current events

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The Obama Effect Cont’d…

I was watching The View, as I’m known to do, and they showed a clip of a recent town hall with President Obama and he was challenging the folks who orchestrated the Black Lives Matter Movement to come to the table and have a discussion about the issues they care about, in order to get some progress on those issues. I was listening to him calmly and respectfully explaining how it takes more than just protesting to get things accomplished. He was talking about how protesting opens the door to get you a seat at the table but then you gotta be grown and sit down to hash out the results. Not to continue to yell and protest in peoples faces.

In my mind I immediately had two separate thoughts. One, how awesome it is to have a President who wants to have the table widened and extended to bring more voices in the room. Second, how different, and disrespectful it would be if Donald Trump were the President during this uprising. We’ve seen his insensitive, bigoted, sexist approach to handling those who protest against him.

President Obama shows you what it means to be the leader of the free world. He takes great umbrage with those who are marginalized and does his best to make sure they get their voices heard. You see him taking the power of the Presidency to Flint, Michigan in order to get answers and solutions to the crisis that still grapples that city.

Though his time in the White House is winding down, you see him all over the place. Working both domestically and abroad to cement the Obama legacy and leave his stamp on this world. He’s in England working the political winds to make deals. Saudi Arabia greeted him and worked to ease the strain there while also strengthening America’s position. He’s continuing to keep the pressure on ISIS and disrupt that groups efforts.

A recent report suggests that they’re having a little trouble with their finances and paying their soldiers, since we took out some of their high ranking officials dealing with money. We are continuing to see jobs increase, and slowly states across the nation are trying to get on board with the $15 minimum wage. Progress America ain’t quick but it can surely be blatant. Whether you like him or not, Mr. Obama has surely done the job he was elected to do, with or without Congress.

But there’s still way more work to do. Let’s keep the momentum going. Vote in November and continue to support the President.

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Trump Is The Elephant

I’ve been talking about this now for months how Donald Trump is actually just like the Republican Establishment, despite many mainstream media outlets wanting to cast him as the outsider. He has all the talking points, rhetoric and actions of a man sold to the Republican Right Wing. Yes, he may say a few incendiary things that ruffle the feathers of some of the elite, but the truth is if you listen to his words he really is just like the folks sitting on Capitol Hill.

Trump wants to ban abortions and make women criminals if they do abort their child. Trump wants to restore “American Exceptionalism” and essentially build a wall around our country to keep folks out in order to “protect Americans”. Trump wants to expand the Military again and use our might in the Middle East more than using our brains. Trump wants to be the big bully instead of the influential big brother. If you’re wondering where these things have been heard before, well look no further than President 43.

You see as much as Trump is anti-Establishment, his tax proposal, economic strategy, immigration stances, abortion policy and foreign policy are all right from the think tanks of those who represent the Right Wing of the party. And if you think they’re not the Established part of the party just look at the number of “Tea Party” folks in the House and Senate.

Trump doesn’t want the violence to die down. Trump doesn’t want regulations. Trump wants to turn crazies loose. He wants to go back to those days where states could impose whatever rules they want. Jim Crow could return, White dominance reigns supreme and so on and so on. I was listening to Rachel Maddow in her opening monologue on her show and she couldn’t have said it any better. “If the Pro Life folks win the battle, it will be a constant parade of women facing criminal charges for anything that prevents them from birthing a child 9 months after conception.”

If you think this election doesn’t have consequences, look real hard at the candidates that are left on both sides of the aisle. Trump has views that are truly divisive and hurtful to the cause of American unity and equality. Cruz is even worse and while Governor Kasich is doing his best to stay in the race, he really is too moderate for this Republican electorate. Hillary can’t get out of her own way and people still don’t believe in her, while Bernie is just being Bernie and refusing to back down to the big bully in the yard.

The next few months will be interesting and November will be down right entertaining. Who’s going to win.. well I guess we will all find out together.

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The Obama Effect Cont’d…

I’mmmmm baccccckk… I was reading the news stories on my Goggle feed and other apps that I have and what do I see but the Obama Administration getting another major foreign policy win in the fight against ISIS. Just days after the Brussels attacks, U.S. forces kill the number 2 man in ISIS. Then they capture another high ranking official.

While this doesn’t mean the fight is winding down, it does mean that this Administration has proven that they will get the sum bitches that are trying to threaten our way of life and intimidate Americans. If you think for one second that these things are lost on the American public think again. Yes the President is in the final months of his time running the nation, but clearly he’s making every day count.

Another nod to the President was his stare down with the Republican Party and their refusal to meet with, and consider his nominee for the Supreme Court. Maybe, these Republicans thought they were getting the Obama who has another election to win. But clearly, unchained from having to worry about another election, President Obama is taking calculated risks and daring the opposition to stop him.

Commuting the sentences of 61 more people with minor drug charges, to bring his total to over 260. Continuing his push to close that dentition facility in Cuba. Taking the first trip to Cuba as a sitting President in more than 80 years. Sending his top American Diplomat to China to negotiate a nuclear deal. Using American troops to assist the countries in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places recapture their land from ISIS.

Continuing to conduct himself worthy of being President of the United States in the final months. We may see another occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue have a brown hue like this President, but the effects of his Presidency will continue to linger for quite some time. You see Mr. Obama has done what many only hoped he would, leave a legacy that when the next round of history books are written, have to include his face and his accomplishments. Whether you like it or not, agree with all he’s done or not, you can’t deny Obama has changed America forever.

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The Rise and Fall of Atlanta

I was listening to a local radio station earlier this week and they were discussing how much Atlanta has changed over the past decade. They talked about how so many young, black men were being killed in the streets by other Black men. They talked about the increased crime rate. They talked about how that Southern Hospitality trait had disappeared and more harder cord has been struck amongst the people of the A.

As I listened to this conversation, I had to think about my time spent in this city. For the better of a decade I’ve lived in Atlanta. Coming for college, leaving and returning for another spell. I can remember when I got here back in 2002 and the people were truly amazing. While I had some interesting run ins with Panhandlers, I was very surprised and excited to see so many people with a very helpful spirit. This type of behavior was the norm not the exception.

Despite going to the one of the most well known schools in America, we still had our dangers just outside the walls. Because as we all know, every single HBCU in America is based somewhere in or near the hood. And my school was no exception to this rule. So while I enjoyed the people when I was away from school, I easily caught a glimpse of what could be looking right outside the walls and confines of my school.

With all the fuss about the parties and late night activities in the city, there was also a robust amount of normal things to do. Sports team galore, entertainment always in and around the city. Trips to take and so many different people to meet. This city was booming and the little known secret was Hollywood was on it’s way. Already boasting numerous Spike Lee films, Drumline was shot here in Atlanta and seemed to open up another dynamic. Add to that Tyler Perry’s love for Atlanta and you could see this city was about to become something serious.

But along the way to all those things, a national tragedy happened that, if you ask me, changed the trajectory of the city and also began the downward turn we see in a number of places today in Atlanta. Hurricane Katrina happened in 2005. Many people forget that Atlanta took in more people from New Orleans and surrounding areas than any other state. There folks was the beginning of the down turn. Don’t get me wrong, I love people from the Big Easy. I got to meet quite a few who were displaced after that storm and while some were bitter and hurt, others were still upbeat and optimistic.

But you see far more became honest with themselves about what life would look like that they began to take a more pessimistic and bitter tone. Then you add to that the rapid influx of people from Northern, more rigid states coming down South and it made for the perfect storm. People displaced and struggling to find a way to make it, doing whatever it took. Even if that means lying, stealing, killing, using and abusing or just bumming their way to survival.

The overcrowding of the city, scarcity of jobs and decline in the economy further led to the hardship faced by native Atlantians and the transplants alike. The other thing that people don’t like to admit, but is very true, is that sooo many black gay men flocked to Atlanta in the latter part of the 2000’s. Seeing that cost of living was cheaper and the ease of access to other highly attractive men, the gays wanted Atlanta to be home base and it was.

One of things this city used to be known for was Black people coming to make a life and be successful. The old saying was you could come to Atlanta with a dream and leave with a career. Unfortunately because so many came with that same idea and companies started pulling out, the competition was unimaginable. Again, having a Republican Governor who decimated the Education budget made it harder for this city to continue the promise it once held.

Now, the city is climbing back out of a bad place and jobs are returning in different forms to Atlanta, but the violence and abuse and nastiness is still at an all-time high. So many people have been hurt and scared by boyfriends, girlfriends, employers who aren’t loyal to their people, the government and that’s why we still sit in the same place for the past 11 years. Stuck and not sure how to get out.

It’s not everything, but it’s a damn good synopsis for why the city rose and fell. Maybe, in this reincarnation the city’s people will remember what truly made it stand out from so many other major Metropolitan cities and bring the Southern Charm back to formally Hotlanta, now just Cruelanta.

Thoughts? Opinions? Feelings? Tell me what you think. Let’s talk about it. I’m always ready.

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The Obama Effect Cont’d

As I said since the end of last year, I will dedicate at least one blog a month to the effect that President Obama has had and what it has meant and will mean to this race and the country. I was just watching Election Night coverage of the states voting today and I heard something very interesting, which is also very troubling. Some folks down in the South have no idea who Bernie Sanders is and that’s just a shame.

I don’t pretend that he’s a candidate who’s perfect, but I will say that he may be a better candidate for the Black Community than Hillary Clinton, much to the dismay of those famous celebrities and regular Americans who believe she is the one. Mayor Bill Be Blasio of New York, said something very interesting in the segment before the one I watched. He said that the modern day Democrat is now a Social Democrat or a Democratic Socialist. Meaning, we’re a lot more like Bernie Sanders than we are Hillary Clinton, we just don’t like to admit it.

President Obama has set the bar as high as you can for the next Democratic President because of his policies that he’s been able to get passed through Congress. He has helped to lift the country into economic strength. He has done a very strong job of leading us out of the Empire America and back to the leader America. He has forced all of the candidates to shift their positions based on his actions, decisions and agenda. That’s why Clinton must say she is for Gay Marriage, that’s why Sanders must say he wants to extend the benefits of Obamacare.

The Obama coalition was one that had never been seen really before in Democratic circles. He gathered young people, black people, white women, women, older folks and educated folks and turned that into one hell of a base. Think that didn’t stick in folks mind? Bernie Sanders tried to do the same thing this cycle, only problem is… He’s not Black and people don’t really know who he is. Maybe if he would have given a speech to the magnitude of President Obama at the DNC in 2004, maybe we would be talking about Sanders possibly being Obama 2.0.

I still make a plea to Black people to not just hand your vote to Hillary Clinton because she is the wife of former President Bill Clinton, who was favorable to Black people. Do your research, read about the candidates and make an informed decision. If not you will just take away the power we have. And then we bitch about not being involved enough in the process. It’s because we don’t wanna read, we don’t wanna participate and don’t wanna be informed. Put it all together and you got Black people falling short.

If we learn nothing else from the Obama effect, it’s that we must build a strong coalition. We must do our homework and we gotta find a way to stick together. Otherwise, we will continue to fall by the wayside of opportunity.

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Black People Are You Ready…

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Black community, I’m a little bit shocked that we’ve so overwhelmingly decided to turn a blind eye to all of Hillary Clinton’s campaign record and solely focus on the narrative that she and the media have chosen to put out in this election cycle. While I’m not staunchly in support of either Secretary Clinton or Senator Sanders, I do have to say that I’m a little more surprised that we aren’t making these two candidates earn our vote.

Similarly, on the Republican side, Black folks are voting in that party and damn you really think Donald Trump is the best choice ehh? So far tonight in Hillary has already been given both Georgia and Virginia on the Democratic side in the nominating process and it’s assumed that she will have more than 75% of the Black vote in each state. I’m really surprised. Please remember that Hillary Clinton called pockets of Black youth tyrants that needed to be brought to heel. You know that’s an animal term. She was very supportive of the War Against Drugs legislation that her husband signed as President that led to decades of Black incarceration.

Until President Obama came out to support LGBT folks, she was still supporting her husbands signing of the Defense of Marriage Act, classifying marriage as only between a man and a woman. She has been solidly supporting the Black Community when it’s been convenient for her in an election cycle, but where has she been on the Black Lives Matter movement? I just want folks to understand that when we quickly and aimlessly throw away our vote to a candidate just because, we can marginalize our own voice.

Bill Clinton thought in 2008 that Obama was a nice token candidate when he said on the record, that since Jesse Jackson won a few primaries back when he ran for office that Obama winning a few states meant nothing. Little did he know our President would whoop his wife’s ass in the primary process. What’s my point here? Simple, Black people we have a chance to have real power and affect the outcome of a third consecutive Presidential election.

It was because so many of us, young and old, rich and poor, educated and noneducated came out in numbers to elect the first Black President of the United States. We must join together like our LGBT friends, Latino and Asian friends and make our vote count. Clinton may help us get a little bit ahead, but Donald Trump will tear our asses down. Black people, all people please pay attention and vote.

Don’t be influenced by those who may have some money and tell you that Trump is a good choice. Don’t listen to those who tell you that Rubio is the right pick, don’t listen to those who say that Cruz is the option. They are fundamentally opposite to what we in this community needs. We need a President who will continue to level the playing field, not further set it on its head.

Hillary or Bernie, pick whomever you choose, and if you decide to go Republican so be it. But if you don’t do anything else, please be smart and follow each candidate closely and vote for the one who will best help you. It’s pretty shocking when someone says they haven’t followed the election process and sides with one party and then all of sudden switches sides without any homework being done. That tells me you don’t have a voice, you don’t know where you stand and you will foolishly fall for anything. Good luck with that.

Wise up America

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The Establishment Trick

As I’ve been having conversations the past few weeks regarding the upcoming Presidential nominating and election cycle, I’ve been struck by how many people truly feel that the country is about to hit the shits if Donald J Trump is elected President of the United States. The second thing that I’ve realized is that many people are sounding the alarm that the country may be silently supporting Trump while outwardly promoting outrage.

One of my co-workers I spoke with today echoed that exact sentiment. She seemed to indicate that because of the massive amount of support Trump is receiving all across America, more people are really supporting him than what they want to admit to. I also want to submit something that many don’t want to accept or may not cop to.. the Establishment Wing of both parties are really smiling right now. Don’t believe me, lets explore.

Donald Trump is a modern day mainstream Republican if I ever saw one. Have you heard his speeches? He wants to send troops to foreign countries to war, he wants to reinstitute enhanced interrogation tactics, he wants to repeal Obamacare, he wants to double down on gun rights, he will continue tax breaks for rich people, he wants to decentralize the Federal Governments power, he wants to deport all the illegal immigrants and strip federal dollars for Planned Parenthood. These are just the stances he’s taken publically that I’m talking about. Does it sound familiar? It should.. It’s Republican 101 talking points for the past 16 years.

Hillary Clinton is right out of the Democratic Establishment Wing. I mean her husband is a former President, she is the former Secretary of State and Senator from New York. She was the first lady who tried to push Universal Healthcare in 1994. She has been apart of politics for more than two decades. She is what the Democrats look at as the polished candidate. And we as a nation have been led to believe that we are experiencing some sort of revolution. Ha! I wish that were true, but the truth is the leading candidates in both parties are as Established as you can get.

America the media has fucked you again and you didn’t even notice. I’m happy to see voter turnout is high, but I hate that we have such old, stale candidates leading these parties. More to come as we head to election day.

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The Great White Haux

Over the past few weeks there have been stories reported about one of the NFL’s most accomplished and respected players, Peyton Manning. The first story was one about Manning have HGH, an illegal drug, sent to his home under his wife’s name during a time where he was recovering from neck surgery. The second, and far more serious, was a story about Manning and a sexual abuse case while he was the Quarterback at the University of Tennessee.

Also contained in that report was the issue of Peyton plagiarizing two essays and getting caught by the same trainer that accused him of sexually assaulting her. I find it to be quite interesting that in both of these stories, the media has not given it the air to breathe and develop that they did back in 2009 when Cam Newton was being recruited out of Junior College and rampant reports of Cam being brought by one of the universities. They pushed and pushed until they thought they found something to try and punish him and his father for.

We fast forward to the story that came out about Manning and steroids, he comes out with scathing comments and threatens a lawsuit and the point man behind the story retracts it all and the story dies. Manning goes on to win his second Super Bowl title and is poised to ride off into the sunset. Then we have the UT story that comes out and finally a little more breath is given to the possibility that Peyton might not the be the squeaky clean football player he was cast out to be. It seems to be that, he too, made mistakes in college and perhaps in Pro football as well that have been covered up.

But despite all this every commentator and analyst want to give Manning a pass and let him ride off into the sunset. Consider that the steroid use was far more recent and to me, damaging than Cam’s issue in 2009 because using that substance is illegal in the eyes of the NFL and is punishable by game suspensions. Maybe even more investigations would have been done that possibly could have turned up even more stuff. I’m not saying that Peyton isn’t an all-time great QB, because he is. But, it also goes to point out that there is still a huge bias in the NFL.

Cam sulks after losing the biggest game of his career and every one wants to bitch and moan and jump all over the man for his “poor sportsmanship”. They want to say that Brady, Manning and other great QB’s wouldn’t have done that, but, excuse me every time Brady and company lost a playoff game he sulked and bitched. So did his coach. But they get a pass because they’re the epitome of greatness right? Yet, Peyton has legit allegations against him and there’s a blind eye turned to it.

These two comparisons aren’t meant to be the be all end all of this discussion, however, I use these as two of the most glaring points of contention. In every day life the same dynamics play out, just like in Corporate America and all places in between. The Great White Haux is alive and well. Whether we like it or not, being Black still means you gotta prove yourself ten times more than your White counterpart.

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The Human Element

I hate Donald Trump as a Presidential candidate. But if you want to know why he resonates with the Republican electorate is because he’s showing the human element that many politicians lack. One of the reasons Senator Sanders is making Hillary Clinton’s march to the White House hell is because he has the human touch that is truly resonating with many in the Democratic electorate; while Hillary comes across as stale, emotionless, and not authentic.

I found it very odd that once the 200o Presidential race was called for 43 and Al Gore knew he wasn’t going to get by a jaded Supreme Court ruling, he showed the human mystique that was missing throughout his entire candidacy. He was harshly criticized, and rightly so, for being very stiff and robotic on the campaign trail. Yet, in that moment when he knew it was over, he showed that human quality that made people wonder what would have been had he shown just a sliver of that during the election season.

I absolutely can’t stand President 43 for his policies and what he allowed to happen to this country, but what won him two elections as President was his innate ability to relate to people and speak to that in Americans. It’s the same thing that got Bill Clinton elected President twice. He had the ability to be human and show his vulnerability. The person issues he dealt with really only made him more human because every day people could sympathize with the situation.

President Barack Obama used that human interaction and vulnerability to parlay that into two terms as President of the United States, despite all the factions against him. It truly does baffle me how many career Politicians seem to forget that they’re people first when running in these elections. They forget that we’re human not some damn polls or numbers. Their Campaign Managers and staffs seem to forget to appeal to the human element in people to get elected. And we as people don’t demand enough that they pay attention to our human feelings.

You’re seeing that wave though erupt this year in both parities. Trump, Sanders, and to a lesser extent Cruz, have tapped into the American publics human emotion. They’re showing their true selves and for better or worse people are gravitating towards that. So if you’re Hillary Clinton’s people, my one word of advice would be: Stop treating that woman like she’s a machine and let her be human. It just might win her the White House and make another piece of American history.

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The Obama Effect

As my President winds down his time occupying the White House, I’m determined to pay homage to the nations first African American President. It’s also fitting, since it’s Black History month, that I begin with this month and what we’ve seen come out of South Carolina recently, and from the nation in the wake of Supreme Court Justice Scalia passing away.

That reality is that President Barack Obama has altered the course of America forever. We have equalities in place now that didn’t exist prior to President 44 stepping into the White House. I’m sorry to all the Clinton supporters, but President Obama did what Bill and Hillary could not do. He was the President that saw Universal Healthcare become the law of the land. He was the President who pulled the trigger that allowed for Osama Bin Laden to be killed. He was the President that brought the economy from the brink of disaster and created jobs in America. He was the President who nominated the first Latina Supreme Court Justice.

His accomplishments go on and on, and while he wasn’t to get everything he wanted done; there is no question that his Presidency has been one hell of a success. Obama has made the country aware of equality for Gays and Lesbians and Transgender folks. He has helped to reshape the education discussion, he is reshaping the Justice Department and crime as we speak. Man when you just think about all the things that have happened under his watch you have to be impressed.

There have been failures and will continue to be as long as we have a two party governance system. No President gets everything they want, but he really was able to get a lot of things done, despite Republicans trying to obstruct his entire agenda. The result is what I call the Obama Effect. Hillary Clinton is wrapping herself completely in the cloth of Obama’s Presidency. What a slap in the face it must be to her husband, that she’s running the current President’s record and not to be a resurrection of the Clinton years.

Senator Sanders is trying to align himself with members of the Obama support group in Congress, but more importantly is trying to follow the Obama model, of young people, first time voters and College educated folks to rise to the top of the ticket in the Party.

Who would have thought that 7 plus years ago Barack Obama would have the effect that he’s had. Ha, all these racist, prejudice White people must be puling their hair out. Mr. President thank you for your contributions to this nation and I hope the remainder of this year the Obama Effect continues to expand and slap those who oppose it right in their faces.