OBAMA'S BLACK FACE MOMENT

I am going to keep this entry short, and you all know I am not short for words about serious ISSUE to concern ME but this one I had just put out there for Blogger Opinion.

I was mid-way with a New Blog posting with my take on Rev. Jeremiah Wrights speech during the past weekend's NAACP affair and his Press Questioning and Answer Session when I saw on television the HOT OFF THE PRESS AND BREAKING NEWS that Barak Obama condemns his Pastor. He is quoted as suggesting that Rev. Wright’s “performance” was an OUTRAGE and his "comments were not only divisive and destructive”.

Was he talking about Rev. Jeremiah Wright or Flava Flav?

"I’m outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw yesterday." I find these comments appalling. It contradicts everything that I’m about and who I am. They offend me, they rightly offend all Americans and they should be denounced. That’s what I am doing very clearly and unequivocally here today." – Barak Obama

I know we are talking about Obama's denouncing of his pastor as all Politics but in rejecting Rev. Wright, not only does he reject his own Spiritual Compass, but the Black Church, Black History and a larger body of Black folk and their connection to America through the Church and him.

“In the past, we were taught to see others who are different as somehow being deficient. Christians saw Jews as being deficient. Catholics saw Protestants as being deficient. Presbyterians saw Pentecostals as being deficient.

Folks who like to holler in worship saw folk who like to be quiet as deficient. And vice versa. Whites saw black as being deficient. It was none other than Rudyard Kipling who saw the "White Man's Burden" as a mandate to lift brown, black, yellow people up to the level of white people as if whites were the norm and black, brown and yellow people were abnormal subspecies on a lower level or deficient.” - Rev Jeremiah Wright

Barak Obama is an American so it's hard for me to accept and or see why he has to continue to prove to be American to everyone else when he only has to just BE. The one issue I have always had with those following Obama and love him as their candidate is that the see him as ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE. The one thing about those that are ALL THINGS is that they often fail ALL THE TIME TO ALL PEOPLE. Obama is a MAN and like Men he is flawed which is why he has FAITH and in his FAITH, he worships DIFFERENTLY. And in the words of Rev. Wright, Different isn't Deficient.

I don't feel sorry for Barak Obama in regards to his rejection to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, I feel "sadden" for for HIM.

When you are diminished by YOUR Nation, pressured, manipulated away from your Spiritual Compass, that one person also being your "father figure", a Nation that has you denounce your Spiritual Leader, a leader that has connected you to your CHURCH and your Spiritual FAMILY and have you reject this before the WORLD, if you are willingly or even reluctantly, IN MY OPINION it shows a weakness in Character for one's FAITH. One should not have sympathy from AMERICA (the very Nation whom invented the concept of Freedom of Speech, Expression, and Religion) or Black Christians on this subject because both did not bother to question and allowed this treatment to fall upon a citizen, let alone Barak Obama. And to chock this up to those that are Christians and proudly speak within their “Faith” say, "He had to say this for "Political Reasons", speaks volumes to their hypocrisy comparing them to those who do not like the Clinton's and express that they "will do anything to win". This Black Face Moment now becomes Obama's “Anything To Win" moment”.

I can't see how a MAN, guided by his Faith can dismiss his beliefs for MAN'S LAW unless his Faith was a means to an Opportunity. For those that do not know, Trinity is a VERY powerful and influential CHURCH in Chicago and in the Midwest just as Ebenezer is in the South and Abyssinian is in the North. When you become a member of these Churches you are a standing member in a LONG STANDING HISTORY of Social, Political and Economic Change in America. To reject that, you do more than distancing, you begin to open eyes, ears and hearts to a HUGE SUPPORT NETWORK.

Rev. Wright stated that he is a Man of Faith and that his service is to that of GOD where as Obama is a Politician who must speak to the people and has to say whatever it takes to be a Politician.

I agree with Rev. Wright on this point, and thus Obama's dilemma for Being All Things To All People is careening into a Brick Wall. The thing about Being All Things to All People is that you eventual FAIL ALL PEOPLE IN ALL THINGS.

Obama should have stayed on message. HE HAD ADDRESS TO AMERICA HIS VIEWS AND HIS PURPOSE. He has published Books, did Interviews, made Speeches, has had 21 Debates, presented his Tax Records, presented his DNA and Family Tree so now he has to GET RID OF HIS MORAL COMPASS in order to walk straight? BULLSHYT!!!

"He continues his commentary about Rev. Jeremiah Wright: "As I see it, if a strong, controversial black man in America is not kissing the asses of cynics and aggressively-patriotic white America or submissively acquiescing himself as 'Toby' like Kunta Kinte in Roots, he is ostracized and electronically lynched. It is unfortunate that when sad truths are revealed about America - despite all of the good she has done in the world – people cannot see the truth because they are ridiculously and blindly patriotic. They are in deep denial. In my opinion, Reverend Wright has been vilified and 'caricatured' because he has spoken the truth about America not being utopia. It’s time for Americans to take the blinders off." -- Shay Posted on Booker Raising 4/30/2008

THE AUDACITY OF BEING SMARTY PANTS

I am stealing a little thunder from a Blog that I like to read when I wrote this. Over the past few weeks I pulled back from the table of let’s “Bash Hillary” this week, lets “Bash Barak” next week. The whole Style vs. Substance, Action vs. Inactions, Bread and Butter vs. Meat and Potatoes it got tied and pathetic. Even more so, many of the Black Bloggers were and still are far worst than the Traditional Media and I just got sick of reading what new NON ISSUE was going to be the ranted of the day. Well, on my way back I go back to surfing for my general information off the Internet and International sources. Then I go to my Black Blogs and guess what, not a DAYUM beat was missed; SSDD.

My Black Conservative Blog that I enjoy had an “Obama” piece on it (when in Rome I say) that made me decide to do my first Political entry in about a month. The entry was this:

"My biggest fear of the Obama Campaign was not that he would be perceived as the Black candidate (that is pretty hard to overlook), but that he would be perceived as an uppity Black candidate (a Black elitist who is out of touch with common folk and who has the gall to look down on poor whites). Well, it happened and the media and the blogosphere has gone 'ape s__t' over...the truth!”

I thought the same thing way back when Obama was running for Senator of the State of Illinois. My beliefs were not because I am a Conservative or a Black Republican but for the only reason that I come from the same educational background as Obama. The views and perception that the Blogger addressed, I get working in my own Community. I mean lets keep it real, if you are a college graduate and live in a richly diverse Black community, you know you have had run ins with all types of people with varying levels of academic achievement. It is expected upon the first words from people speaking that we expect a minimum of rudimentary level of education; basic reading, writing and comprehension. Absent the notion of Common Sense, we can expect in this modern time that a person will at least complete a sentence with the proper Queen’s English or Street lingo with a noun and a verb. How a person communicates, does speak volumes as to their character. It tells a story of education, geographic location even generation. So when tone, posture and intent is backed behind a Man or Woman speaking in America, we have no choice but to departmentalize where we stand against them either side-by-side or on the sidelines doubting if and how we compare.

Living in urban areas, the diversity in peoples is far reaching and varied. From rich to poor, young to old, Black to White, Saints to Sinners, you can’t keep tract of the complexities. Within the communities of Black folk we have Dark skin to Light skin, Religious to Spiritual, Educated to Illiterate, Elders to Adolescence, Conservatives and New Progressives. Sticking to the Educated (Intellectuals) coming Home to community, there is and has always been a deeply rooted disdain for the character that comes with possessing (too much) knowledge; although becoming an educated Black person, part and parcel, necessitated in the uplifting of a Race.

These groups of Blacks have been a part of the Black American Diaspora since the days of Reconstruction and the Talented Ten. Even more so, those Jack and Jill Blacks are even sub-divided by Northern and Southern Intellectuals and Traditionally Black College and Universities vs. Ivy Leaguers. So when I see Barak Obama standing before the nation and speaking, the perception of him being an Agent of Change and Inspiration does exist and yet his appeal is greatest with the Youth and White Collar Professionals (at least this is how the media is reporting it). So between the Obama’s stance as an intellectual (political), well traveled, Ivy League educated, Charismatic (I hate this reference) and having a command of poised language, on the surface, he can have the appearance of a cultural elite to those without; the poor, the working class and those on the other side of the Black sub-culture.

So when you take the feelings of people under the shadow of inequities, words spoken from the physical representation of a “possible” Affirmative Action recipient that has done GOOD, an individual whom have in his niceties described them as “bitter”, an existence that may or may not exist, it would only be a matter of time before someone on the receiving end speak up and shout words like Elitist, Uppity, and Bourgie. If you come from a simular background as an Obama, the expectation for this type of negative response is like the theory of Memory Prediction Framework. This theory of when the brain takes events and stimuli from the past sets up a framework for serious and preordained reactions. This action supports in making decisions and navigating through complex obstacles and random occurrences. Think of it like driving slowly through a minefield and knowing where they are all placed. Now speed up the driving with a dust storm, the Sun in your eyes and birds flying across your window and your brain blocks out all other stimuli and concentrates on the driving to avoid the mines. This is Obama’s Memory Framework because although he was referring to economics, in America economics is tied too close to Race, either his or Small Town America’s. His fix for the situation? You will see Obama calling upon all of his past lectures, speeches, sermons, conversations, personal conflicts and history of his being MISUNDERSTOOD by others for being ELITE.

Obama’s analyst of Small Town America does not threaten those Intellectuals on par with Obama. It is only those that have not had the blessings of a Harvard education (including those that were rejected and ended up going to their SECOND CHOICE SCHOOL) and those that have been laborers for generations might have issue.

WHERE WERE YOU SHAZZA? Pt. 2

A few weeks ago I Blogged about how a close friend of mine was being shipped out to Iraq again on April 15, 2008 (A FRIEND, A CALL, A WAR AND A PRAYER). He’s already been there for a tour and in Korea and all other places serving our Country. This is a worthwhile and noteworthy thing. It was his choice as well as his duty. I don’t have issues with the military; at one time I briefly considered the occupation myself, "BRIEFLY" being the optimum word. So the need to leave and do what needs to be done as required, I am in full support. And as my friend, my Boy Marco knows how I feel about him, the Occupation and this Administration.

Well, during my time away from the Blogosphere, I get a phone call surprising me that my Boy is half way between New Jersey and New York City. MAN I was surprised and also half FUQ’ed. I had just ended a serious Long Term Relationship and needed to be in that state of BLUES, you know the kind of Blues where you are listening to all the “sad songs” that define your life and feelings mixed with deleting all of the “our songs” from your Ipod so you can complete the Remix of the SOUNDTRACK OF YOUR NEW LIFE. I know I wanted to see my Boy Marco because in the reality that is the Bush Regime, this may be the only time I may see him for the next 18 months. YES, he’s gone for 18 months …. THE BASTARDS!!

Last time we hung out, I was chillin out in Chi-town but I was a work-a-holic so the quantity time we shared was only done in quality time. Not to mention, my Boy was detoxing from culture deprivation and had rather slept, eat Oreo cookies and drink Kool-Aid all day then go out and party. Nothing wrong with that. So now that it is a little over a year later, My Boy was doing his "The Marco Tour" to connect with his friends and family before his deployment.

So Marco arrives at 11pm on a weekday. Excited, we meet and greet, catch up and then he hits me with the BIG QUESTION, “So what you got planned for me?”

Now, if you live in a major city and you have folks from out of town, especially those from a rural area or the deep SOUTH you can relate to what I’m about to say, "US CITY FOLK DON’T PARTY 24/7". And even though New York City has the reputation as the City That Never Sleeps that unfortunately refers to the CITY, the PEOPLE LIVING HERE DO SLEEP. Especially the 9 to 5 Peoples.

So here I am, on the downturn of an emotional rollercoaster and sitting across from a Body with the energy of a rising Sun, what’s a Brotha to do? Well I had to do what many people have done in many years past, we looked at his wallet and said, "THIS IS FOR NEW YORK AND TOURISM, BOOST THAT ECONOMY."

So we made out a plan which involved, Club Hopping, House Parties, The Apollo, The Cotton Club, Lenox Lounge, Dinners, Bootycalls and Hoochies (come on ladies, he’s single and heading to Iraq for 18 months I had to do something), Meeting Family, catching up with friends and actually sitting down and having QUALITY TIME. That was the best. The fact that we could sit down and talk about goals, wishes, fears and his anger about heading back over to the desert. We talked about moments that to me were trivial but to my Boy, meant the World touched me so deeply that I moved aside a place in my heart to make him family. Interesting enough, he told me that I was more like his Older Brother than his actual Brother. I couldn’t tell you how much that meant.

So as the days go by and I watch Marco handle himself here, based upon his experiences, if he was not careful, New York City could eat him up and drain him dry. I mean, just like the saying, “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere” is a reality. This is why.

As part of our agenda while Marco was in town, he wanted me to so a photo shoot for him and for his family. I agreed (I guess he knew the sympathy of being shipped out to Iraq, I'd do it for free, which I ended up doing ...) Afterward we were driving back to Harlem from a photo shoot that I did for him at one of New York’s most scenic parks when a car pulled up next to my Boy’s driver’s side. Marco, driving a brand new LEXUS (really nice, the head turning type, most definitely a sign of MONEY old or new) he kinda was BIG WILLY on the road. This Dominican kid then yells out at him, “Yo Papa, I got that Haze! Give me your number and I hook you up.” On the passenger’s side I am seeing just how my Boy would handle the situation and in the true style of a Country Mouse my Boy Marco responds, “Word?”.

“Yeah Papa, take my number and call me so I can have your number in my phone.”, he says in an insistent tone.

So Marco takes out his cell phone and begins taking the kid’s number. “Aiight, yo, what’s your number?”

Before he could complete the number exchange, a second kid driving with the Dominican says, “Yeah Man, we got those Pills too.”

I then interject to Marco very calmly and matter-o-factly, “Yo, you don’t want to do that.”

“Why?”, Marco asked

“You just don’t.” spoken in a Fatherly tone.

I look at the Dominican kid driving, lean across My Boy and say, “Yo Pa, we will call you later OK, we have a party to get at and we need to know what we need to get. We’ll get at you when we know.”

"Oh word, where is the jump off? Maybe we can roll through?", he asks.

I say to him, "Not that type of party. "

The second kid pitches, "We got that good shyt yo. The best."

“Yo, call me now. Call me now.”, The Dominican driver insists.

“I’ll call you later.”, I end the conversation and then I look at my Boy and tell him to roll up the window. “Negro, you need to drive this car straight and head downtown.”

When we get to 125th Street and Broadway I begin to tell Marco that he was just about to enter into a drug deal and his gullible ass didn’t even know it. Then there was no knowing if the police were watching and even if you were just talking, you and I would have been thrown all over your nice little LEXUS looking like THUGS on a Cops episode. I also drop the knowledge that everyone in New York is nice, but you have to be seasoned enough with the lingo to know if you are meeting someone nice or someone "nice".

Surprised and embarrassed my Boy says to me, “I didn’t know, I thought when he said he got that Haze, he was referring to a Rapper and selling his Bootleg CD. You know the ones people say they sell in New York.”

Like I said, Country Mouse.

I sat there in the car for a few minutes then started to laughed HARD. He laughed too because he knew, he wasn’t quite ready to be left alone here. New Yorker's can Smell New Meat as well as someone ready to buy a bridge cheap. I just couldn't see My Boy leaving here with only a barrel and flip flops.

We did Ground Zero, looked at the Statue of Liberty, had Uptown Soul Food and Texas BBQ, Spanish cuisine in Washington Heights, Central Park, the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn, traded pictures and music and in the end, made PROMISES. We promised to keep in touch, me being his tie to Home and him letting me know that he is being smart and staying alive. Looking at the Military’s Report to Congress this week …. Well I’ll just keep my opinions to myself for later.

Seven days later, I am totally exhausted. I lived the life of a CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS and I was dragging. Between lack of sleep, running from dawn to dawn, eating on the run, dancing playing tour guide as well as BIG BROTHER .. oh did I tell you I was going to work as well… LAWD I needed a deep coma sleep. And yet, I was over my BLUES. I was now OVER MY BREAK UP. Of course I am not over the initial anger of the break up, I mean the reasons why are still immature, ignorant and devious BUT I can now move on and count my losses. I have my Boy Marco to thank for this. GOD does put people in your life for a reason. Especially when my issues with a break up is small in comparison to being assigned to a WAR ZONE for 18 months.

RUSH LIMBAUGH HAD NO POWER IN TEXAS

I think people have given Rush Limbaugh too much credit. Based upon Exit Polls and media coverage of the people in the rural areas of Texas, neither Rush nor his Talk Radio Show was a major or even deciding factor of the election result. Contrary to the “Volunteer”, Robert Swann , whom worked for the Hillary Clinton Texas Campaign, there is this deep belief that a small percentage of Republican banded together, to throw the State’s election as a direct protest against John McCain, the Republican front-runner then and now Presidential Nominee. The truth is the matter us what made the difference in Texas was the last Debate between Sen. Barak Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, the small but significant scandal with Obama and the Revko case which took center stage in Chicago that same week (where the media's perception of Obama was that of his avoiding answering questions of his direct connection to the case) and the fact that Texas is a Pro-War, Military and Veteran State which worked in Clinton's favor especially since she has a Liberal-Conservative viewpoint to War, Clinton’s 3 AM Political Ad and lastly, Obama’s complacency in campaigning in Texas. This meaning that although Texans like all things BIG, when it come to their politics, a “flesh to palm” and door-to-door works better that the star, stage and stadium approach. The populations of older voters do not turn on and turn out to the types of campaigning that Young Voters gravitate to.

Contrary to all assumptions, the issue with Race, Religion and Ads played very little into the whole voting issue since the deciding factor for Hillary's victory was that Obama did not cut ENOUGH into the Latino Vote. He did get a fair number of the Latin Youth vote but he was an estimated 3200 votes shy of their projections. With 83% of the Black vote, Obama needed 40% of the Latin Vote to even command a 50 plus 1% overall. Rush Limbaugh could not affect that many people (within the Democratic party) even on his BEST DAY. To consider that Ultra-Conservatives would vote for Hillary Clinton as a political stratagem to give Obama “FALSE HOPE” is almost laughable, more so it ranks up there with the Best of … The Texan Conspiracy Theories. There is no evidence and to be honest, no one is even researching all that hard to find out.

Another thing, the Religious Vote (Catholics) came out strong. Catholics voted more for Clinton in Texas than all her other State victories. For Obama, his projections were even with Clinton prior to Tuesday. Obama hit all his Urban Areas, the Middle-class and Wealthy, College age and Black Americans but his exception were those OLDER LATIN VOTER, which consistently keep missing. His camp made the same MAJOR MISTAKE in Ohio as well. It was in Obama’s campaign complacency and lack of presence in those Southern Texan districts, the people saw his lack of interest and in that black hole, Hillary’s campaign took charge. Those people watch TELAMUNDO; they saw a significant amount of that Clinton Ad. Like it or not, THE AD WORKED on the right people.

There was also this point as well, TEXAS did not have a record turn out in "Registered" Republican votes which would kind of make the Rush Limbaugh argument suspect. There was no major turnout of Republicans or Independents voting for Hillary Clinton. If anything, those borderline Independents and Republican Independents went Obama but in small numbers.

Looking at the MATH, it was going to be a tie from the start, especially since Texas began it’s voting early. It is always recognized that when a large number of votes are recorded early, there is a tendency for those voting late to stay home. We see this in National voting when the WEST COAST watched how the EAST COAST is voting which in some cases effect the whole election.

Lastly, THIS IS POLITICS not American Idol or Big Brother House. You have to be just as hard on the Media. Obama is the FRONT-RUNNER and every single stumble he makes (and OBAMA did stumble by not running a STRONG campaign in Texas among other things) you can't blame the "CLINTONS" nor can you point to Rush Limbaugh as a "serious" contributing factor. That is the easy and most Obvious thing to do when one does not understand the dynamics of running a campaign. My Political insight into campaigning is this for Obama, he needs to aggressively reach out to OLDER AMERICANS and to the Latinos and MILITARY Veterans that he keeps ignoring. This is what each group talk about, the idea that OBAMA isn't speaking to them and only the BLACKS and the Young Folks. Those groups are the SWING votes that are either voting for Clinton or John McCain. He also needs to make an appeal to Catholic Voters whom bring in Big Numbers to Clinton.

Instead of Preaching he has GOOD or BETTER Judgment, Obama needs to start talking about Current International Issues in detail and what He Will Do once he becomes President. Neither Clinton nor Obama has ENOUGH individual Foreign Policy experience BUT if you start talking about Foreign Policy in terms of THE PEOPLE , America will know that Obama at least know the NAMES of the major players. Obama needs to have more of his Foreign Policy Advisers come forward and begin schooling him in speaking PUBLICLY about World Events. That is why Coni Rice was brought on board for George Bush in his race for President and partly how he won. Same thing must happen with Obama, those on the fence do not feel he knows the World enough to speak to it. That is WHY and HOW he lost Texas, Ohio and RI, NOT because Clinton is Racist or a Fear Monger; all she did was play to Obama's weaknesses and exploited his campaign's complacency.

As much as I dislike Rush Limbaugh, I will always be convinced that people gave him too much credit, especially with his assumed affluence with Texan politics. This is a Man identified by his own Republican party as a "Man who does not debate in Reality", a shotgun Political Pundit which every mainstream Republican distances themselves from. Looking at the numbers after the fact, you will see, especially when you can go to the CNN exit poll for all the statistics, that what was proposed by Rush was and is incorrect.

I BROKE UP WITH MY GIRLFRIENDS

Yeah I know I am a little late with this but Girlfriends is cancelled. Oh My God, the Network made the ballsy decision to cut the Negro Show and say it was mostly due to the WRITERS STRIKE. I hear you, I mean all those other sitcoms were just fortunate to have that little extra to stay afloat and make another season at it. I hear you, it was a “HARD” decision to make with all those other shows you have on the line up. I guess the viewers should be fortunate that it make the cut from UPN to CW. I mean, 9 years is something to be honored, especially as a Black Television show or even a Black ensemble series (a record in television circles) and even more so, an honored show (Nominated for Prime time Emmy. Another 7 wins & 35 nominations) at best (THANK YOU KELSEY GRAMMER aka Frasier).

As you all know, I take to research before I go on the repeat and spread gossip as News but here I get this all up in my eyes:

We hear from a source within the "Girlfriends" writing camp that the CW has decided to cancel the series immediately instead of bringing it back for a ninth season.

While no official announcement had been made as of press time, we were told the CW will not even film this season's remaining nine episodes that were suspended during the writer's strike.

Ironically, news of the show's cancellation comes just as the strike has ended and the writing staff was preparing to return to work. We were informed by one of the writers yesterday that Monday night's one-hour block of new episodes served as the show's last.

"Girlfriends" became the longest-running live-action comedy series currently on network television with the debut of its current season in October 2007. The writers strike suspended production after only 13 of 22 ordered episodes were completed.

The series, created by Mara Brock-Akil, was consistently the No. 1 show in black households since its Sept. 11, 2000 debut. Original cast members Tracee Ellis Ross, Golden Brooks, Persia White and Jill Marie Jones starred as a group of close friends dealing with life and love in Los Angeles. Jones left the series in at the end of Season 6. – EURweb Feb. 12, 2008

WHY IMMEDIATELY? This makes me suspect. I will admit, in the beginning it took me a minute to warm up to the Sistah’s Show (that’s what I call it because it was kinda WEST COAST GHETTO) but I grew up in a house full of girls and in each one of those heifers; Joan Clayton, Lynn Searcy, Maya Wilkes, Toni Childs and the fifth Girlfriend William Dent, all represented at least one of my sisters. I think, like the Huxtables from the Cosby Show, we all had someone in our family that we could relate to, which was and still is part of the success of shows like Girlfriends. Granted, this was a "BLACK" sitcom and most of its honors reflected that, none the less, it was the number one watched Black Show on television for 9 years straight.

I guess my favorite and unfortunately moderately short-lived was Toni Childs, played by Jill Marie Jones. Her leaving once the show transitioned from UPN (Urban Peoples Network) to the CW (Colored What?), the rumors of contract renewals, money issues and story lines became true. Still, she was my character and the one I think I’d love to hate the most …. Toni Childs was DRAMA, more quality drama than Joan who in my right mind I would never want to be LOCKED in a room with … can you say ISSUES. But regardless of your views of the characters, they were all family, Black Families, Black Friends, they where the people in my family, my sisters growing up.

While in Chicago I had the pleasure of meeting Reginald C. Hayes. NICE GUY. He not only was approachable but he is/was humble for the work he received on Girlfriends. That in itself was a reason to respect the work on the show. My ear to the acting world has told me that everyone on the show shared the same sense of the pride and dignity and that energy displayed and put out reflecting the inspiration that the entire cast and crew wanted to portray.

Thinking back, this was reminiscent of another ensemble cast of Black Women, Livin' Single on the FOX network back in 1993. Originally Livin’ Single was to be a mid-season filler, the show lasted for 5 seasons being at that time, the longest Black ensemble show to date. More Afrocentric than Girlfriends, it was Ghetto East Coast and rough around the edges but soon found it stride and became the blue print for young successful urban youth and young families. What I enjoyed most between the two shows was that although both were centered on the successes of Black (women) progress, both captured a detail struggles of Black identity, pride, independence, mainstream, assimilation, beauty, spirit, history and economics within communities on the SMALL SCREEN. Call it a toned down version of the Cosby Show, you can not dismiss the fact that what Bill Cosby had accomplished in terms of Black Images on television with his brand of family open an acceptable door for Livin’ Single (Urban Realness) and Girlfriends (Jack and Jill Realities).

There may have been other shows, ensembles that all shared the same formulas of the four aspects of Womanhood; Age, Sex, Intelligence, Humor, but none spoke deeper to the Black community as Livin’ Single or more so than Girlfriends. Take The Golden Girls, which became a CLASSIC even before it was in re-runs. You have Blanche, Dorothy, Rose and Sophia; these names are ingrained in television lore, were the bright and safe journey to retirement telling a fearful world that it is OK to get Old. And over the years, with the lessons and laughs learned from watching there women, that once you find your first grey hair, pluck it, look at it in wonderment, and then laugh your ass off because now you can officially, "SAY WHATEVER I WANT CAUSE I EARNED THE RIGHT TO BE OLD, BEAUTIFUL AND BOLD". I have caught many of Black folk (Brothas as well) sneaking and watching these Grandmas. I can admit that in my youth I never saw the fascination of looking at four wrinkled grey haired women sitting around a kitchen table eating cheesecake and calling each other sluts, old maids and idiots and yet as the years pressed upon me and my personal friendships became deeper, I now find myself sitting around my table eating bowls of organic cereal while calling my friends with their building potbellies and receding hairlines calling each Ho, Fat Ass and Mr. Dirty Boy. We may not be all that "Golden" but we are catching a bit of SHINE nearing our mid-life years.

By the time Sex In The City arrived on the scene, my television days declined into serious and conscious driven viewing. I also made it a point to only support those shows that made real efforts to employ Black actors in real roles and represented what I considered real like ME. There were very few choices and if I subtract the over saturation of Black Athletes, shows trying to make Rappers into Stars with bad behavior, there wasn’t much to choose from in Black television outside of pushing the sitcom as the only image of who Black people were in America. With the soon to be absent Girlfriends; we can look forward to shows like Lipstick Jungle, Cashmere Mafia and Gossip Girl. I know, I know I don’t want to get all-RACIAL and all but I only see is one Asian in all of the three shows mentioned which is Lucy Liu. So much for diversity on television. I guess Hillary and Obama can address that in their next debate. Then again, maybe not.

THE THEORY OF A LOST GENERATION by Phillip Jackson

There is no longer a need for dire predictions, hand-wringing, or apprehension about losing a generation of Black boys. It is too late. In education, employment, economics, incarceration, health, housing, and parenting, we have lost a generation of young Black Men. The question that remains is will we lose the next two or three generations, or possibly every generation of Black boys hereafter to the streets, negative media, gangs, drugs, poor education, unemployment, father absence, crime, violence and death.

Most young Black Men in the United States don't graduate from high school. Only 35% of Black male students graduated from high school in Chicago and only 26% in New York City, according to a 2006 report by The Schott Foundation for Public Education. Only a few Black boys who finish high school actually attend college, and of those few Black boys who enter college, nationally, only 22% of them finish college.

Young Black male students have the worst grades, the lowest test scores, and the highest dropout rates of all students in the country. When these young Black men don't succeed in school, they are much more likely to succeed in the nation's criminal justice and penitentiary system. And it was discovered recently that even when a young Black man graduates from a U.S. college, there is a good chance that he is from Africa, the Caribbean or Europe, and not the United States.

Black men in prison in America have become as American as apple pie. There are more Black men in prisons and jails in the United States (about 1.1 million) than there are Black men incarcerated in the rest of the world combined. This criminalization process now starts in elementary schools with Black male children as young as six and seven years old being arrested in staggering numbers according to a 2005 report, Education on Lockdown by the Advancement Project.

The rest of the world is watching and following the lead of America. Other countries including England, Canada, Jamaica, Brazil and South Africa are adopting American social policies that encourage the incarceration and destruction of young Black men. This is leading to a world-wide catastrophe. But still, there is no adequate response from the American or global Black community.

Worst of all is the passivity, neglect and disengagement of the Black community concerning the future of our Black boys. We do little while the future lives of Black boys are being destroyed in record numbers. The schools that Black boys attend prepare them with skills that will make them obsolete before, and if, they graduate. In a strange and perverse way, the Black community, itself, has started to wage a kind of war against young Black men and has become part of this destructive process.

Who are young Black women going to marry? Who is going to build and maintain the economies of Black communities? Who is going to anchor strong families in the Black community? Who will young Black boys emulate as they grow into men? Where is the outrage of the Black community at the destruction of its Black boys? Where are the plans and the supportive actions to change this? Is this the beginning of the end of the Black people in America?

The list of those who have failed young Black men includes our government, our foundations, our schools, our media, our Black churches, our Black leaders, and even our parents. Ironically, experts say that the solutions to the problems of young Black men are simple and relatively inexpensive, but they may not be easy, practical or popular. It is not that we lack solutions as much as it is that we lack the will to implement these solutions to save Black boys. It seems that government is willing to pay billions of dollars to lock up young Black men, rather than the millions it would take to prepare them to become viable contributors and valued members of our society.

Please consider these simple goals that can lead to solutions for fixing the problems of young Black men:

Short term

1. Teach all Black boys to read at grade level by the third grade and to embrace education
2. Provide positive role models for Black boys
3. Create a stable home environment for Black boys that includes contact with their fathers
4. Ensure that Black boys have a strong spiritual base
5. Control the negative media influences on Black boys
6. Teach Black boys to respect all girls and women

Long term

1. Invest as much money in educating Black boys as in locking up Black men
2. Help connect Black boys to a positive vision of themselves in the future
3. Create high expectations and help Black boys live into those high expectations
4. Build a positive peer culture for Black boys
5. Teach Black boys self-discipline, culture and history
6. Teach Black boys and the communities in which they live to embrace education and life-long learning

More Facts

- 3 7.7% of Black men in the United States are not working. 47.0% of Black men in Illinois are not working. (2006 Joint Economic Committee Study chaired by Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY))

- 5 8% of Black boys in the United States do not graduate from high school. 65% of Black boys in Chicago do not graduate from high school. (2006 Report from the Schott Foundation for Public Education)

- Almost 70% of Black children are born into female, single parent households (2000 Census Report)

- About 1 million Black men in the United States are in prison (U.S. Justice Department)

By: Phillip Jackson

BAPTIZM BY RAIN

I get up and begin to do my thing. I have several choices, the celebration for the Superbowl winning Giants down in the Canyon of Champions or as the media puts it, Canyon of Giants, spend a day on the phone calling family and friends or spend a day walking about the town taking pictures and voting. Since I haven’t done the walking thing in a while, I decided to exercise. I decided to gear up in my Neo-Soul look and head outside when I look to the sky and see that it’s a mess. It’s cloudy, slight wind and raining. Rain coming down in a steady flow in an amazing SPRING in WINTER day. (I swear the World is coming to and end.) Not too heavy but a constant light fall. I initially was going to head back up for an umbrella and travel by train or bus but there is something about walking in the rain that is cleansing. The notion of Baptizing oneself was what I think I needed today. So I decided with the need to clear my mind and offer it for the day to fill it with ideas for creating something new, I begin my journey by foot. I picked up my camera and began to hoof in for the day.

I took my time and looked at all the new construction in the area. I made a conscious thought to look each and every person I pass, in the eyes. I know in some circles, this would be only unsettling and a bit of a challenge, even crazy but it also spills their story out to those open enough to catch them. It only takes a quick moment. A bit of shyness, a fragment of fear, a second of sadness, a smidgen of hope and you can see it in-between the whites of the eyes. People have stories that they want to tell and sometimes you have to snatch it out from a glance. OK, that’s the poet it me talking, I don’t really be stanching shyt, BUT I am in tuned to people through body language and the first place to look are the eyes.

Around town you see nothing but the signs of expansion. New housing and streets being torn up for more wiring and gas lines, I see more express trucks rolling through now than ever before (a product of online shopping no doubt) and street cleanings. Police officers are now walking in small groups as oppose to single and double file, and where there were once street signs to dictate when and where you can and can’t park, I see meter maids placing tickets on cars that have over stayed their allowed time where parking meters line residential streets. Yes ladies and gentleman, this Tuesday seemed more like a Monday after failing to hold back the sun.

Now I soon find out that my Polling area where I normally vote has changed. So instead of voting at an area that was once close, I now had to go a little further out. I think under any other circumstance it would have bothered me but I was being BAPTIZED along my journey so nothing was bothering me today. I walked along Broadway to my new voting location and noticed, another store front shop has gone out of business. I can only guess who he's NOT voting for today. As I walk I recall a poem I wrote several years back. The poem, ELECTION DAY, was inspired by hearing stories of how BLACKS, as early as my parent’s generation, were denied the right to vote. The social and political GAMES both Northern and Southern Whites played to manipulate Blacks, using threats and even murder to bar them from the Right to Vote. How the Klan and White Supremist would lynch Blacks that would even talk about participating in voting. The idea of creating Poll Taxes, Freedom Papers, Land Ownership, Birth Certificates and other “legal documents” have evolved out of that time into new forms. Today the new ploys are NATIONAL ID’s, Citizenship Verification, Chads and Computerized Voting Booths (knowing damn well that the average person can barely work an ATM machine) and a host of other radical changes. The very fact that my polling location was changed without my advanced notice is a little suspect but, I am being baptized by the rains so I move along without tension.

I am snapped into reality and see that many of the people I am passing on the street, aren’t even attempting to vote or registered to vote. I wonder what percentage CAN’T vote due to legal wrangling? Still, as I walk up Broadway, how many of my Brown Brothers and Sisters can’t vote because they are not legal citizens. YES I dare say it, there are a lot of ILLEGAL ALIENS walking the streets of Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood and even more true, they cannot vote. As deep as these thoughts would be normally, I am being baptized today by the rains and I move on to my destination without a care. I get to my new spot. IRONICLY, the location is at Boricua College, an institution dedicated to the education of Spanish Speaking college students, and get this, the campus is the old site of the Native American Museum of New York which was closed down and moved to LORD KNOWS WHERE NOW. Talk about an AMERICAN DREAM.

As I walk into the building, it was very quite. Let me repeat, as I walked in, it was VERY QUIET. This isn’t normal for polling locations. I have lived in several places around the United States and I normally see people out front handing out flyers, waving banners, a few news and newspaper reporters asking your typical “exit polling” questions and today, all I got was, “This way” and “Where do you live sir?”

After I answered I was pointed in the direction I was suppose to go. As I enter into the room, I am surprised that there wasn’t a line. I simply walked up to my designated table and gave my name, showed ID and was pointed to THE BOOTH. As the curtains closed behind me, giving me the shadowed privacy I needed, I looked up that the five names before me. Barak Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and a few dozen other names that were the delegates connected to each candidate. I looked for a place to do a write-in candidate. I figured I could throw my name on the ballot as the “None of the Above” candidate. I didn’t see it. So like the good citizen I am, I made a choice. (LIKE I’M GOING TO TELL YOU WHO I VOTED FOR).

I throw back the lever and the light of the World came back. It was over, in less than 30 seconds. The weight of the World has faded and I did what thousands of BLACK people have died and even more have sacrificed to do. And to show for it, I exited into a room of silence. As I walk toward the door, I thank the woman who processed my paper work for voting as she replied back, “I wish more young men like you voted.” I don’t know what made me more distinguished, the fact that she thanked me for exercising my RIGHT to vote or the fact she called me YOUNG. I’ll take them both.

I looked toward the streets of Harlem knowing that in the next few months, I’ll be here again but under different circumstances. Over the past eight years, my journey has lead me to great disappointments because like the people on the streets I passed, I get a sense that there is no urgency in participating in a government that will again DICTATE their existence, possibly for the next 8 years.

I take the long way back and cut through the park. In photographer mode I see a few compositional shots and decide to break out the camera. I see a few people near the exit of the park and I make my way toward them. I pass a woman and child. The child is wolfing down a pastry like no tomorrow while the woman is staring into the distance. The closer I get I can tell that neither one is even paying attention to me. I can also tell that in her blank expression, there is a sense of abandonment going on. She can be anything from a woman homeless and in a shelter, unemployed or abused. In her eyes she’s was searching and as much as I wanted to capture it on film, I decided to leave this family in their moment of privacy within the park. I continued along my way to two women further ahead. Both holding shopping bags and just standing in what looked like a friendly yet serious exchange of words. As I get closer I over hear their conversation.

“If Obama is an agent of change, what change has he done in say, CHICAGO that would make me feel guilty for voting for Hillary Clinton? Tell me because I use to live in Chicago on the Southside and is worst now than ever before. But that Northside is doing well you know.”

Now I lived in Chicago for a few years and to be fair to my experience and in my time there, all I observed in the politics of the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois was a lot of corruption. I didn't see much CHANGE happening except more BLACK getting the poor, arrested, killed, harassed, marginalized to the far outskirts of the city while the cities expanded with businesses, homes and foreign investors. JUST MY OBSERVATION.

The other woman responds back, “He is only one man and he has done a lot from what I heard. Maybe for him to do more he needs to be in a higher position to make a CHANGE."

“You still ain't said nothing solid.” Said the first woman.

“I’m not just voting just for Barak Obama, I’m voting for the World. The whole World wants Obama to be President”, the second woman tell her.

Now as I continue to pass by I am working my body in one direction while dragging my ear behind to get the end of this JUICY DEBATE.

The second woman goes on to say, “People in Africa are jumping for joy knowing that one of theirs will be President of the United States?"

OK, maybe I missed something during the campaign. I don’t understand how Africans think Obama is their President and how is he going to make their lives better? Now I do know that as part of the Trinity United Church of Christ, the church Obama belongs to, their 4th tenet is, "A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AFRICA", does this mean that on DAY ONE, the Africa agenda will take precedent over all other World concerns? If so, does that mean Africans see Obama as being more African than American and who will tell Americans about this? Do Africans see their freedoms from oppression usurping Blacks in the rural South or urban North? Will this be the beginning to the long delayed Marcus Garvey movement BLACK TO AFRICA? Does this mean that AFRICANS see themselves as different and apart from BLACKS in America? (I’m departmentalizing that theory for another Blog for another time.)

“It’s in the Bible, Obama will make things right in the world”, the second woman continues.

I think to myself, “ONE OF THEIRS? OBAMA IN THE BIBLE?” She said this as if Obama’s THE MASSIAH. That disturbed me big time. It disturbed me more because I recall not too long ago, the Evangelicals said the same thing about George W. Bush Jr. and reasoned it as to why the United States was in Iraq. This too was written in the Bible. Since when do each President of the United States start being part of the dogmatic fiber of the Good Book? I must have missed this in Bible Study. My fear is that all the condemning of the Evangelicals will soon be replaced by fear of the BAPTIST.

I walk about a dozen or more blocks and pass another polling station in Harlem as I move down toward 135th Street and Convent Avenue when I hear, “OBAMA!OBAMA! OBAMA!”, chanting outside the polling area with this little short WHITE guy slipping me a polling advertisement detailing Barak Obama and the delegates connected to him before of I would go in. I think to myself, “Now this is what I was expecting.” But then it dawned on me. Where I had voted was a majority Latino community and here is all Black with a few gentrified Whites. Hummmmm? I finallyget it. This is that Barak Obama comes to the Apollo crowd. So I watched a little as the BLACK folk danced, rapped and shouted the name Barak Obama like an Elder Chief of the African Plains. I couldn’t help but recall just how the very same people danced and twirled for Bill Clinton 8 years ago.

Then this tall older Black Man stood next to me as I was taking pictures. He asked if I worked for the press. I told him not, that I was just walking around taking pictures. We chatted a little as I told him my story as to where I had to go to vote. He responded back, in a Conspiracy Theory type way, “You know Obama is a Republican in Clintonian Clothing.”

I stopped with the camera then looked at this man in PURE astonishment. I said to myself, "OK NOW LET ME HEAR THIS ONE OUT." Now let me tell you this, I love a good Conspiracy Theory, its like going to the movies to see a good Sci-Fi or Horror. You know going in that everything you see is pure fantasy, BUT you just might get caught up in some of the reality aspects which would make the whole experience worth your while. Then you can walk up into a movie that is so REAL, that once you leave, YOU START KEEPING LIGHTS ON IN THE HOUSE.

He goes on to say, “He may act the part of a Democrat but his intentions are that of a Republican. Not like the Bushes, He’s more reserved than that. He’s pure Business, more like a Corporate Lawyer. Everything he does has an agenda for profit and moving it to the right hands. The thing is he needed to be polished enough to talk the talk and walk the walk that is why he has a lot of ex-Clinton people working around him. Trust me, Obama is a Republican and in a few years, you’ll see it. Just like these people didn’t see Bill Clinton's coming when he moved up here in Harlem, they will see that he’s not as BLACK as they are praising him to be.”

All I could say after that was, “Wow, now that's food for thought”. I told himit was nice talking to him but I had to leave, and I hurried out of there just in case their were SNIPPERS on the roof aiming for his BLACK ASS. I mean I have heard what the Bush Administration does with people with arab names and WATER, I can only imagine what other GOTHIC practices they had in store for someone like the TALL MAN.

The rains had stopped and my baptism was now over, I knew this because I was getting tired sooner than I thought and the Holden Caulfield in me was starting to come out. I walked on a little further and then decided to cut my journey short. I wanted to know what was going on in the world of my friends and family, which was a good balance I needed after a day of mental passivity.