Hey fam-lee! This is a very special time in our lives. Regardless to whatever the outcome is this January coming, we are witnessing history. I would like to log our voice in this time of change in America.

That being said, I want to use this thread as our podium to express our feelings, our wishes, not just for the candidates, but for ourselves. What do we really want to see, where do we want the country to be?

So, if you blog, post it. If you have poetry, prose, or just a feeling about something in this you want to share. I will have a series of headings, to keep this thread organized, please adhere to WHERE TO POST your musings and replies.

Thanks ya'll. We're in History... let's pen it.

&&%%** let's keep these types of work to this post!

** Depending on the participation, I may put up a collection plate post so we as a family can get our words self-published. I think an okay-collection based on this history-making time peroid would be something our children and perhaps children's children will dig** let me know.

Old Guard versus Young Blood


Today is a very important political day for all Americans. It is the wake of Super Tuesday and the relevance of an American Black President is truly more evident than ever before. The political rabble-rousing of Bill Clinton and his ear-marking of Obama’s success in the South Carolina Primary has now officially been over-shadowed by his taking of 12 of the 20 states in yesterday’s event.

Granted, at this time the delegate count is still being tallied, and Sen. Hillary Clinton has a slight edge at this point. Again, it is too early to tell exactly how close this democratic election is.

Knowing this, Black Americans find themselves in a position we are not used to. Where is our leadership? Where are the American Black leaders our community grew to rely on during the 50s, 60s and 70s?

So far, if you want to look to American Black leadership, look in two places. You will find them in the ground, or buried with their head in the sand. There is no true strength in the American Black communities because of many deep-seeded reasons, but a few factors are readily prevalent:.

1. Economics. The so-called leaders of the past are now comfortable with their regimen of talk shows, speaking engagements and book tours. They are in a tax bracket that has detached them from today’s youthful constituents.
2. Disenfranchisement. Today’s American Black youth are disinterested, disengaged and misinformed about the truth of the state of the Black community. They know that education and health care are severely down in the urban areas, they understand that interest rates are killing their wallet; debt is at an all-time high. They know the value of their dollar does not go nearly as far as it used to. What they do not understand is that the political process is how things change. (based on the last 2 elections it is easy to understand why they feel so disenfranchised).
3. Indifference. There is a definite divide in what our leaders discuss and what their constituents are going through. These are no longer the days of Minister El Hajj Malik Shabazz and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I say that not to knock what these and many other great Americans achieved, but to say the Civil Rights movement is over. We have achieved somewhat of the goals set before us. The problem is, the problems facing the American Black communities are not as overt these days. To say Black People as a whole do not understand truly what they are voting for is not an accusation but rather a feeling that swells throughout the community. We must be reminded of why we are still fighting and to remove the false sense of complacency that has besieged our community.

So, who’s going to take the weight? This is a question that is NOT directed at the political candidates, but rather our community itself. Once again, the need to galvanize our members is vastly apparent.

Our community really needs to put itself back together. Recognize that the education our children receive is lacking on a grand scale. The school system is being used as a baby-sitter to our children, an underpaid, over-worked, under-appreciated baby-sitter with poor materials and resources.

There is a stranglehold on our music and arts. Powers that be have no regulation on what hits the airwaves and internet waves thus setting our children up for a failure of epic proportions. Creativity has been railroaded by monetary influence of a select few who have no other vested interest in our communities other than exploitation.

Sub-prime Mortgages are directly aimed at the urban communities, where most American Blacks reside. Homes are foreclosing at a tremendous rate. Gas prices are $20-$40 higher per fill than they were 8 years ago. Food prices are sky-rocketing, Health care is at welfare conditions for a large percentage of American blacks (those who can actually afford health care). Family care plans (day care, health care, dental, life insurance) are so unaffordable as compared to wages, forcing many families to go without.

There is still plenty left to fight for. Our Fore-Fathers gave us the freedom we have now, what are we giving our children? What future will we have left when the world still sees black vs. white, where an American Black presidential candidate is a big deal, where a female presidential candidate is a big deal, where private industry continues to sacrifice creativity and imagination by monopolizing music and the arts, where the deficit rises, but salaries do not, where interest rates stifle credit ratings by suffocating its masses with unaffordable conditions, it is high time we laced up our Military Surplus boots, donned our red boxing gloves and tell the established environment that there indeed is a necessity for change, and we will put forth the effort to be the beacons of that change.

Older leaders, we thank you for your assistance, tutelage and guidance but it is OUR turn. It is now up to US to turn the corner.

Faxed mine in yesterday to the Fort Bend Office since relocated from to this side of town from the the northside (This is Houston i'm talking about)...

March 4th is going to be a big deal out here (Hillary Clinton challenging Obama to a Debate @ The George R Brown Convention Ctr 02/28); hopefully I could put in my vote then if not most definately by November...

That is all,
blk


me and the fellas would converge and heat up some Hot Pockets in preparation for Rap City.© Roc

dude, getting a response from the folks at freestyle is like watching water boil...© Tek

Geraldine Ferarro lets her emotions do the talking
By Jim Farber Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/07/2008 07:52:09 AM PST

As the only woman ever to be selected by a major political party for the position of vice president of the United States, Geraldine Ferraro is uniquely suited to comment on the political events of the day.

An outspoken advocate for women's issues and a staunch supporter of presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, Ferraro will offer her views on the state of the nation and the race for the White House at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Armstrong Theatre of the Torrance Cultural Arts Center Theatre in Torrance. The program is part of the American Perspectives series.

Speaking by phone from her New York law office, the 72-year-old former Democratic congresswoman outlined the themes that will dominate her talk. She also offered pointed observations
Former Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro will speak in Torrance Sunday.
regarding the Barack Obama juggernaut and what she sees as a sexist media bias against the candidate of her choice.

"I will probably start with a personal account, drawing attention to the historic firsts of both these candidacies in our party, and point out specific, significant differences between Hillary's campaign and mine," said Ferraro.

"I will discuss what I think's been going on in her campaign and the role of the media, which has been far larger than anything I've seen before. And I'll get into what this bides for the future. I may also speak about the superdelegates, since I was involved with their creation."

Born in 1935, Ferraro was a teacher, a lawyer and member of the Queens County District Attorney's office prior to being elected to the U.S. Congress in 1978, representing New York's 9th District. But it was the presidential campaign of 1984 that thrust her into the national spotlight, when Ferraro was chosen to be Walter Mondale's running mate. The campaign lost in a landslide to Ronald Reagan.

After two failed attempts to gain a seat in the United States Senate, Ferraro was appointed ambassador to the United Nations Committee on Human Rights during the Clinton administration. From 1996 to 1998 she appeared as co-host of the political television show "Crossfire." Currently, Ferraro is a senior managing director of the Global Consulting Group, a corporate public relations firm.

Despite suffering from multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer that limits her energy, Ferraro said she is committed to keeping up an active speaking schedule and doing everything she can to help the Clinton campaign.

"I'm on Hillary's finance committee. I've done a fundraiser for her here at my firm. And I went and worked the phone banks before Super Tuesday. I have to tell you, this is a very emotional campaign for me," Ferraro said.

When the subject turned to Obama, Clinton's rival for the Democratic Party nomination, Ferraro's comments took on a decidedly bitter edge.

"I think what America feels about a woman becoming president takes a very secondary place to Obama's campaign - to a kind of campaign that it would be hard for anyone to run against," she said. "For one thing, you have the press, which has been uniquely hard on her. It's been a very sexist media. Some just don't like her. The others have gotten caught up in the Obama campaign.

"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," she continued. "And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept." Ferraro does not buy the notion of Obama as the great reconciler.

"I was reading an article that said young Republicans are out there campaigning for Obama because they believe he's going to be able to put an end to partisanship," Ferraro said, clearly annoyed. "Dear God! Anyone that has worked in the Congress knows that for over 200 years this country has had partisanship - that's the way our country is."

As our conversation came to an end, Ferraro said of her upcoming talk in Torrance, "It's going to be very up to date. It's going to be my version of the inside story."

x(

She tried to say she ain't racist, but her comments come off as hella bigoted and pseudo~prejudice. She basically said the same shit about Jesse Jackson circa 1988 -- (See Below For Her Recent & Previous Comments)

Ferraro’s Obama Remarks Become Talk of Campaign


By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE and JULIE BOSMAN
Published: March 12, 2008

PHILADELPHIA — The Democratic presidential contest was jolted Tuesday by accusations surrounding race and sex, set off by remarks from Geraldine A. Ferraro that Senator Barack Obama had received preferential treatment because he is a black man.

Ms. Ferraro, the former congresswoman and vice-presidential candidate who backs Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, told The Daily Breeze, a newspaper in Torrance, Calif.: “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman of any color, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”
She made the comments last week, but on Tuesday, the Obama camp latched on to them, calling them outrageous and demanding that Mrs. Clinton repudiate them.

In an interview on Tuesday night, Ms. Ferraro defended her comments and said she was furious with the Obama campaign, accusing it of twisting her words.

“Every time that campaign is upset about something, they call it racist,” she said. “I will not be discriminated against because I’m white. If they think they’re going to shut up Geraldine Ferraro with that kind of stuff, they don’t know me.”

Despite calls that Ms. Ferraro step down from the Clinton campaign, where she is a member of the finance committee, there was no indication on Tuesday that she would.

But Ms. Ferraro’s comments dominated the day. Reached at her home in Manhattan on Tuesday evening, she said that, in her original remarks, she was asked why there had been so much excitement about Mr. Obama’s candidacy. “And I said, ‘I think part of it is because he’s black,’ ” she said. “People are excited about this historic candidacy. I am, too.”

But the Obama campaign “twisted” her remarks, she said. “I am livid at this thing,” she said. “Any time you say anything to anybody about the Obama campaign, it immediately becomes a racist attack.”
The Clinton campaign did not contact her on Tuesday, Ms. Ferraro said. “I don’t want them to reach out to me,” she said. “I’m exercising my First Amendment rights. If they don’t like it, tough. I don’t intend ever to have anybody tell me that I can’t say what I want to say.”

Ms. Ferraro said her involvement with the Clinton campaign had been vastly overstated. When asked what her role is, she said: “None. None.”

Last fall, Ms. Ferraro also indicated that she thought Mr. Obama was getting preferential treatment from the press. “It’s O.K. in this country to be sexist,” she said then. “’It’s certainly not O.K. to be racist. I think if Barack Obama had been attacked for two hours — well, I don’t think Barack Obama would have been attacked for two hours,” she said, referring to a Democratic debate.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ferraro Circa 1988 On Jesse Jackson
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Dumb Things Said By Smart People, History, Race

Folks, this is apparently a pattern.

From Washington Post, via Politico:

Placid of demeanor but pointed in his rhetoric, Jackson struck out repeatedly today against those who suggest his race has been an asset in the campaign. President Reagan suggested Tuesday that people don’t ask Jackson tough questions because of his race. And former representative Geraldine A. Ferraro (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that because of his “radical” views, “if Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn’t be in the race.”

Asked about this at a campaign stop in Buffalo, Jackson at first seemed ready to pounce fiercely on his critics. But then he stopped, took a breath, and said quietly, “Millions of Americans have a point of view different from” Ferraro’s.

Discussing the same point in Washington, Jackson said, “We campaigned across the South . . . without a single catcall or boo. It was not until we got North to New York that we began to hear this from Koch, President Reagan and then Mrs. Ferraro . . . . Some people are making hysteria while I’m making history.”

Wow. Shame on Reagan and double shame on Ferraro.
Who knew?

*Sheeesh*

That's why it is so important NOT to mke this campaign about race. Others will do it for us.

Ferraro quietly stepped down & outta da picture, but they ain't gonna let Wright off quietly -- from what I can see -- *tsk~tsk*

Race is still a determining factor -- (subliminally or not) -- Most of us can SEE it tho. :( *smh*

....What Bill Richardson Endorsement Does for Obama....

Tuesday, March 25, 2008 9:08 AM

By: Lowell Ponte



Will New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson become Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s running mate?


It could be a Democratic political marriage made in heaven.


Much of Obama’s appeal comes from his identification with both his African father and white mother, which has given him the ability to understand and communicate with voters on both sides of America’s deepest cultural-racial divide.


Three of Richardson’s four grandparents were Mexican citizens, but through his namesake international banker father Bill Richardson’s family tree traces back to the Mayflower. He is the ultimate Roman Catholic Hispanic and the ultimate WASP.


Gov. Richardson, who served as United Nations ambassador and as energy secretary in President Bill Clinton’s Cabinet, is America’s best-known Hispanic politician.


Richardson’s endorsement of Obama last Friday prompted longtime Clinton apparatchik James Carville to accuse his old comrade of “betrayal.”


“Mr. Richardson’s endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver,” said Carville, “so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic.”


Carville later refused to apologize for comparing Richardson to Judas Iscariot, who according to the Bible betrayed Jesus Christ.


Spokesman for Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign Howard Wolfson likewise refused to apologize for Carville’s harsh statement.


In recent days the campaigns of both Obama and Republican nominee-in-waiting Sen. John McCain have distanced themselves from and punished staffers and associates who made statements far less incendiary than Carville’s.


Sen. Clinton also has not moved an inch to distance herself from her longtime adviser and hitman Carville.


As Rush Limbaugh and others have noted, Carville’s remark did more than call Richardson a Judas. It also, by inference, compared Hillary Clinton to Jesus Christ, a comparison her personal silence on this matter seems to accept.


“That’s typical of many of the people around Senator Clinton,” Richardson said on “Fox News Sunday.” “They think they have a sense of entitlement to the presidency.”


Richardson on Fox refused to respond to Carville by getting “in the gutter like that.”


Both Bill and Hillary Clinton had seemed delighted during early Democratic debates when presidential aspirant Richardson sycophantically criticized rivals who challenged her.


Many, including this columnist, speculated that Richardson was in the race as her stalking horse, or was running merely to become her vice president.


After Richardson dropped out, the Clintons eagerly sought his endorsement. Falling behind in a desperate race with Obama, Ms. Clinton has looked to Hispanic voters in key states to help offset Obama’s growing advantage with fellow African-American voters.


At least one prominent Latina Clinton activist in Texas spoke openly of ethnic antipathies that pit Hispanics against blacks, a polarization the Clinton campaign has done little to discourage.


If Richardson’s endorsement and active campaigning shift even a strong minority of Hispanic voters to Obama’s banner, Clinton can kiss her aspirations to be president goodbye.


No wonder Carville reacted with infantile rage in a savage attempt to smear and denigrate Bill Richardson.


William Blaine Richardson III was born in California days before Thanksgiving 1947, but he was raised in Mexico City. He returned to the United States at age 13 and entered elite Middlesex prep school in Concord, Mass.


At New England’s prestigious Tufts University he earned a bachelor’s degree in French and political science in 1970, and a master’s degree from its highly regarded Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1971.


Although his dream career was to be a professional baseball pitcher, after failing to be drafted by a major team Richardson went to work for Republican Massachusetts Congressman Bradford Morris, then the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and then in Henry Kissinger’s State Department during Republican President Richard Nixon’s Administration.


Richardson thereafter moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Running as a Democrat, he narrowly lost a race for Congress in 1980, then won election to the state’s new third congressional seat in 1982.


On Capitol Hill he by 1983 was chosen chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. He soon established a reputation for sponsoring legislation to benefit Native Americans.


By the time Bill Richardson joined the Clinton administration, he had already served more than 14 years in Congress, a veteran moderate lawmaker liked on both sides of the aisle.


Imagine what it must have been like, therefore, when Bill Clinton in 1997 allegedly ordered his distinguished U.N. Ambassador Richardson to create a job for the president’s mistress Monica Lewinsky. Richardson complied, basically prostituting his position of public trust.


Richardson created for Lewinsky a well-paid job with taxpayer dollars in his office’s public affairs department.


Bill Clinton has never confessed what he ordered Richardson to do. Was the U.N. job a way of providing hush money to buy her silence? Or of getting a love-struck mistress out of his hair with a job hundreds of miles away in New York City?


But after Richardson had debased himself, Lewinsky turned the job offer down.


The little lies Richardson had told under oath before Congress, e.g. claiming that this job had preexisted and not been created just for Monica, almost derailed his 1998 confirmation as secretary of energy.


Bill Richardson knows the Clintons as only an insider can. He knows how ridiculous and obscene it is for James Carville to compare Hillary or Bill to Jesus Christ. No wonder Richardson wants to save America from a third term of the rapacious Clinton co-presidency.


Obama’s poll ratings had been sliding since the Clinton-orchestrated public outrage over his radical minister hit the news. But Obama’s polls began heading upwards again after Richardson’s public endorsement last Friday.


Voters apparently are smart enough to see that if this ultimate knows-where-the-skeletons-and-corruption-are-buried Clinton insider has turned against them, then all decent Democrats should follow Bill Richardson’s lead and switch to Barack Obama.

The distribution of delegates in the state, plus the updated results from the
additional caucus put Obama over Clinton total delegate wise for the state
99 / 94
http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/03/11/its-official-clinton-lost-texas/

(CNN) – Geraldine Ferraro has stepped down from her role as a member of Hillary Clinton's finance committee.

In a letter to Clinton obtained by CNN's Suzanne Malveaux — who spoke with the former vice presidential candidate shortly after she sent it to Clinton — Ferraro said she is stepping down so, "I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign."

Full letter:

Dear Hillary –

I am stepping down from your finance committee so I can speak for myself and you can continue to speak for yourself about what is at stake in this campaign.

The Obama campaign is attacking me to hurt you.

I won't let that happen.

Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do to make this a better world for my children and grandchildren.

You have my deep admiration and respect.

Now she can "work" BEHIND the scenes and not affect Hillary's rep up front! -- :P

(But she ain't foolin' nobody) SMH

Divide and Conquer.

In the aftermath of the Ferraro hate melee, there is one question that continues to bother me. What are we, as a united culture, afraid of? There is no question that Barack Obama is an African-American. Just as there is no question that Hillary Clinton is a woman. These are indisputable facts. To say that Mr. Obama is in the position he is because of this indisputable fact is wrong, but not racist. To say that being African-American works in his favor is the same as saying Mrs. Clinton being a woman works in hers. These are indisputable facts. Blacks came out to support “their” candidate, just as woman came out to support “theirs”.

To be up-in-arms because someone reminded us of this is, as Mr. Obama said, ridiculous. At first, I too was ready to crucify the ex-vice presidential hopeful for her comments, but we must look past certain things if the change that Mr. Obama is fighting for will ever be achieved.

This election is about more than melanin and chromosomes. This election is about bringing our family home from a war that should never have taken place. It is about fixing the economic debacle our hard-working citizens face every day. Falling economy, rising gas prices, stagnant wages, higher cost of food, astronomical heath care costs for individual polices, deplorable educational structures in inner city facilities, homeless Americans and the influx of foreclosed homes, moral turpitude, big business monopolies within every facet of America to include the news we see and read, the music, movies and television programs we watch thus controlling what view we have of ourselves and the world around us. This election should be about bringing attention back to America, where it belongs.

Do we realize that Ferraro’s comments echo a feeling in America? Bill Clinton’s comments in South Carolina were not racist, they appealed to a certain climate. Remember, these people are politicians. A politician’s job is to communicate to the people. All these politicians were doing was exactly that. To see the “uproar” is to say that America is still blinded by sight and not lead by its collective heart.

This works directly in the favor of the Republican Party. While the Democrats bicker over color and body parts, the Republicans are formulating platforms to further divide their voters and conquer the White House.

I have heard people say “If Obama doesn’t get the nod, I’m not voting…” or “Because of all this race stuff in the Democratic Party, I’m going Independent”. The divide and conquer scenario is playing out perfectly and the Republicans haven’t had to do anything.

Is what Mrs. Ferraro said true? Perhaps. But for the same reasons Mr. Obama is where he is right now are the same reasons Mrs. Clinton is in the position she is. This election will be a historic one. That much is already true. For the first time, we have an African-American AND a woman Presidential hopeful. BUT, it can also be historic in the fact that we let cosmetics allow another republican regime to kill off more of its younger population through war, economic starvation, and total lack of understanding of what AMERCIANS need.

We are happily engaging in segregation and that is NOT the America I want for my son. So please, vote with your eyes closed and your minds open. Vote for the policies and procedures you think will get our soldiers home, re-boot our economy and save America for our children.

Enough separation. Enough Black versus White. Enough of the Republican Regime. We’re running out of time.

With the economy going in the direction it is now ... OUT OF CONTROL ... and recession on our heels -- (Gasoline is predicted to be upwards of $4.00 a gallon by summer) -- and everything else is going ^UP^ in price -- *Everything except the paychecks* -- But "if" Obama were to get the Presidency, he'd inherit a bunch of shit to fix -- Shit that Bush will be leaving in his stead -- for those who don't know how it works -- IT TAKES AT LEAST TWO YEARS FOR THE 'NEWLY ELECTED" PRESIDENT TO GET TO HIS OWN AGENDA AND PLATFORM ... GOING FULL FORCE ... DUE TO THE PREVIOUS PRESIDENCY'S AGENDA.

You don't just jump right in and start over fresh ... As a "new" President, you still gotta work with the laws and bureaucracy of the previous regime -- and you still got the OTHER PARTY in your way as you attempt to get your agenda enforced.

My fear is that OBAMA's presidency would go down in history as a BAD period of recession -- (which is gonna happen any damn way regardless of who gets the Presidency / but it would reflect on HIM because he would be the one in office)

Ummmmmm -- It's kinda like folks might be saying: "Oh let him have it (the Presidency) -- shit is going down the drain now anywayz -- We can just blame him for why things are turning to shit and stinkin' up the WHITEHOUSE. -- (As if the ship weren't sinking already)

Bottom Line: It won't matter if it's a woman or a Black Man -- they're gonna take the blame for this recession and the downfall of the economy, etc., etc. ...... regardless.

America’s Identity, Lost

Hate-Mongering Media controls America’s perception.

For the last few weeks, we here at Afro American Pie have dedicated ourselves to bringing to light the feelings and pulse of the unspoken, the unsaid. Today, I feel as though we should use that voice to sound off on the one entity that seemingly controls the way we think, the way we communicate, the visions we see and perspectives we hear. I’m talking about sensationalism and the American Media.

The FCC has rules in place to protect Americans from certain words and images deemed inappropriate for its citizens and yet allows the USA Network, among others, to broadcast the word “n______” in every African American movie it plays. These same sensors bleep out the word God in a curse, but leave n____ for our children to hear. What’s the difference in bleeping out God with the “damned” as its precursor but yet openly allow young children to be exposed to such as if it’s nothing. I’ve personally written to USA in regards to this outrage with no response. That tells me all I need to know. The media wants us to continue to be n______s regardless to how any African American parent feels about it.

“If you don’t like it, just turn it off.” How many times have we heard our counterparts tell us this when we voice our frustrations. That is the same apathy that is killing the strength of our American citizens. There used to be a phrase that said “If you don’t like it, fix it.” Why can’t we still stand for action as opposed to absolution? Turning off what we don’t like will not get it off the air!

This brings me to my next point; The New York Governor prostitution story that has been burning up the periodicals. Granted, Ex-Governor Spitzer deserves what he faces for disobeying the laws he was elected to hold us accountable for. My issue is not with him or his handling but rather the young woman who the media has decided to turn into their next Brittany Spears. Where are the controls for privacy? Should her myspace page been accessed, pictures reprinted, family address given to the public? And should we know her name? Remember, as of yet no crime has been committed. There have been no arrests. They have a Governor apologizing for something he hasn’t exactly admitted to yet. BUT they released the woman’s information to a frothing public. They publish her half-naked image on the cover of the New York Post and elevate her to Anna Nicole Smith status all for the sake of ratings.

Barack Obama’s Pastor MUST be the lips, larynx, and brain of the deep-seeded hatred for America brewing within the Black Church, as well as the Black community. As outlandish as that seems, that’s how the news is portraying him. It is as if Mr. Obama has to waste time focusing on the comments (taken out of text) of his Pastor instead of focusing on that is truly important, America.

This type of sensationalism is detrimental, not only to America’s focus on the upcoming election, but also to America’s focus as a whole. It’s as if with all of America’s troubles, the media wants us to forget we’ve got a 5 year, bloody war going on. They want us to forget gas prices will be at $4.00 by summer time. They don’t want to talk about the crime rates in various inner-cities. They don’t want to remind us that Louisiana is still hurting and broken. They don’t want us to look at the tornado in Atlanta like it’s a bad thing. They don’t want us focusing on President Bush’s wire-tap initiatives. They don’t want us to think about the gates they are building around America and the implications of what this truly does to our citizens living on or near those borders. Don’t allow them to remind us that food prices are escalating. Don’t let them tell you of the real damage those West coast wildfires are doing to the climate and environment for our neighbors. The media doesn’t care about the affects global warming is having on the planet we live in. They don’t care that other places in the world are living in violence, abject poverty and fear (in some cases, a direct cause of this Bush War on Oil). They must not want us to focus on raising our children with morals and values because they show us that our Black youth have to be angst-ridden, material-focused, bratty, disrespectful and uneducated.

Media is allowed to be partisan, subjective, and allowed to flood the airwaves with stories that aren’t newsworthy, perspectives that are unique and not the true voice of America, and seemingly without fear of punishment or even a harsh chiding.

We should be embarrassed that most Americans know who the next American Idol is, who Trump fired this week, or how many points their sports hero put up in last night’s game but can’t spout off any positive changes to our society within the last five years. We should be saddened by how much we know about Britney Spear’s parenting skills and how least we are aware of gas prices, per barrel and exactly what that means.

My point is simply, until we decide to be aware, they will continue to show us what they “think” we need to see. If we cannot see that their blinding of our people is wrong, dangerous, and unfairly misrepresentative of all people, then perhaps the media has already won.

(((My point is simply, until we decide to be aware, they will continue to show us what they “think” we need to see. If we cannot see that their blinding of our people is wrong, dangerous, and unfairly misrepresentative of all people, then perhaps the media has already won)))


Based on the shyt I've been readin' most recently -- smear campaigns -- & sensationalizm in rare form -- I'd say THE MEDIA HAS ALREADY WON!!! Cuz most folks won't take the time to research or analyze anything -- they're too lazy -- so they'd rather "trust" whatever the media plants in their noggins -- and then let it grow all outta proportion and shit! -- *grrrrrr*

I had a conversation with a co~worker today -- (Mexican-American female) -- She was all apologetic about Obama not gettin' Texas support. He was here in S.A. last night but I was already @ home in my P.J.'s by the time he showed up at the rally (after 10:00pm)

She said she was afraid for Obama -- so she didn't vote for him, cuz she was afraid he might get assassinated -- *Huh? -- Wha?*

I dunno, but that seems like a pretty lame excuse if you ask me / and I told her so too! -- *rolls eyes* -- I mean, it may be true at some point in time, but I don't see it as a valid reason for not voting for him, THIS go 'round!

I shared something that was forwarded to me in email -- with her:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crispus Attucks, a black man became the first to fall in the Revolutionary War:

Crispus fell, so Rosa Parks could sit.

Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King, Jr. could march.

Martin Luther King, Jr. marched so Barack Obama could run.

Barack is running so our children can FLY!


*author unknown*

Then I explained something that made her think:

We as a people ... BLACK people have had to suffer racism, bigotry, discrimination, segregation, etc., etc. -- dealing with a lack of civil rights thru separate water fountains, separate & inferior schools, separate bathrooms, back of the bus mentalities, cross burning by KKK's in homes, churches, etc. ..... lynchings, jail, constant intimidation & threats ... you name it!

After "we" marched, boycotted, stayed in jail for nights on end, and suffered inhumanities for our civil rights & even died -- and once our rights were recognized -- DOORS WERE OPENED, NOT ONLY FOR THE "BLACK MAN" -- BUT FOR ~ALL~ MINORITIES TO WALK THROUGH -- *Hispanics, Indian Americans, Asians, etc.*

But "WE" opened the door -- through OUR sacrifices. We opened it so Everybody Else could go through it!

Now ...

Barack Obama is opening the door -- *Whether he wins or not* -- for other races to RUN for the presidency.

I mean -- There has NEVER been anyone else "but" WHITES running for President in the past. THIS IS HISTORY IN THE MAKING!!!!

I would love to see an Indian American running for President -- Hell, they were here FIRST before anybody! And how 'bout a Mexican American running for President, huh? And of course, I wanna see my African American Brothers in the White House as Presidents -- *No Doubt*

But Obama set the precedence -- He is the catalyst to keep the ball rolling.

And for that -- I am very proud! -- :D

Black folk are "scared" to vote for Sen. Obama in somecases because they fear for his life. Did it occur to these people that he has a wife and children. I'm sure Michelle voiced her opinions as soon as he raised the aire of inspiration. If his family knows this is the right thing to do, why can't we all embrace his descision win or lose, live or die. This is the America they talk about in the history books. Where a man can come up from nothing and can be President..

hey creative okp's. i just finished a project and i hope that you will enjoy it, it's a program for the radio station at my school. in honor of the barack 'n' hillary mania going on, i made a show "about black guys and white girls", using only music sung/played by black guys and white girls, and a phone conversation with my mother where she unknowingly reveals her hatred for hillary, as well as the time john mccain denied her a handshake at a yankee game

if you enjoy my poems, are interested in the election, want to listen to super-cool music, or if you just want a laugh, here is the link: http://www2.bigupload.com/download_frame.php?id_file=I53ZJ3J1NV


and sorry for the bigupload porn ads :)

oh! and if you live in san francisco then get ready for sfai radio!! coming soon!