Aurora (Matutina): "The Pinkish-Golden Glow that precedes immediately the raising of the Sun"
"Charity is commendable, everyone should be charitable. But Justice aims to create a social order in which, if individuals choose not to be charitable, people still don't go hungry, unschooled or sick without care. Charity depends on the vicissitudes of whim and personal wealth, justice depends on commitment instead of circumstance. Faith-based charity provides crumbs from the table; faith-based justice offers a place at the table" ~Bill Moyers
Like any other opportunistic coward RightWingNut, after the Debt Ceiling Brouhaha ended, he comes out of hiding from "The MittNess Protection Program" (Politico coined it), one has to wonder what this very sick puppy takes credit for.
And that's about all the words this double-faced job killing 'entrepreneur' /business man deserves; other that exposing his every misdeed from the smallest to the most egregious.
Furthermore, by shamelessly being 'a legend in his own mind' and promoting himself as such, thus creating a narrative full of Myths; henceforth, at El Rinconcitode Aurora he shall be known and referred to, as "The Mitthological Romney"
Other Mayday and we march again in cities throughout the Country, in San Francisco, once more, we will be starting from my favorite Park, the beautiful Dolores Park on the corner of 18th & Dolores.
For many of us, this park has spiritual significance, for centuries this is where the bones of native ancestors were laid to rest and, in our time, this is where we have ceremonies in observance of Native Americans Traditions.
Appropriately this is where we, their descendants in the struggle gather in our quest for fairness and justice.
Dolores Park -- officially Mission Dolores Park -- is named after Mission Dolores, established by Spanish missionaries in 1776. Native Americans of the Ohlone tribe inhabited the area for several centuries before Spanish missionaries arrived. The Ohlone shared the land with Spanish ranchers and shopkeepers until the 1849 Gold Rush, when new settlers, gamblers, and tavern keepers flooded San Francisco.
San Francisco, a city of Immigrants, a city of Workers, the city of Saint Francis of Assisi, once more honors it's tradition as the accepting place we have come to know and love.
A city of workers where we have written a history of struggle, sacrifice and advances for the betterment of all, is writing another chapter in solidarity, honoring our worker tenet that "An Injury to One, Is An Injury to All", this year Union and Non-Union workers will be marching shoulder to shoulder making the statement that "Native or Foreign Born, We Are The Same Working Class" ("Nativa o Extranjera, La Misma Clase Obrera")
The AFL-CIO and Change to Win, the nation's top two labor federations announced a framework for comprehensive immigration reform, setting aside differences with the hope of pushing legislation through this year.
Bravo for Organized Labor for finally doing the right thing, yes indeed, a worker, is a worker, is a worker, period.
Immigrant Rights Groups and Unions in the Bay Area have announced their support for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) . Workers Without Borders, United In Struggle is a coalition of organizations representing of the different communities advocating for the rights of immigrant and workers, and currently is organizing the May 1st March in San Francisco.
“We want to show that we support the initiative for the liberty of all the workers in this country to decide to collectively organize in unions to improve their standard of life.”
An historical alliance during a Mayday March in a city where Labor and Immigrants have made our mark and have established San Francisco as a city of Workers and Immigrants and where the Honorable Board of Supervisors in a Resolution, Proclaimed May 1st 2008 to be "International Workers Day, affirming San Francisco as a Sanctuary City and urging the Congress of the United States to repeal the REAL ID Act of 2005"
But only if we bury the political hatchet, in the right place of course! (Metaphorically speaking) In The Regressive.
It is time to embrace our progressive values and aspirations and yes, it can be done, if we work hard because, ultimately, as Barack Obama keeps reminding us, it is up to us, WE ARE THE ONES WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR - Soooo, lets not keep ourselves waiting, let's show up and be counted, in other words, as all of us wonderful members of these groups have been doing all along, but harder, if that's possible.
Heartfelt thanks to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, she was up in full speed for the moment, this is our time, a time to heal, a time to struggle, a time to fight for ours and our children's future.
She is right, as is Senator Obama, the stakes are too high to diddle in our differences or nitpick in our missteps or poor choice of language.
Yes we can! Si se puede!
Aurora
Hillary Rodham Clinton full speech - 29:09 minutes
2:30 minutes video clip of endorsement
Post speech MSNBC's hosts comments
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi
A Poem for South African Women June Jordan In Commemoration of the 40,000 women and children who, August 9, 1956, presented themselves in bodily protest against the "dompass" in the capital of apartheid. Presented at The United Nations, August 9, 1978
It seems like eons ago we made the decision to support the Presidential Candidacy of Barack Obama, it was the moment when we allowed ourselves the luxury to dream again, to set aside our well founded cynicism and consider that perhaps... that maybe it is possible to elect a President in the USA notwithstanding race or the myriad of other superficial and artificial classifications assigned to human beings, along has come a person with the words we yearned to hear for so long and that, paradoxically, we have heard for so long, repeated over and over by other candidates.
But this time is different, it is not about the candidate, it is about us and yet... it is about the candidate too, it is about all of us, it is up to us, we are the ones we have been waiting for and we will not keep us waiting for the road yet to travel in this historic human journey we were asked to join in, and for which we signed up for the duration.
At the start it seemed such an 'impossible dream' and while the undertaking is not completely materialized, we are more convinced that it is possible, because it can be done and we are doing it.
It has been frustrating at times, heartbreaking at others, arduous at every step of the way, but above all, it has been not only uplifting, but exhilarating to work with so many wonderful people in bringing about a shared dream, a vision of what can be.
Yes, it is a dream, but as I wrote back in February:
Maybe it is dreaming awake, who can really know what's ahead, but Barack Obama is talking to me, to us, he is saying that change is possible, but that it will only come about IF WE MAKE IT HAPPEN, it goes parallel to my belief that IT IS UP TO US, which goes right along with what a group of activists (Sisters/Brothers), of which I'm part, are saying: "WE ARE THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR"
It has been a grueling and bruising Democratic Primary Campaing, but the worst is yet to come, because the powers that be will not release their hold to power and their claim to privilege, they will fight us every inch of the way and at times it will get ugly and our candidate has already gone on record tonight, that our campaign or this party will not engage in divisive or demeaning politics, I will follow his lead in spite of the righteous indignation sure to surface at the dirty political tactics that the Republicans are accustomed to and are famous for, if I forget my pledge and fall in the 'politics as usual' again, I ask you of my sisters and brothers to remind me by calling me on it.
It is a time to unite, to work in unision for a goal common to all our communities, we have a society to heal, a country to rebuild and a world to save, we need to put aside our differences and find our similarities.
It is change that I can believe in because it can be done, Yes we can! Si se puede!
Aurora Grajeda SFCA 06.03.08
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi
A Poem for South African Women June Jordan In Commemoration of the 40,000 women and children who, August 9, 1956, presented themselves in bodily protest against the "dompass" in the capital of apartheid. Presented at The United Nations, August 9, 1978
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008/ 10:17:53 ET Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union."
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.
END
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi
In Commemoration of the 40,000 women and children who, August 9, 1956, presented themselves in bodily protest against the "dompass" in the capital of apartheid. Presented at The United Nations, August 9, 1978
McCain's Fear Ad which was plagiarized by Hilary Clinton
The Ad starts with a panoramic of Washington DC The caption reads:
WHITE HOUSE - 3 AM January 21, 2009
Dramatization
The Teletype writes: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XX FLASH XX FLASH XX FLASH CLASSIFIED SUBJ: SPECIAL WEAPON MISSING 1. FOREIGN STATION CHIEF REPORTS SECURITY BREACH AND THEFT OF SPECIAL WEAPON BY UNKNOWN TERRIOST GROUP (Misspelling in in AD) DESTINATION UNKNOWN 2. NOTIFY THE PRESIDENT IMMEDIATELY BREAK TRANSMITION
White House - Living Quarters 3:03 AM January 21, 2009
Who do you want to answer the phone?
John McCain
Sen. Hillary Clinton's New Ad
Sen. Hillary Clinton has a new TV ad up which uses one of her main arguments against Sen. Barack Obama, her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.
It boils down to she's ready, he's not, to be in the Oval Office when a national-security emergency occurs in the wee small hours of the morning.
She has repeatedly used this argument in her stump speech. It plays to the image of toughness she has with many Democratic voters.
The ad shows a series of small children asleep in the middle of the night. It's clearly meant to appeal to women, the part of the Democratic electorate that had been among her strongest supporters but has been eroding as women have become more willing to support Obama.
It’s 3 am and your children are safe and asleep But there’s a phone in the White House and it’s ringing Something’s happening in the world Your vote will decide who answers that call. Whether it’s someone who already knows the world’s leaders, knows the military - someone tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world It’s 3 am and your children are safe and asleep Who do you want answering the phone?
It is very interesting that her husband, former President Bill Clinton gave a Democratic Response on fear and hope, I guess that more than interesting, it can be labeled "Ironic"
"Now one of Clinton’s laws of politics is this: If one candidate’s trying to scare you and the other one’s trying to get you to think, if one candidate’s appealing to your fears and the other one’s appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope."
Obama's co-opts Clinton's Video
One of the impressive things of the Obama's campaign is the speed in which they respond. They use Hilary's Ad and really turn it against them.
In a direct response to a Hillary Clinton television ad, Barack Obama's campaign Friday released its own 30 second spot raising the prospect of an early morning foreign policy crisis.
"It’s 3 a.m. and your children are safe and asleep," the ad's narrator states in an obvious take off of the Clinton ad released earlier in the day. "But there’s a phone ringing in the White House. Something’s happening in the world.
The brilliant part is that when people hear HRC's Ad, they immediately will think of Obama's - Inspired!
Obama's response to Clinton's Ad
"I just want to take a moment to respond to an ad that Senator Clinton is apparently running today that asks, 'Who do you want answering the phone in the White House when it’s 3am and something has happened in the world?'
"We’ve seen these ads before. They’re the kind that play on peoples’ fears to scare up votes.
"Well it won’t work this time. Because the question is not about picking up the phone. The question is – what kind of judgment will you make when you answer? We’ve had a red phone moment. It was the decision to invade Iraq. And Senator Clinton gave the wrong answer. George Bush gave the wrong answer. John McCain gave the wrong answer.
"But I stood up and said that a war in Iraq would cost us thousands of lives and billions of dollars. I said that it would distract us from the real threat we face – and that we should take the fight to al Qaeda in Afghanistan. That’s the judgment I made on the most important foreign policy decision of our generation, and that’s the kind of judgment I’ll show when I answer that phone in the White House as President of the United States – the judgment to keep us safe, to go after our real enemies, and to provide the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States with the equipment they need when we do send them into battle, and the respect and care they have earned when they come home. And I’ll never see the threat of terrorism as a way to scare up votes, because it’s a threat that should rally this country around our common enemies. That’s the judgment we need at 3am. And that’s the judgment that I am running for President to provide."
When I probe into what Obama is saying and how it moves me to do something to help change the way this country, this world, is going.
When I look around and see the multitudes of people drawn to pitch in and help on the effort to elect a President we feel will help us bring about a much needed; hence wanted change.
This mass movement of people is being called many things, "Euphoria", "Madness", "Obama phenomenon", etc., I think it is obvious to all of us what's happening, we see it around us everyday, enthusiasm, people sending emails, calling friends and family, talking to them about Obama, sending money, blogging, creating videos in support, large crowds at his rallies, et al.
Why is it happening? What does it mean?
WE FEEL IT! It is a current of dynamic energy, it is contagious, it permeates through the most recondite ideals and long held democratic principles kept deep inside our inner sanctum where so many of us had retreated, some for a long time, Obama is talking to me, he is talking to us, telling us that a positive change is possible, but that it is up to us, that we are the ones who will make it happen, that's why it is happening, and it can be felt by those of us willing to open up and entertain a realistic dream about what possibilities may lay in our future, if we so desire and work for it
What does it mean? An opportunity, a window in time and place where we can visualize what could be, what should be and what will be - if we make it happen that is, it is up to us. That is what it means, nothing more, nothing less.
Well, the white gloves are off, Clinton has been slamming Obama before and touting her 'long' experience with the talking point that "She will be ready on day one"
But she has escalated the attacks.
Delivering a major economic address ahead of the Buckeye State’s crucial March 4 primary, Clinton also slammed Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) as a lightweight, declaring:
“My opponent gives speeches, I offer solutions.”
Oh really, what she is saying it not correct and I offer a glimpse of what Sen. Obama has done in the past, it is not like what Sen. Clinton implies, Sen. Obama has a track record which suggest that Sen. Clinton, is playing fast and loose with the 'facts'
Senator Clinton has based her campaign on an erroneous claim to greater legislative and administrative experience. ..No one in the press has had the diligence to lay out her record for the public to assess.
Senator Clinton, who has served only one full term (6yrs.), and another year campaigning, has managed to author and pass into law, (20) twenty pieces of legislation in her first six years. These bills can be found on the website of the Library of Congress (www.thomas.loc.gov), but to save you trouble, I'll post them here for you.
1. Establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site. 2. Support the goals and ideals of Better Hearing and Speech Month. 3. Recognize the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. 4. Name courthouse after Thurgood Marshall. 5. Name courthouse after James L. Watson. 6. Name post office after Jonn A. O'Shea. 7. Designate Aug. 7, 2003, as National Purple Heart Recognition Day. 8. Support the goals and ideals of National Purple Heart Recognition Day. 9. Honor the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton on the bicentennial of his death. 10. Congratulate the Syracuse Univ. Orange Men's Lacrosse Team on winning the championship. 11. Congratulate the Le Moyne College Dolphins Men's Lacrosse Team on winning the championship. 12. Establish the 225th Anniversary of the American Revolution Commemorative Program. 13. Name post office after Sergeant Riayan A. Tejeda. 14. Honor Shirley Chisholm for her service to the nation and express condolences on her death. 15. Honor John J. Downing, Brian Fahey, and Harry Ford, firefighters who lost their lives on duty.
Only five of Clinton's bills are more substantive.
16. Extend period of unemployment assistance to victims of 9/11. 17. Pay for city projects in response to 9/11 18. Assist landmine victims in other countries. 19. Assist family caregivers in accessing affordable respite care. 20. Designate part of the National Forest System in Puerto Rico as protected in the wilderness preservation system.
There you have it, the facts straight from the Senate Record.
Now Barack Obama's record....
Now, I would post those of Obama's, but the list is too substantive, so I'll mainly categorize. During the first (8) eight years of his elected service he sponsored over 820 bills. He introduced
233 regarding healthcare reform, 125 on poverty and public assistance, 112 crime fighting bills, 97 economic bills, 60 human rights and anti-discrimination bills, 21 ethics reform bills, 15 gun control, 6 veterans affairs and many others.
His first year in the U.S. Senate, he authored 152 bills and co-sponsored another 427. These included: **the Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006 (became law), **The Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act, (became law), **The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, passed the Senate, **The 2007 Government Ethics Bill, (became law), **The Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill, (In committee), and many more.
In all since enter the U.S. Senate, Senator Obama has written 890 bills and co-sponsored another 1096. An impressive record for someone who supposedly has no record according to the spin meisters and mindless twits. I challenge Clinton supporters to name a single legislative accomplishment that demonstrates her superior experience.
All should research the following: Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act of 2006 Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 12/16/2005)
Never mind that Mr. Larry Pinkney's of the Editorial Board observations on Barack Obama in general, are accurate, the gestalt of this communication, rather than a comment, it is to pose questions for him to answer and to offer a critique on some of his points.
Q 1. Does he has an alternate option to suggest vis a vis Barack Obama for President? (US Congresswoman Cynthia McKenney is no longer in the ballot)
Notwithstanding the fact that BO did in fact make the comments on unilateral action against Iran, stated his position regarding Palestine and Israel, made other comments or took positions that many of us supporting him disagree with and will work our butts off to help him with a view from the other side of the argument, also to help him see clearly how detrimental his positions are to the peace and the good will among nations and people's of the world and of the consequences thereof.
Q 2. In his lifetime experience, does he have knowledge or has heard of any candidates running for office to adhere to all the positions expressed or taken during campaigns? (Yes, I admit that it is a sword of Damocles with a double edge to it)
Q 3. If I understand Mr. Pinkey correctly, is he disparaging Obama's volunteer work and community activism because he didn't endure the sacrifices or failed to put his 'life on the line' as many have done in the struggles before his time?
I wonder how many community volunteer and activists like me, are guilty of the same "Crimes" As Mr. Barack Obama, all of us are the recipients of the fruit of the labor, struggles and the sacrifices of past or fallen comrades; I daresay that they would want us to do just that; follow in their footsteps and build upon the foundations laid with their sacrifices, that for so many of them, was ultimate.
As an Immigrant from Mexico, I have been the object of racism, but I was never victimized or deported by the Immigration authorities, yet, I support the human rights of illegal immigrants and immigrants in general in their struggles, which, by choice, are mine as well.
I never was subjected to segregation or any of the other ignominies that African Americans have endured, yet, not only do I support the struggles of my black sisters and brothers, but I join to pitch in with my efforts in their struggles, which, by choice, are mine as well.
I wasn't born a biological female, but I make common cause with women's struggles, which, by choice, are mine as well.
And so on...
Q 4. Is Mr. Pinkey suggesting that people who choose to work on communities issues or community organizations shouldn't get paid? or,
Q 5.if they do, they should be derided or their contributions minimized, dismissed or even derided?
I agree with Mr. Pinkey that to support a candidate solely on the base of race or gender is ill-advised because it'd be a racist or sexist act, however and in any event, we are happy for the opportunity to vote either for a woman or a person of color, yes, Barack Obama's skin is colored, it is black and albeit an argument could be made, as Mr. Pinkey does, never mind that culturally he may not fit the definition of what an African American man is, his father originally came from Africa and he was born in US territory, by an wider standard, that makes him an African-American, just as descendants of the Americas or Asia or Pacific Islands are so labeled, and by the way, since we are on the subject of 'labels', how come we are not calling white people Euro-Americans?
Q 6. So, he is not a real Black Man?
I know many people who disagree with him on that point and I'll concede that others share his opinion, which are just that, opinions.
In closing, considering that I take issue on most of the points in his piece, I'm on his side on the next to last paragraph which parallels our position, but personally I take issue with him once again, as many other Obama supporters will do as well, on his last paragraph, contrary to his statement, we are being very critical thinkers because we, supporters and admirers of US Congresswoman Cynthia McKenney and the Power To The People Coalition, have faced reality and have chosen a plan for grassroots involvement/action after weighing all the options on the table. Yes, we are building a movement and will work very diligently toward helping whoever is elected President to understand that there is a clear choice; to work with and for the interest of the people and for the Country or for the Corporatist Interests, which are neither American nor Patriotic.
That will be their choice, our opinion is that in Barack Obama, we may have a better chance than with the other candidates to achieve our goals, so we made our choice, it will be up to the new President to make his, or hers, in either case, there will be a political prize or a political price as a result.
We need to be about the business of thinking and acting outside the box and building political parties that are outside the box, parties that serve the economic, social, and political interests of the masses of people. This is precisely why the candidacy of former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney for President and the Power To The People Coalition is of such enormous importance for the present and for the future. This coalition is all about collectively laying the foundation for systemic change - which is the only way that we can enjoy real change.
Blind euphoria notwithstanding, those who ignore reality and the lessons of history, do so at their own peril. Now, more than ever, is the time to be critical thinkers, not blind followers
Q 7. What are the basis for his assertion that we are blind followers?
Q 8. Is it a professional diagnosis that because we support Barack Obama, we are suffering from an Euphoria "Madness" ?
Respectfully submitted,
Aurora Grajeda
"We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For"
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Mohandas Karamachand Gandhi
Well, for me, a cynic (Frustrated Idealist), what tipped the balance is the fact that I have allowed myself to dream once more, to believe, if you want to put it that way, that maybe it is possible to make some changes to the paradigm deeply rooted in the US body-politic for... well, it seems forever.
I'm not being naive, no, I'm realistic enough to know that we are going against the grain, swimming upstream, hoping without hope, but with all my realism/cynicism, I ask myself: Do nothing? Give up even before I try?
Maybe it is dreaming awake, who can really know what's ahead, but Barack Obama is talking to me, to us, he is saying that change is possible, but that it will only come about IFWE MAKE IT HAPPEN, it goes parallel to my belief that IT IS UP TO US, which goes right along with what a group of activists (Sisters/Brothers), of which I'm part, are saying: "WE ARE THE ONES WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR"
Maybe it is just words coming from him, but for me, it is a contract that says: OK Mr. Obama, it is also up to you, it is your choice to be a shining star in the US Political Firmament that'll shine for years to come, or, you will just be a Falling Star of short-lived brilliance, that's for the future to determine working together with your lead, demonstrating your side of our implicit contract. My choice and duty will be to make it so, I'm taking your word for it, your option is to be responsible for your actions in our bargain. My options are: To continue supporting and helping you, or to hold you accountable. Whichever it is, I'll know because you'll show me.
Your Choice.
There you have it - Join us and dream once more, but let our dream be anchored in the reality of our activism, of our involvement because "Si se puede!", "Yes, it can be done!"
