Today I became aware, once more, of the unbelievable power of letters formed in various patterns. Letters formed in patterns that we recognize called words, words that hold specific meaning based only on our collective interpretation.
Today I began my second hour hearing these words: "Shut the fuck up, you stupid ass bitch." The speaker was a seventeen year old, African-American boy. The recipient of those words was me.
Three hours later, I heard these words: "In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom."
The speaker was President Barack Obama, a forty-five year old African-American man. The recipeint of those words was me. And you. And the rest of the world, whether they were listening or not.
It is my hope, my prayer for our nation, that we change the path America is on. We are, right now, on a journey of short-cuts and settling for less. We are faint-hearted. We prefer leisure over work and seek only riches and fame. We are not risk-takers. We are not doers. We are not makers. We do not labor in obscurity, but rather publicize any amount of activity we do to anyone who will listen or watch.
"...Greatness is not given. It must be earned."
What a beautiful, amazing gift to have a president who believes that something in this world must be earned. That things in this world are not handed to you, and that words are powerful, powerful tools. The youth of today (and a lot of adults, too) need to hear and understand this. The world does not owe you anything. The world has not owed anyone anything for the recorded history of time. And if you sit around waiting for the world to pay you what you're owed, you're going to be waiting a long time, and life will not be kind. Make your path. Give the world what you owe it. Not the other way around.
And, Kid, call me a "smart ass bitch", please. That's at least accurate.
I am who I am, which is too many things to have one specific title. That's why I need a blog.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Yes we can? No...yes, we DID.
We made history tonight. It's hard, even as writer, to use mere words to describe what took place in America this evening.
I need to say, first of all, that it's the power of a great leader to take three simple, one syllable words, and create a mantra that not only speaks to people, but inspires them. "Yes we can." The power behind those words--aren't they magical? And not just to African-Americans, not just to Democrats or to American citizens.....say the words to yourself. Think of something you've been doubting. Something you've been questioning. And then say those words to yourself. "Yes, we can." Are you inspired? If not, say it again. And again. And again.
It's hard to understand the true depth of what happened tonight because I don't have the full history of it. I read about the civil rights movement in books. I don't know what it is to come out from under the thumb of slavery and total oppression to being the leader of the "free world." For black Americans that I saw on tv tonight, and in the bar where I watched the election, it wasn't the relief I'm feeling from the last eight years...it was the relief of a hundred years. Immeasurable.
I spent the evening with good friends, and this was an election I'll never forget for the rest of my life. I'm so proud that I was a part of it. That I was a voter in this election and did my part to create this history that will endure forever.
I need to say, first of all, that it's the power of a great leader to take three simple, one syllable words, and create a mantra that not only speaks to people, but inspires them. "Yes we can." The power behind those words--aren't they magical? And not just to African-Americans, not just to Democrats or to American citizens.....say the words to yourself. Think of something you've been doubting. Something you've been questioning. And then say those words to yourself. "Yes, we can." Are you inspired? If not, say it again. And again. And again.
It's hard to understand the true depth of what happened tonight because I don't have the full history of it. I read about the civil rights movement in books. I don't know what it is to come out from under the thumb of slavery and total oppression to being the leader of the "free world." For black Americans that I saw on tv tonight, and in the bar where I watched the election, it wasn't the relief I'm feeling from the last eight years...it was the relief of a hundred years. Immeasurable.
I spent the evening with good friends, and this was an election I'll never forget for the rest of my life. I'm so proud that I was a part of it. That I was a voter in this election and did my part to create this history that will endure forever.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Stick a fork in me.
Last night after watching the second presidential debate, I started to ask myself some questions. Questions like, why did I just spend two hours of my life watching that? Why do I allow myself to be subjected to countless smear ads from countless people, none of whom are better than any others? Do I think that little of myself? Do I believe that I have so many "extra" minutes in my life that I can toss them away watching other people in a sanctioned pissing contest?
I had some trouble with the answers.
Don't get me wrong--I love to be politically aware. And my decision to turn myself away from the ObamaPalinMcCain menage is not an attempt to stick my head in the sand (sorry, I'm still puking cliches from last night's debate) or to ignore the issues. Rather, I'm simply done. I'm done devoting my time to the embarrassment that is Sarah Palin, who thinks that she needs to talk like she came out of a back woods trailer to show me she "gets me". I'm done watching John McCain try to say he'll do things "differently" without citing one single specific example of how he might do that. I'm done hearing Barack Obama say he "understands what the middle class is going through" in his suit that cost more than my last year's teacher's salary, while he's running a campaign that costs more than I'll ever see in my lifetime if I work three jobs until I drop dead on the showroom floor at age 100.
Done.
I'm done with Norm Coleman and Al Franken, too, with their "he said rape!" "how could he say he said rape!" "He's a pervert!" "He's got anger issues!" "His wife's an alcoholic!" "He's a big liar!" Lose track of who said what? Exactly. Does it matter? Are either of them saying anything?
Done.
And I'm done with the jokes, too. With the flow charts and the SNLs and the youtube videos and the emails and the forwards and the blogs. This isn't funny, people. This is choosing the person who gets to talk to other leaders who could bomb us into oblivion. This is choosing the person who has one of the final says on the economy, health care, and education in this country. This is choosing the person who, God forbid a tragedy like the Challenger, like Columbine, like Oklahoma City, like 9/11, should happen will be speaking to our nation to call us to action and make us believe we should not be afraid. This is choosing a very, very important person. And when we're all out there sending our email forwards and giving the SNL Tina Fey/Sarah Palin youtube video its one millionth hit, maybe we should think about how funny it's going to be when it's real. When it isn't a joke. When McCain is elected and then has a heart attack or a relapse of his malignant melanoma and he dies and our country is thrust into its darkest hour since the Kennedy assassination and the person there to lead us is Sarah "hockey mom joe six-pack gosh darn it you betcha" Palin.
Funny.
Isn't it?
So I'm turning off my tv until November 7th. Because they can continue to do all the ads they want, the whole lot of them, but they're not wasting any more hours, minutes, or even seconds of my life. I'll be casting my vote on November 4th--I exercise that right. And hopefully things won't end up quite like they did the last election when all the dems said "Bush won't win again!"
Won't (s)he? We'll see.
I had some trouble with the answers.
Don't get me wrong--I love to be politically aware. And my decision to turn myself away from the ObamaPalinMcCain menage is not an attempt to stick my head in the sand (sorry, I'm still puking cliches from last night's debate) or to ignore the issues. Rather, I'm simply done. I'm done devoting my time to the embarrassment that is Sarah Palin, who thinks that she needs to talk like she came out of a back woods trailer to show me she "gets me". I'm done watching John McCain try to say he'll do things "differently" without citing one single specific example of how he might do that. I'm done hearing Barack Obama say he "understands what the middle class is going through" in his suit that cost more than my last year's teacher's salary, while he's running a campaign that costs more than I'll ever see in my lifetime if I work three jobs until I drop dead on the showroom floor at age 100.
Done.
I'm done with Norm Coleman and Al Franken, too, with their "he said rape!" "how could he say he said rape!" "He's a pervert!" "He's got anger issues!" "His wife's an alcoholic!" "He's a big liar!" Lose track of who said what? Exactly. Does it matter? Are either of them saying anything?
Done.
And I'm done with the jokes, too. With the flow charts and the SNLs and the youtube videos and the emails and the forwards and the blogs. This isn't funny, people. This is choosing the person who gets to talk to other leaders who could bomb us into oblivion. This is choosing the person who has one of the final says on the economy, health care, and education in this country. This is choosing the person who, God forbid a tragedy like the Challenger, like Columbine, like Oklahoma City, like 9/11, should happen will be speaking to our nation to call us to action and make us believe we should not be afraid. This is choosing a very, very important person. And when we're all out there sending our email forwards and giving the SNL Tina Fey/Sarah Palin youtube video its one millionth hit, maybe we should think about how funny it's going to be when it's real. When it isn't a joke. When McCain is elected and then has a heart attack or a relapse of his malignant melanoma and he dies and our country is thrust into its darkest hour since the Kennedy assassination and the person there to lead us is Sarah "hockey mom joe six-pack gosh darn it you betcha" Palin.
Funny.
Isn't it?
So I'm turning off my tv until November 7th. Because they can continue to do all the ads they want, the whole lot of them, but they're not wasting any more hours, minutes, or even seconds of my life. I'll be casting my vote on November 4th--I exercise that right. And hopefully things won't end up quite like they did the last election when all the dems said "Bush won't win again!"
Won't (s)he? We'll see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)