Last night, I sat glued to the television watching Anderson Cooper and his team cover the last run in this election's much contested primaries. It was no surprise when Senator Barack Obama was named as the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party. With his delegate count rising to the mark over the last couple of days it was expected. Many nay-sayers predicted that this day would never come because Americans of all colors still could not see past racial lines. Obama they predicted would fare poorly among white voters. However, the Senator from Illinois still clinched the nomination. He proved that although race is an issue it was not an obstacle.
Among the myriad issues of race that abound I am interested in the fate of the African-American community. In several conversations since Obama's win, most people of African descent in the diaspora believe his nomination affirms that their struggles are not in vain. Maybe someday their children or grandchildren may be in the White House.
But, dare we dream about an African-American in the White House? I believe we are closer to that goal today than we were several years ago. Obama's nomination is historic not only because it is unprecedented in the history of this great nation but because it speaks volumes to how far we have come as a people. There is no ground for excuses anymore. I speak directly to our ailing communities, to our young black men especially. It's time to take advantage of our educational institutions. It's time to stop sagging pants. That trend is not only unfashionable it is simply a relic of prison culture. It's time to wake up and embrace change.
Our culture has suffered tremendously. We are mocked on television and we are always fodder for so-called "urban" jokes. It doesn't matter if you are "elite" or not. To most in mainstream culture all "black" people are alike. Nothing wrong with uniformity in our race, however the perception of the whole is mostly negative. Popular culture has solidified the image of our young men as thugs and our females as "hoes." Nevertheless, Barack Obama is still the nominee for the Democratic Party. What are we going to do with it? Chant about change for a few months and then forget about the hope of a dream 10 years later? Are we going to regress as a people or are we going to seize the day? 10 years from now will we be changed by this historic event, or will the Senator from Illionois simply be remembered as the great "black" hype?
Among the myriad issues of race that abound I am interested in the fate of the African-American community. In several conversations since Obama's win, most people of African descent in the diaspora believe his nomination affirms that their struggles are not in vain. Maybe someday their children or grandchildren may be in the White House.
But, dare we dream about an African-American in the White House? I believe we are closer to that goal today than we were several years ago. Obama's nomination is historic not only because it is unprecedented in the history of this great nation but because it speaks volumes to how far we have come as a people. There is no ground for excuses anymore. I speak directly to our ailing communities, to our young black men especially. It's time to take advantage of our educational institutions. It's time to stop sagging pants. That trend is not only unfashionable it is simply a relic of prison culture. It's time to wake up and embrace change.
Our culture has suffered tremendously. We are mocked on television and we are always fodder for so-called "urban" jokes. It doesn't matter if you are "elite" or not. To most in mainstream culture all "black" people are alike. Nothing wrong with uniformity in our race, however the perception of the whole is mostly negative. Popular culture has solidified the image of our young men as thugs and our females as "hoes." Nevertheless, Barack Obama is still the nominee for the Democratic Party. What are we going to do with it? Chant about change for a few months and then forget about the hope of a dream 10 years later? Are we going to regress as a people or are we going to seize the day? 10 years from now will we be changed by this historic event, or will the Senator from Illionois simply be remembered as the great "black" hype?
You make some nice obersations here. You might find a newish blog pretty interesting. It's called Semiobama (semiobama.blogspot.com), and it looks at images of Obama in pop culture . .
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