Obama’s first day at the White House…

 

I can’t believe it..

Barack Obama’s first day as President of the United States.

Can you believe this is happening? 

All these fantastic changes..can you believe yesterday? All those people and not a single arrest according to reports NOT ONE!!!

Obama and his staff are hitting the ground running they aren’t playing  no more secrecy, no more lobbyists and a pay freeze for his white house staff passivity be gone!

Doesn’t Obama’s first official day at the White House kinda remind you of your first day of school?

Well, it reminds me of my first day in Kindergarten ok he’s not going to be playing with crayons or learning the words to the wheels on the bus at least I don’t think so but you never know. Anyway, according to my parents the first day of school I jumped out of their arms and ran to the first bunch of kids I saw I didn’t even wave goodbye or look back at them and when they came to pick me up I asked ”Can I come again tomorrow?”

At least Obama doesn’t have to ask to come back tomorrow, I hope he and his staff have an awesome first day maybe one day I’ll know what it feels like to have a first day at the White House..maybe..

No more ‘baby daddies’ but more Fathers…

 

 

This past Sunday at a black church in Chicago Barack Obama talked about the epidemic that has infected and continues to spread throughout the black community-absentee fathers.

I applaud him for having the guts to talk about this issue, at a black church, to a black audience on Father’s Day and I seriously hope he continues to talk about it every single chance he gets not just on Father’s Day. But Obama and high profile celebrities like Bill Cosby shouldn’t be the only ones addressing this issue this is a national issue and it calls for a national solution.

Here are the stats: ” Nearly 40 percent of American children will spend some time without a father present. More than 60 percent of African-American children live in single-parent households.. among more recent births, that rate is above 70 percent.”

This is unacceptable!

Yes, I know, we didn’t create the problem but we should all be part of the solution because we all have a vested interest in making sure that the majority of black youths are able to fully realize their potential and that black single parent homes become the exception rather than the rule.

In a society that preaches that every child should have a decent shot at making it in America can we HONESTLY say that these children, many from low income families and with ever present economic and social barriers, will have or have that shot if we allow men to be mere absent ‘baby daddies’ rather than committed fathers?

 

 

 

Imprisoned and abused by her own father..

My God,

How could an individual do something like this let alone a father to his own child?

If this man was a relative of mine I don’t know what I would do to him..and that’s the truth..

 

 

Super Tuesday was the first day of the Obama phenemenon…

Today we talk about the the Bradley effect when discussing African American candidates in the future we will be talking about the Obama phenomenon when discussing candidates of any race or gender who defy expectations and generate momentum in non traditional areas!

February 5th was indeed a historical day.

Now, Obama did not take Hillary Clinton down (he got 841 and she got about 837) but with his wins and delegate splits he was saying to her ”I’m not going anywhere!” and that this race is going down to the wire. 

But what is the real story? To me, it’s WHERE Obama won and with WHOM.

He won in Colorado, Utah, Missouri, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota and North Dakota! He won in NORTH DAKOTA!!!

Now, ten years ago if you told me that there would be a black presidential candidate in my lifetime winning primaries and caucuses in these states I would have laughed and vehemenetly disagreed with you while secretly concealing in my heart the desire and hope of it being true.

Today Obama won these states and he closed the gap between him and Hillary when it comes to white voters and women. Obama has shown that Hillary does not have a monopoly over these demographic groups and that his message is making in roads with these voters like it should.

As a man should not be ‘judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character’ and today we saw yet another step in the direction of that finally being realised.

Neither candidate has a clear advantage but if Obama fails to get the nomination the effect of this day will still resonate with potential non-traditional political candidates because Obama has shown how it can be done and more importantly than that we are starting to see a generational shift where race and gender are viewed quite differently.

This election will be not be determined by that generation exclusively but it certainly wouldn’t be decided without them.

You see, I know that Obama is the candidate of choice for my generation however if he fails to become the nominee it will be due to OUR work, OUR perserverence and OUR selection of his opponent and from this time onward we, today’s youth vote will finally be given our due recognition.

And with Obama’s victories today still fresh in the minds of all let it be known that, if he wins the nomination and goes on to become the president of the United States, that we the members of  Generation X  and  Generation Y, those raised on Sesame Street and Nintendo, those who have never experienced life without computers, punk rock or rap music have shown that we are tuned in and that we have no intention whatsoever of tuning out and we will fight up until our last breath to fully realize the dreams of our parents and grandparents and thus return this country to the heights of greatness it so rightly deserves! 

Obama wins, true acceptance, true equality, has finally arrived…

Where do I begin?

As I write this post tears are streaming down my face I simply cannot believe it…

Really, I can’t. This man, this BLACK man actually has a real shot at becoming the first black president and it’s within MY lifetime.

His win tonight in one of the whitest states in the Union tells me and says to millions of people like me that being smart and black wouldn’t and is no longer being seen as an oxymoron within the white community and that black people can now rally behind a man that looks like us and reflects our values and that sooner rather than later we can look to the highest office in the land and see one of us and finally, finally, view ourselves as true citizens in this land and be viewed as equals in every sense of the word.

Others may claim that true equality was reached long ago and many smart black people would pay lip service to this idea in public but when we, smart black people, ever talked among ourselves behind closed doors we always viewed politics more so than any arena with cynicism. Accepting that we could only go so far and knowing that some doors were still closed and closed tight to us and anyone who looked like us regardless of how smart we are or what party we belonged too.

For a country that we have lived in since it’s inception and suffered inumberable injustices for it and at it’s hand we often viewed this land as not being completely ours, in recent past we pointed to Katrina, tonight one man showed us, showed me that white people are finally willing to share all the spoils of this country and that we may finally be considered true equals.

Black kids, black young people can now look to the highest office in the land and say with a loud voice and a proud heart and believe it to be true that one day, “I can be president!”

Barack if he’s president, wow i’m actually saying that, will be the president of all of America but no longer will the black community have to settle for the candidate that acts the most black (Bill Clinton) or the candidate that has the closest ties to the black community (Bill Clinton) instead we will have a black president that didn’t come in through the back door..he fought and worked for it just like any other candidate and instead will be walking straight up to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, hand in hand with his wife and kids and opening the door.

This moment is what Dr. King, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, my parents, your parents and millions of others like them fought for, died for-TRUE EQUALITY, TRUE ACCEPTANCE!!!