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My President Is Black…
Deep down, he also thinks he's "Big Meech"
…and that’s damn near about it.
Name five black politicians not named Barack Obama. I’ll wait. Now of the five you just named, subtract the ones you were only able to think of because their names are currently in the news for doing or saying something stupid. Unless if you live in a very urban part of an urban city, it may take you a while to name 5 prominent African American politicians on the national scene, and perhaps even longer in your particular locality. That’s because you could fit all the current Congressmen, US Senator, and Supreme Court Justice of African American persuasion on the 4 train. There are only 4 black governors…ever. It seems that blacks have been able to work their way up to city and state offices, but the executive offices seem to allude them. (Where have I heard that before?) Winning a mainstream election as a black man makes catching a cab or getting a loan look like 1st grade math.
Now, it’s probably not on most people’s calendars, but the Congressional Black Caucus is right around the corner. If you’ve never heard of it, think of it as the Howard Homecoming of politics. It’s a good excuse for a lot of people to head out to the Nation’s Capitol for a nice weekend in September. And just like Howard Homecoming, you can find a preacher posted at the bar in a 3/4 length jacket buying young girls he probably baptized shots of Henny. Every year, negroes from far and wide descend upon the Chocolate City rain or shine for the festivities. But for all the meetings, conferences, business card exchanges, and the late night cavorting at this and similar gatherings around the nation, the black political machine hasn’t developed into the behemoth it should be. For all the progress made, we still lack the ability to significantly affect policy outcomes. This is no fault of and not for lack of the effort of the Caucus to garner support for their candidates and raise funds, but it just seems that when it comes to our community, black folks end up bumping their gums instead of taking action.
The problem isn’t that black folks don’t have the tools to positively affect change in the government, they just fail to use them. In the grand scheme of things, blacks people fail to support their own at the polls and supporting them financially. Votes win elections and so does money. At first glance, you may think black people may not actually have the capital to match funds with powerful special interests and corporations, but seeing as the black community actually spends the most money and supports many of those powerful companies, it’s almost unbelievable that they couldn’t use that money in the political arena. C’mon…Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em has a diamond encrusted remote controlled car/pendant…are you kidding me? As far as voting goes, black people avoid it like the plague. Most black people would be lying if they said 2008 wasn’t their first time they actually decided to go vote. That election will probably go down in history as the highest black voter turnout ever.
I understand African Americans were granted the right to vote centuries after the birth of the nation, so participation in politics may relatively new to us as a people, but if nothing else black people have always had the ability to organize and come together for a common purpose. There are other groups of people in this country that have overcome their non-majority status to accomplish their goals simply by being organized. To be quite honest, simply paying attention to what’s going on and holding elected officials accountable regardless of race may actually more powerful than electing a black person to every seat in the land. Pay attention people.
{Insert witty ending and deep questions here.}
The Redskins Suck,
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The caption to the picture had me rolling!
This post is so true…my mom didn’t become a citizen until 2008 because she wanted to vote for Obama…and she’s been in this country since she was 16. I’m glad that this election showed that Black people could gather for a cause since the civil rights era but i wish that this would be done more often, not just for politics but any other facets that would improve the quality of the community.
Great post!
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You know one thing about black folks is that we are so distrusting of our own sometimes… I know plenty of folk who will give the local black politician the side-eye until he really proves he’s about something. However, they give no thought to the crooked 2520 running for local office. It’s a shame, it really is… I’m an avid voter but I have to do better about being informed of what is going on in my state. I’m apart of the local political scene but I ain’t made it to state level yet.
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The Honorable and Rather Articulate Award Winning RightCoastLexSteele, LLC, Dark as the Night that covers me Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 10:33 am
Well you gotta start somewhere right? All politics are local anyway, so that’s the perfect place to set up shop. To even worry about the state and national level, there needs to be a strong local base that can be mobilized to lend their support when necessary. And oddly enough, all the crooks have goons they can mobilize to do their heavy lifting.
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Little Miss Sunshine Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 11:44 am
correct. let us not forget that black folks hated Barack when he tried to run for Bobby Rush’s congressional seat. Said he wasn’t “black enough.”
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WHOA WHOA…Slow down people…don’t all comment at once now…
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So Flyy Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 10:49 am
See… our people & politics, smfh. As a people, we just can’t get w/ it.
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What the hell is going on with this blog?? Yesterday, it was black women don’t excerise and now it’s blacks don’t vote. Can I get a post about how beautiful black people are. We are the most self-hating group of people out there. You all in the media (that includes the writer of the blog) are so hyper-critical of your own kind. Sometimes I feel that blacks need to worry about one of their own hurting them and not white people.
I am a black woman and have been voting for over 20 years. This post sucks.
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The Honorable and Rather Articulate Award Winning RightCoastLexSteele, LLC, Dark as the Night that covers me Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 11:01 am
Vote and excerise and I’ll leave you alone.
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average chick Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 11:09 am
No, you won’t. You will find something else wrong to complain about.
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So Flyy Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 11:11 am
Similar to your complaints here? Got it.
This blog post is about taking action. If you don’t like what you’ve read about other black people in the media, do something about it. Create your own blog highlighting the beauty that you see…
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average chick Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 11:31 am
I like what I read here that is why I keep coming back and will continue to do so. I have to right to express how I feel without being told to write a blog “highlighting the beauty that I see”. This is the 2nd day of negative posts about blacks and I asked a valid question. Focusing on the negative doesn’t make the situation better. It’s just more complaining that I hear and read time and time again.
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So Flyy Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 11:34 am
I’m not suggesting that you don’t come back. I am also not suggesting that you don’t have a right to express how you feel. What I did suggest (w/o telling you b/c you have a mind to do whatsoever you please) is that if you are unimpressed w/ how the media portrays our people than you should consider doing something about it.
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L. Dejean Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 4:54 pm
I don’t see this as a complaint, i see this as a realistic post (as well as yesterday). Up until Barack ran for president, our voting numbers weren’t that great and then all of a sudden there was a spike. As i said in my comment, my mother didn’t become a citizen until Barack ran for president and she wanted to be able to vote for him. People who could’ve registered to vote LONG before my mother hadn’t exercised their right till a few years ago? #cmonson
With yesterday, unfortunately, there are quite a few issues within the black community with health due to obesity…especially with childhood obesity on the raise and if you disagree, go to different schools and see how out of shape the children are. At a school i was at, there were two students i saw every morning to go get their insulin and i’m almost CERTAIN there were other students that received insulin shots at that school as well as others.
Both posts are calling attention to these issues so that someone will possibly see them and DO SOMETHING about these issues.
I’m not saying you have to like the posts or that you have to agree but maybe you should go back and reread what they are trying to say in them.
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Miss Jenkins Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 5:15 pm
I’m not sure why people insist on taking these posts so personally. We don’t write AT you; RCLS wasn’t calling you out for not voting. If you’d like a gold star for voting and working out, we don’t hand those out around here. We are people, just like y’all, who have opinions about the world and reality as we see it. Our posts are snapshots of our respective perceptions of those realities. We write posts that are thought provoking, silly, funny, upsetting, uplifting, pointless, or informative.
If you exercise, yesterday’s post wasn’t about you. If you vote, today’s post isn’t trying to convince you vote. The posts we write are about realities as WE, the writers, see it. We write to inspire us all to take some action, whether that action is something introspective or picking up a 5lb weight. Most times, our readers get that and comment however they choose. On rare occasions, we get comments such as yours that miss the point entirely.
And no, Black people aren’t beautiful all the time. Posts such as this one need to be written because we are not doing enough. If we were, our communities wouldn’t be in the condition they are in.
How about dropping us an email and making a post suggestion? Either way, thanks for the inspiration. Maybe I’ll write something nice on Monday.
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fixedwater Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 8:04 pm
i give this response 2 thumbs up
as for the post – ditto
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“To be quite honest, simply paying attention to what’s going on and holding elected officials accountable regardless of race may actually more powerful than electing a black person to every seat in the land. Pay attention people.”
Standing Ovation for this post. I wonder how many of us actually took the time to watch the presedential address yesterday? I am not able to vote but I try to stay up on politics. Sadly, I do not think Obama will serve another term. 2520s are quick to say how “racism is over” because he is in office but when I listen to talk radio in the morning they are repetitively roasting him. I do not agree with all of his views but I support him by staying abreast with national issues.
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average chick Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 11:08 am
How can you even comment when you don’t vote? What difference does it make if you watched the President last night. You didn’t vote for him.
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So Flyy Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 11:10 am
Staying abreast of the politics in the region of which you reside shouldn’t require a vote or not… being informed is half the battle. There are legions of black people that CAN vote, still don’t know what’s going on…
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BP Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 11:23 am
@ Average Chick I am in the process of getting my citizenship. I wasn’t born here. 9/11 has made it harder for people like me. Also, when I am available to vote I would like to call you and ask you what your take is on all the numerous political agendas. I HOPE you know them.
@So Flyy. Thank you!!! Well said. Being informed is half the battle and unfortunately our people are suffering because of their lack of knowledge. That is not a cliche.
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average chick Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 11:38 am
“Being informed is half the battle”? What is the point of having the information if you don’t do anything with it. You want a pat on the back because you are so “informed” on political agendas. You don’t vote. What are you doing with this information? BP, you can’t really come at me with anyting because like I wrote before I vote and have been doing so for a very long time. I stood on line for over 2 hours to vote for Barack Obama. What did you do that day? Read the results in the paper? Or watched TV so you could stay informed. Give me a break!!
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So Flyy Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 11:43 am
It’s great that you vote average chick and it’s great that you are informed but would you say that your political savvy is typical of the black american? I think we both know it is not. When BP becomes a citizen as she stated, she will be more informed and able to make an intelligible vote unlike the haphazard onces thrown out by the masses at the poll.
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average chick Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 1:10 pm
“It’s great that you vote average chick and it’s great that you are informed but would you say that your political savvy is typical of the black american? I think we both know it is not.” Dang….You got me on that one!!! I see your point.
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The Honorable and Rather Articulate Award Winning RightCoastLexSteele, LLC, Dark as the Night that covers me Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Good. Now take back what you said about my post.
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average chick Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 1:12 pm
lol….NO!!!
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BP Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 1:20 pm
@ Soflyy Thanks for giving her the business. I want to buy you dinner or something! #NoKatyPerry.
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L. Dejean Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 4:59 pm
I so hope you get your citizenship soon BP! My mom managed to get hers #pause right before the election. She was excited that she, my sister & I would all be able to vote in the last election-that was their first time being able to vote.
I mailed in my votes because i was in Alabama at undergrad…Average Chick isn’t the only one that voted/votes. #imjustsayin
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BP Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Thank you L. Dejean!
Also, everyone please forgive my misspelling of “president” and other grammatical errors. I was too upset to spell check I guess.
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L. Dejean Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 8:07 pm
You’re alright BP…you know we got your back homegirl!
Good post.
Being from SC I can say that we have James Clyburn which is a plus because he hasn’t done anything idiotic in public. Come Nov we will probably have a black Republican, Tim Scot, as a congressman in SC’s 1st District and we’re probably going to have an East Indian woman, Nikki Haley, as our new gov. I don’t agree with the politics of either person but I’m oddly impressed.
Like So Flyy said upthread we don’t trust our own sometimes and usually end up voting against our interests because we don’t “trust them new n*****s”. I’ve seen it happen in races in Charleston and other places in SC when highly qualified, personable young blacks get hammered at the polls because the black electorate is distrusting of them.
As for Soul Brotha Number One’s speech last night I’m glad he kept his focus and saluted the members of the armed services who did what was asked of them without a clear objectives for eight years.
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cmon young Idris, u knew ppl werent gonna comment heavy on this, lol.
its an excellent post.
I would say start locally getting involved in politics because thats where the most “change” can be affected
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The Honorable and Rather Articulate Award Winning RightCoastLexSteele, LLC, Dark as the Night that covers me Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 1:05 pm
I knew it…but I can’t ever resist the urge to say something sarcastic. It’s too easy.
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SaneN85 Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 2:34 pm
I wrote a long a** comment this morning and just returned to find it didn’t post or one of you deleted it. Maybe there is something going on with the commenting. Either way, I don’t have the patience to do all of that again.
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Good post, Right Coast.
First thing, CBC weekend is a joke. The majority of people attending this event are only there for the parties, and because its a big black socialite event in the black and bougie capital of the world. Pay attentions to FC and twitter after that weekend, and most people will be talking about parties or other “networking” events, and posting pics. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been to CBC weekend, and I definitely schmoozed my tale off, passing out and taking business cards. But there wasn’t much work actually accomplished.
I agree that we must start at the local level. We have a long history of not trusting politicians, and for good reasons. And the truth is, not much has changed, especially in the more rural parts of the South. There is still a lot of de facto shit* going on. Now, this isn’t an excuse, In fact, it should provide even more of an impetus to black folks to get involved and stay involved.
Honestly, I think black people have chosen to embrace a more individual “every man for himself” attitude rather than the type of communal spirit that could really lead to radical change within our community. The degree’d among us work very hard to prove to the others that we black people are not a monolith, we are not all alike. We don’t want to be grouped with those Tyler Perry movie loving black people or those Gucci Mane/OJ/Soulja Boi music loving people. A lot of us have worked hard to be deemed acceptable negroes, some make the conscious decision, but I think for the most of us, its a subconscious desire to be fully accepted once and for all. This serves as a block when trying to get together to work for the things we all commonly desire. Better schools/education policy, health care, the justice system, etc.
I have no idea where I was going with this, but I agree… we need to do better.
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Wow really?!?! Why the random ‘Skins hate?
::humming Hail to the Redskins in my head::
Anywho… I’ve never understood the purpose of CBC Weekend other than another excuse for Black folks to party and loosely hook up out of town. I had three people hit me up asking me about promoting a party down here that weekend but not one person has invited me to a forum or hit me up to put me on to a session/panel that shouldn’t be missed.
When talking to people to see who might be coming into town that weekend I got a lot of “WTF is CBC Weekend?!?!” responses. That alone says volumes about how irrelevant an event it has become.
CBC, Black MBA, Black ABA, and that random Black Dr.’s conference that happens here every few years have pretty much turned into the DC wack-ass lounge stimulus program.
Go SKINS!
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The Honorable and Rather Articulate Award Winning RightCoastLexSteele, LLC, Dark as the Night that covers me Reply:
September 1st, 2010 at 2:52 pm
“Wow really?!?! Why the random ‘Skins hate?”
I think I summed it all up in the sign off. While I’m @ it, f*ck #5 too.
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Speaking of people needing to be more politically active, this ties in to yesterdays post.
Food deserts and lack of safe outdoor spaces in poor (and often minority) neighborhoods contribute to obesity. So does lack of access to after-school physical activities, YMCAs (in my town, they are well outside of walking distance of the neighborhoods that need them most), and community centers contribute to obesity. Your local politicians can change that. We have to hold them to it.
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At the end of the day, there is no longer a black community. There are black people and there are living spaces shared by black people but we aren’t a community. We no longer possess the kind of group think necessary to decide how to avoid buying diamond encrusted remote controls and actually spend that on something useful. We are still walking in the generatuion of “I’m Gonna Do Me…”..
And there u have it.
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