This is a new time in our world. We've got a new POSITIVE Presidential Candidate and we've got a new groove goin' on. Things are looking up on that front yet we are still bogged down by the sins of the past manifested in Iraq and gas prices as high as giraffe P%$*Y!!! So, what do we do? I submit, that is the challenge.
What do we do? Well, I'm sure there is no one answer, which will cure that ill. What I do know is we won't get there by doing the same old things we've been doing. We can't get there by being stagnant and filled with apathy. In the words of my dear mentor, Bill Cosby, "Come on, people!" Look around and take notice. The world is changing and it will pass us by if we don't embrace it's morphosis.
I've got friends and associates who refuse to check their email, write on a blog, get a facebook page or even learn how to load a video onto Youtube. This is not to diss but just to point to the obvious. Obama took hits on his pastor in large part because the mass media was able to take the controversy and project their opinion onto the rest of the world via the nightly news and cable tv as well as Youtube. We voiced our support of the brother and would challenge anyone, for the most part, who expressed a contrary opinion. The problem was not many voices were heard in the world because they were voiced in archaic means.
We don't have a black Hannity and Combes or an Anderson 360 or an AM 560. The most we have is Tavis Smiley on a PBS channel late at night and largely unpublicized. AM 1690 does its best but can't compete with the larger entities. SO....where is the answer? I'm not sure there is a complete one as I've mentioned. We can however, do something different in our own small way. We can read a book, listen to a controversial news station or formulate an opinion on where we stand. We can TAKE a stand on an issue. We can encourage our kids to read the newspaper once or twice a week, ask them what they think and make them tell us WHY.
We have to challenge ourselves to do something. Get involved, get into it.
What do YOU think?
Peace,
Chicago-Jedi '08
I'm a little fed up withe the arrogance of Brother Smiley(He is a Nupe) After his tv performance castigating Barack Obama for not attending his conference and then refusing to accept Michelle in his stead, I emailed him the following letter.
ReplyDelete-(MWW)
Brother Smiley:
I have listened with much disappointment and trepidation to the comments you made regarding the absence of Brother Obama at your "State Of THe Black Union" in New Orleans this weekend. It seems to me every time a person of color tries to make some positive strides, its always one of us who has some negative input to provide.
Brother Obama is preparing for one of the most important debates of his life and three extremely important primaries (Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania). These primaries as you know are Make or Break events for the Democratic nomination for President of these United States. The Window of Opportunity for Barak Obama is open, his time has come, The Future Is NOW.
It is imperative that he remains Focused with his eye on the prize. He has no time to feed your apparently Very Large Ego. While your event is special and a more than worthy cause. His mission is for the Greater Good of more people, Black , White and otherwise.
I am an "Old School" Brother from Chicago, Illinois by way of Winston Salem, N.C. I speak not from the perspective of one who read books or Historical Accounts regarding "Jim Crow" in America or from hearing of these accounts from someone more "Vintage than myself. I speak from the perspective of one who had to drink from the fountain labeled "COLORED", I have had to enter and sit on the Back of the Bus, when my parents took my sister and I to the movie, we had to sit in the balcony. In other words , I've been THERE and done THAT.
We don't need you giving fodder to the opposition to be used against Brother Obama. They are going to come up with enough of that themselves. What we need is for you to STAND DOWN, TONE DOWN, and SIT YOUR A-- DOWN, and as the young folks say, let Michelle and Barack Obama "HANDLE THEIR BUSINESS"
-(MWW)
Let me just express how deeply I am disappointed in Tavis. No one says you can't critique Obama's platform and even criticize him, but hell what about Hillary and all of her attacks on Barack that will surely have him fighting John McCain in November. She thinks she is bigger than the party, her and her disgusting husband. Tavis' attacks seemed to be unilateral. That's not right. What does he owe the Clintons?? Under Clinton we had several laws enacted that has pushed Blacks under the bus!! Why haven't he crticized them to the level he has criticized Obama?? Somebody answer me that please. If Obama is blessed to become president, we all in the U.S. will have indeed been given MERCY!!
ReplyDeleteNow go tell that,
Grif
"06"