Skip to main content

The Prez Came to Town and I Got .....

I am currently in North Mississippi charging my phone before heading home. I took the scenic route behind a tractor to arrive in North Mississippi; my phone is dead. Today President Obama came to view the flood damage and to give the commencement at Booker T. Washington H.S. in Memphis. I decided to join a watch party in south Memphis(Southhaven MS). There were several moments during the watch party that underscored why progressives, dems, liberals, etc... continue to shoot themselves.

Arrive on time. I was late for the watch party because although I left home 4 hour before the event, I forgot to take the express way. People pulling over to look at high water and tractors will make you late. The point is I was late and often people in the liberal camp are late. They spend too much time being understanding and reaching out to others to be on time. We have got to be on time. We must be on time and stay on point with our messages.

Prima Donna. If you ever meet me the first thing you will know is I am a hick. I am ok with being a hick and with taking the backseat. I am not known for tolerating rudeness or stupidity but I am mostly content to take a backseat. However, I find myself time and time again unable to rest on the backseat when confronted with prima donnas. I was sitting at the table with a few intellectual donnas. If you are ready this and are offended then it may be you. At this point in Mississippi and in the nation we have no place for egos. We need all hands on deck. If you only have criticism to offer from afar then you are of little use. I drove 280 miles round trip on my dime to meet with others looking for progress. We must lose the what is in it for me attitude of the Regan era if we are to get ahead.

Commit. It was hard to get a commitment from the people in the room to do something for 2011. Seeing the president on television was more important than taking the time to have a conversation about what needs to be done in the community. They would rather speak of yesterday than of today. I know many in the room have fought longer than I have been alive but I say if you are still breathing keep fighting. I got 3 reasons why something would not work for every suggestion I put out to the people. Were it not for a few at the watch party, I would have thrown-up my hands. However, I have too much vested in this nation to give up without a fight. My ancestors did not give up and neither shall I.

Use what you have to organize effectively. I actually had someone speak to me of there being more people abusing social welfare than people who actually need it. I wondered what brand of Fox News flavored drink she was sipping. This same woman was against Black churches using the church to organize for political reasons. She was adamant in her view of keeping God and politics separate. I was once more taken back by her views. She attends church services twice a week, I attend the crap table twice a month. However, God is in every aspect of my life. Although I am against forcing others to share my view of God, I can not imagine my life without God. Where would Black people be today if MLK had not organize the people for the Civil Rights Movement? I am actually old enough to remember a time when priests/ministers actually spoke of issues that affected or would affect his/her congregants. It is strange that Bishop Eddie Long will organize a march against homosexuals but not a march to improve schools in Black neighborhoods. We, libs, dems, progressives,etc... need to have a reality check.

We fault the cons but the moment we achieve some level of financial success we act just like them. We speak of bootstraps while forgetting our shoeless days. We speak of education but forget our own ignorance. The lure of personal profits cause us to run into the capitalist ocean forgetting the strong currents that drag to the bottom the values that afforded our trip to the beach. It is only as we are struggling to stay afloat that we remember how we came to have the life on the beach. I shall stop for I feel my anger leaving and the rambling starting.

I stop with these thoughts in mind. We must return our nation to one that cares for everyone. We must come together to stamp out the regressive policies that stand ready to press us into serfdom. I love President Obama but he needs me to be active not standing still like a school girl fawning over the high school quarterback. He needs all of us to get out and to get active NOW not next year.



Links

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=21795 (please read)
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1214-24.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-johnson/health-care-public-option_b_212187.html
http://survivingdating.com/the-black-church-does-the-black-church-look-the-other-way-while-women-pray-and-men-prey
http://www.barackobama.com/im-in-splash-2

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/161441-obama-honors-memphis-school-with-commencement-address

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Take me over the cliff - again

I expect many Americans in my fiscal position are fed up with the GOPs continued fight for the rights of the wealthy to pay less in taxes.  I say take me over the cliff.  I recently found a Twitter account regarding the $250K threshold.   Many of the tweets\RTs where describing the hardships of $250K living.   It is time for a reality check across the board in America.    If the grown-ups were honest about this fiscal mess, they would admit the tax cuts must end for all.  The ending should be in stages to reduce the likelihood of the need for public assistance for working\working-poor families.  Although $250K is different for different parts of the U.S.A it does mean you are not in the ghetto. There is no $250K/individual ghetto in America. If you are reading this posting and you know of such a ghetto, please let me know for I need to move to that state.  If taxes go up for individuals making $250K and above they will not face a n...

Y'all should eat my grits no cheese

It is two days after the GOP primary in Mississippi. We are still laughing at Mitt's attempt to cuddle up to us with cheesy grits and a few y'alls thrown in. In my area of Mississippi it is yaw'all(10 second word). Had he come here expecting us to be able to count to 20 without removing our shoes, he may have been taken a little bit more seriously. I am not sure if Mitt's grits ranks with Bush's "this part of the world" statement after Katrina but it ranks. Truthfully, I enjoy cheese in my grits along with garlic and red pepper. However, I do not think my love of grits, a bowl every morning, makes me Southern. Although I was born in Southern California and partially reared in Southern Wisconsin, I consider myself a full blown Mississippian. Along with keeping my grits to myself, I also speak without care of accent. The fact that I can tell you how to get from Memphis to the Coast without using the interstate or Google says I am from Mississippi. ...

We can not afford tax cuts

After the Senate failed twice to make any headway on tax cuts and UI benefits, I took a little timeout from shouting to be silent. I spent 2 hours and 20 minutes being quiet with my son as we watched Harry Potter. Today, I awaken early to get to the store to buy food to aid in my son’s combat of the season’s first cold. During the shopping and the quiet time, I continued to wonder if maybe I am the one missing something. I do not have the alphabet soup behind my name or statistical knowledge, as do those in the Senate. I may be alone in seeing a crisis where there is none. However, just as I thought to put away the shingle of my blog in favor of teaching public school, I got a retweet of a NY Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/us/politics/05states.html?_r=1&src=twt&twt=nytimespolitics). Reading the article I was reminded how, my close to retirement age mother, who has advanced degrees, was laid-off as a teacher under the guise of budget cuts from the state....