Have a Nice Trip Kwame!

Here’s to Kwame M. Kilpatrick, the former Mayor of Detroit who begins his new role for the next four months as a convicted felon in Cell 14J-4 of the Wayne County Jail.  (I won’t get into the how and why…you can research that on your own) May the next four months be filled with the anguish and embarrassment he has caused the entire city of Detroit.  May young black men look at his actions as an example of what NOT to do when entrusted with great responsibility and power.    May we consider him not a pariah or someone to shower with hate and vileness but rather, typical and simple.  Which for someone who did so much to differentiate himself, is worse.  He was given a chance to lead his city back from the depths of fiscal despair and unite his city in a way that could have been historic.  Instead, he became a rap star complete with entourage.  He decided the women and money were more important than the issues of his city.    

 

Corey Booker, another young black mayor of the economically challenged city of Newark, New Jersey, who black people don’t talk too much about (because they think he’s the white man’s favorite black male)  is someone he could take a look at and learn something about leadership from. 

 

Here’s a couple of quotes:

 

“Since his election, Mr. Booker has worked to revamp the city’s police department and he has reorganized the city’s bureaucracy. He also sponsored a raft of campaign finance rules, passed by the council, that have been hailed as among the most far-reaching in the country. Creating summer jobs for teenagers, promoting downtown redevelopment, helping recently released felons find jobs and renovating the city’s decrepit police station houses have also been among his top priorities” –Andrew Jacobs, July 2, 2007 (New York Times)

 

 

  “Stand in Newark and you see and feel the dynamic change, the power and potential, you see that the future of America is happening here. We are not the Big Apple or Atlanta’s Georgia Peach. We are America’s Brick City — and this isn’t about our architecture. We’re Brick City because we’re tough, we’re resilient, we’re strong, we’re enduring and, most importantly, when we come together there’s nothing we can’t create.”

 –Mayor Corey Booker

 

That’s leadership. 

 

Enjoy the confines the Wayne County Jail, Kwame…you’ve earned it!

 

 

 

 

 

Is this what y’all WANT or something?????

I commented on Political Music’s blog yesterday that if Obama loss in this election, no one should riot because all is not lost if he loses.  Then, I got home from work yesterday to find out that a bunch of skinheads in Tennessee were plotting to kill him and slew of black folks to boot. 

Let me state this plain and clear:

If they harm that man, his wife, his youngest daughter, his oldest daughter, his go*damn dog….

 

   NEWARK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  WATTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DETROIT

 

 

 

 

  BOSTON

Get the picture????

Panic and Anxiety

 

There is less than 2 weeks until we elect a new President of the United States.  The last couple of days and weeks I’ve noticed that there seems to be some sort of panic amongst those I read, listen to, and encounter over what seems like a runaway victory for Barack Obama.   They think the “Comeback Kid” has one last hurrah left in him to shock the world.   They are wise not to underestimate McCain, but fearing defeat is no way to approach victory.   I think the case has been made that not only are we ready for the kind of change an Obama presidency could bring, but we need that change.  I watched “American Experience” last night on Lyndon B. Johnson.  LBJ scared a lot of folks, particularly Black folks.  When he was sworn in, the prevailing thought was that this “southern cracker” was going to kill whatever momentum we had going in terms of equality.  Then, he stepped to the podium and assured the nation that not only was he going to continue the fight for equality, he was going to do it better than JFK, and make everyone see the value in it.  He declared a “war on poverty” and did just everything he could to wrap his arms around the American public.  A romantic version, I’ll admit, but it supports my point.   My point is that sometimes Presidents come at the right time.  JFK, LBJ, Reagan, Clinton, are some examples of presidents, who in my opinion were right on time.  They were what the country needed when they took office.    Could McCain be a good president?  Sure he could be a good President, maybe even a great one, but Obama is the President we need and I think he will be one of those presidents who came and gave the country what it needed. 

 

There is anxiety.  Is he going to be strong enough?  Is he going to be too black?  Not black enough? Is he going to sell our country to the Muslims? Is he a Muslim? What about experience?  What about competency?  I think Obama has answered many of those questions just through the operation of his campaign.  He has demonstrated he is cautious, measured, and analytical.  I think he has taken the high road on occasions where he could have easily done the latter.  I think he has been practical in his approach and clear in his intentions.  Much of the talk at the beginning of this campaign was that he could speak well but you didn’t know where he stood on the issues.  I think just everybody knows now what they’re getting if they vote for him.  For me, this was over in Iowa.  I was supportive but worried about him in Iowa.  Then he won and I said to myself, “it is happening”.    Obama has already given me all the inspiration and hope that he’s going to give me.  If he’s elected to make my life better and the world around me better—great!  However, I am already better as a Black man in America because of this man’s audacity.   So, no, I’m not scared of an Obama loss. 

 In these last couple of days, if you are fearful, watch Frontline THE CHOICE 2008, and make an informed decision about your next President.  If you care about this country and judging by all the early voting going on, you do, then you will be fully briefed about who your candidates are and what they stand for.   The worse thing we can do is vote out of fear.  We have to vote with optimism, it is what the world expects from us, but more to the point, the last time we voted out of fear, we voted for George Bush–a second time.  

 

 

 

 

 

City Hall – New York City

I had a post

It was, in my opinion, insightful and interesting

then, I was invited for a visit to City Hall for the first time in my life

It is a place where you feel history in the making and that doesn’t even touch the visual history you pass with each step.

It was in a word – awesome. 

Have a great weekend, vote (for Obama). 

The Wall Street Journal Has Lost Its Way

I’m sure there are some very bright people who work for the Wall Street Journal.  I’m just not sure if any of them actually write for the Wall Street Journal.  Perhaps they are porters or secretaries, perhaps even the IT people.  Clearly, they are NOT writers.  This paper has always had an air about it.  It was almost regal at one point to me.  There was just something to be said for the man on the train casually perusing the pages of the Wall Street Journal.  Sophisticated, smart, in the know….  Oh how the mighty have fallen.  I read the WSJ this morning and thought I was reading a London Tabloid, all that was missing was the mistrial declared in the Britney Spears reckless driving case…oh…wait…there it is.  I read an article this morning that actually insinuated that an Obama presidency might in fact hurt African Americans in the country and that very little of his historic candidacy can be attributed to the Civil Rights Movement.  Wow.  At 4:52 in the afternoon I can’t even touch that, but I will let you chew on it.  Tastes horrible doesn’t it?  I know.   I realize now what the WSJ is…it is ESPN.  ESPN attempts to link all that it can to sports, except the WSJ tries to link everything to business.  The problem for me as a reader is that very often there is no link and what is supposed to be a business story is really just a dressed up sports article.  I don’t need that.  When I pick up a WSJ, I’m looking for solid financial advice.  I’m looking for trends, leads, I’m looking to be current if not ahead.  I am not looking for a story on the guy who created the MLB logo…WTF????  I expect better from the WSJ, it could be and should be the bible of these times given our economic crisis.  In this ever increasing scream for leadership, this paper should be willing to provide the kinds of information and insight that we need as a country.  Yes that’s all some very vague bullshit, but the WSJ knows what that means.  It has been that publication before, it needs to go back to it.   I would hate to see such an historic, viable, important publication turn into People magazine.  Yuck.

The General Speaks: The Endorsement

I was pleasantly surprised at the endorsement Colin Powell gave Barack Obama on Sunday’s “Meet the Press”.  Then again, I’m not sure why…

There was a time when Colin Powell was the most popular black man in the country.  There was time when it was he, not Barack Obama, many thought would be the first black president in the United States.  There was a time….

Then he joined the Bush cabinet, went to war with the war hawks and lost.  His legacy a tad tarnished by faulty intelligence, a now infamous speech at the UN and non-existent WMD’s in Iraq.  He is an elder statesman and his is the voice people want to hear when the military is being discussed. It was great hearing him talk about diplomacy and the need for a transformation in this country.  It was great, and then it was sad, because I would have voted for Powell.  I looked up to the man, read his autobiography, and thought, wow, that guy went to City College City College is a good school, but no one mistakes it for Princeton.  I always felt his time in the White House was a step down for him, I feel even stronger in that assessment eight years later. 

His endorsement yesterday was dead on and his reasons were sound.  If Obama is the next President of the United States, I’d like to see Powell involved in a way that would afford him the opportunity for redemption.  I think he deserves that and I think the country would be better for it. 

THE GENERAL SPEAKS:

 

WHY I BLOG ABOUT POLITICS

I blog about politics to combat shit… 

LIKE THIS

LIKE THIS

 

AND LIKE THIS   

 

 

In another time these images would have fostered anger in me so deep I might not speak to another white person for weeks.  I know better now.  I know better because I know we are better than this.  The ignorance and racism that has permeated this election and in truth our approach to this election is just disheartening and sad.  We have so much to offer to the rest of the world.  So much to contribute and what do we give them??? “Obama Bucks”   This comes from the country that invented the automobile and the airplane.  This comes from the country that produced George Washington and Malcolm X.  This comes from the country that flew first at Kitty Hawk and then first to the moon.  This comes from a country that has the highest number of colleges and universities on the planet.  So much learning and education and consistent study and yet, when it comes to balancing our own prejudices, we fall so incredibly short.  How long is going to be?  How long is it going to be like this?  How long do we have to continue bring each other to our knees with the bullets of racism and prejudice?  How long are we going to this to each other?  TO EACH OTHER!!!!  I’m just so sick of it.  I’m sick of the implied racism, the covert racism and the overt racism.  I’m sick of the images and the stereotypes and all the ignorance it begets.  I’m sick of the segregation of our schools and neighborhoods that no one forces upon us but somehow we gravitate towards.  I’ll come off my soapbox but yeah, it does anger me, but not in the way of Molotov cocktails; more in the way of Mike Tyson.  It’s just fucking disappointing. 

Well, at least he can be a JOE. Right?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He Can’t Vote.

He Can’t be a Plumber

His name ain’t even Joe

I’m calling Karaoke Steve on that a**

Jesus, do we just buy into ANYBODY’S bullsh*t????? 

You’re right Ink!…it must be the testarone levels.

Spotlight: The Nineteenth Amendment

The Bill of Rights, The U.S. Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” pamphlet, the Emancipation Proclamation.  These are all historical statements that have and continue to shape the development of this nation.  Once a month or perhaps bi-weekly (we’ll see how it goes) I’d like to spotlight one or a part of these documents and invite some dialogue as to its importance.  We live in a nation where we can lampoon the President of our country without fear of retribution (although there is some debate on that).  We can assemble in protest, we can express ourselves in ways both lofty and base.

Today, I’d like to spotlight:  Amendment 19 – Women’s Suffrage

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.  Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation

My college history professor used to talk about “folk-ways” and “state-ways”.  She said, “You can change state ways but you cannot change folk ways.”  In many respects that’s what this amendment did, it changed folk ways.  Believe it or not there has never been a specific law which banned women from the right to vote—it was just implied by society.  I guess this why when people start talking about “let the states” do this and do that, I get nervous.  I am never able to forget the idea that it was “the states” which sponsored those hateful “Jim Crow laws”.

Ratified in 1920, the 19^th Amendment was brought to bear by groups of women called suffragists for wanting the idea of suffrage to apply to women as well as women.  These women were deemed immoral for wanting to perform an act that is clearly the most moral thing you can do for your fellow man and country—vote.  How interesting is it that we have come from a time where a woman voting was considered immoral for wanting to vote, to a time where we asked the question, “Will anyone vote for a woman?” to now, where you cannot realistically expect to win an election without the women’s vote!  I said it was interesting, actually, its amazing!  All I knew of this amendment growing up was that they put Susan B. Anthony on a dollar coin for it.  That’s a shame because the stories of the women who fought courageously for a right that should have just been granted to them as a birthright, are worth hearing and their contribution to this nation is worth revisiting.   

STOP DISENFRANCHISING VOTERS!!!!!

If you live in Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada, or North Carolina then chances are you are already aware of the illegal practice these states are engaging in by removing tens of thousands of voters from the rolls and blocking them for registering by improperly using Social Security information to verify applications for new voters.  We’ve seen this line of tactics before in 2000 and cannot allow them to happen again.  In Florida, thousands of residents were disenfranchised by their own state when they were illegally not allowed to vote.    It is common knowledge that the Democratic ticket has been the most aggressive in registering new voters.  It is also common knowledge that the Republican ticket would love nothing more than to lower the number of voters because it would create confusion and chaos and then they could work their black magic to steal yet another election.   We cannot let this happen.  If they win it, fine, but we have got to end the practice by political parties of circumventing the foundation of our democracy.  Our vote is our voice; it should not be stolen or minimized.   

It counts.  It means something. 

Even if it doesn’t mean anything to you, to the voiceless around the world it means something.  Even if it means nothing to you, to those who live under dictatorships without the freedom of speech, protest, and assembly it means something.  Even if it means nothing to you, to me, it means something. 

If you live in any of these state you need to contact your board of elections and ensure that you are properly registered to vote in your county.  Let them know you are not having it this time.

DO NOT LET THEM STEAL YOUR VOICE!!!!  

COLORADO  - COLORADO BOARD OF ELECTIONS

INDIANA - INDIANA BOARD OF ELECTIONS

OHIO - OHIO BOARD OF ELECTIONS

MICHIGAN - MICHIGAN BOARD OF ELECTIONS

NEVADA - NEVADA BOARD OF ELECTIONS

NORTH CAROLINA - NC BOARD OF ELECTIONS