Damn, white folks did a good job!

Is she too dark? Is her hair too nappy? Why is he so dark that he is blue? What will my children look like?

Growing up in River Terrace, Washington, DC, I never heard these question asked until I left my little comfort zone on the banks of the Anacostia River. At the renowned Howard University, I had an opportunity to go to school with black kids from all over the world at a time when Negroes were beginning to refer to themselves as “Black”. Say it loud, I’m Black and I’m proud!

In those days, I thought Howard University had the most beautiful women I had ever seen! I guess that’s why keeping my grades up was always a challenge. I saw all hues, hair and dress styles. There were history classes that taught us not just “his-story”, but delved thoroughly into Black History.

I was inspired to write this piece because of a You Tube video that was shared with me titled, “A Girl like Me”. I was shocked by what I saw because I just realized that young black folks, especially young women, are still struggling with the aesthetic issues of race from the days of slavery. The position of our First Lady, Mrs. Michelle Obama, became even more important to me after viewing this video because her actions and style will impact women of color all over the world in terms of how they perceive themselves. I’ve been told that on-paper, one would have assumed that the president married a white woman or a very light-skin black woman. But, no the president married a statuesque dark-skin woman with, OMG, a butt!

Folks, I don’t know who has the hardest job, now…..President Obama or the First Lady?

The GOP Marionette Show

President Barack Obama, tonight, met his objective of making his intentions quite clear. And that was to inspire the American people to face the issues that are before us and to overcome them with unity. Well done, Mr. President!

However, I was more interested in what the Republican response would be. Earlier, I commented to a fellow blogger that the Republican Party (GOP) could not nurture legitimate leadership for this new epoch because of the perceived hate and greed that is, historically, at the base of the party.

It appears to me that the GOP positioned Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La) during the campaign to help ameliorate the infectious affect that then Sen. Obama had on the imagination of the American electorate. I can not get my arms around the “sincerity” of the GOP in selecting the governor to speak after the president tonight no more than I can get my arms around their sincerity in appointing the ex-Lt. Governor of Maryland, Michael Steele, as the Republican National Committee Chairman. Based on Gov. Jindal's out-of-step-with-reality speech leads me to believe that the GOP just want to put a brown face on their last century politics because even Stevie Wonder can see that the federal government needs to be involved with getting this economy out of the crapper. So, why can’t the GOP?

Assigning Gov. Jindal and Chairman Michael Steele scripts written for Ronald Reagan in 1940 will surely fail at the box office in 2009.

Diddle-dee & Diddle-dumb

Hey! It's an emergency GOP caucus between Michael Steele and Alan Keyes, the GOP's secret weapons ! Let's listen in.

Hey Alan! It’s me, Mike Steele

Hey Mike! Congratulations on your RNC Chairmanship!

Thanks, Alan. Listen, I was just talking to Armstrong Williams. We were talking ‘bout this democrap stuff. I’m getting pressure from upstairs. Our leadership wants me to chart a new course for the GOP.

What…the leadership? Mike, you ARE the leadership. You’re the RNC chair!

****

Ah…yeah, Alan....I know. But, it’s not that simple.

A cartoon is just a cartoon? Hmmmm

Well, I guess Nixon with his sweaty upper-lip fall from grace, Billy’s blow jobs in the oval office and Bush getting the “shoe” in Iraq just brought down the respect and integrity of the presidency to the point where anything goes.

The chimpanzee execution cartoon depicted in the New York Post did not shock me. Come on, folks….we knew this stuff was coming! Racists die hard. This is only the beginning. Nevertheless, we should be prepared to fight these attacks at every turn. We must be steadfast at defeating the racists’ attempts at denigrating the change that President Obama is trying to put in place.

What the racists did not factor in is the fact that the majority of the people in the world are people of color. Just as in the fiasco at Abu Ghraib, the 19th century thinking racists are only making matters worst for members of their ilk. The Occicontin-addicted, Rush Limbaugh, calling for the failure of President Obama’s administration only accelerated the free-fall of the conservative movement’s demise, as we know it.

Younger citizens and younger members of both political parties are starving for a new way of conducting this country’s affairs and I salute them.

What's good for the goose....

When pursuing anything government related, I’m always asked:

• Have you ever been involved with the government before?
• Have you ever been denied a government contract because of malfeasance?
• Do you owe the government any taxes?
  

I’m still wondering just how many more lawmakers (on all levels) may not have paid their taxes, yet you and I are bludgeoned by the IRS whenever we fall short. This issue brings into question, just what is the vetting process like?

We all knew that President Obama’s administration would be under close scrutiny, more so than most. I’m in it for the long haul. The president said himself that there will be some screw-ups along the way. But, I won’t resign to accepting something as simple as asking these three basic questions of anyone, and I do mean anyone who is seeking to hold a significant office in any administration.

Mr. President, you set the bar high to a new world record, which begs the question: can you maintain it?

Poetry in Motion

What Santonio Holmes and Ben Roethlisberger pulled off last night in Super Bowl XLII is the stuff young wide receivers and quarterbacks dream of all of their lives. As a wide receiver in high school, I can remember practicing that very same reception Holmes made to clinch the Steelers’ sixth Super Bowl title.

The trick is to keep your feet “inbound” and concentrating on catching the ball, all the while being aware of the defenders! Holmes and company attempted the same play on the left-side of the field and woefully, blew it. Given the importance of scoring at that pivotal time in the game, it took a lot of chutzpah to gather oneself after that failure to come back in the very next play and run the same pattern in the opposite corner for a picture-perfect completion! Man…that is every receivers’ dream come true.

In my tweet, I admitted that I was prepared for a Steelers blow-out. I was, pleasantly, surprised to see that the Cardinals showed up to play. My heart went out to Kurt Warner who defied the odds in his serpentine and unlikely football career to wind-up in Super Bowl XLII. Steelers’ linebacker, James Harrison, initially squashed the Cardinals hopes of victory with a hundred yard interception which left him gasping and Holmes' TD was the fait accompli.

I would be remiss not to mention the importance of the young Steelers’ coach and give kudos to Mike Tomlin. I am proud of this young brother and I look forward to his long and successful career.

What a Wonderful World

As an ardent Obama supporter during the presidential campaign, I committed myself to be critical of him as I would any other person who holds the public trust. By the same token, I will give credit where credit is due. For the record, I did give kudos to George Bush for what he tried to do in Africa.

With that said, I must applaud the Obama administration for its relatively seamless transition and its recent pronouncements. The Middle East has been a concern of mine for as long as I can remember because it is a lightening rod for those that see the inhabitants of that region as disenfranchised and neglected.

The Middle East is equivalent to a vial of nitroglycerin traveling down an unpaved road on the mountain-side of the Andes. Yes, it doesn’t take much to set that part of the world off. I truly believe that if this volatile region is not given balanced attention, it will continue to be the bane of our existence. The Jewish lobby has done an outstanding job of keeping the State of Israel’s interest on the front burner of every western politician’s agenda to the point that they are literally afraid to criticize Israel’s actions.

It was so refreshing to hear former President Jimmy Carter, not be afraid of backlash and “ostracization”, in speaking the truth about the reality of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. We can no longer sweep these realities under the rug and pretend that they don’t exist. I believe the Obama administration is embarking on the right path to address these and like issues throughout the world through ambassadors such as George Mitchell and Susan Rice.

No longer should the world’s perception of our foreign policy be, “our way or the highway”. No longer should a Palestinian mother-to-be commit her unborn baby to a tit-for-tat armed struggle in order to be recognized and respected. No longer should young Israelis divide their conscience and Palestinian apartheid. No longer should a nation state feel the need to develop nuclear capability to get respect in the “hood”. No longer should children in so-called under-developed nations fear for their lives because of ethnic differences. No longer should we continue to alienate our neighbors because their “ism” is not our “ism”.

I welcome this administration’s attempt to bring some civility and fairness to the problems at hand. It has been said that this president has unprecedented goodwill throughout the world and with that kind of support, all good things are possible.

Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win!

Well folks, 20JAN09 is tomorrow!

I considered myself cool as a cucumber through the last two years. But, of late, I’ve been experiencing some anxiety, some mixed emotions.

You see, for some reason I feel responsible for speaking for those great spirits that have gone on before us, those who are not physically with us anymore. I feel inadequate to express what my grandparents and my father would want to say. My parents and the generations of those before them paid dearly for our time in the sun tomorrow. My father was a preacher man and a great speaker. So, you can understand my dilemma. But, for now, I’ll just gather myself and my thoughts for another time.

I do know those great spirits enjoyed a good tune when they heard one. So, I thought I would just let Seal express what’s difficult for me, tonight.

Take a listen!