My Social Commentary

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Had a chance to watch this video for the first time lastnight. If anybody thought by Obama becoming president magically changed the conditions of this country, you better wake up.

an hour before this viewing this, I was watchin the 14th Annual Critics Choice Awards, where they gave a life time achievement award to actor, Richard Gere. Before he went up to stage to receive his award, they talked about his achievements, making a point to highlight his time in Tibet,working with the Buddhist monks and finding ways to free the Tibetan people. When he is up there to give his speech, the subject of these people is all he addresses. I especially like the part where he says “I just stumbled across the people of Tibet”. Right.

Anyway my reasoning for bringing this up is because I see a trend happening with the rich, elite of America, particularly celebrities. So many people want to talk about the injustices going on outside of America, but very rarely do I hear these same people talking about the injustices going on in our very country!

An unarmed man, who was handcuffed and pleading for his life, got shot in the back BY POLICE. Whats even more baffling is: There were about 20 witnesses to the murder of Oscar Grant. And nobody did anything (well until after the riots and protesting occured). I am actually surprised that that same police officer that pulled his gun is still living and unharmed. Now, in no way am I advocating that any police officer should be shot dead, because after all they are still human too and maybe they have some bit of conscience left. However, what I am questioning is the type of fear and cognitive dissonance that is being maintained when these witnesses are seeing a murder take place by authority and feel powerless to do anything about it. And Lord knows there will be no justice served for this young man because that is how absolutely shitty (there is no other word to describe it) our criminal justice system is. What if Richard Gere had stood up on that stage and said, “Racisim still exists in America people, wake up”. Or maybe it didn’t ‘have to’ be about race, maybe he could have said “an unarmed man got shot in the back by police, we have problems America”. What would have happened then? No nothing drastic, but it would be something. It would definitely be something.

What type of internalized hatred/doubt/fear is being confirmed in the hearts of those that witness such actions, myself included? Healing can not take place if the truth is not realized. how long will it be before this country can heal? If the truth will set us free, than as a country we have to make firm, loving, yet drastic steps to uncover and allow the light of truth to be seen or nobody is free, not the elite, the white, the privleged, the poor, the people of color, the men, the women, the oppressed and the oppressor.

I think about this quote:

O Son of Spirit! The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of they neighbor. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of my Loving-kindness. Set it then beofre thine eyes.

I pray I can find a way to demonstrate this in every aspect of my life, to not become saddened…overcome by the injustice that continues to happen all over the world, and pray that this material suffering doesn’t get the best of me.. or anyone around me.. that I can continue to hold my head up high and know that I am spiritually strong and able to overcome the material forces that vigilantly try and break me down.. because I know I remember that I was created out of love, no one or anything can harm that. The only person that can doubt that TRUTH.. is myself.

Thou art My stronghold; enter therein that thou mayest abide in safety. My love is in thee, know it, that thou mayest find Me near unto thee.

Written by kirbaybay

January 9, 2009 at 7:18 pm

Posted in My Social Commentary, News

Tagged with Healing, Hidden Words, Oscar Grant, Police Brutality

America’s First Black President- Dr. Joy Degruy Leary

with one comment

point. made.

America’s First Black President

On November 5^th 2008, I awoke with lingering pictures in my mind of the election of Barack Hussein Obama, the first African American, to the highest office in the land. On November 4^th I, like countless other African Americans, was filled with uncontainable feelings of elation and awe at the historic significance of that moment. I watched as my son seemed to grow in stature right before my eyes with the announcement “Barack has won!” I listened as he expressed a renewed sense of purpose and belief about life’s possibilities. I was surprised to see the outpouring of emotion in him, this enormous surge of energy brought on by a mysterious power born purely and simply of hope. He was not alone in his enthusiasm, the phone began to ring, and soon text and email messages began to pour in amidst radio and television reports recounting the landslide victory.

This was to be an unprecedented election which would draw an unprecedented reaction from those both at home and abroad. The genuine surprise was understandable given the country’s more than 230 year legacy of all but exclusive white male political domination and its history of slavery, colonization and segregation. Though for the most part, pleasantly shocked, the American public was thrown into a state of disequilibrium from which they are yet to recover. On November 4^th Americans were faced with the very real possibility of America becoming a world leader in ways other than through the use of military force. With the election of Barack Obama America once again has an opportunity to make good on its declaration:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

I can scarcely imagine how my parents, born and raised in the segregated state of Louisiana, would have felt had they lived to witness the election of a black man to the presidency. It is impossible to approach such a momentous event with out remembering the multitude of struggles and suffering that allowed it to occur. From whatever vantage point one wishes to observe it, this is truly a remarkable occasion in the annals of American history. It signals a profound change in the social, political and moral structure of a country unmatched by its patriotic pride and simultaneously burdened by a lengthy tradition of racial intolerance and discrimination.

What does having an African American as president mean to the struggle for racial equality and justice? In his concession speech Senator John McCain, alluded to the belief that the election of Barack Obama signalized the end to “racial bigotry” and the full instatement of equal rights of “citizenry” to all Americans. With all that we know about history, human behavior and the role it plays in social advancement and change, we must not be so naïve as to proffer the election of Barack Obama as evidence of the end of racism in America.

This election has not changed the over-representation of African Americans in the criminal justice system and the police use of deadly force against black males; nor did it eliminate the academic achievement gap; nor stem the disproportionate numbers of African Americans finding themselves burdened by poverty. The election of a black man as president alone, however grand and noble can not reverse the wrongs which have been committed as the result of ongoing racist practices and policies. The truth is that no singular event political or otherwise can change centuries of neglect and injury, the very injury that made a Black man winning the presidency an anomaly.

However difficult or bleak the racial strife has been or continues to be, the level of hope has indeed been elevated with the election of Barack Obama as the 44^th president of the United States. Somehow we were all made better by his appointment and each of us felt it in our own unique ways. The sheer joy engendered among Americans young and old, from all backgrounds and especially African Americans, has been raised to a palpable level. Perhaps parallel with this hope and joy is an even stronger desire for change and the ever illusive justice and peace so long sought after. Unequaled by times past America now sits squarely on the world stage as the international community looks on anxiously and eagerly anticipates a positive movement towards global peace and solidarity.

I celebrate this achievement and humbly recognize the significance it holds for both past and present generations. I look towards the future with guarded optimism and with fresh new questions and ideas about how and what we as African Americans must continue to do to move forward. Perhaps more importantly, I question what America as a nation must do next to lead all nations towards co-existing as a world community.

Written by kirbaybay

November 28, 2008 at 3:37 am

Posted in My Social Commentary

Tagged with 44th President, Dr. Joy Degruy Leary, Obama