Emergency Message for all my Tribe Family

Danger, Danger, Warning, Warning. Your aid and support is desperately needed; right now.

Dear Family here on tribe, we are in a crisis. As you know; I have had health challenges for the past 3 years. I have had 5 episodes of Heart Failure. I am too onnery to die; but these episodes have each had 1 to 2 months of recovery associated with them. I haven't had a defibrillator installed in my chest, but I have followed all the other suggestions of Medical authorities. Each time I have bounced back and gotten on with my work of Counseling, Healing, and Teaching.

Yet these disruptions have taken a toll. Since I am self employed I don't have "benefits." My medical care is now fortunately taken care of by Medicaid. My first 2 bouts of CHF came out of my meager resources and left me destitute. Such is life. It was no different for me than any other person among the millions of Americans caught without medical coverage in a crisis. Each of the past 3 bouts has resulted in my falling a month behind in my rent. I am paying it on time, but there still remains a 3 month backlog. The owner of my building is no longer willing to accept only the current month's rent. He has given me an ultimatum; pay the balance or he will institute legal proceedings. Wow, that sure is heavy. I owe him almost $4,000. And the worst thing about living in NYC is that finding another apt and moving would cost even more, much more. I live modestly. I don't have a lot of luxuries. I do however have 30 years worth of books, CD, Records, and files. They represent a vital resource in my Work. They cannot be replaced. It would be a crime against the common good to have them discarded in an eviction.

I LOVE LIFE AND SHARING BLESSINGS WITH MY FELLOW CREATURES!!!! This is my highest goal. I will continue to do so as long as I live. I used to be well off and making a buck was my reason for living. At that time I had a big house 4 cars and so much money in the bank that $4,000 was the price of a weekend off. I couldn't imagine being, "one of those people." These past 6 years have been a blessing. Losing the house and trappings of wealth have taught me about dignity and the fact that we are all truly the same.

I have always lived however in the example of my Grandparents, and made charity an integral part of my life. I may have been extravagant and status driven(I know compensation for feelings of inadequacy LOL). I have never failed to give money to anyone who has held their hand out to me. I have taken friends in need into my home and given them a place to live while they got back on their feet. I used to (in the days when I could afford to) buy extra food every week for the local Food Pantry. And I still do all that I can today. I have given up lunch to feed other people. I have made "care packages" for my students in need from my own groceries. As long as I can do so I will.

I'm not telling you this to get sympathy. I'm not trying to make myself seem like a Saint. I just want to "set the vibration." I believe in resonance. I believe that the threads of our lives vibrate in harmonic resonance with each other. I believe that many of you here in my tribe network and elsewhere in my life groove to the same vibes I do. Just like I put it out there; for other people so do you. Now I have become one of those other people.

So I am sending out this appeal. Please help keep me, my wife, and our two cats together and indoors. NYC is an almost impossible place to restart in. Once you fall off the boards here its almost impossible to get back on. My blood family has almost all passed away so now I need the support of my spiritual family. Here's what I'm asking; Give me $7.77. Ask as many people as you know for the same amount. Ask them to pass this appeal on to their friends and families; and so forth. Put it together in either a money order or into your bank account and write me a check.

This is the price of a Whopper w/cheese combo (and drink) or 2 Lattes here in NYC. It's less than a lunch special at Olive Garden or Red Lobster. And dollars less than a pack of cigarettes. If you forego a pack of cigarettes; I have asked the powers of Light to transmute that sacrifice into the energy needed to free you from a Nicotine addiction. Have faith and it will work; saving you thousands of dollars over the course of a year.

At that rate it will take the contributions of 515 people to eliminate this debt. I have over 220 people in my tribe network receiving this blog. I will also post this in some of my tribes. I expect to put this appeal in front of 1000 people here online via tribe. If each of them were to forward this appeal to 100 friends on and off the web; 100,000 people will see the appeal. At the rate of $7.77 there must surely be 515 who will come through. If you can give more than $7.77; thank you. If you can only give a dollar or even 50 cents; it will all up. Pass the cup at your office or business. Set up a cup at your Church, Synagogue or Temple. Ask the boys at your Friday night card game to each give a 10% cut of their biggest winning hand of the night. Whatever. Don't strain yourselves. I can guarantee that everyone who does give will receive my thanks and blessings of the Universal Benevolence.

As soon as possible send your accumulations to:

Albert Anderson
1683 George St.
Apt. 3C
Ridgewood, NY 11385-5306

I will be performing a Daily Ritual of Praise and Thanks for all who offer their support. Please include any Prayer request you have for your condition, the condition of Loved Ones, or anything else I can offer my Prayer of Thanks and Praise on behalf of. Please send no cash. Our Postal System employees are mistreated and underpaid and some of them intercept cash in the system.

Bless you all who have taken the time to read this.

Any monies received above that needed to pay off the Landlord will go to the work of Ascension House; my Holistic Healing Center, which I operate from my home. This will help to offset the cost of the clients I work with who are unable to pay. I have never turned anyone away and never intend to.

I do also ask one other thing; Prayer. I humbly ask you to pray for my family and my work. I ask you who are among the Wise to perform whatever ritual you can on our behalf to "jumpstart" the flow of abundance to us. I ask you to pray and perform ritual for the mission of Ascension House and all those individuals and families we are able to assist. I have Faith. I have Faith that the connection of those of you who read this and share this appeal with those in your "Constellation of Souls" have the power to fix this once and for all.

Living for Change

A short while ago I lost a member of my Tribe.net network. This member was someone whom I really held in high regard. My ex-tribe friend became so inflamed by the contest between Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton; that they decided to drop our connection because of the things I have said in support of Barak. It is obvious that this will be one of those people who will vote for John McCain if Hillary doesn't get the Democratic nomination. Their arguments sound like those I have heard from the voters of Western Pennsylvania; who feel they must make a looonngg explanation for their reasons for not supporting Barak. There reasons sound as real as Hillary's tale of dodging Sniper fire.

I decided that I would give politics a rest. If you haven't genuinely made up your mind by now about what this country needs; you are not being candid with either yourself or everyone else. There has not been a choice as stark in the 48 years I have followed Presidential Politics in my lifetime. Instead I will cut and paste following article by the incredible Grace Lee Boggs. It mentions Barak as well as M.L.King Jr., but is in actuallity about us as a people. I ask you to reflect upon it. The image which accompanies this blog is her portrait.


Living for Change: Obama and MLK

by Grace Lee Boggs

The new energies being unleashed by Barack Obama hold great promise. In his person and prose Obama embodies the achievements of the movements of the 20th century and the hope that we can become the change we want to see in the 21st century.

To build the movement for change will not be easy. The challenges we face demand profound changes not only in our institutions but in ourselves. To become part of the solution, we must recognize that we are a large part of the problem.

That means we can’t leave it all to Obama. Instead of being followers of a charismatic leader, we must be the leaders we’ve been looking for. This is the best way to make Obama less vulnerable to corporate funders and lobbyists. It is also the best way to protect him from the assassins who gunned down so many charismatic leaders in the 1960s.

We don’t have to start from scratch. As we commemorate the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination this year, we can look to the vision that he was creating at the height of his awareness before he was taken from us. In the last three years of his life Dr. King recognized that “the war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit. We are on the wrong side of a world revolution because we refuse to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investment.”

“We have come to value things more than people. Our technological development has outrun our spiritual development. We have lost our sense of community, of interconnection and participation.”

In order to get on the right side of that revolution, he said, we must undergo a radical revolution of values against the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism.

“A true revolution of values will look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth…It will look across the seas and see individual capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries, and say: ‘This is not just.’ The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach and nothing to learn is not just. A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war: “This way of settling differences is not just.’ A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

The urban rebellions had also made King acutely aware of the needs of young people. “This generation,” he said, “is engaged in a cold war with the earlier generation. It is not the normal hostility of the young groping for independence. It has a new quality of bitter antagonism and confused anger which suggests basic values are being contested.” “The source of this alienation is that our society has made material growth and technological advance an end in itself, robbing people of participation.”

To overcome this alienation we need to change our priorities. Instead of pursuing economic productivity, we need to expand our uniquely human powers, especially our capacity for the Love that is ready to go to any length to restore community.

This Love, King insisted, is not some sentimental weakness. “We can learn its practical meaning from the young people who joined the civil rights movement,… putting on overalls to work in the isolated rural South because they felt the need for more direct ways of learning that would strengthen both society and themselves.”

What we need now “in our dying cities,” King said, are ways to provide young people with similar opportunities to engage in self-transforming and structure-transforming direct action. King was assassinated before he could discover and implement ways to nurture this two-sided transformation. Forty years later, that is the mission of a new generation.

We have to create the momentum for these changes at the grassroots level. Instead of being seduced by Walmart’s low prices, refusing to acknowledge that these bargains exist because multinational corporations outsource U.S. jobs to Chinese sweatshops, we need to create local sustainable economies that not only reduce carbon emissions but provide more opportunities for our young people to be of use. Instead of viewing success in terms of more consumer goods, we need to devise ways to live more simply and cooperatively, thereby not only making it possible for others to simply live but also discovering positive and even joyful ways to grapple with our own increasing economic hardships.

Because Detroit has been so devastated by deindustrialization, we have embarked on a five year Detroit City of Hope campaign. Out of necessity we are becoming the kind of leadership by example which is now needed.

Obama can become a great President only if we become a great people. We must grow together.

Grace Boggs has been an activist for more than 60 years and is the author of the autobiography Living for Change. She will celebrate her 93rd birthday in June. This article first appeared in the Michigan Citizen, Jan. 20-26, 2008

God is Patient.......but

I received the following message from Michael Moore; the Producer of "Fahrenheit 911" and "Sicko."


So? ... A Note from Michael Moore

Monday, March 24th, 2008

Friends,

It would have to happen on Easter Sunday, wouldn't it, that the 4,000th American soldier would die in Iraq. Play me that crazy preacher again, will you, about how maybe God, in all his infinite wisdom, may not exactly be blessing America these days. Is anyone surprised?

4,000 dead. Unofficial estimates are that there may be up to 100,000 wounded, injured, or mentally ruined by this war. And there could be up to a million Iraqi dead. We will pay the consequences of this for a long, long time. God will keep blessing America.

And where is Darth Vader in all this? A reporter from ABC News this week told Dick Cheney, in regards to Iraq, "two-thirds of Americans say it's not worth fighting." Cheney cut her off with a one word answer: "So?"

"So?" As in, "So what?" As in, "F*** you. I could care less."

I would like every American to see Cheney flip the virtual bird at the them, the American people. Click here and pass it around. Then ask yourself why we haven't risen up and thrown him and his puppet out of the White House.

The Democrats have had the power to literally pull the plug on this war for the past 15 months -- and they have refused to do so. What are we to do about that? Continue to sink into our despair? Or get creative? Real creative. I know there are many of you reading this who have the chutzpah and ingenuity to confront your local congressperson. Will you? For me?

Cheney spent Wednesday, the 5th anniversary of the war, not mourning the dead he killed, but fishing off the Sultan of Oman's royal yacht. So? Ask your favorite Republican what they think of that.

The Founding Fathers would never have uttered the presumptuous words, "God Bless America." That, to them, sounded like a command instead of a request, and one doesn't command God, even if they are America. In fact, they were worried God would punish America. During the Revolutionary War, George Washington feared that God would react unfavorably against his soldiers for the way they were behaving. John Adams wondered if God might punish America and cause it to lose the war, just to prove His point that America was not worthy. They and the others believed it would be arrogant on their part to assume that God would single out America for a blessing. What a long road we have traveled since then.

I see that Frontline on PBS this week has a documentary called "Bush's War." That's what I've been calling it for a long time. It's not the "Iraq War." Iraq did nothing. Iraq didn't plan 9/11. It didn't have weapons of mass destruction. It DID have movie theaters and bars and women wearing what they wanted and a significant Christian population and one of the few Arab capitals with an open synagogue.

But that's all gone now. Show a movie and you'll be shot in the head. Over a hundred women have been randomly executed for not wearing a scarf. I'm happy, as a blessed American, that I had a hand in all this. I just paid my taxes, so that means I helped to pay for this freedom we've brought to Baghdad. So? Will God bless me?

God bless all of you in this Easter Week as we begin the 6th year of Bush's War.

God help America. Please.

Michael Moore

I am a Christian. I am also a Muslim, and a Hindu, and a Jew, and a B'hai. I am further Gnostic and Deist. In all these diverse aspects of faith the central theme is that I believe in the Divine. I believe in the All in All; however you may identify it. I believe that the blessings we receive are not a judgement, but a resonance with our acts and intentions. This belief makes me VERY CONCERENED about the future we move ourselves into. Lies from our leaders, torture and murder in our names, unjust wars in our names, denial of oaths taken, covetness, rapine, and all manners of perfidy commited in our names, and most especially the arrogance of the sin of pride; cause me great fear. Many Great Nations and Empires have fallen for less than the sins of commission and omission we have done.

I support Barak because I'm Black

I have had encounters with my close personal friends who accuse me of supporting Barak Obama for the nomination as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency because he is Black. I have disagreed with this over and over again. The problem that many of my friends have is that they are aware that I am verrrry conservative (small c) and that my outlook on life is somewhat to the right of center. Consequently they can't imagine that I could possibly support Barak because of his Liberal (capital L) stances on many issues. In truth I am voting for him not because he is Black but becaus I am.

Many people know that I consider myself to be an American first. This is why I refuse the title of "African American" and describe myself as "An American of Diasporic African descent." This description is of the majority of my genetic heritage and does not denegrate my smaller European genetic component. But by the rules created by White America; my possession of more than 1/16 of Black blood makes me a Black man. My outward appearance leaves no doubt that I have African ancestors. My mode of expression and the content of my discourse often causes people who have experienced contact with me via telephone or internet; to be shocked when they meet me in person.

I got to see just what it was about Barak Obama's character and identity today that makes it imperative for me as a Black man to vote for him. I must fully acknowledge that these things are also why White Americans who desire a new reality to become operant in this country need to vote for him as well.

It goes to the reality of who Barak is and who we are as a nation. BARAK OBAMA IS NOT BLACK!!! NOR IS HE WHITE!!! HE IS BOTH OR NEITHER. The address he gave in Philadelphia today is by far the most important speech I have heard given since I heard JFK's Innaugural address. I have heard divergent opinions of the speech from the pundits on television and radio. Most are stirred by it and its message of reconcilation and healing that the Obama candidacy offers. Others have arrayed themselves behind the banner of hatred and politics as usual. I just listened to "spokespersons" on MSNBC twist and redact and redefine Barak''s words. I offer this following text of the message so that you may judge for yourself.

If you feel as moved by this speech as I have been; I invite you to share it with your friends and all of those constituents of your address books.


"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union."

Speech by Barak Obama

Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.

The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.

Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution - a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.

And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part - through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.

This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign - to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together - unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.

This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.

I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners - an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.

It's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts - that out of many, we are truly one.

Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.

This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either "too black" or "not black enough." We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.

And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.
On one end of the spectrum, we've heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it's based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we've heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.

I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely - just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.

But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.

As such, Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems - two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.

Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way

But the truth is, that isn't all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God's work here on Earth - by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:

"People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the rafters....And in that single note - hope! - I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion's den, Ezekiel's field of dry bones. Those stories - of survival, and freedom, and hope - became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn't need to feel shame about...memories that all people might study and cherish - and with which we could start to rebuild."

That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety - the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.

And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions - the good and the bad - of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother - a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.

Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.

But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America - to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.
The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through - a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.

Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't even past." We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.

Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven't fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today's black and white students.

Legalized discrimination - where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments - meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today's urban and rural communities.

A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family, contributed to the erosion of black families - a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods - parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement - all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.

This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. What's remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them.

But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn't make it - those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations - those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright's generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician's own failings.

And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.

In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience - as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.

Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze - a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns - this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.

This is where we are right now. It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy - particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.

But I have asserted a firm conviction - a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people - that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice is we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.

For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances - for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives - by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.

Ironically, this quintessentially American - and yes, conservative - notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright's sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.

The profound mistake of Reverend Wright's sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It's that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country - a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen - is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds - by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.

In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand - that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.

For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle - as we did in the OJ trial - or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright's sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she's playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.

We can do that.

But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.

That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time." This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look like us are somebody else's problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.

This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don't have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.

This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn't look like you might take your job; it's that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.

This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should've been authorized and never should've been waged, and we want to talk about how we'll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.

I would not be running for President if I didn't believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation - the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.

There is one story in particularly that I'd like to leave you with today - a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King's birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.

There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.

And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that's when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.

She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.

She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.

Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother's problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn't. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.

Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he's there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, "I am here because of Ashley."

"I'm here because of Ashley." By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.

But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.

Sometimes Dreams Come True

I just watched the victory speech which Barak Obama made after his win in the Wisconsin primary. It took me back to these words; first spoken in 1963. They were prophetic and I believe that they prophesized this time in which we live. Read them and I am sure that you will recognize them, and perhaps feel the same sense of realization.


>>>And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!<<<


These are the times that The Dreamer could only dream of 45 years ago. They mean so much to all of us, regardless of our race or gender.

You can view the entire speech on the Google Video link below:

video.google.com/url

Not for Black People Only

Almost everybody who reads my blogs knows that I am an American of African Diasporic and European descent. In America having more than 1/16 Black blood makes me Black. This custom is what determines that Barak Obama (who is equally white) is a Black man. Unlike some of us in his category; he has embraced his African heritage, married a Black woman, fathered Black children and in all other aspects embodies the "best and brightest" characteristics of our people. Not all of us do.

This refers in many ways to the Congressional Black Caucus. I have made previous comments on their politics first paradigm. They have sacrificed the needs of their constituents on the altar of incumbency. They have made decisions based upon their own best interest and the creation of dynastic political machines. Although I supported his Senatorial bid; this can be said about Harold Ford Jr. in Tennessee. It can also be said about Adolphus Townsend here in NYC, Rev. Clarence Norman, and the Hon. William C. Thompson; Comptroller of NYC.

They have gerrymandered their districts to ensure their reelections and consequently have not had to learn how to build coalitions and consensus with anyone. We have wathched the voter turnout decrease election after election in their districts. This is of course a mixed blessing. It has resulted in several of them becoming Chairpersons of influential committees in the House of Representatives. Of course this may be only to their advantage in some instances. You must judge on a case by case basis. I still have serious hard feelings toward Rep. Charles Rangel of Harlem. This his little or nothing to do with his support of Hillary Clinton in the competition for the Democratic Party's selection process for a Presidential candidate. These feelings go back to the Savings and Loan Crisis. During that period he was a senior member of the House, controlling a committee. When Neal and Jeb bush looted the Silverado Bank of $2 Billion, he supported a bailout. When the Freedom National bank failed for a lack of less than $30 MIllion he was unable or unwilling to save it. Those of us here in NYC remember FNB. It was the largest Black Bank in NY. It was also the bank of choice for all the non-profit organizations and churches in the Black community. When FNB went under it cost millions in uninsured deposits of organizations and individuals. FNB was considered "too small to save." This is indicative of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Now many of these CBC members are pledged to Hillary Clinton as Superdelegates. They rushed to join her bandwagon before it was believable that Sen. Obama had any chance to defeat her. Having made their commitments to her they are prepared to stand steadfast with her; despite the 90%+ support Barak enjoys in the Black Community. They believe that if Hillary wins the nomination; the crumbs from her table will be worth the animosity that they will engender in their constituents. This is business as usual for them. We cannot allow this to continue.

Following is a letter written by the people at Color of Change. I ask that you copy and paste this letter and share it with your friends. Please send it only to those people you have a direct contact with; span dilutes its effectiveness.



Dear Friend,

Voters in places like Atlanta, Brooklyn, St. Louis, and Inglewood have made clear their choice for president: Barack Obama. So why are some members of the Congressional Black Caucus threatening to use their power as "superdelegates" to undermine those votes and nominate Hillary Clinton?

Voters should decide elections--not politicians. And members of the Congressional Black Caucus should amplify the political voice of their constituents, not silence it. I've joined ColorOfChange.org in demanding that the CBC to listen to the voters; let's tell them to vote with the people, not against us:

www.colorofchange.org/superd/

Voters in almost all the districts represented by the CBC have chosen Obama, helping him win more delegates than Clinton. But only some delegates vote based on the results of primaries. A fifth of the delegates that will vote at the convention -- and decide the nomination -- are "superdelegates" that can technically vote however they like, regardless of what the voters say. These superdelegates are members of Congress, senators, governors and Democratic party insiders. In a contest this close, they have the power to overturn the will of voters, and decide the outcome.

In 2000 and 2004, CBC members stood up to defend the rights of Black voters that had been disenfranchised. It would be a disgrace for its members to now undermine the votes of Black people in their districts. Rarely have Black voters across the country been so unified behind a particular candidate; if CBC members vote against their constituents, it will diminish the power of Black voters in a historic election that could result in our country's first Black president.

It will take courage and conviction for CBC members to break with back-room politics and stand up for democracy. But we must demand it. Please join us:

www.colorofchange.org/superd/

Thanks.

THE OTHER RACES

It may or may not occur to many of you dear friends that the Political season we find ourselves mired in is not just the race between Hillary and Barak. There are other important races being decided at this same time. Unfortunately many of these races are being starved of media coverage and as a result financial and personal support.

I'd like to make comment on two of these races and encourage you to investigate them and search your hearts to see if you wouldn't like to become involved.

The first is in the San Francisco Bay area. In the district currently served by Speaker of the House of Representatives; Nancy Pellosi. I wont spend time or energy rehashing the reasons I feel that it is so very important to replace her in the House of Representatives. I will only point out that her constituency has petitioned and demonstrated against the war in Iraq and has also called for the impeachent of George W. Bush. Mrs. Pellosi has voted for the war and despite the EXPRESSED WISHES of her constitiuency; has refused to put the impeachement of GWB on the table. That may have been a political calculation worthy of Machieavelli, committed in order to have Bush as a figurehead to run against, for the field of Democratic nomination candidates. I dont know or care. Instead I personally endorse and offer my support to the independent candidate for the seat; Cindy Sheehan. That's right antiwar activist and mother of Casey Sheehan who lost his life in the "War of Adventure" in Iraq. You can learn about her positions, opportunities to support her, and how to make a contribution at:
www.cindyforcongress.org

The second candidacy that I would like to highlight and ask you to support is in the campaign for US Senator from the state of Minnesota. The candidate who I support is known to many of us as a satirist and entertainer. This will not be an issue in the state which elected the wrestler Jesse "the Body" Ventura to the office of Govenor. Al Franken is as far as I am concerned the man(or the archetype for the man) I would like to see take over Hillary's Senate seat if she becomes President or Vice President. He sums it up best when he said:

>>>Republicans like to run by saying that government doesn’t work. Then they get elected, and they prove it. It’s gotten to the point where the Democratic Party is both the liberal party AND the conservative party in this country. There’s nothing conservative about record deficits. There’s nothing conservative about billions of dollars in earmarks. There’s nothing conservative about using taxpayer funds to reward your campaign donors. There’s nothing conservative about refusing to pay attention to waste, fraud, and contract abuse in Iraq. And there’s certainly nothing conservative about running out of money so that we can’t invest in things like early childhood education and health care to build a stronger workforce and a stronger America.<<<

You can interact with his campaign at his website: www.alfranken.com

There are lots of other worthy candidates who are deserving of your support. When we take the time to seek them out and endorse them with our support; they don't have to spend there term in office seeking financial support from the first day. We can see a new paradigm in operation in our civic affairs and political life if we take the time to become informed and active.

Is Barak Obama White Enough?

Its almost a month since my last post. It's been a good month for me and for America. Barak Obama is moving forward toward the democratic party nomination for candidate for the presidency. He now leads Hillary Clinton in the count of delegates (including the Superdelegates). He is still short of the required 2025 convention delegate votes he needs to be guaranteed to have the nomination. The upcoming primaries between now and May will tell the tale.

I have had a few "dust ups" with people I hold in high regard here on tribe about the upcoming convention and the choice to be made. It seems that these folks are firmly in Hillary C's camp and are starting to "nitpick" and create justifications in their minds for excluding Barak from consideration; except as a Vice President under HRC. I would like to see the two of them share the Executive branch in a new administration. However; I remember the way that the Clintons treated Al Gore during the Clinton/Gore administration and the lack of support that they showed him after 8 years in the second seat. I also have been SORELY DISAPPOINTED by the statement of Bill and some of the other Hillary surrogates in her organization. Some of the remarks have been downright nasty; racist to boot. I can get beyond all of that. I am saddened by the way that Hillary shows all of the things about her that have been said over the years about being cold and calculating, with a win at any cost attitude, to be true. I am most disappointed by the fact that she has alluded to the fact that if she isn't going to be the nominee for President; "I will be perfectly happy to be the Senator from New York." The level of animosity that she and her supporters have injected into this race may have supplied enough ammunition to the Republicans to undermine Barak's candidacy without her. The truth is that we must, I repeat MUST succeed in getting control of the Executive branch. Another Republican administration will destroy this country. I am especially saddened by the Hillary supporters who say things like they will "vote present." That kind of sacrasm just doesn't serve us in this time of crisis. If Hillary doesn't come out on top it will behoove her supporters not just to come out on election day in November and vote, but actively support Barak's campaign.

Well enough of this gloom. I received a newsletter from an amazing talented young Black man who wrote the song, "Read a Book." Many of you are familiar with it. If you are not please go to Youtube and check it out. It is reaallly funny while being a valuable message to the African American community. The following is from that newsletter. It is self explanatory and quite amusing.


"Is Barak Obama White Enough?"

>>>So the hubbub has finally subsided. The King of Black People (Jesse Jackson) and the Prime Minister (Al Sharpton) have officially knighted Senator Obama as black enough. Of course it took a gang of white people in Iowa voting for him before anyone felt comfortable anointing him, but it happened none the less. I personally take credit for Obama solidifying the black vote because every time someone asked me that asinine "is he black enough" question, I would quip "what do you expect the first black president to be? A dashiki wearing, afro with a black fist pick having ex-black panther?"

Since that question seems to be settled, it's time for Barack to switch gears. Okay, maybe not Barack himself, he does a good job of appearing to be above the political and racial fray. But his supporters need to start pushing the idea of how white he is. Yes, that's right; Barack Obama is as white as he is black. The one drop rule is not a genetic law or a social fact; it is a construct of this countries racist imagination. For Christ sake, he's distant cousins with Dick Cheney. We need to start stressing the idea that his universal appeal is partly due to him being white, like all the presidents before him.


"But Bomani, we need to appeal to the historic significance of him being black, or try to make him non-racial!"

Nothing is further from the truth. In all honesty, the more I watch him talk and interact with people, the more I'm convinced that he is a "soul brother". He walks with a rhythm, slaps skin when he shakes hands with even the most white-bread politician, and speaks in a cadence that would make Rudy Ray Moore proud. Even though these attributes are part of the reason he has garnered support in the important blocks of voters like African Americans, liberals, anti-war activists, and the highly educated, it will also serve to galvanize a voting block that hasn't had to come together in the history of our country. That is the all important "Aw Hell No!" voting block.

That's right; the "Aw Hell No!" political block in our society has lain dormant for 200 years, waiting for a moment to flex its political muscle. Don't forget that this country is over well over 60% white and well under half of the population votes. That means there are a lot of white people who could care less about the political process. They believe that national politics are really out of their reach and that it's not worth taking off work to participate. As long as the Federal government stays within some superficial norms, they aren't worried about who does what in November. That's until a black man (and to be honest a, woman) had a chance to be president. This attack on the laws of the universe is destined to cause a spike in once apathetic voters.


This is the part of the editorial where I resist the temptation to stereotype all the member of the "Aw Hell No" voting block as backwoods, tobacco chewing, and cousin screwing hicks. That would be too easy and probably in accurate. This group has young and old members, in the rural areas and urban communities. "A.H.N." members are comfortable in their existence and just aren't ready for such a dramatic change. Most surprisingly, some members of this block have spoken glowingly of Senator Obama, maybe even attended his rallies. They won't realize they are members of this group until the curtain is closed behind them in the voting booth.

For this reason, Barrack's white heritage needs to be played up as much as possible. He needs to start posing with his mother's family a lot more, not the United Nations crew of brothers and cousins he's normally seen running with. Staffers need to start snapping as many pictures as possible of him putting mayonnaise on his sandwiches and shaking hands straight up and down (no more low fives that evolve into a shake with that pat on the back). He should also be banned from speaking at any kind of Baptist church, just churches that have only a pipe organ as an instrument and sing their songs solemnly and straight from a hymnal. Barrack should be given diction lessons so he can stop cutting of his y's (like "li-ber-teh" and "e-kwa-li-teh"). And for heavens sake, when he's campaigning this summer, avoid outdoor rallies!! We can't afford him getting any darker. (Is there some cute, anglo sounding nick name that we can use as short for Barrack? I'm open to suggestions.)

"But Bomani, playing into racial stereotypes has to be counter productive! And having him fake anything takes away from the realness that gives him such broad appeal!"

Look, after he wins the presidential election I will personal show up on Pennsylvania Ave during his inauguration procession to the White House, wearing red, black and green and screaming "Barrack, Bomaye!!". Until them I am not taking any more chances acknowledging him as a black man. If you want him to win the election I suggest you do the same.

Bomani Armah
"Music the Language of Spirits"

notarapper.com

A President Like My Father

In 1960 I was 8 years old. I was in the third grade at Fort Green Elementary School (torn down for the construction of the Interstate Highway system), in Mrs. Sadie Roland's Class. It was a segregated southern school; like all the others in Nashville, Tennesse; my hometown. I was in the Cub Scouts in Pack 1087, based at Tennesse State University. It was a time of hope and aspiration as well as the on-going terrors associated with being a "Negro" in the south.

This was 5 years after the Supreme Court sided with the demonstrators in the Birmingham Bus Boycott and ruled that the underlying law; segregating public facilities, such as the bus system was unconstitutional. It was also the same 5 years since Emmett Till was murdered and his body wired to a factory fan was dumped into the river. I still recall the photos shown in Jet Magazine of his brutalized body. It was also the same time when Dorothy Daindridge was appearing in Las Vegas and although allowed to play the lounge, was housed in an annex behind the kitchen and was forbidden to enter the swimming pool.

In the fall of that year; we Negros were given a glimmer of light. A Democratic Senator from Massachutses was running for President of the United States. He was young. He was in fact the youngest man ever to run for the Presidency. He was a WW2 hero and ran on a platform of hope, vision, and change. The political establishment of the party discounted him and the previous Democratic President; Harry Truman, even refused to support him because he felt he "wasn't ready" to hold that office. Despite his being a Catholic and the religious prejudices of that time; he won. I remember like all the other Negro children in North Nashville, I wore a Kennedy/Johnson button everywhere I went during the campaign and after his victory.

His presidency took as it's theme, "The New Frontier." He even went on to propose that during the decade of the 1960s Americans overcome the technological advantage of the Russians and "land and man on the moon and safely return him to the earth." His creation of the Peace Corp under Sargent Shriver and Vista as well as many other programs fulfilled the promise of Roosevelt's New Deal of 20+ years earlier. His victory and administration have had a greater impact on my life and the lives of my comtemporaries, than anything else. To this day 45 years later his murder in Dallas Texas is also the greates psychic trauma of our lives. All that has gone right in this country in the period since his inauguration is his legacy. All that has gone wrong in this country since his murder is the aftermath of his death. His name was John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

We are now in a period of great POTENTIAL FOR RENEWAL AND CHANGE. The candidacy of Barak H. Obama; (D)Sen. from Illinois is the emblem and ensign of that Potential. Like JFK, who was a Catholic; many believe that Barak's race (being half Black) will prevent his election as President. I say to those who disqualify him because of it; the same belief was "common knowledge" about JFK's faith. It was wrong and beliefs about Barak's race are wrong. This is the greatest chance we will ever have to correct the course of our nation. If we miss this chance, it may never come again.

I supported Bill Clinton in 1992 and again in 1996. In contrast to the preceeding Reagan/Bush administration he seemed to be an antidote. However, and despite his successes; he failed to uplift the spirit and raise the consciousness of the American People in the way that JFK did. He compromise and accomodated rather than lead. He apologized and counterpunched the Republican attack machine. His lack of leadership and inability to excite the American People lead to increased apathy and decreasing participation of the electorate.

Now we are faced with the choice of vision versus experience. Ideals versus political acumen. Caroline Kennedy and Edward Kennedy, the only surviving child and brother of JFK have given their endorsement to Barak Obama. I believe as they do that this is the blueprint for renewal and change in this nation. Her endorsement follows:


A President Like My Father
By CAROLINE KENNEDY
OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.

My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.

Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.

We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.

Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates’ goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.

Senator Obama has demonstrated these qualities throughout his more than two decades of public service, not just in the United States Senate but in Illinois, where he helped turn around struggling communities, taught constitutional law and was an elected state official for eight years. And Senator Obama is showing the same qualities today. He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process.

I have spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools and have three teenage children of my own. There is a generation coming of age that is hopeful, hard-working, innovative and imaginative. But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.

Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.

I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.

I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.

Caroline Kennedy is the author of “A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love.”

Don't be a "Good German" for the Holidays

I received the following message which I have sent to many of you directly at your personal email addresses. I am reproducing the letter which I request that you cut and paste, send to your entire email address book, and finally put up as a blog entry. It is as morally imperative for us to take action in times like this as it was for the German People to take action in 1934. They did not and within 10 years they and the entire world were in the final throes of the greatest nightmare of modern history. We are either good Germans or we are good Humans. I ask you to look into your hearts and see which you are.


Dear Friend,

During the worst housing crisis in New Orleans history, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is pushing a deeply flawed plan to demolish thousands of units of affordable housing, with plans to rebuild only a fraction. If HUD gets its way, the majority of affordable public housing in the city will be eliminated--essentially shutting out thousands of low-income Katrina survivors who have been fighting for over 2 years to return home.

Tomorrow, the New Orleans City Council will vote on whether or not to permit HUD to carry out its demolitions, and several council members are on the fence. We need to show the city council that people across the country want our federal government to do better than HUD's plan, and that we want the council to vote against it.

I joined ColorOfChange.org in calling on the city council to vote against these reckless and premature demolitions and insist on a fair redevelopment plan. I also sent a message to President Bush, calling on him to stop HUD from carrying out its plan. Will you join me?

www.colorofchange.org/hudhousing/

New Orleans Housing Crisis

With New Orleans in the middle of a serious housing emergency, it just doesn't make sense to destroy affordable housing that's in good condition. Rents have gone up 45% since Katrina, the city has already lost 9,000 units of affordable housing, and half of the families that want to return home make less than $20,000 a year. In the last two years, New Orleans' homeless population has more than doubled. Many of the units HUD plans on destroying are in very well-constructed buildings that were barely damaged by Katrina and would require a minimum of renovation to provide quality housing, even if only temporarily.

HUD's flawed redevelopment plan

Whatever your views are on public housing, HUD's redevelopment plan is ill-conceived and irresponsible. HUD refuses to rebuild the same number of affordable public housing units as it destroys. HUD's plan would destroy 4,600 affordable public housing units, while the new mixed-income housing would only include 744 units of affordable housing--and building those units will take several years. The inevitable result will be thousands of low-income residents--most of whom are Black--pushed out of the city.

Questions have also been raised about the motivations behind HUD's plan. The head of HUD, Alphonso Jackson, and his staff are under criminal investigation for corruption in HUD/HANO's process for handing out contracts related to the redevelopment plan. The contract for demolishing and rebuilding the St. Bernard housing project was given to a firm that owes Jackson at least $250,000 (and as much as $500,000).

No Demolition without a solution that makes sense

At best, HUD has a goal that many think is good (moving towards mixed-income housing), but a deeply flawed plan that will be disastrous to New Orleans residents who need the most help. At worst, HUD is pushing a plan that will help enrich its secretary and his cronies, while leaving working-class people out in the cold and dramatically reshaping the class makeup of New Orleans. Either way, it would be a huge mistake to let HUD push forward with demolitions until these issues are addressed and resolved.

Will you join me in calling on the city council to reject the plan, and on President Bush to stop HUD from proceeding?

www.colorofchange.org/hudhousing/


Thanks.