The Wrap-Up
Well, the week is wrapping up and now it is time to put away the party clothes and sparkly jewels. It’s time to wash the smoky eyes and red lips. It is time to be about the business at hand. At this point all the excitement of getting to the presidency is over and now it must be about making the kind of history that we can not so clearly see and understand. We have celebrated the momentousness of this occasion. Well some of us have, being in Texas it is apparent to me that many people are trying to diminish President Fo’Fo’s (Man, I LOVE my fo fo!) accomplishment. You already know how I feel about haters so …moving on.
I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what do I say about the occasion. How do I commemorate this on my itsy bitsy blog so that can pay proper honor to this moment and document this moment for my own personal herstory. How do I pay homage to what that moment meant to me, to my family, to my state, to my country, TO THE WORLD. How do I honor the ancestors and inspirers, the kids ( not the ones that snap), the doubters, and even the haters. The truth is I can’t. For most of my readers there is nothing I can write, no words I can string together that can truly honor Tuesday’s occasion.
What I can do, is do the things it takes to make the words of President Obama’s inaugural address true for the 21st century. I can up my service game. If you know me IRL you know I am committed to service, mostly collegiate education, mostly because I stood on the backs of so many to obtain my degree, I think it is only right that I at least kneel down and put someone on my shoulders. You know pay it forward. So after giving you lazy blogs of videos, transcripts, and pictures (because they really are worth a 1,000 words maybe a 1,000,000 words in this case) I just want to share/record my observations and conversations about the new age I hope we are living in.
Ask not…
So after watching everything and listening and reading accounts of so many who were in DC, I decided to step up my service game. My Main Dammie, bus chick ,spent part of her childhood in Morocco because her parents were in the Peace Corps and now I wonder if that kind of service will begin again, when a young family with two young children pack up and join the Peace Corps or when young college graduates dedicate two years of their life to teaching in under-served under-financed schools before they go off to stack paper from corporate America, Kennedy’s America. Sometimes I wonder if this is our second chance to see what happens when America serves the world and leads by example. In so many ways Dallas's grassy knoll was the graveyard of an America that actually did what Jesus did instead of just asked what he would do.
Most Christians who read their Bibles know that service is a base tenant of JC’s teachings. There is something about serving your fellow man that grows you in a way nothing else can. At my church during Resurrection weekend one of the events of the weekend is foot washing. Man…whole new perspective on life. Service.
Moving on, I am very excited at America’s move towards service.
Leaders set the tone
There were 2 million plus people in little bitty old Washington DC on Inauguration Day and the news reported not ONE arrest. Not one. Everyone has said the spirit of kindness and friendliness was thick. Leaders set the tone. Our President is cool as a fan and I think that is why you saw order during his inauguration celebrations.
We will extend our hand if you unclench your fist
You know there are so many pieces of that speech, or sermon as Newsweek called it, that resonate with my soul. However I love how he addressed our foes. That we are not aggressors or bullies and if you're cool with us we’ll be cool with you, however you are not finna punk us. I love how he said we will NOT apologize for the way we live. To me that is TRUE conflict resolution. It’s funny because at work that is how I operate. People ALWAYS think I’m nice as pie and I am and we're cool until you act a fool. Many have had to find that out the hard way.
Balance
We must be able to give as much as we want to stack paper. We must be able to be kind to strangers and realize we share commonality. We must be able to give not merely a hand out but a hand up, by encouraging personal responsibility because it really is the only way to truly move forward.
The Big Picture
The one thing that I have truly come to realize is that sometimes you have to come to your breaking point in order to become who you need to be. I think in the last eight years America has been humbled, embarrassed, and shamed. America has done things she never thought she would America has been on a slow path of self-destruction. We had grown to a point where apathy was the norm, the accepted path and empathy was not in our vocabulary. We no longer remembered our history as a fledgling nation fighting for her representation. We no longer remembered our commitment to equality and happiness. We had to lose our way. We had to see what happens when you do not guard the constitution and hold those values in your heart. We had to live the lives we WERE living to understand that this is not the America we want to be. In so many ways W had to "lead" this country, Iraq had to happen, 911 had to happen to show us what can happen when you take the wrong road when you make the wrong choices or the right choices at the wrong time.
Tuesday when the oath was administered to Barack Hussein Obama FINALLY these words were truly the words of America and the country which our fore fathers had set forth to build over 200 years ago.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Since this moment is so big I thought I’d share a few e-mails I exchanged with friends over the week that speak to HOW different the vibe is here in Texas.
Hey girl!! I came to work (wtf was I thinking?). I couldn't watch the Inauguration online because there were too many users and there are no TV's in our building. Girl I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Finally I found a TV on different floor, for another company. Why are all the racists showing their true colors now?
You know when I heard about Jena 6, I was thinking, I could never live in a small racist town like that, but when I look at things now, I live in a BIG racist town like that. I'm just sick, but still so very proud!
How about you, what'd you do? I still cried like a newborn baby...snot throwing and all. (HR not Hipsy Russell)
I was telling my friend that here there is FEAR, in MA there was HOPE!! I think what we are seeing are a group of people coming to terms with the fact that their way of thinking is truly on its death bed. This presidency is like the blow to Jim Crow that puts him on life support.
I came in to work both Monday and Tuesday ( no days off!! especially since this is just month 2). I watched on my computer and listened to the redneck behind me be passive aggressive, but I took the Obama road (formerly know as the high one) and met his HATE with love. That's right baby get it out get it all out...God loves you.
Girl, we have a room with 6 flat screens mounted ALL DARK on Tues. I was like this is HISTORY. Mandy watched it at work on FOX... I was like how fitting is that, says volumes about Houston. I think its times like this that remind me of the south’s painful past and current struggle.
I think sometimes we forget, because blacks here are successful and enjoy good lives, but we live such separate lives. You know it takes different things to remind us that we live in the less progressive states, but there are pockets of hope. Man I should have went to Austin I bet it was much better there, it’s our Seattle. *lol*
I didn't/haven't cried. I mean for me there was never a question of if only a question of when and who. And man he makes me grateful for W. I mean that’s the thing I think about how you should not judge things as good or bad but what they are. I mean if there was not a W to take this country deep into the moral, financial, and emotional valleys how could the hope and energy of change have been created.
This reminds me of the America of the 60's deeply divided yet from that division came the Peace Corps and Ameri Corps and America's spirit of service, like OUR PRESIDENT said on Tuesday we are back and we are ready to lead.
Not one arrest 2 million plus in DC NOT ONE ARREST Tues. When has that ever happened? Leaders set the tone. I am so proud that my president is a great man and blessed that he also happens to be black!! That really is the best part. (OG)
I’m so glad I get to be up here with all of these enlightened New Englanders! EVERYBODY here is just so excited about Obama. Okay, not everybody, but honestly, even the skeptics seem to have warmed up to the guy, at least for now. Even my cousin, who is not a racist but um...let's say he is sort of an old-school Italian American blue collar type from Massachusetts....saw the inauguration and was like "okay this guy is awesome." Anyway we'll enjoy the honeymoon while it lasts. (DS)
Be EZ,
OG
I’ve been trying to figure out exactly what do I say about the occasion. How do I commemorate this on my itsy bitsy blog so that can pay proper honor to this moment and document this moment for my own personal herstory. How do I pay homage to what that moment meant to me, to my family, to my state, to my country, TO THE WORLD. How do I honor the ancestors and inspirers, the kids ( not the ones that snap), the doubters, and even the haters. The truth is I can’t. For most of my readers there is nothing I can write, no words I can string together that can truly honor Tuesday’s occasion.
What I can do, is do the things it takes to make the words of President Obama’s inaugural address true for the 21st century. I can up my service game. If you know me IRL you know I am committed to service, mostly collegiate education, mostly because I stood on the backs of so many to obtain my degree, I think it is only right that I at least kneel down and put someone on my shoulders. You know pay it forward. So after giving you lazy blogs of videos, transcripts, and pictures (because they really are worth a 1,000 words maybe a 1,000,000 words in this case) I just want to share/record my observations and conversations about the new age I hope we are living in.
Ask not…
So after watching everything and listening and reading accounts of so many who were in DC, I decided to step up my service game. My Main Dammie, bus chick ,spent part of her childhood in Morocco because her parents were in the Peace Corps and now I wonder if that kind of service will begin again, when a young family with two young children pack up and join the Peace Corps or when young college graduates dedicate two years of their life to teaching in under-served under-financed schools before they go off to stack paper from corporate America, Kennedy’s America. Sometimes I wonder if this is our second chance to see what happens when America serves the world and leads by example. In so many ways Dallas's grassy knoll was the graveyard of an America that actually did what Jesus did instead of just asked what he would do.
Most Christians who read their Bibles know that service is a base tenant of JC’s teachings. There is something about serving your fellow man that grows you in a way nothing else can. At my church during Resurrection weekend one of the events of the weekend is foot washing. Man…whole new perspective on life. Service.
Moving on, I am very excited at America’s move towards service.
Leaders set the tone
There were 2 million plus people in little bitty old Washington DC on Inauguration Day and the news reported not ONE arrest. Not one. Everyone has said the spirit of kindness and friendliness was thick. Leaders set the tone. Our President is cool as a fan and I think that is why you saw order during his inauguration celebrations.
We will extend our hand if you unclench your fist
You know there are so many pieces of that speech, or sermon as Newsweek called it, that resonate with my soul. However I love how he addressed our foes. That we are not aggressors or bullies and if you're cool with us we’ll be cool with you, however you are not finna punk us. I love how he said we will NOT apologize for the way we live. To me that is TRUE conflict resolution. It’s funny because at work that is how I operate. People ALWAYS think I’m nice as pie and I am and we're cool until you act a fool. Many have had to find that out the hard way.
Balance
We must be able to give as much as we want to stack paper. We must be able to be kind to strangers and realize we share commonality. We must be able to give not merely a hand out but a hand up, by encouraging personal responsibility because it really is the only way to truly move forward.
The Big Picture
The one thing that I have truly come to realize is that sometimes you have to come to your breaking point in order to become who you need to be. I think in the last eight years America has been humbled, embarrassed, and shamed. America has done things she never thought she would America has been on a slow path of self-destruction. We had grown to a point where apathy was the norm, the accepted path and empathy was not in our vocabulary. We no longer remembered our history as a fledgling nation fighting for her representation. We no longer remembered our commitment to equality and happiness. We had to lose our way. We had to see what happens when you do not guard the constitution and hold those values in your heart. We had to live the lives we WERE living to understand that this is not the America we want to be. In so many ways W had to "lead" this country, Iraq had to happen, 911 had to happen to show us what can happen when you take the wrong road when you make the wrong choices or the right choices at the wrong time.
Tuesday when the oath was administered to Barack Hussein Obama FINALLY these words were truly the words of America and the country which our fore fathers had set forth to build over 200 years ago.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Since this moment is so big I thought I’d share a few e-mails I exchanged with friends over the week that speak to HOW different the vibe is here in Texas.
Hey girl!! I came to work (wtf was I thinking?). I couldn't watch the Inauguration online because there were too many users and there are no TV's in our building. Girl I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Finally I found a TV on different floor, for another company. Why are all the racists showing their true colors now?
You know when I heard about Jena 6, I was thinking, I could never live in a small racist town like that, but when I look at things now, I live in a BIG racist town like that. I'm just sick, but still so very proud!
How about you, what'd you do? I still cried like a newborn baby...snot throwing and all. (HR not Hipsy Russell)
I was telling my friend that here there is FEAR, in MA there was HOPE!! I think what we are seeing are a group of people coming to terms with the fact that their way of thinking is truly on its death bed. This presidency is like the blow to Jim Crow that puts him on life support.
I came in to work both Monday and Tuesday ( no days off!! especially since this is just month 2). I watched on my computer and listened to the redneck behind me be passive aggressive, but I took the Obama road (formerly know as the high one) and met his HATE with love. That's right baby get it out get it all out...God loves you.
Girl, we have a room with 6 flat screens mounted ALL DARK on Tues. I was like this is HISTORY. Mandy watched it at work on FOX... I was like how fitting is that, says volumes about Houston. I think its times like this that remind me of the south’s painful past and current struggle.
I think sometimes we forget, because blacks here are successful and enjoy good lives, but we live such separate lives. You know it takes different things to remind us that we live in the less progressive states, but there are pockets of hope. Man I should have went to Austin I bet it was much better there, it’s our Seattle. *lol*
I didn't/haven't cried. I mean for me there was never a question of if only a question of when and who. And man he makes me grateful for W. I mean that’s the thing I think about how you should not judge things as good or bad but what they are. I mean if there was not a W to take this country deep into the moral, financial, and emotional valleys how could the hope and energy of change have been created.
This reminds me of the America of the 60's deeply divided yet from that division came the Peace Corps and Ameri Corps and America's spirit of service, like OUR PRESIDENT said on Tuesday we are back and we are ready to lead.
Not one arrest 2 million plus in DC NOT ONE ARREST Tues. When has that ever happened? Leaders set the tone. I am so proud that my president is a great man and blessed that he also happens to be black!! That really is the best part. (OG)
I’m so glad I get to be up here with all of these enlightened New Englanders! EVERYBODY here is just so excited about Obama. Okay, not everybody, but honestly, even the skeptics seem to have warmed up to the guy, at least for now. Even my cousin, who is not a racist but um...let's say he is sort of an old-school Italian American blue collar type from Massachusetts....saw the inauguration and was like "okay this guy is awesome." Anyway we'll enjoy the honeymoon while it lasts. (DS)
Be EZ,
OG
Comments
Glad to "see" you back!
and banging it out again.
This was MY moment & I didn't need ANYBODY stepping at me wrong because you know that I can "certainly" go another level on the real.
As always,great post & keep doin' what you do !
T.
I did cry, because it was moving. And hopefully everyone will continue to be moved. I'm glad that already the circus has stopped and there's less focus on 'the new black president' as an individual...