Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Okay, so now it's a week later. After the thrill of victory that saw Barack Obama capture the Presidency, and not long after the cheers of those who helped him get into the White House had died down the morning after, there was this deafening and eerie silence that settled across America.
We're looking at 250 years after slavery, and somewhere in the area of over 100 years of Jim Crow laws, and a legacy of racial terror (lynching, segregation, hate mobs, etc.) America has elected a black president. I'm among many who thought that we wouldn't live long enough to see this day.
Obama’s election reflects the fact that this country has made great progress in the area of race relations and is likely to propel it to even greater heights. I'm optimistic enough to believe this. But as we all know, progress is never a straight line. There is always the danger of a backlash. Some of the backlash has been silent.
And the sad truth is, we know that backlash started well before the campaign was over. Let's be upfront about it y'all. Racial rage, clearly driven by fear of a brotha in the White House, began to break out around the country several weeks ago. Folks knew there was something big about to happen and they were beginning to act out because of that big something.
Remember the effigies of Obama that some idiots hanged with nooses on university campuses? And lets not forget that mob of McCain and Palin supporters caught on video shouting "Kill him" at a campaign rally. Or the shameless Republican terror tactics that included e-mails warning Repub members and supporters that carloads of Obama supporters were going to be coming from the inner city to cast their votes. And it didn't stop there.
The real is a healthy majority of Americans did vote to send Obama to the Oval Office. But, clearly, there are people, perhaps millions of them who are deeply upset over his victory for reasons that are fundamentally racial. And their anger is likely to intensify as the economy, especially unemployment, continues to worsen.
Right now though, there's that silence. It's loud and it is deafening. Akin to when a person goes into shock. Or as someone else told me, when one mourns.
Even as we embark on a new national adventure, the signs are, well pretty distressful. It may be that the hatemongers are wrong, that Americans’ better angels will prevail and the changes that President Obama has promised are already sweeping this country will not result in a growing rage on the right.
But experience tells us that while we hope for the best, we also must unfortunately prepare for the worst. And that worst can be a dangerous, racially motivated backlash of hate. You can't hear it now, but it is being whispered. In the dark, hell even in the light. Right beside you and beside me. In that cubicle to the left of you. Or that car to your right. Maybe even closer than we may think.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Here's an understatement. The US 2008 presidential election campaign has been exciting. At times for me, even stressful. The election of the 44th president of the United States may very well be the most historic and important election in this country's history. President Barack Obama not only has become the first African-American president but will have the full support of a Democratic party led Congress.
We have finally (sweet Jesus it took forever didn't it?) seen the demise of the Republican party that was jacked up by the George W. Bush administration and the handling of the economic crisis that is currently kicking our country in the backside. Now, as the USA is in full recession, can we say that the ghosts of the past are rising?
What a ride. For some, it took awhile before they boarded the Obama express train. There were specifics that had to be acknowledged. What exactly was the Jr. Senator from Illinois bringing inside all of those candid speeches and fancy words? Charisma can only go so far after all. But that was yesterday and I'm not one to look back. It's all about the future now.
Will a Barack Obama and a Joe Biden administration launch a new deal in the style of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt? (Do your google search on what FDR did when he got into the White House) For now, we savor this sweet victory as we look forward to a new and wise government from the White House.
Here's to a brand new day...
Monday, October 20, 2008
I have 2 accounts right now and I'm constantly looking at them to make sure everything's on the up and up because when the economy is in a massive state of flux like this one is right now, financial institutions find ways to compensate.
Nickel and diming everything in sight. And anyone who knows me, knows I'm not one to take a magnifying glass to my account. Making small numbers into big numbers by examining the placement of every single decimal point does nothing for me unless those big numbers are synonymous with showing more green in the black on my bank statements.
But after Wall st. became a farmer's market a few weeks ago, one thing is for sure. NOTHING is certain and folks are scrambling. People who I never thought would consider working 2 jobs are trying to work 2 jobs. Even though when I accepted a night position that had nothing to do with my day time job about a year ago, folks thought I was putting more pressure on myself than I needed to.
Truth was, without the supplemental income that I had coming in from my art ventures to pad my bank accounts, I had to rely on my actual paycheck to pay for things. Imagine that! Not a big deal because my art money was for luxuries. That was my play money so nothing "important" was being choked off.
But once the play money began to thin out and I looked back at the assignments I did last year, 2007 had become the worst year I had drawing for income. The only good thing I can offer in this is that with less than 90 days to go in 2008, THIS year will unfortunately take that crown.
Unless of course, I have a deluge of assignments between now and December 31st, this will make the third in as many years of a downward spiral in commission work. You'd best believe true believers. Things are getting serious.
So I've begun tapping into my lil luxuries cutting things down or off altogether to compensate for the storm that's coming. I don't have my car detailed that much but I do it enough that when you add up the receipts, ooo-weee. What a shot in the pocket that is. Maybe it was my washing my car last week in front of my house that drew the attention of Ms. Parker 2 huh? -lol
My house phone, the one I barely use has far too many additions in it for me to keep them. I don't need 3-way calling, call-forwarding, caller ID, and whatever useless functions on there. Besides, with me using my cellie nearly 99% of the time, most of those features became expendable quickly.
Aside from long distance, out the door with them. And I've also downgraded my Blockbuster membership from the 3 movies out at any given time with unlimited store exchanges, to the option that offers a one for one for a great price of $5.99.
I drove Mimi's car to work a couple of times per week to save on gas. I've got a large SUV, and Ingrid consumes a nice sizeable amount of gas even when the prices are at $2.89 a gallon. Saving is saving. And I'm sure there's more to come in the upcoming months, but this is a start. oneSo faithful reader.
What are you doing to compensate for the financial tsunami that is going on out there? Are you making it, surviving or just trying to get over the hump on a slippery slope? Let me hear you. Cage from the bunker, out.
