Extra Credit Reading: The Economist on The Other Obama

I have to admit the title of this piece confused me. Even with the picture I figured they were writing about Michelle Obama's mother or some other woman not in the spotlight, because we all hear about Michelle Obama ad nauseum.



Like many other young, eager, wide eyed and bushy tailed women, I became enthralled with the image of Michelle Obama during the 2008 Presidential election campaign season. She was smart, high achieving in business and cool. I even campaigned amongst friends for Michelle Obama as First Spouse sometimes ignoring the politics of actual candidates. And as this obsession with her cool emerged in the media, the emphasis on her career and education became secondary to her down to earth manner, ability to connect and her wardrobe.

Part of the issue lies in what defines cool within larger society. Princeton and Harvard are impressive, but fusion high and low end dressing is cool. In last week's Economist, Lexington (yea we have no idea who writes this stuff...part of "Economist" policy) called on us to bring this into check and remember Michelle Obama for her accomplishments and consider her opinions and views in "The Other Obama". Since I am a glutton for chick lit, I know from American Wife that Alice Blackwell-the fictional Laura Bush- would tell her to go for it. After living eight years under the shadow of Hilary Clinton's time as First Lady she dared not step out of the bounds of the East Wing and in the fictional account ended up in turmoil over her decisions at the end, because she was not expected to have a view on topics outside the safety of education. (my brief summary...I'm not Curtis Sittenfeld).

I'm aware we elected Barack Obama and not Michelle Obama, but it would be nice if we celebrated her entire being a bit more. I'm not calling on her to be an advertisement or to become a shadow member of the government, inserting her own concerns out of a marriage rite. But I am offering a friendly reminder that Michelle Obama is cool...not just because she dresses nicely, has toned arms, is married to Barack Obama, or is the descendant of slaves. She's cool in spite of it all.

But now that I mention it, I wonder if anyone cares about what Carla Bruni-Sarkozy thinks. Is it just an American phenomenon where we are so intrigued by the spouses of those we elect into power to the point where we expect to be bewitched by them and are invariably saddened by their impact on policy be it too much or too little. Should I be able to pinpoint the issues that the first lady has pushed for for the last few presidencies? Oh Eleanor, what have you wrought?

Thoughts?

Read the article here: http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13326771

That's Just Messed Up!

THAT'S JUST MESSED UP!
From a "Why lie, I need a beer" sign to "Barack, the Magic Negro" some things are just messed up. Really there's no other way to describe it.




The New York Post decided to be brilliant and run this cartoon by Sean Delonas which will be interpreted by any smart, current event literate person as Barack Obama, depicted as a chimpanzee, being shot by cops. This is in light of a chimpanzee attacking a woman and cops having to eventually shoot the animal and President Obama pushing the stimulus bill.

Usually, I don't feel the need to discuss issues as blatantly racist as this one. We all know the historical implications of blacks being stereotyped as animals, particularly monkeys, apes, chimps and other non-homo sapien primates. But for all the post-racial hoo-ha that is being touted now-a-days (which I don't believe) you would think we have all moved beyond this. Apparently not.

At least be more creative with it the next time Mr. Delonas. Put a little work into getting people angry. It makes for better discussion.

NUMBER 44!!!!!!!- A Benediction

It's official. Our President is Black! It is taking every bit of restraint in me to not walk around singing Young Jeezy...esp. in the aftermath of me doing a video thanking Bow Wow and the state of Ohio for doing the right thing on NOV 4. (I am afterall his biggest fan, jk...kinda)

Like millions throughout the country, I sat and watched and marveled at witnessing such an event. I think one of the most moving parts of the journey from November 4th to today has been watching the reactions of older people. So it's no surprise that my favorite part of the inauguration (besides for the Chief Justice flipping the oath) was the benediction by Reverend Joseph Lowery--a founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Beginning with the final and most prayerful verse of the Black National Anthem, Lowery moved on to pray for continued solidarity in the nation, a reduced favoritism of the elite and an ending that spoke to the true beauty of rhetoric in the black church. The transcription is my own, so if there are any errors, please accept my apologies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pEH37JIgBU


God of our weary years
God of our silent tears
Thou who has brought us thus far along the way
Thou who has by thy might led us into the light
Keep us forever in they path we pray
Lest our feet stray from the places our God where we met thee
Lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world we forget thee
Shadowed beneath thy hands
May we forever stand
True to thee our God and true to our native land

We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we've shared this day. We pray now, oh Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant Barack Obama, the 44th President of these United States, his family and his administration. He has come to this high office at a low moment in the nation and indeed the global fiscal climate.

But because we know you got the whole world in your hands, we pray for not only for our nation but for the community of nations. Our faith does not shrink, though pressed by the flood of mortal ill. For we know that Lord, You're able and You're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds, and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor-or the least of these- and from favoritism towards the rich-the elite of these.

We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th President, to inspire our nation to believe that "Yes We Can" work together to achieve a more perfect union. And while we have sown the seeds of greed-the wind of greed and corruption-and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption; we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.

And now Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love,not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance. And as we leave this mountaintop help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples , our mosques or wherever we seek Your will.

Bless President Barack , First Lady Michelle. Look over our little angelic Sasha and Malia. We go now to walk together as children, pledging that we wont get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone with Your hands of power and Your heart of love.

Help us then now Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation. When tanks will be beaten into tractors. When every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid. When justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Lord in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest. And in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back. When brown can stick around. When yellow will be mellow. When the red man can get ahead man. And when white will embrace what is right.

Let all those who'll do justice and love mercy say Amen. (Amen.) Say Amen. (Amen.) And Amen!



HAUL,
The Queen

"I know what Jesus would do,

but what would Obama do?"--me, pondering one of my daily constructed issues that really isn't that serious.

Okay, I'm still not sure I'm back to blogging (the site has no direction, and until it hits me, I'm not sure I can continue), but website alert.

If you're unemployed like me, get in line.


--humming Sam Cooke "Change Gonna Come" and Jeezy "My President is Black"--and smiling and watching Tim Gunn's Guide to Style. Thinking I may have to retire the Blacks in Politics tag every time I mention Obama.


***
-picture taken from the Daily News. I was obviously not in Chicago.

WE HAVE A BLACK PRESIDENT! A CHANGE DONE COME!!!!

AND MICHELLE OBAMA IS FIRST LADY!

I had given up on blogging, but this is an auspicious occasion.

Michelle Obama Dances Better Than Barack!!!

As if there was ever any doubt. Michelle for first lady!

In Honor of Barack Obama's Presidential Nomination: A Music Playlist

I've pretty much avoided most Barack coverage, because there is more than enough on the Internet for everyone to read on the topic. Instead, I'll provide something a bit more in line with this blog and give you a music play list that goes along with this moment. It's random, but it brings together a lot of the themes I thought about during his speech: heroism, woman's rights, racial relations, celebrity, fate and well, change . It's also very eighties heavy, but Journey is appropriate for every moment of life.

That was all written before I accidentally deleted the play list. So this is what we're left with.



And yes, I'm still obsessed with Michelle Obama.

Things I'm pondering now: Letters to the Stars

Dear Barack,

It's pretty clear that I think your wife is fabu. And well, yea I want you to win: not only so Michelle can be a great first lady; not only because I want to have a self identifying black president;not only because supporting you is cool and trendy; and not only because I swoon every time I see your great dance skills on Ellen but because I like your politics. Yes We Can (use your healthcare plan to deal with this swelling on top of my foot since the stupid British NHS won't pay for a podiatrist and my job is withholding a week of pay).
But Barack, I have a bone to pick. Really could we not include one other recognizable racial minority in your first national commercial? I'm sure there are some ethnically ambiguous folks or maybe they're hidden in the black and white shots, but lets be real...I know you have a photo with a minority. I'll let the whole hijab wearing ladies thing slide. YES WE CAN!

Love,
Kimberly

Dear Robert Kelly,
You're a perv. We all knew something was up with your songs. We also knew something was up when the Aaliyah wedding rumors came about while "Age Aint Nothing But A Number" was still blaring on the radio. I also don't doubt the possibilities that the girl was a fast little girl, but regard yourself a lucky man. Please go repent and make another of your gospel songs...you're too talented to waste after you received this break.
But I wonder do you think you got better treatment because you were a celebrity? Do you think the media coverage was different because it was a little black girl and not a little white girl?
I'm not passing judgment because we Christians aren't supposed to do that. I'm just saying you're a pervert because you are.
Love,
Kimberly

Dear Vogue Italia,
I anxiously await next Thursday. But did Naomi need the cover? She's crazy and not in the self obsessed Tyra way! But I guess that sells.
Love,
Kimberly

Dear View Ladies,
Loved the Michelle episode.
Barbara please stop the old lady madness. No one wants to know whose families you destroyed of that Alan Greenspan has hooked up with any one, much less you.Also I have the feeling bare isn't so great on you. Please wear panty hose.
Sherri, I wonder about you. Are all the screws alright? Eh, watev you're fun. I so feel you on the sleeveless thing
Joy...you must be the fun aunt. I'm certain of it.
Elizabeth continue being yourself.
Whoopi, I | you. I'm not sure what it means, but you're cool and keep it all the way real. Thanks for helping out Michelle on the show. Also your comment about dark skin black women, on point. Rock ON!.
But can we please stop calling it a fist bump: its a pound/dap and Michelle you know you knew it before the young folk on the campaign. Even today's issue of The Guardian has a photo spread dedicated to old people doing it.
Love,
Kimberly

Dear self,
We need to chat. cough*Dissertation*cough*laundry*cough.
loathe,
me

Stop Fox's Madness

FROM COLOR OF CHANGE

Dear Friends,

Right now, Fox News is trying to paint Barack Obama as foreign, un-American, suspicious, and scary. They're trying to send Americans the message that our country's first viable Black candidate for President is not "one of us."

I've joined on to ColorOfChange.org's campaign to push back on Fox, publicly demanding they stop their race-baiting and fear mongering. If that doesn't work, then we'll go to their advertisers and the FCC. I wanted to invite you to sign on as well. It takes only a moment:

http://www.colorofchange.org/foxobama/?id=1896-563765

Here's what happened recently:

After Senator Obama won the nomination, he and his wife gave each other a "pound" in front of the cameras. Fox anchor E.D. Hill called the act of celebration a "terrorist fist jab." Then last week, a Fox News on-screen graphic referred to Michelle Obama as "Obama's baby mama"--slang used to describe the unmarried mother of a man's child. It was a clear attempt to associate the Obamas with negative cultural stereotypes about Black people, an insult not only to Michelle Obama but to women and Black people everywhere.

After each of the incidents mentioned, Fox issued some form of weak apology. But what does it mean when you slap someone in the face, apologize the next day, then slap them again on the third? It means the apology is meaningless.

These aren't one-time incidents--they're part of a pattern that continues no matter how often Fox is forced to apologize. Fox has a clear record of attacking and undermining Black institutions, Black leaders, and Black people in general.

If we don't push back now, we will see more of the same from now until November. Please join me in helping to bring an end to Fox's behavior.

http://www.colorofchange.org/foxobama/?id=1896-563765

Thanks.

Father Michael Pfleger is My Homeboy

I know he apologized and what not, but you know I have this on repeat. Between him and Tyra my day is complete.
Also loving how the piano breaks out into "Jesus is Love" at the end of this.

Michelle Obama

is all sorts of fly. and cool. and amazing. and when I grow up I want to be like her. That's it. Oh I bet she could even take on Gossip Girl's Chuck Bass. And I'm a Chuck Bass fan too. Shivers.

Forget the president, can we elect "First Spouse?"

Okay, not sounding creepy anymore.

Happy March! (on Washington, to the White House)

It's Woman's History Month. Excited?

I won't promise loads of commentaries, because we saw what happened when I did that for Black History Month. And then I actually did have a plan (it was really good and had tons of issues). But I will promise to trying to be better about posting despite my busier schedule. February was a shame.

I also won't promise extra special attention paid to women. I know it sounds horrible, but I have to write as the issues come.

However, as we do bridge from one history month to another (and they're not mutually exclusive) I do find this Maureen Dowd New York Times op-ed pretty pertinent. In referencing the two bids for the U.S. Democratic party nomination, Dowd not uniquely positions the race as a battle of two historical guilts. Click Here.
(If you want to escape the elections look at Radar's Misogynistic Movies List.)

What is most interesting about the repeated need to cast this race as a battle between America's (and well the entire western world) various wrongs are the efforts to make one group's pains appear more hindering than the other's. Dianne Feinstein, senior senator from California, is quoted as talking about a "no women need apply" standard and two other people banter in the article about who's ancestors pains were greater. "My ancestors came in chains" says one. The other replies "My ancestors were in chains and on their periods." Who knows why Ms. Dowd chose these comments? (I don't regularly follow her column and don't pretend to know any of her politics.)

The absurdity of these comments does nothing to actually aid the actual issues at the base of the discussion and only inflame zealots. At best they point out the double burden of specific groups over times: If no women could apply, and no Irish could apply in general, then the 19th century was probably a bit more rough than Gangsters of New York could ever portray. Even more if blacks were in actual chains, and women were in metaphoric chains and on their periods, and patriarchy exists across races, black women must have had one bloody ride...eh?

Can injustices be weighed? In some cases yes and in some cases no. Getting a paper cut is different from getting a hand chopped off. But losing you're left eye or your right ear both pose difficulties that are more orange and apples. The women vs. every other American minority case is flawed and in most cases if not always, women (as a general group, but particularly meaning white women) have carried less of the burden than other minorities (in general). Still the issue of who's journey to the gate was easier does not mean anything if neither person is guaranteed access beyond the gatekeeper. An admission through the back door should also not be the accepted concession. This is not to deride gendered spaces (like a sorority or fraternity) but to pause and think about places where the analogy may make sense.

In speaking about the Democratic race, the idea of competing historical wrongs enforces the idea that the election of one or the other will be the saving grace and eradicate that issue.

"As it turns out, making history is actually a way of being imprisoned by history. It’s all about the past. Will America’s racial past be expunged or America’s sexist past be expunged?"-Dowd

NO, it will not. The fact that both Hillary and Barack have gotten this far in the race with Edwards bowing out does indicate that there have been positive changes concerning the isms. It does not however immediately change the way society operates or rewrite the discourses that dictate the way we function.


And to whoever made the comment about the menstrual cycle, that's like Tyra burning her bra even though its 2008 in her breast episode to make some point about ill fitting bras. Stupid.

Haul,
The Queen

Blacks in Washington D.C.

1942 Gordon Parks "American Gothic"

[Imagine Images of Prominent Negros Here..including Thurston, Thomas, Condi and Powell and all the high-sididdy black people and Howard alums]

2007 -New York Times, Opening of New White House Press Room

Times have changed...We've moved from mops to vacuums