Precious, Lord! - Part 1

I watched Lee Daniels' "Precious" on December 9, 2009 - online - because I wasn't about to go to a theater and watch it in "mixed company" - white and Black, male and female, particularly.  I started writing a post, back then but,  found it difficult to finish - for a variety of reasons, personal and not. 

Hollywood will - tonight - reach the culmination of their, "don't-break-your-arm-while-patting-yourself-on-the-back" season of awards (thank ya Lawd!) and I'm sure, "Precious" will get one - or more - of those "Golden Boys."  I decided to title my first draft, "Part 2," and publish it once it's all over.

Stay tuned...

What! No "Beer Summit" scheduled for FLOTUS and her home-boy?

(Update I & II below)

H/T to RedDragon62 not only for this video, but for his outrage:

"What shocked me is the lack of outrage at what this animal had to say. Not one Liberal blogger, not one "Progressive site, Not ONE came to the defense of the poor! Not one called this asshole out on his RACIST... (yeah I said it) RACIST remarks!"

I'd read the story earlier and intended to link to it for this post.  But havin' Massa Bauer actually speak his White Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchal bullshit for his lil ole self, is so-o-o-o much better don't you think?  If you've not heard Good Ole Boy, Jr. at his best - take a listen:

And what made this extra-specially karmic, is that we're only one month shy -(almost to the day) - of the one-year anniversary of the Changeling's first, big address to Congress where he paraded young, Ty'Sheoma Bethea from Dillon, SC into the "Kingdom" for a night (and a photo op). You remember that don't you?  Here are a few snippets to help you if you don't:

In the end, there is no program or policy that can substitute for a parent, for a mother or father who will attend those parent-teacher conferences, or help with homework, or turn off the TV, put away the video games, read to their child...(snip)

These education policies will open the doors of opportunity for our children, but it is up to us to ensure they walk through them...(snip)

I think about Ty'Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from that school I visited in Dillon, South Carolina, a place where the ceilings leak, the paint peels off the walls, and they have to stop teaching six times a day because the train barrels by their classroom.

She had been told that her school is hopeless. But the other day after class, she went to the public library and typed up a letter to the people sitting in this chamber. She even asked her principal for the money to buy a stamp.

The letter asks us for help and says, "We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself, and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina, but also the world. We are not quitters."

That's what she said: "We are not quitters." (snip)

Young Miss Bethea is one of those poor "animals" to which Jr. up there is referring.  Hailing from the homestate of FLOTUS, she lived in Dillon, where 85% of the students live below the poverty line and the drop-out rate is 60%!  Here's a RECENT profile of J.V. Martin Junior High School where she was enrolled last year:

The emphases in the figures are my own.  I'm not a computer wonk, so if it's too small, I apologize.  I just wanted you to see why Miss Bethea - probably confident, that on the first Black-identified president's watch, things would change - wrote her letter to Congress.

I also wanted you to see, why Jr.'s little spiel is about nothing BUT Race. Seems there's plenty enough "quitting" to go around given these numbers.  And word has it, since her day in the sun? Miss Bethea's mother lost her job and has relocated her family to the Atlanta area.  But I ain't mad at her and her family at all.  What do you do when you reach out for help and are ignored?  You fend for you and yours, the best way you know how, that's what.

Hailing from THIS particular "Original 13," I'm used to Jr. and his ilk.  As a matter of fact, I kinda prefer 'em.  At least there was never any doubt where my Black ass stood.  Dealing with whites from other parts of the country however, required an entire reeducation for me once I left home. All that patronizing,smiling in your face, while stabbing you in the back took a helluva lot of getting used to I tell you!

Is Jr. a racist? Hell yeah!!  But that's no surprise to me. For them in the South, Poor = People Who Look Like Me. I've heard it, lived it and felt it all my damn life. It's 2010, and not a damn thing's changed in South Carolina, I promise you.

Good Ole Boy, Jr. - is the reason why the "O & MO" Show (with the assistance of that other "O" who, back in the day, would have had plenty to say about this shit.  Anybody remember when she took her show to the sundown town of Vidor, TX in thelate 80s/early 90s - before she became theirs because they pay so much better?) was able to pull their damn "race card" to stir-up Black folk in South Carolina against the "Bill & Hill" Show (they're all politicians to me).

Good Ole Boy, Jr - is the reason the Changeling got nearly 100% of the Black vote in SC (and probably will again).  I can still remember my sister excitedly calling me from their "Hoodwink Road Show."  And when I started my list of reasons why they weren't shit, she quickly said, "I gotta go, they're about to start!"

My people were looking for a "Black Savior" - for a change (none of them will own that in "mixed company however").   And trust me, I totally understand that feeling (I don't care about "mixed company").  But he used the KNOWLEDGE OF THEM, gathered from his South Carolina born-and-raised wife and mother-in-law, to bamboozle them with false, "Black Saviorly" hope. But just like a bad, damn boyfriend - he got what the hell he wanted from them and never looked back (ask Miss Bethea and her mother).

And it was easy to do.  Because - despite Jim Clyburn (or because of him) - Jr. and his crew still have their feet firmly implanted on the necks of Blacks in the state. And seeing as the "O & MO" Show didn't waste any time calling out the Clintons for THEIR RACISM back then, I was just sure there'd be some kind of "Beer Summit" in the offing for Jr. But I guess - if you believe Jr. - it'd be awful difficult to get all of South Carolina's "animals" to stop breeding long enough to come and sit around a table and sip some, "Can we all just get along" beer with Massa Lt. Gubna and his homegirl.

UPDATE I:  H/T to Miska over at the bearded lady's radical feminist disco of rage for this little nugget -  Hungry Haitians like animals, says UN peacekeeper.  Jr.'s not the only one lovin' the term "animals" - out loud.
UPDATE II:  Obama keeps pledge to help J.V. Martin - Well, isn't this CONVE-E-E-E-NIENT!  Right before his 2nd big speech, he again "uses" Ms. Bethea to try to make himself look good.  Call me a cynic, I don't care.  But these two sentences in the piece tell me this little move is as contrived as it could be:

The funds will come from the $787 billion economic-stimulus bill Obama signed into law last February.

The announcement came on the day before Obama's first formal State of the Union address to be delivered this evening before a joint session of Congress.

Okay:
- He had his little photo op in January 2009
- Signed the behemoth bill into law in February 2009.
- Sanford refused the stimulus funds until two lawsuits were filed by students and school administrators (much respect to them for their invovlement in "saving themselves") and the "Supremes" ordered his silly self to request the funds in March 2009. 

And now, MAGICALLY, right before he has to get up before the people with some more bullshit NOT in our best interests (presumably - based on the leaks from the Big House), He plans to soften the blow with this announcement of a promise kept - just so Black folk will say, "See!  He did what he said!"  Yes he did.

And while they celebrate, I suspect he'll be picking already empty pockets in the Black community with tonight's speech.  But I'll be fair.  I'll wait until he spews forth on jobs, health care (if it passes, I still see no benefit for those who couldn't afford it before, especially that sweet "fine" thing if you don't get it from his cronies with whom he made a deal early on and the fact that nothing will happen until what, 2013??)), disparate sentencing policies and mass Black/Brown incarceration in the prison industrial complex along with the corporatization of the education system just to name a few.  And let's not forget those pesky little issues facing my LGBT brothers and sisters like, getting rid of DOMA, supporting same-sex marrriage and sounding the death-knell for Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

I think my sister Cin would definitely call this kept promise a "dog-whistle" - so would I. 

Let's be clear though, I AM glad the school will be rebuilt and that Miss Bethea can feel empowered by the part she played in making that happen.  Who knows?  Maybe she and her family will move back home.

Ruminations...on awards, a premature announcement and justice still denied

Just a few thoughts to purge...



- Okay, after watching the AMAs - I'm officially old.  But, indulge my old behind - I've been a fan of Whitney's music since she came on the scene and for me, this performance was just right.  Just enough clothes, just enough class, just enough emotion - just right.  Forget all the Diane-Opie-and-whoever else tell-all interviews meant to - according to the MSM - "engineer" a comeback.  In quintessential Whitney-style, she powerfully owned her shit - in song.  And what a song it was!  (And no, I do not know, nor do I care, who the "Carol" was that she acknowledged in her comments to her daughter).

- Since Oprah's been "off the air" for me a long time ago given her near 20-year "sell-out" performance for the King conglomerate, I could care less that she's closing down her show.  But can somebody please tell me why, she had to announce THIS YEAR, that she'd be gone in 2011??!!  Please Lawd get over yourself!!!  Maybe she's just putting her order in for one of those ambassadorships the Changeling's doling out in exchange for all the dollar bills that bought him the presidency. 



- In the conclusion of his January 30, 2008 ruling regarding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr. advised how the law of the land had "tied his hands:"

"While the United States government is immune for legal liability for the defalcations alleged herein, it is not free, nor should it be, from posterity’s judgment concerning its failure to accomplish what was its task. The citizens of each and every city in this great nation have come to depend on their government and its agencies to perform certain tasks which have been assigned to federal agencies by laws passed by Congress and overseen by the Executive Branch.  It should not be unreasonable for those citizens to rely on their agents, whom they pay through their taxes, to perform the tasks assigned in a timely and competent way. However, because of §702c, there is neither incentive, nor punishment to insure that our own government performs these tasks correctly. There is no provision in the law which allows this Court to avoid the immunity provided by § 702c; gross incompetence receives the same treatment as simple mistake."

That February following the ruling, I wrote "No Way Out" for NOLA means No Way Out for Us to express the shame and disgust I felt for a government and a country whose hearts and minds were closed to their own. And later in April, shame and disgust turned to rage as I wrote, Paper rain, Paper rain...St. Bernard and 9th Ward STILL "Bastards of the Party"  because 1) it was discovered that USACE, adding insult to injury, had stuffed newspaper in some of the expansion joints as an "expedient repair" for water seepage the year after the levees broke and 2) no doubt believing they were litigation-proof, USACE openly admitted their negligence.

But apparently, Judge Duval has figured out a way to untie his hands by focusing his new ruling on the navigation channel upon which much of the rest of the country depends whether they know it or not - the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MR-GO).  He said:

"Clearly, when there is not a mandate, if the decisions at issue are based on policy, the discretionary function exception generally applies. It is the Court’s opinion that the negligence of the Corps, in this instance by failing to maintain the MRGO properly, was not policy, but insouciance, myopia and shortsightedness. For over forty years, the Corps was aware that the Reach II levee protecting Chalmette and the Lower Ninth Ward was going to be compromised by the continued deterioration of the MRGO, as has been exhaustively discussed in this opinion.  The Corps had an opportunity to take a myriad of actions to alleviate this deterioration or rehabilitate this deterioration and failed to do so. Clearly the expression “talk is cheap” applies here. In the event the gross negligence of the Corps in maintaining the MRGO would be regarded as policy, then the discretionary function exception would swallow the Federal Torts Claim Act leaving it an emasculated statute applying to automobile accidents where government employees are involved or medical malpractice where a government physician is involved. This was clearly not the intent of Congress... Safety concerns are not a talisman in deciding whether to apply the discretionary function exception, but certainly are a very significant consideration. Here, there was no balancing or weighing of countervailing considerations. The failure to maintain the MRGO properly compromised the Reach 2 Levee and created a substantial risk of catastrophic loss of human life and private property due to this malfeasance. Nothing the Corps has introduced into evidence tips the balance in its favor."

Props and much respect to Judge Duval for seeing the wrongness of the thing and staying the course.  But here's where the rubber should meet the road for supporters of the Changeling in general, and those in New Orleans in particular because according to this, Corps' operation of MR-GO doomed homes in St. Bernard, Lower 9th Ward, judge rules, Obama & Co. do not intend to cry uncle any time soon:

Indeed, the Justice Department is expected to appeal the decision to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and then to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary..."Until such time as the litigation is completed, including the appellate process up to and through the U.S. Supreme Court, no activity is expected to be taken on any of these claims," corps spokesman Ken Holder said.

Please re-read that quote from Ken Holder (no apparent relation to Atty. General Eric Holder, but we'd have to check with Skip Gates on that one).  I could be wrong, but it sounds like "when hell freezes over" to me.  And if that turns out to be the case, I wonder will the response, particularly from his skinfolk - continue to be, "Just give him some more time, you know those white folks don't want him to give us all that money!"  ::Big Sigh::

And finally, in what should be a no-brainer - but apparently isn't - Harry Shearer gives an interesting entrée into just how long doing the right thing for New Orleans will take.  In his, Why Obama Needs to Weigh In With the Corps of Engineers, he writes about the battle brewing between the State and USACE regarding replenishing the wetlands with sediment dredged from MR-GO.  He closes with his usually succint, no-brainer thinking I've come to love:

"Of course, the Corps' Commander in Chief, a gentleman by the name of Obama, could cut short this process, order the Corps to request the money from Congress (if, indeed, the Corps is correct that helping restore the wetlands would cost more than filling a hole at the bottom of the Gulf), and help preserve New Orleans' main buffer against more severe hurricanes (since hurricanes lose force over land). The question is: will he?"

We shall see.

Black "Royalty" fools no one at the IOC

I know, I know.  I said there'd be a Part 2 to the last post - and there will be, right after I get this off my chest so I can sleep tonight!

Yes, I do lay awake some nights pondering why, in the hell, people can't or won't see, that when it comes to "competing loyalties" for the Changeling, there never seems to really be any competition.  At least not when it comes to a choice between what to do for money, prestige and perceived power, versus what is, and always should have been - right!

Two things happened that had "the voices" going in my head all night long (and spawned this brief diatribe, I might add).  First, as I sat at the kitchen table yesterday reading blogs, I could hear the 6 o'clock news, but I wasn't watching it.  I heard it go to the sportscaster and his piece on Denmark and the Olympics.  I looked up, because just the other day, I'd asked Pips over at Cinie's World, about Danish reaction to the Paul Revere-esque, "Obama is coming!  Obama is coming!"   I wanted to see what she'd described.

And at that very moment, he was running videos of Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and David Robinson respectively, during various stages of arrival and introduction in Denmark, adding, "And the president will be there too!"  All of a sudden, I had the strangest damn feeling - in my heart!  It was a sadness combined with a deep disappointment that I just could not reconcile the Black pride that I should have been feeling - as the faces of my skinfolk (in Denmark!  Representing America!) flashed across the screen - with the nauseating feeling I had in response to the charade-parade being perpetrated before my eyes.

The local news guy was excited though. He could barely contain his glee, saying how, with all these "heavy-hitters," Chicago was lookin' good for capturing those "5 Rings" in 2016.  Putting that "glee" into perspective, however, let's just remember that even in the "belly of the beast" that is Texas - gettin' those "dollar bills ya'll," trumps e-e-e'rything else).

I looked across the table to my youngest, sitting at his laptop, and said, "Damn!  I really should be feelin' so proud, right now!"  He looked at me with that, "What you talkin' 'bout Willis??" wrinkle in his brow, and looked up too.  Then, he slowly shook his head, knowing what was coming next.

I was at once, angry and hurt.  Angry because, the charade-parade was truly a vision I'd long hoped to see in this country.  That of strong, smart, beautiful Black people, doin' the damn thing  - and doing it well!  Hell, doing it better than it had ever been done before, because we were doing it - right!  And hurt - because that so-o-o wasn't the case (Yeah that's my shit, I know.  Still workin' on it).

I couldn't hold it in though - that  "quiet riot" had already started  rumbling deep in the pit of my stomach. 

"I can just hear my people right now, chests all swole 'cause of this shit on TV!  I bet you, not many of  them see, or even connect this charade-parade to that other charade-parade of him sending Eric-damn-Holder and Arne-ain't-never-taught-a-single-kid-Duncan to Chicago to meet with school officials and kids about youth violence  - next week, after that 16 year-old boy got beaten to death - last week!  I tell you, he gets on my last nerve!"

After the rant, I realized both my son and husband were smiling and just shakin' their damn heads (they've come to expect my "sharing" on topics such as these).  I calmed down - for a minute.

The youngest left, and the oldest came home from work while the husband and I were in the bedroom having a conversation on Skype with my nieces and nephews in the hinterlands (I must admit, I'm so glad I'm still  alive to see the Jetson-esque way technology has made it possible for us to sit, see and talk to one another in our respective living spaces - in real time!).

After catching up since the wedding in July, and talking about  various and sundry things, somehow or another, the conversation turned to the Changeling and Yep, you guessed it!  The rant was rewound and I hit play all over again!  My nephew (I wrote about his email in the last post) started laughing, because he knew, I'm sure, just what I was going to say.  And I did  - no need to rehash the whole thing here, except to say, where was he then???  Finished, I said, "Okay, I'm going now," as I went to the kitchen to get a glass of wine.  There was none.  (That didn't help!)

I tossed and turned all night, struggling with the feelings I was having:

Voice #1:  "Can't you just accept that we've come this far???"

Me:      " No!  Because we haven't  - come this far!"  We just look like we did!  And everybody else, but, us, knows it!!!"

Voice #2:  "Just look at that cast of characters tonight!  You gotta admit now, that was something!

Me:  "More like somethin'-damn-else!!  First of all, we have the Queen of Daytime talk who opened a school for South-African girls, while Chicago girls are still dodging bullets and beat-downs!  And, just  stop!  Don't say one damn word!  I know it's her cash to do with what she chooses, but come on, now!  You're grinnin' in the face of the IOC Chair, a part of the beggin'-to-bring-the-games to that same city where you didn't give two shits about looking out for the safety, education and well-being of girls!  And don't start me on Michelle Obama and her husband!  Derrion Albert was but one, of the many children who've lost their lives to violent crime in Chicago since - and way before - they moved into the damn Big House!  Of those I saw, only "The Admiral," seems to be walkin' that talk with his Carver Academy!  Hell, it's in the decidedly Black, East side of San Antonio, AND, 98% of the student body is on scholarship!

Voice 1 & 2:  Well, you've got a point there.  A few, actually.

And so it went, off and on, until almost morning (haven't refilled my Lunesta since I got here).  Then, the Second thing happened - in two parts.

I subscribe to Earl Ofari Hutchinson at HuffPo (What?  I read everything!  Hell, before Obama won, I thought my boy was on to him!  Not!!) -  Chicago Beating Death Shocks White House -- But Now What?   It began like this:

“There's an outsized map of Chicago on the wall of the office of the Black Star Project. In the center of the map there's the letter "A". The letter is the Chicago home of the Obamas. The "A" is surrounded by yellow stickers that make the map look like the bullseye of a dart board. The analogy is deadly fitting because each one of the stickers represents a child under age 18 who was murdered. 

The victims were all African-American…”

My "quiet riot" was validated.  Please read the piece to see what I mean.  Needless to say, I forwarded the link to my nephew who replied:

CRAZY! Well said!  Awesome "hanging" out with you guys last night!!!!!!!!!!!! We all left happier, gotta love the power of the internet.Love you,
Lar

Then, I sauntered on over to Salon and came upon Joan Walsh and this, Reading "The Clinton Tapes," thinking about Obama.  Predictably, when I got to this line, I lost it - again:

"I have to start by saying Taylor Branch's trilogy, "America in the King Years," is my favorite work of history. He brought the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. alive for me. And to see my favorite civil rights historian -- so far, there are some up-and-comers that deserve a look, too! -- grappling with the president who, until Obama, thought and did more about civil rights than any president before him, well, it's a thrilling combination."

I just had to post this response:

Really, Joan...

"He brought the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. alive for me. And to see my favorite civil rights historian -- so far, there are some up-and-comers that deserve a look, too! -- grappling with the president who, until Obama, thought and did more about civil rights than any president before him, well, it's a thrilling combination."

Joan, if Taylor Branch brought the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. so alive for you, why is it that you cannot see Obama is NOTHING LIKE HIM - except of course, a little brown! Please.

And Joan? Could you please tell me exactly WHAT Obama has done for civil rights??? Except of course, be a little brown!

Joan, is that all it takes for you to feel this country is moving forward on the civil rights/human rights issue??

I am a Black woman who WAS alive when Dr. King fought and died for civil rights in this country. Please, do not sully his achievements with that of your "Paper Tiger."  Sorry my dear, Obama is no MLK - not even close!

The-e-e-en, I stumbled on this and it was confirmed, Karma is a definite bitch:



Not even in the damn running!  Knocked out in the first draft!  The whole charade-parade was for naught -as it should have been.

And don't get it twisted, I'm not all HAPPY that Chicago missed the opportunity for jobs, exposure, etc.  It's just that I know that if they DID get the games, the people who needed it the most would not  have benefitted, all while the Changeling would have been able to happily tell his numerous Chicago backers like, Penny Pritzker,  "I told you not to worry about investing your funds in me, I got this!"

The charade-parade fooled no one on the other side of the pond or anywhere else.  They know - when will we?

(Found the Port....better now)

Clarification of April 3rd Post...

I received this comment on my April 3rd post and I wanted to reprint it here along with my response because even though I know what I'm thinking and then trying to say, sometimes I am unclear. I appreciate feedback that helps me get better at it!

==========================================

the first domino said:

"Deb: I believe he was equating the state of American politics, policies and business at the time, to the "Burning House" - a house in which Blacks had NO hand in building. I agree. Yet, his statement seems more grim than that. It almost suggests a "separation doctrine." I believe that Rev. King was keenly aware of the corruptive power of white America, that it had traded its soul in it's endeavor to surpass economically the rest of the world. I believe that he felt that the souls of black people were also at risk in this country. I believe that he felt that integration would put us in the middle of that corruption, and that the result would be catastrophic for us as well: we, too, pursuing the American dream as it was then fashioned, would lose our collective souls. Better to stand apart than go down with a house built on slavery, harsh segregation, and a economic system more materialistic than compassionate. And Rev. King's following statement is both intriguing and challenging. “Become the firemen. Let’s not stand by and let the house burn.” Surely he wasn't advocating the preservation of a failed house, or those who had set it on fire in the first place. Firemen put fires out. Maybe the firemen he had in mind were those among us willing to replace the house with a more fireproof one, or douse the fires already burning by giving the country a new fireproof direction. What is needed, then, are political carpenters and masons, as well as able firemen. The house, then, could be rebuilt within the structure of the old house using the old foundation, via life-affirming, political policies, economic compassion, and racial equality, or outside of the house--a violent takeover of the house. The former is my preference, and it was probably Dr. King's preference, as well. But one never knows."

========================================

I responded: the first domino...Hey, how are you?? You are saying exactly what I meant though I did not delineate each point you raise - I have to do better on that. I don't agree, however that he was suggesting a "separation doctrine" as that course would be counter to everything he spent his life trying to achieve. I believe, as you stated, "Maybe the firemen he had in mind were those among us willing to replace the house with a more fireproof one, or douse the fires already burning by giving the country a new fireproof direction." My list was an illustration of those who many of us THOUGHT WOULD BE, OR WERE, THE FIREMEN TO DATE - but as it turns out, they HAVEN'T BEEN AND ARE NOT. Rather, they have, along with those who set the house afire in the first place, helped to "preserve the failed house" - Sen. Obama included. We are saying the same things - you just said it more clearly. Hey! I'm working on being a better writer with the ability to clearly and succinctly express my thoughts so they are easily understood. Comments help me tremendously in figuring out how to do that. Thanks! I'm posting your comment on the blog to clarify my point for the one or two people who've read it.

Deferring the " Dream" for the "Burning House"

A few years ago at a State of the Black Union event, I remember an interview with Harry Belafonte wherein he shared one of his last conversations with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He said Dr. King told him, “I fear, I am integrating my people into a burning house.” Concerned, he asked Dr. King, “What should we do?” Dr. King replied, “Become the firemen. Let’s not stand by and let the house burn.”


That tete-a-tete kept popping into my head all day, so much so that I've had trouble finishing this post. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for the entire conversation, then I wouldn't have to speculate about what Dr. King actually meant. But I wasn't. So, drawing on my own life experiences in the Jim Crow South, I believe he was equating the state of American politics, policies and business at the time, to the "Burning House" - a house in which Blacks had NO hand in building.


Racism, more overt than covert, was both institutionalized and personal; poverty was then, as it is now, overwhelming for the have-nots and ignored by the haves; the Vietnam War, like Iraq, was un-winnable and unconscionable but, we kept fighting. Then, largely through his efforts, Blacks were thrust, uninitiated, into the "games" those politicians knew all too well how to play in order to line their pockets, stroke their own egos, bamboozle the people and maintain the status quo.


I'm so tired of this cliche, but both parts still hold so much truth: Blacks have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. The games, the political calculations and machinations, the "burning house" strategies - still exist. The only difference is the faces of the gamesmen have morphed into our own. We need only look to this very small, partial list to realize both halves of the truth in the cliche:

• Former D.C. mayor, Marion Barry
• Detroit mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick
• Former Louisiana Congressman William J. Jefferson
• Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Gen. Colin Powell
• Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice
• Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas
• Former HUD Secretary, Alphonso Jackson
• Talk-radio show hosts Armstrong Williams and Michael Baisden
• Prior presidential candidates, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton
• Television talk-show host, Oprah Winfrey
• Actor and comedian, Dr. Bill Cosby
• NPR Senior Correspondent, Juan Williams
• Presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama

The house WAS, and still is burning. And yes, the senator from Illinois has especially learned how to play those games very well (an interesting article from Todd Spivak of the Houston Press lays out some of his lessons). One has to admit that using the color of his skin and channelling MLK or Malcolm X to get the Black vote, then distancing himself from them after he's gotten what he wanted so as not to upset white folks, is perfect - for him! Having used Rev. Wright and his congregation to firmly plant his image in the Black community, then denouncing him when the shit hit the fan, to only later come back and tell white folks what they wanted to hear to assuage their guilt by excusing the reverend as some old, doddering, retiring, used-to-have-been is brilliant, learned, "burning house" strategy. Even Sun Tzu would have been proud!


Don't get me wrong, for minorities, learning those "games" was and remains essential to surviving and trying to thrive in the burning house. But Sen. Obama's pouring more fuel on the fire, through playing the same games that held us in bondage, is not where I expected we'd be after 40+ years. I, like Dr. King, thought we would be the firemen.


During the afore-mentioned State of the Black Union event, Dr. Cornel West said, “We must transform the House.” Much as I admire Dr. West, I don't see much transformation in the senator from Illinois.