometown of Detroit, named Viola Liuzzo, who traveled to the South in order to help black people win the right to vote for the first time. She was murdered for doing so.
I was still in the U.K. on a book tour Tuesday night, just having finished speaking to a forum at the British Parliament with ministers from all three parties about the relationship between faith and politics. Then I stayed up until 4 a.m. to watch Barack Obama claim the nomination of the Democratic Party for president of the United States. It was my birthday the next day, and I recalled those days when the relationship between faith and politics for many black and a few white Christians was that if you stood up for civil rights -- especially the right to vote for black Americans -- it could get you killed. So I was not only blurry-eyed but also more than a little teary-eyed as I watched a young black man announce that he was ready to run for president of the United States, and for most of America to assume that he had a chance to win.
Race was the issue that led to my own confrontation with the church that raised me. It was my “converting issue,” though the conversion led me out of the white church of my childhood, not into the church. A church elder bluntly told me one night that “Christianity has nothing to do with racism. That’s political and our faith is personal.” I was only about 15, but it was the night I think I left, in my head and my heart. And a couple years later, I was gone all together.
The little evangelical church that my parents had started and that was my second home was simply wrong about race -- completely wrong. Race was the issue that fundamentally shaped my early social conscience. What I saw in Detroit and in the country I had grown up to love seemed fundamentally wrong. I learned there were two Detroits and two Americas, one white and one black. And it seemed contrary to the religion my family had taught me to treat people in a fundamentally different way because of the color of their skin. But the church didn’t agree and we parted company for most of my student years, with me only coming back to faith after a fresh encounter with the radical gospel of the New Testament. I came back with the realization that God is indeed personal, but never private, and exploring what that means has shaped the rest of my life.
So watching Obama, a black man, win the nomination of a major party for the presidency brought back a virtual flood of memories and feelings. That Barack is a friend of 10 years made it all the more personal. This morning I heard several interviews on NPR with black Americans about their response to Obama’s nomination. One older woman said, “A black man running for president, did you hear what just I said? A black man running for president of the United States ….” She just kept repeating the words, and succinctly captured my own personal feelings.
Yes, it is truly historic, and the U.K. newspaper headlines captured that sentiment as did papers around the world. Nothing could change the image of America around the world more than this. But it is more than historic; it is very personal for many of my generation. A new generation just sees this as natural -- he’s an inspirational leader who happens to be black, which matters little to them. But for my generation -- I’m dating myself now -- this is a transformational moment, one we didn't think would come in our lifetimes. Race was the issue that changed us, shaped us, determined our path, and even defined the meaning of our faith. Now a black man is running for president of the United States. Amazing grace.
We do not need to revisit the long and drawn out process of the Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee this Saturday, May 31, 2008. We do need to consider that the Obama camp exhibited tremendous grace. We can talk about how this particular campaign has been or is historic. The reality is that I have no recent memory of any candidate as unflappable as Barack Obama under the kind of pressure and antagonism that has eminated from the Clinton camp over the last few months.
While the Clintons have made the persuasive argument that Barack Obama has less traction with white, working-class voters and some Latinos, Obama has continued marching along as if his eyes were on a large prize somewhere off in the distance. Donna Brazile, an influential Democrat and CNN commentator and analyst, revealed yesterday that Obama had the numbers to demand a 50-50 split on the Michigan votes and that the Clinton camp refused his "Olive branch." (Brazile also comes across as presidential material, but I'll leave that idea alone for another column in another year.)
Initially I was worried. Did Obama concede too much? Was he being too gracious? Was he so much of a gentleman that he would not take off the gloves and fight? I cannot answer, yet. However, we do need to be prepared for anything that the Clinton camp can throw at Obama. We might do well to practice emulating Obama's publicly measured calm, for our own sanity if nothing else. There is one thing Obama supporters can take comfort in. The whining and ninth hour tactics of the Clinton campaign makes them look desperate and willing to do anything to win. Even worse, it makes them appear as sabateurs of both Obama and the Democratic Party. In contrast, the Obama campaign is acting like it already knows it has won by graciously conceding the maximum number of delegates from Florida and Michigan to Clinton.
Do not misunderstand. I think Florida and Michigan voters have been handed a raw deal. As a black child of the 1960s, voting rights and civil rights were and remain a highly personal issue. Yet Florida and Michigan voters need to be about the business of removing from office those elected officials that decided to violate Democratic Party rules, rules that Clinton agreed to until she started falling behind in delegates and the Democratic nomination seemed further away.
It is not over yet, but Obama continues to look presidential. His calm in the face of some of the worst political attacks I've witnessed in recent years can only be due to some type of inner strength and grace, an amazing grace. And that is historic!
Copyright 2008 © by Leslye J Allen
Check out Jason Linkins quick piece at The Huffington Post about Donna Brazile's commentary on Obama's "olive branch" to the Clinton campaign:
On today's This Week, Donna Brazile, fresh from yesterday's DNC Rules and Bylaws Tango at the Marriott Wardman Park, broke a little bit of a bombshell whilst paneling. According to Brazile, the Obama campaign had enough votes to get a fifty-fifty split of the Michigan delegation, a result that would have greatly advantaged the Obama campaign and minimized the delegate gains Clinton garnered from Florida. However, the Obama camp passed on pulling the trigger on that deal in favor of the less favorable 69-59 split that the Michigan delegation was proposing. Brazile, who was taken aback at the lack of effort made by the Clinton campaign to "cut a deal" or otherwise "come to the uncommitted superdelegates" in the room, said: "He also could have won on a crucial vote on this Michigan proposal to split the delegation 50-50. And rather than cause a ruckus they gave in. He had the votes. and the Clinton campaign never took the olive branch." Naturally, George Stephanopoulos immediately interrupted Brazile and changed the subject, because he has the worst news instincts of any carbon-based lifeform walking the face of the Earth.
STEPHANPOULOS: But Donna, you were one of that 219 undeclared superdelegates left. First of all, I'll give you the opportunity, you can declare right now.
BRAZILE: Look, in 72 hours I'm sure many of us will declare because there's no question that the pressure is on to end this nomination fight. The battle's over. We know the victor. And I learned a great deal sitting in a room, on some of the struggles we did in the middle of the night. Of course, we were drinking fresh water. I kept waiting to see if the Clinton campaign would go over to the Obama campaign or the undeclared superdelegates and cut a deal. And there was no effort whatsoever to come to the undeclared superdelegates. Remember, we're a bunch of superdelegates. The Clinton campaign went in with 13 declared superdelegates. Obama had nine. He walked away yesterday, if you look at the final vote, with 19 people taking his position. He also could have won on a crucial vote on this Michigan proposal to split the delegation 50-50. And rather than cause a ruckus they gave in. He had the votes. and the Clinton campaign never took the olive branch. Instead they wanted to come out and --
Visit: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/01/dncs-brazile-says-clinton_n_104553.html for a link to a video clip.
Finally a president for all the people. Read on.
From the Washington Post:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/05/19/obama_adopted_into_crow_nation.html
Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) arrives for a campaign rally in Crow Agency, Mont., May 19, 2008. (Reuters)
By Matthew MoskCROW AGENCY, Mont. -- Sen. Barack Obama became the first American presidential candidate to visit the reservation of the Crow Nation, and in doing so was adopted into the nation under the Crow name "One Who Helps People Throughout the Land."
Drums pounded and the crowd cheered as Obama was escorted to the podium by his "new parents," Hartford and Mary Black Eagle, in the manner of a groom being walked down the aisle. Obama beamed. His adoptive parents gave Obama hugs as he stepped onto a riser to speak. "I want to thank my new parents," he said. "The nicest parents you could ever want to know. I like my new name. Barack Black Eagle. That is a good name!"For all the symbolism -- members of the tribe wore colorful traditional clothing and feathered head-dresses -- Obama addressed some issues of serious concern not only to the 12,100-member Crow Nation but to many Native American tribes around the country.Obama told those gathered that he intended to acknowledge the "tragic history" of Native Americans over the past three centuries. They "never asked for much, only what was promised by the treaty obligations of their forebears," he said, promising to honor those treaties. Moreover, he pledged to bring sorely-needed "quality affordable health care and a world class education to reservations all across America. That will be a priority when I'm president."The visit was meaningful, said Darrin Old Coyote, a member of the tribe who wore an elaborate headdress. "To have us left out all these years, and then for him to come here, it shows respect, and it makes us optimistic," Old Coyote said.The visit also had political value for Obama. The members of the Crow Nation vote as "a close knit bloc," Old Coyote said. "Now that Senator Obama is part of the family, that is where we will go."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU4WR_rcGUA&feature=user
The only aspect about this whole Reverend Jeremiah Wright mess that is worth considering is that it exposes a two-fold problem. First, the American media has a habit of highlighting the most inflammatory language of any black public figure. Most of the time the language is taken out of context. That first clip of Wright’s sermon was just that: a clip. Therefore, he appeared as a raving lunatic precisely because most folks only witnessed about 30 seconds out of his sermon. He also appeared as a raving lunatic because so many white folks, well-meaning or not, know virtually nothing about black people, say nothing of what goes on in black churches. Wright has since been interviewed by CNN and by Bill Moyers for PBS. His recent comments at the National Press Club and NAACP, however, leave something to be desired. While the media has not bothered to investigate the horrible behavior of ministers affiliated with other persons running for president—an action that smacks of racism and bias—it is important to understand that Wright himself has recently invited more unnecessary scrutiny. Second, he has also brought to public attention the often unhealthy relationship many black folks have with their clergy.
Black clergymen and women have historically served as those individuals that prevented or stunted the demoralization that so many black folks suffered during the worst period of the Jim Crow era and beyond. If you were planning to travel, you called on your pastor. Your pastor then called another pastor, who found a place for you to lay your head as you travelled across the country. They did this to keep black folks from having to search for a hotel that would accept them in an era when it was common to see a sign that read: “Whites Only.” Historically, black ministers have served their flocks well.
Yet, today many black ministers yield far too much power over their congregations. Black congregants often do not raise the kinds of questions that need to be raised about church finances, official statements, and personal behavior. Too often black congregants serve their pastor without the pastor serving the flock. More than a few black ministers enjoy rock-star status among the faithful without doing too much to help the faithful. Reverend Wright’s statements appear to come from a man whose ego has grown to such a degree that he cannot be silent even when it would be prudent for him to do so. He seems to be saying that Obama does not have the right to disagree with him.
To be fair, Jeremiah Wright has received an unnecessary and unprecedented degree of media attention. He has the right to defend himself and he has done so splendidly. Yet the unnecessary and unprovoked statements he made over the last days in April, however, do not speak well of a man with his considerable academic and professional credentials. He made the mistake of assuming that he could and should speak for “the black church” in its entirety. Neither he nor anyone can do so. There is no official spokesperson—nor should there be—for the black church or even the black community. His self-aggrandizing statements and appearances suggest a man whose ego has overruled his better judgment. Even worse, it suggests a minister caught up in his own hype rather than one who wishes to see a young man who has long admired him win the nomination for president.
I am often hard on black ministers precisely because I have witnessed hundreds of them take advantage of black folks; take payouts from politicians who always show up at church near election time. I have seen them call off pickets and boycotts when the company they planned to boycott gave one of their friends a seat on the board. Too many black ministers live in luxury at the expense of poor black parishioners whose nickels and dimes keep food on Rev’s table and $1000 suits in his closet. Even worse, they make those good ministers look bad—I am talking about those clergymen and women who get up in the middle of the night to go see about one of their flock; who work for little pay; who drive an economy car; who teach their parishioners how to save money rather than spend it!!
Press on, Obama!!
Do not despair Obama Democrats. Pennsylvania was a speed bump, but certainly not a permanent one. In spite of the loss on April 23, 2008, Obama still cut Clinton’s lead in Pennsylvania by over 10 percentage points. In order to catch Obama, Clinton will need to win by double digits from now until August 2008. The fat lady is not yet singing. Let us consider some obvious and not so obvious facts here.
First, Obama has not only won more popular votes, but he has received over 100 additional Super Delegates in about a month. He is roughly some 23 Super Delegates behind Hillary Clinton.
Second, if Democratic Party Super Delegates decide this election rather than the delegates chosen by voters, they might as well hand John McCain the keys to the Whitehouse.
Third, we cannot go by voter demographics. There are too many newly registered voters and too many new financial contributors to make easy predictions. Importantly, we must not lose sight of the following:
We must not waver. Stay the course. Keep moving. YES, WE CAN!!
It is difficult to describe Saturday April 19, 2008. Democrats all over the state of Georgia had some of us voters perform one more difficult task; that is, come and pick five delegates and one alternate delegate to go to the Democratic Presidential Convention in Denver, Colorado this August.
I live in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District, and I am happy to report that Hillary Clinton’s delegates had roughly 104 people show up to cast ballots, while Barack Obama had well over 1,500 of us. The Clinton camp had packed up and gone home by the time the counting of votes got underway. We were given instructions to vote for three women delegates, two male delegates, and then a later vote would be held for a third male alternate. Many folks knew exactly whom they wanted to vote for, so they voted and left the crowded and noisy Teamsters Union Hall where the delegate caucus took place. I had a couple of folks in mind, but I decided to stay behind and listen to each delegate make a three-minute pitch explaining why they should be a delegate for Barack Obama. It was a long day, but worth the wait. I sat through roughly eighty short speeches, and it was worth it!!
If anything was proven on April 19, 2008 it was that the 5th Congressional District of Georgia is overwhelmingly supporting Barack Obama; and the individuals that ran for spots as delegates were diverse, smart, passionate about Obama, and genuinely inspired and inspirational. They were young mothers, schoolteachers, lawyers, college professors, research scientists, activists for the homeless, disabled, male, female, young, old, Gay, straight, black, white, Latino. So many of them were under 30-years-old that it literally led one retirement-aged woman (whose name I have forgotten) to withdraw her name from nomination to “give these young folks a chance to serve.” There were several moments, too many to mention, where I felt the tears coming. Voting for delegates to represent my district was one of the most difficult choices I had ever had to make because everyone was so worthy. Even Georgia Congressman John Lewis was there campaigning--something he has not done in over 12 years. He knows that Obama supporters in the 5th district are not playing; and that's a good thing!
The counting of the votes did not begin until after over eighty delegates gave 2 to 3 minute speeches, making their pitch to head to Denver. Somewhere around 4:45 PM, Jerry Riley (the founder of the Barack Obama Fan Club[1] and a delegate candidate) decided that the water, juice, donuts, and granola bars were not enough nourishment to tie us over until the votes were totaled. He and I headed out on what became a trek for food, arriving back with a large order of hot wings for a few hungry folks who were waiting on the final votes.
Deidre Barnett-England
Andrea Boone
Dr. William Jelani Cobb, Ph.D.
Camara Jones
Clarence (C. T.) Martin
Jerry Freeman, alternate delegate
I congratulate not only the winners, but all of the men and women who came out in the hopes of being a delegate. Your enthusiasm was inspirational, and my only regret is that I could not vote for all of you. As for the delegates who were chosen, well, I wish the wind at your back, discipline, and the courage to fight to make our candidate for change the next President of the United States. This moment is pregnant with possibility and filled with the dreams of Georgians from days gone by. Let us make history together.
YES, WE CAN!!
[1] http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/BarackObamaFanClub
