Resolutions

Happy New Year! It’s that annual time of year for reflection and resolutions. As we all plan to finally drop those last five pounds or call Mom more, let’s add an even larger resolution to our list. Let’s all be our own hope makers. Let’s inspire and see hope in each other. Let’s remember that when we work together, we can hold our leaders accountable. Yes, it sounds daunting, but really it only takes a change in our frame of minds. We must all look at the next person as a participant in our shared human narrative. We all live the same story. We all suffer from broken government and impending climate crisis. When the islanders of Manhattan can relate to the suffering of the islanders of Tuvalu, we will be on the road to progress. When it becomes more important to fight for the future of our world than our respective nations, we would have made progress. When the word austerity strikes fear in the hearts of the richest of our nations, and not just the poorest, we will indeed know progress. Let’s return dignity to the human condition. Let’s make how a person lived their lives more impressive than how much money they amassed and couldn’t take to the grave with them. So, my New Year’s resolutions: Yes, drop those last five pounds, call my mother more often, and open my eyes, ears, mind and heart to all the peoples of the world. Wishing everyone a happy and progressive New Year!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays! Enjoy your holidays and your family and friends!

Focus, People Focus

The saddest thing that has come out of this tax the poor to pay the rich debacle is the Democrats lack of political focus. Yes, we are all pissed that President Obama (yeah, I’m to mad to call him Barry) has cut a deal we all hate. Instead of carping on that, we need to remind the American people who the real culprits are in this situation. The fact that the Republicans have put the country in this position should be screaming from the headlines. To be honest, I have to say I feel a hint of respect for the position President Obama (still mad) took. He knew he would hear it from the Left (and rightly so), but he actually put the American citizens ahead of politics. Sort of…. It’s easy for pundits and our millionaire Congress to say let’s fight it out. We can back pay the unemployment benefits to those who lose out while we argue. You can not pay the rent with promises of unemployment checks. You can not feed your children with back pay. Promises will not make your car payment. My problem is that President Obama (really angry here, people) should have gotten a better deal. If you are going to play chicken with my grandchildren’s financial future, you need to at least get the unemployment benefits extension to match the length of the unnecessary tax cuts. Thirteen months versus two years? Honey you are part African, you can haggle better than that! Giving tax relief to the dead and losing tax cuts for the working poor? Do they have dirty pictures from your college years?  Yes, it is a blow to the Democratic agenda. No, we do not need to be putting all the blame on President Obama (yep, still pissed). We need to remember, and remind the country, that this situation has stemmed from one thing: the Republicans trying to keep themselves from becoming an unemployment statistic. No tax cuts for the rich, no campaign funds, no jobs. It’s up to us as Democrats to remind the public of who is really at fault, and come 2012, make the Republicans regret that unemployment was only extended thirteen months.

Pulse

I love walking through these streets anonymously. Drifting through the crowded sidewalks like a spirit pulsating to the rhythm of the city. The glare of the lights giving form to my features and the noise of the traffic is my only voice. The slap-slap and tap-tap of the 16 million feet on the pavement playing on my iPhone. Gliding through the lights of the night and slipping through the shadows of the day. I can hold the city’s pulse in my heart and reach out my finger tips to stroke the pulses world wide: Tokyo, Rome, Lagos, Sao Paulo, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Cape Town, Seoul, Mumbai, Jakarta! Fingertips pulsing and heart beating, the beats align - for one blinding moment we are all connected and moving to the same beat of the street. Human to human - children of whatever deity we choose to give thanks to. We all feel the grind and the pleasure of rubbing against each other. The heat of the friction binding us to the common goal - make it to the next day, see another sunrise, give in but push back. Slip back into that night and that welcoming front door that is the portal in, and out, of our urban experience.

Adjust Your Channels

Okay so I am paraphrasing The Twilight Zone, but really that is what I feel like I have tuned into every time I turn on the TV to watch the mainstream media coverage of the “news”. Yes, I did put that in quotations. No, I am not trying to be ironic. Basic cable has ruined journalism. I remember watching Ted Koppel on Nightline when I was growing up. We all used to tune in with my Dad explaining the issues to us kids during the commercials. I am not sure if it was Ted’s reporting or my father’s running commentary, but I always felt like I was being informed of what was really happening in the world. Now they have turned Nightline into some generic “infotainment” show.  Poor Ted. At least there is still the MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour, another staple in my younger years. But, what about CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News? Well, let’s just go ahead and burst Fox News’s bubble and admit that there is no actual news on that channel. Please stop calling yourselves Fox News and go by your real intentions - Fox Opinions and Drivel. You are allowed your opinions, but you are not allowed to call them facts nor news. I have to say I feel almost the same way for MSNBC. Their key “anchors” are really pundits, but at least their opinions are based on actual facts and investigative journalism. Again, I don’t mind them having an opinion, but they should call it reporting with an *. Yes, I agree with the reporting* on MSNBC, but what about just straight news, just giving the public the facts? We have CNN, right? Wrong! This hurts me to say. I have been an avid viewer of CNN since my father declared me old enough to watch all the hard truths of world. What I have noticed over the past two decades of watching CNN is a shift away from asking any really hard questions. I would love just once to see John King say to a conservative pundit, “Well how are going to balance the budget and pay down the deficit when you want to continue throwing tax dollars down the throats of the rich? Have you found a third dimension where jobs magically spring from a unicorn’s butt?”. Just once John, just once. But, I do have to give props to Candy Crowley for holding down the fort, I tune into her with a smile on my face every time.  So where can I get real, actual reporting you ask? Here is a list of various sources I have found both informative and entertaining:

-If you are looking for real journalism: Amy Goodman of Democracy Now. Talk about putting yourself out there to inform the public! Please find her at democracynow.org

-If you are looking for a gateway: The Best of the Left Podcast produced by Jay! Tomlinson (his exclamation point, not mine). It is a compilation of a number of news sources and a good way to find other outlets to news. You can find him at thebestoftheleftpodcast.com.

-If you need to chuckle while you learn: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and my personal favorite,  Real Time with Bill Maher.

-If you need to chuckle and learn enough swear words to make your merchant marine brother blush: The crazy kids of Citizen Radio Jamie Kilstein and Allison Kilkenny. WARNING: This show is Not Safe For Work or your Grandmother with a heart condition! You can find them at wearecitizenradio.com.

This is a very abbreviated list of my personal favorites. I hope you know of some and go look for others because the only way we are going to bring about a real and lasting change is to become the educated citizens that keep a democracy alive and strong.

Running with Scissors

What does the new American reality mean for the overlooked in society - women, minorities, and the poor? What is the new American reality you ask? It’s a reality that parents are facing when they finally admit they cannot afford to send their straight A honor student children to college. It is a reality that seniors are facing when health care costs are creeping into their grocery budgets. It is the reality that those striving to get back to work are facing when they keep emailing resumes and attending every job fair possible to no avail. It is not coincidental that as resources become more scarce, women, minorities, and the poor are the groups most harshly affected. Compare the national unemployment rates and the unemployment rates of minorities. The national unemployment rate is currently 9.6%, while the rate of African Americans is at 15.5% and for Hispanics it is at 12.4%. The unemployment rate has jumped by 4.7% for African Americans while falling from 8.6% to 8.3% for White America. Kinda hard not to miss the discrepancies there. Now after hearing the draconian cuts the leaders of the Budget Commission want to make, I shudder for the future. Of course the cuts look to slash into everyone but the absurdly rich and their corporate hounds. Of course they are going after Social Security, but amazingly they want to also go after the healthcare of our veterans. Yes, they ask for cuts in the Defense department and the Pentagon, yet no mention of killing the Bush tax cuts for the rich or ending the wars that are bleeding us all dry. If there has ever been a time for the Obama administration to put bipartisanship on the shelf, it is now. I hope Barry becomes President Veto in order to protect the 98% of the American public that is not rich or tied to a multinational conglomerate.

Going Native

It’s always funny being this little voice thinking - maybe if I scream loud enough the city may hear me. It might even pause for one brief moment and look me in the eye. Acknowledge my presence and remind me that I exist. I can stop being that creeping shadow, sliding through the bright streets, cutting into tourists pictures so someone will note that I was here, I walked these streets. Bill and Margie will grumble to their friends in Bends Oak, Tennessee - oh those New Yorkers are so impatient, this one couldn’t even pause for a moment to let Dad snap the picture. So busy in the big city, so busy. In Bends Oak I’ll be noticed, but its the tender attentions of New York City all us transplants crave for. Name in lights, top of the towers fame. The glitz of the paparazzi, the familiar winks of the maitre d’s. That’s the New York we have all come for. We don’t prepare ourselves for the stench belched out of the Port Authority or the cruel elbows of the truly busy natives when you just don’t move fast enough. The heart break that follows the shattered dream is the worst and the best thing to happen to all us hopefuls. It makes us face the mirror and either jump the bus home or dig in deeper and fight back. Claws out, teeth bared, those of us that stay are up for the fight. Even if we have to take half of SoHo with us, we will make it here. “Make it” gets redefined every couple of years from name in lights, to name on mortgage (Yea! I own a piece of the city!). But the battle scars are worth it, when that one glorious morning you wake up (or stumble home) a Native!

Moving Forward

Well, it’s over. The overwhelming coverage of the 2010 Midterm Elections is finally winding down. CNN is putting away all its new toys and the pundits are cashing their very fat overtime paychecks. The hecklers on the right are reveling in their apparent victory, and the hecklers on the left are licking their wounds. What seems to be left out of the tallying of the “chicklets”is the very basic question: what happens to the Middle Class now? What happens to the 9.6% that can’t find a job? What happens to the mothers who pray their children just don’t get sick? What happens to the homeowners who are so far underwater that drowning sounds like a good thing? We can only wait and see. We can wait to see just how much “anger” can be turned into governing. We can wait to see how the Middle Class will benefit from the privatization of Social Security and the demise of Medicare the Tea Party candidates were calling for. We can wait to see if the Obama administration will continue to acquiesce too much in the name of bipartisanship to the conservative establishment that refuses to move anywhere near the center. But, we can’t wait for long. Yes, let’s hope that now that this election cycle is over, we can actually begin the real work that it will take to save the Middle Class. Let’s hope that now that the Republicans have a personal stake in the success of the country, the will begin work on the side of the American people. I know, I may be holding my breath until 2012.

Stop.Listen.Think.

Are we listening or thinking anymore? Have we turned such a deaf ear that we can no longer see the humanity in each other? How can a group of people participate in the beating of woman because of her political views? This is still the United States of America, right? By now we have all seen the video of young woman from MoveOn.org being thrown to the ground and trampled by Rand Paul supporters after a debate in Louisville, Kentucky. From the latest reports the Rand Paul campaign has distanced itself from the ring leader of the beating. Great, but my question is, where does the responsibility lay for putting this group of people in such a mind state that they would literally beat a person for disagreeing with them. This election cycle has been so riddled with hate speech and violence, that I am not really surprised that it has brought out the worst in its participants. When you can have someone like Sharron Angle call for a 2nd Amendment solution to her possible defeat, the envelope has been pushed to bursting. In the next couple of days this country is going to feel the turmoil of an election that will further divide a country already at a breaking point. We don’t have to agree, but we at least have to listen to each other. We have to meet each other with facts not anger. We need to rely on mutual respect for each other’s humanity to keep us from delving into violence. Both sides feel as though the other side is misguided, and both sides feel neglected and misunderstood. When defensive meets defensive, nothing gets done and the futures we are trying to save continue down the path of ruin. Each and every American on both sides are fighting for the future of the country, but I ask that we keep it a clean fight. So when your politician du jour releases an inflammatory statement or commercial, stop the blood rage and listen to what the person is actually saying. Finally, think: is this person really going to lead the country to a better future? That answer is for you to decide. That vote is for you to cast.

The Energizer Donkeys

It’s hard to believe that people are still sitting around waiting for President Obama and the Democrats to energize them. The whole notion of the “enthusiasm gap” is ridiculous. Yes, it is hard to stay positive mired in our current economy. For any parent whose child now has health insurance, I am sure they are plenty jazzed. For all those working mother’s who now, by law, have to receive equal pay as their male co-workers, I am sure they are jumping for joy. For anyone who doesn’t want to see the world end in a giant Hollywood style nuclear apocalypse, we are enthused! The problem the Democrats are having is their inability to show the voters all they have accomplished in past two years. Yes we all would have loved to see more, an honestly better, progress. But it has only been less than two years. Just to review:

-economists agree that the actions taken by the administration (including the stimulus) have prevented a depression

-we still have two women on the Supreme Court - and one is a Latina

-then there is healthcare: no we did not get the single payer system most of the country wanted, but we did gain some points with pre-existing conditions being covered and more children actually receiving coverage

-banks are no longer allowed to basically loan shark student loans

-the administration also mostly lived up to the lowering of taxes for the middle class promise

-it also restarted the stem cell research that was stopped by the Bush administration

-we also now have tougher standards for credit card companies that no longer allow them to cheat us at every turn

-there has been major troop removal from Iraq

-and finally we have improved our chances of not bringing the world to an end with a nuclear holocaust because this administration was able to work out a nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia

The Democrats give too much weight to the media and their nonsense polling. For goodness sake - they have a poll of all the polls! Is it just me or have things gotten out of hand? Once the Democrats not only remind the voters of what they have done, but of what the Republicans will not do, they will be sprinting to the polls. One instance - remember the hellacious economy I just mentioned? Thanks to that record amounts of tax paying citizens have been out of work for longer than they expected or care to be. When the time came from Congress to extend the unemployment benefits, the Republicans overwhelmingly voted against it. Yes people - the Republicans think you do not deserve the money you have been paying into the system since your first taxable paycheck. Just to be clear, this is the money you have had removed by the government just in case you loose your job and needed help. So the Republicans are saying it is perfectly fine to give billions (if not trillions) of tax payer dollars to the people who drove the economy into the ground, but you, the tax payer, cannot have the money you have been earning since you entered the work force! If that does not put a bit of energizer bunny in your step, I don’t know what will!

Grind,Grind,Grind

Living and working in New York City is nothing like the television shows and movies. Running through the street in stilettos, hailing cabs, and brunching...sprained ankle please! Here it is grind, grind, grind, sparkle of what life could be like, and then back to the grind, grind, grind. But, honestly, there is no better place to grind. I cannot imagine myself living this life anywhere else. Up by 5:30, packed into a train by 7:20, nasty armpit in face by 7:30 - out of the office by 5:30 on a good day, at the gym by 5:45 (that elliptical does wonders for your stamina when you need to dodge tourists in Times Square because, as always, you are late meeting your friends for whatever movie they convinced you was worth $13.00), back on the train by 7:30, second offensive body odor attack of the day (the specific stench varies in the evening) by 7:45, home by 8:45, and lastly dinner thrown down your throat by 9:30. Now you get that whole one and a half hours to either handle the personal business you couldn’t sneak in during work hours, call the family so your mother does not forget she has a third daughter, and you can further solidify your place as the “on the phone” auntie with your nieces. Every once in a while, every red moon, you can just relax, until you have to brush your teeth and secure your house with the 11 o’clock news reminding you why you pay so much for your security system. Finally somewhere between 11:30 and midnight you fall into bed cursing that it was only Monday and you have to repeat this day four more times until the sweet, sweet relief of the weekend!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Oh my fellow Black women - not to put our business on blast, but let’s talk about respect today. Let’s talk about giving ourselves the respect we are constantly demanding from the “others”. It’s time we lead by example. Let’s create and nurture relationships with each other that are based on mutual respect and consideration. Let’s give a friendly nod to the “other black woman in the room” instead of the scowl or cold shoulder. Let’s not look down our noses at the young black girls in their “hoochie” attire with the volume turned up to 11. Let’s instead challenge them to expect more from themselves, by demanding more and better from them. The respect we seek is a reflection of the respect we give. So give plenty and give often - and please, give it to each other!

SBWS

I wonder why I am not allowed to be single. When men do it, they are swinging bachelors (insert 60’s go-go music). When white women do it, they are living the urban lifestyle (insert Sex and the City theme song). When I, a black woman, do it I am suffering from a national epidemic - Single Black Woman Syndrome. SBSW!  Being in my early 30’s, SBWS is supposed to be the most pressing concern in my consciousness. Curiously, when I wake in the morning, my first thoughts are never “Where are you Prince Charming?”. I lean more towards, “How am I going to use today to build the life that I want for myself?”. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of companionship. Cuddling is fun. I just don’t feel this desperation for it that all the magazines and news programs are telling me I should feel. I doubt I am the only one. So why the hype? Is it an attempt to create another “otherness”to put on black women? Is it another attempt to make us feel inferior, unloved, and non desirable? I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions. Either way, for all the other black women who refuse to suffer from SBWS - stand strong and proud of your choices! For those of you starting to feel a few of those suffocating symptoms - I say cast your net wide. Stop limiting your choices - give your number to that cute Asian guy hitting on you on the R train. Enjoy your life ladies (insert the Pharrell remix of 60’s go-go music)!

The New York Night

Nothing is more unforgiving than the New York night. You always start with the hopes for a fun night - good music, good food, good company. Half way through, the reality of it hits - the trek to the subway was killer in six inch heels, “he” showed up but turned out to be a moron, and worst of all - the band sucks! The most agonizing moments are felt from the instant you are ready to leave and the moment you can duck out. Whether you are waiting for a girlfriend to make her play for her “he”, or you are being polite and not deserting the host like everyone else. You find yourself itching for the door and sweet escape down the three flights of stairs you cursed all the way up in those six inch heels. When you finally make your getaway you slip off the heels and bust out the flip-flops and reclaim the night. The mystery and depth of a street you have never been down calls to you making you decide to take a subway from a further station because you have never seen this part of the city in such a brilliant glittering darkness. You forget about your inane “he” and start wondering about the guys sleeping on the benches. You crane your neck to catch the glow of the moon and street lamps off the prewar buildings and catch glimpses of the modern kitchens the new occupants have crammed into them. It’s at these moments the New York night breaks your heart. With all certainty you know your place in this metropolis. It is small. No matter how much we beg, plead, shout and chest thump, the night will reduce us to the worshippers we are. It will shake us from the dream we are trying to create for ourselves and place us back into the reality of navigating puddles and cobblestones. With heavy hearts we finally descend the subway stairs and like all little ants in their ant hills - we march home.

Let's Call A Spade A Spade

The Tea Party is racist. There, I said it. The. Tea. Party. Is. Racist. No more dancing around the question. Anyone who could question the birth certificate of someone as vetted as President Obama is coming from a hateful, illogical place. For anyone to say they don’t “know” a man who has written two best selling books on his life experiences and personal philosophies, they are just choosing to remain ignorant. This ignorance is based on fear. Fear that they will never have the false nostalgic 1950s’ outlook on life again. President Obama’s election has forced them out of the closet. They have to stand in the clear light of day and acknowledge that race no longer automatically puts them at the top of the food chain. Their worst nightmares have come true. The slaves finally revolted - not with guns, but with education and determination. It is driving them to the madness that the White House has been smudged with Brown. This mad-Tea Party disease has been very profitable for the Rushes, the Glenns, and unfortunately our main stream media. All are so sworn to the ultimate goal of selling ad time, they have no qualms widening a divide that could do great harm to this country. For millionaires like Rush and Glenn to feed off the fears of these people is disgusting. The only way we can stop these social vampires and bring this country back from the tipping point is to go ahead and acknowledge the elephant (yes, GOP I am looking at you) in the room. The Tea Party is racist. And you know what, in a country built on personal freedom, they are allowed to be who they are. So fine, it’s your right to promote your racist agenda. But, it’s not within your rights to co-opt this country. You cannot let your fear destroy this country. The rest of us cannot stand by like asses (yes, Democrats I am looking at you) and let it happen. We have to acknowledge where this “energy” is coming from and who is manipulating it for ad dollars, before we can overcome it. And it must be overcome. We are wasting our time debating President Obama’s birth certificate while the country is slipping into poverty. We are wasting our time questioning President Obama’s faith while our children are losing the math and science skills they will need to keep our country viable in the future global economy. We are wasting our time condemning the First Lady for taking a vacation while we should be concentrating on strengthening our economic ties to our allies and leveraging them into a new green economy. So, let’s take that first step and acknowledge the racist rantings for what they are. The best way to dispel fear is to bring it out in the open. Tea Party step out into the light. Let your racist flag fly free. You don’t have to wink, wink your racial indictors anymore - Luo tribesman this, Luo tribesman that. It’s okay, the country is mature enough to accept you for what you are, racists. We are also grown enough not to let you destroy us, see you in November!

General Announcement

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENT: It is not my job to make you comfortable with my presence. I exist. Yes, I am here. You can see me. I do not need to shuck and jive and amuse you to be in The Room. I have more than earned my seat at the table, and yes, I will be adding my voice to the conversation. What conversation, you ask. Well, the National Conversation on Race, of course! When did we start that conversation, you ask. Despite popular media consensus, it did not start January 20th, 2009. It has been going on for the past 400 years. Those people forced on a boat and shipped here, well they were the first to raise their voices. This conversation has been going on for a while, it’s not my fault you have been ignoring it. Does your anger and panic stem from your choosing only to acknowledge it after I have taken my rightful place at The Table? Well, let’s take this moment to welcome you to the conversation. I am very curious to see what you have to offer that is not race baiting or crocodile tears. So, let’s talk…...