On the way to the Pepsi Center last night, I had the misfortune of being stopped by a press person and asked "What does Michelle have to do to win over the undecided?"
Being just a bit testy and recognizing the sophistry in the question I replied "Nothing, but continue to be who she is. The undecided have to work at getting beyond whatever is inside of themselves that prevents them from seeing the truth. When you are the first to break a barrier you have to be ridiculously better than the competition. America has experienced having First Ladies who have had addictions...but if Michelle Obama had the same profile as Mrs. MCain... a recovered addict and on top of that as head of a non-profit also violated the public trust to feed her drug addiction.... today would not be a possibility. If Michelle had that profile Barack would have had difficulty running to be dog catcher!!!"
When you are the first to break through the glass ceiling, and attempting to leap over the hurdles of gender, race or class there is a double standard....and admittedly ..not a fair double standard. The Obama's recognize this inequity but choose to work through it by being excellent at what they do. Through it all they have been the epitome of graciousness....by not mentioning these truths about Ms. McCain and at the same time Michelle has raised the bar on what we should look for in a First Lady.
One of the drawbacks of integration is that the African-American lawyer, teacher or professional may no longer live down the street from the single mother, the young man struggling to make a path towards productive and legal activities, or the child who wonders if his skin color will get in the way of achieving his dreams. Many highly successful African Americans have chosen to leave the inner city/urban core by moving to the suburbs and may end up working, playing and praying in a world surrounded by Anglos and thus isolated from the Black community. It also means that the inner city core is bereft of real life examples of Black people who not only go to work but have found meaningful work and has left Black urban communities with few examples or access to those who can model or teach strategies to successfully achieve in America.
This deficit has been noted. Now, many highly successful African-Americans consciously and intentionally choose to attend an inner-city church in order to give some portion of their time, talent and resources to inner city communities. They have made a personal commitment to be available in an intimate, direct, up close and personal way to folks who have aspirations for bettering their lives; most importantly for young people in those congregations. This kind of direct access and on-going opportunities for personal involvement would have been missed if the Obama’s had chosen to completely anglicize their lives.
Patricia Jones Blessman, PhD
Clinical Psychologist
Hillary Clinton attends the Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington. So does Bill Clinton. Hillary suggests she would not have the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's controversial former minister, as her pastor.
But the senior pastor of her church has a very different take on how Americans should react to Wright. The Rev. Dean Snyder wrote, ‘The Rev. Jeremiah Wright is an outstanding church leader whom I have heard speak a number of times. He has served for decades as a profound voice for justice and inclusion in our society. He has been a vocal critic of the racism, sexism, and homophobia which still tarnish the American dream. To evaluate his dynamic ministry on the basis of two or three sound bites does a grave injustice to Dr. Wright, the members of his congregation, and the African-American church, which has been the spiritual refuge of a people that has suffered from discrimination, disadvantage, and violence. Dr. Wright, a member of an integrated denomination, has been an agent of racial reconciliation while proclaiming perceptions and truths uncomfortable for some white people to hear.’
I pray that there is enough grace, forgiveness and compassion to see all of us through. For those of us who know Michelle, Barack and Jeremiah our esteem for them and our "knowing of who they are” does not rise and fall with the next news cycle.
If you take how Hillary spins his stuff (e.g., hope, the health bill, the meeting with foreign leaders that oppose us, etc.) you can see again and again the slight and major distortions as well as how she takes statements out of context (e.g., Barack's reference to Reagan). I am glad Barack pointed this out. These, I believe, are examples of the politics of provocation, rhetoric which invites rage, politics of divisiveness; the kind of public posture which impedes negotiations, conflict-resolution, and problem-solving.
My husband and I along with my friend state Senator Jacqueline Collins just returned from Iowa. I was thoroughly impressed with Mike Blake, the brother who is the Policy Deputy Director for Iowa. Mike Blake did a phenomenal job working with the small (2.3%) African American community in Iowa. The political education outreach that he and his team implemented was highly effective. It was stroke of genuis to have Michelle and Barack's personal friends attend church services, community events and midnight watch services within the community. Iowans got another more personal picture of the Obama's through their friends.
Everyone we talked to at the church services we attended down to Arva Kelley the night auditor at our hotel was registered, knew their precinct, knew why they should caucus, knew who they were caucusing for, knew to bring the rest of their family, friends and neighbors, knew they had to be there on time and knew that they were at a historic moment. The number of Black folks who came out to participate in the Iowa caucus quadrupled!!! This probably accounts for a percentage point or two of Obama's margin of victory. The best quote I heard during a Kwanzaa celebration..."if Black folks cannot get behind Barack Obama with all of his qualifications then what you are really saying is that no Black man would ever be good enough for you...is this a message you want to give to our children?"
No one should vote for Barack simply because he is black. Black folks have already proven that we do not have missplaced racial loyalty when it comes to politics. The real issue is can we recognize and see one of our own as President? Thank God for free thinking Iowans who have thrown off the shackles of possibility blindness. Black Iowans and white Iowans are ready for a black president.
Dr. Patricia Jones BlessmanClinical Psychologist
How many of us wrote a similar paper in grammar school... an essay where we were asked to dream big? Three years ago my father reminded me that everything I dreamed as a child has come true. I am now a doctor, a millionaire, I own 3 homes, winter on Maui and I have done something that changed the lives of thousands of people. Not bad for a little colored girl, initially orphaned, a ward of the state, from the 'hood in Cleveland. Not bad for a girl whose adopted family came from South Carolina and the harsh life of sharecropping and picking cotton.
Dr. Patricia Jones Blessman
Psychology is a field where the possibility of finding meaningful work is limited only by one’s imagination. A presidential campaign certainly is rife with possibilities and is a peculiar entity. It is in essence a multi-million dollar organization that builds very quickly and has a definite end date. It is an organization with several hundred paid employees across the nation and possibly thousands of volunteers committed to a common goal. As an organizational entity there are a number of unique challenges and possibilities.
Many campaign staffers are individuals who are career campaign staffers, working political campaigns is their chosen career path. Their resumes may show that they have gone from political campaign to political campaign and a clear career ladder is one that shows increasing responsibility in statewide and then finally a national campaign. Getting the call to work a presidential campaign is a career pinnacle. Many more campaign staffers are young 20 somethings who hope to enter the world of politics. It seems odd that anyone would choose to enter this fray voluntarily with no career aspirations other than seeing the candidate win….and I get asked all the time by both insiders and outsiders to the campaign “why are you doing this?”
My response is simple. I am fortunate; a rare confluence of events – I had the time freedom and financial security to assist in a presidential campaign for 18 months and was prescient enough to sense that a unique candidate had emerged for whom I can get passionate and even zealous on their behalf. Influenced by the greatest social movements of the sixties, if I were an adult back then I would have worked with Martin, John or Robert. The Sixties was the worst of times and yet the best of times with similar social and political issues we face today. The best of that era was the idealism, hopefulness and the capacity of certain presidential hopefuls to bring out the best within us as a nation. That resonates with me as a psychologist. As a professional change agent isn’t that what we do too?
America is at a similar historical and cultural crossroads; especially now as psychologists consider what role should we take on or not take on in dealing with political prisoners of war, how do we really address the needs of military personnel as they return from armed conflict, how do we serve people who have experienced catastrophic life events and what can we do to make America a nation that sustains the best health and well being of its’ citizens? Probably what is an even more central question -what will it mean for mental health service delivery or our individual clinical practice when or if America moves towards a system of universal healthcare? Universal healthcare alone is a paradigm shift in health care delivery and we would be prudent to consider which presidential candidate presents a plan that offers the best care for the clients we serve.
Since joining a presidential campaign I have taken on a assortment of projects and tasks; surrogate speaker for the candidate on the campaign trail in New Hampshire, assisting in the formulation of policy in areas I care about, working with other psychologists around policy and access to care, developing training materials and presenting at campaign trainings for volunteers, team building and organizing constituent groups, fundraising, problem solving with staff around messaging to specific voter groups or even something as mundane as working with a staff member on how to justify additional resources for their division. Our training, writing, presentation and research skills well prepares us for any role within a campaign and having insight into human interactions gives us the tools to quickly pick up campaign culture and etiquette.
Why do I do this? Barack Obama is a terrific Senator, the best candidate running, a friend and ultimately the only candidate equipped and skilled to champion change and lead America into the future that makes a exemplary global citizens.
