Historical Perspective....

From Campbell Brown at CNN.....

Haters....

Well, you knew there would be haters......

Here are some folks already creating Impeach Obama paraphenalia.

And here is a summary of racially motivated incidents that have been occuring since the election....

There is still a lot of work to do....

Headlines from around the world.....

And here is another massive site........

A new day has come!

So..... When I was riding into work today, already ecstatic from last night's events, the radio station played the song that Will.I.Am put together after Obama's inspiring speech in New Hampshire, and like it did, when I first heard/saw it, it made me cry. I posted the video up here back in February when I first saw it and I credit that video with turning the tide for me on my choice for which Democratic candidate I wanted to back for president.

So I was looking online for the video or song "Yes We Can" this morning (I mentioned it in a previous post as something that helped influence my decision to support Barack Obama in the primary) and I found this article on Huffington Post written by Will.I.Am about why he was inspired to create something that inspired so many others....


Will.i.am
Posted February 3, 2008 | 12:11 PM (EST)

Why I Recorded Yes We Can

I was sitting in my recording studio watching the debates...
Torn between the candidates

I was never really big on politics...
and actually I'm still not big on politics...

The outcome of the last 2 elections has saddened me...
on how unfair, backwards, upside down, unbalanced, untruthful,
corrupt, and just simply, how wrong the world and "politics" are...

So this year i wanted to get involved and do all i could early...

And i found myself torn...
because this time it's not that simple...
our choices aren't as clear as the last elections ...
last time it was so obvious...
Bush and war
vs
no Bush and no war...

But this time it's not that simple...
and there are a lot of people that are torn just like i am...

So for awhile I put it off and i was going to wait until it was decided for me...

And then came New Hampshire...

And i was captivated...

Inspired...

I reflected on my life...
and the blessings I have...
and the people who fought for me to have these rights and blessings...

and I'm not talking about a "black thing"
I'm talking about a "human thing" me as a "person"
an American...

That speech made me think of Martin Luther King...
Kennedy...
and Lincoln...
and all the others that have fought for what we have today...

what America is "supposed" to be...

freedom...
equality...
and truth...

and thats not what we have today...
we think we are free...
but in reality terror and fear controls our decisions...

this is not the America that our pioneers and leaders fought and
died for...

and then there was New Hampshire

it was that speech...
like many great speeches...
that one moved me...
because words and ideas are powerful...

It made me think...
and realize that today we have "very few" leaders...
maybe none...

but that speech...

it inspired me...
it inspired me to look inside myself and outwards towards the world...
it inspired me to want to change myself to better the world...
and take a "leap" towards change...
and hope that others become inspired to do the same...
change themselves..
change their greed...
change their fears...
and if we "change that"
"then hey"..
we got something right...???...

1 week later after the speech settled in me...
I began making this song...
I came up with the idea to turn his speech into a song...
because that speech affected and touched my inner core like nothing in a very long time...

it spoke to me...

because words and ideas are powerful...

I just wanted to add a melody to those words...
I wanted the inspiration that was bubbling inside me to take over...

so i let it..

I wasn't afraid to stand for something...
to stand for "change"...
I wasn't afraid of "fear"...
it was pure inspiration...

so I called my friends...
and they called their friends...
in a matter of 2 days...
We made the song and video...

Usually this process would take months...
a bunch of record company people figuring out strategies and release dates...
interviews...
all that stuff...
but this time i took it in my own hands...
so i called my friends Sarah Pantera, Mike Jurkovac, Fred Goldring, and Jesse Dylan to help make it happen...
and they called their friends..
and we did it together in 48 hours...
and instead of putting it in the hands of profit we put it in the hands of inspiration...

then we put it on the net for the world to feel...

When you are truly inspired..
magic happens...
incredible things happen...
love happens..
(and with that combination)

"love, and inspiration"

change happens...

"change for the better"
Inspiration breeds change...

"Positive change"...

no one on this planet is truly experienced to handle the obstacles we face today...
Terror, fear, lies, agendas, politics, money, all the above...
It's all scary...

Martin Luther King didn't have experience to lead...
Kennedy didn't have experience to lead...
Susan B. Anthony...
Nelson Mandela...
Rosa Parks...
Gandhi...
Anne Frank...
and everyone else who has had a hand in molding the freedoms we have and take for granted today...

no one truly has experience to deal with the world today...

they just need "desire, strength, courage ability, and passion" to change...
and to stand for something even when people say it's not possible...

America would not be here "today" if we didn't stand and fight for
change "yesterday"...
Everything we have as a "people" is because of the "people" who fought for
change...
and whoever is the President has to realize we have a lot of changing to do

I'm not trying to convince people to see things how i do...
I produced this song to share my new found inspiration and how I've been moved...
I hope this song will make you feel...
love...
and think...
and be inspired just like the speech inspired me...

that's all...

Let's all come together like America is supposed to...
Like Japan did after Hiroshima...

that was less than 65 years ago...
and look at Japan now...

they did it together...
they did it...

"We can't?...

Are you serious..?..

WE CAN!!!

Yes we can...
A United "America"
Democrats, Republicans and Independents together...
Building a new America

We can do it...
"TOGETHER"

Thank you for reading and listening...
will.i.am

As it unfolded....

I get daily email alerts from the Wall Street Journal and they have been coming out one after the other as the election results are being announced. When I got this one from this now more conservative periodical a couple minutes before CNN projected the winner, I knew it was done!

date Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 10:50 PM
subject WSJ NEWS ALERT: Obama on Verge of Historic Victory
_________________________________
NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal


Nov. 4, 2008

Barack Obama appeared set to become the nation's first African-American president, after beating John McCain in key battleground states.

Obama won Pennsylvania and Ohio earlier in the night, and was projected to win Colorado and Virginia as well.

California releases results at 11 p.m. ET.


And then these came.....

date Tue, Nov 4, 2008 at 11:35 PM
subject WSJ NEWS ALERT: McCain Concedes Race, Saying Americans 'Have Spoken'
__________________________________
NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal

Nov. 4, 2008

Sen. John McCain conceded the presidential race to Sen. Barack Obama, telling his supporters in Arizona that the "American people have spoken, and spoken clearly." He congratulated Obama in a phone call shortly after 11 p.m. EST, Obama's spokesman said. Obama thanked McCain for his graciousness, accepted his concession and asked his rival for help in leading the country.


date Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 12:20 AM
subject WSJ NEWS ALERT: Obama Tells Supporters 'Change Has Come to America'
__________________________________
NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal


Nov. 5, 2008

Barack Obama claimed victory at a speech in Chicago, telling thousands of cheering supporters: "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."

He applauded John McCain's hard-fought campaign and his long record of service to the country.

Obama said: "It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day ... change has come to America."

Wow!..... Yeah! That is what I'm talkin about!!

Today is the day!!

The thing that is so amazing to me about this whole presidential campaign is how Obama has given dis-enfranchised some hope, belief in the possibility that they can actually affect a change in their lives by voting! And they are waiting in lines, sometimes 2, 3, 5, 8 hours long to exercise their right to that change!

It is really something......

And in that spirit..... a musical contribution produced by Babyface featuring many artists you should recognize.

Get out and VOTE, people!

I love David Letterman.....

Check out David giving John McCain a little grief.....

I couldn't have said it better myself!!!

I was beginning to think that sanity was becoming an endangered quality in this political season.....

Here is a little sanity from across the pond!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/oct/03/sarah.palin.debate.feminism

Listen, I am all for women in the White House and OEB but.... not this woman! My IQ drops more each time I hear her talk! I think the writer has a point here, read the transcript of the debate just to underscore how incoherent it actually was.

Unpresidented!

So one thing that I have been really surprised and pleased by is the unpresidented involvement of the black music artists in the Presidential race this year.... regular comments on concert tours, making calls for candidates, creating politically aware content to support the candidates.....

But, today I was watching BETJ Soul Sessions and I saw the video for a song by Big Boi and Mary J Blige called "Something's Gotta Give." I had actually heard it on the radio before and thought it was a politically aware song but I didn't truly realize how direct the political message was until I saw the video today.

Take a look! (Sorry, embedding is disabled for this clip...)

Good for them!

Number 1 fundraiser for the Obama campaign this week?

Sarah Palin!

While the Republicans raised $1 million after the Sarah Palin speech last night, the Democrats raised.........$8 million.

I have to say.... I am amazed, and encouraged by Obama's ability to raise so much money across such a large base. Now, it just needs to translate into votes!

Code words.....

So the latest thing that the pundits have been talking about it that, although Obama is ahead in the polls overall, when folks are asked clarifying questions, it seems that there are no specific issues that people are uneasy about Obama's position on, they are just trying to decide if they like his in general, if they think he will make a good president.

Key findings show that many don't think that they can relate to "his background and values." Okay, background??? You mean the fact that he is black???? And he has pretty traditional values --- married, 2 kids, worked his way through school, believes in giving back to society.......

I guess we knew it would come down to this. He is a professional, intelligent, compassionate, well spoken, diplomatic candidate with a great 3-point shot! What more do you want, people!?!? But I guess that all matter but so much.

The bottom line: Enough people just need to decide that they are comfortable enough with having this black man for president.

See the Wall Street Journal article http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121684823498078481.html?mod=djemalertNEWS

A statesman......

I just watched the end of Obama's speech in Berlin while I was eating lunch today.....


Such a well crafted speech....... Strong, poignant analogies, steeped in historical reference.... It is so nice to hear someone who is a great orator, a diplomat, a statesman. Isn't that what a president should be?

And as one reporter mentioned, there was such a stark contrast in the crowd assembled today and the ones that assemble when good ol' W comes to speak in Europe. Namely, there were people waving American flags and clapping and cheering instead of yelling and protesting.

The time has come for a return to diplomacy and consensus building.... because closing our ears and just doing what "we" (and I mean that term loosely) want to do really has not worked!

I am encouraged!

What a night tonight was...... History in the making..... I am proud, I am encouraged, I am excited about the political process!

I know that I have posted the "Yes We Can" video that Will.I.Am produced already but check out www.dipdive.com where you can check it out again as well as a video that a number of Latino artists put together on the eve of the primaries in Puerto Rico.

You all have probably noticed that I have taken a little unplanned hiatus from blogging for the past couple months. What can I say, life just got in the way.....

You will understand as I catch you all up on what has been happening -- check previous posts as I fill in from now through mid April...

Everyone is getting involved in the presidential race..

Jay-Z and Mary J Blige are in the middle of the Heart of the City tour, which is apparently wildly successful and making money hand over fist. (no wonder Jay-Z can't stay retired!) I had the opportunity to see Jay-Z on his first final tour and Mary as well as Puffy, Memphis Bleek and others joined him on stage at various times. He gives great concert!

At any rate, I was listening to an account of the concert and they were mentioning that in the middle of the show, Jay-Z put up a picture of George W. Bush and the crowd started to "Boo!"

Then he says, "It's time for a change!" and the picture is replaced with a picture of Barack Obama.

I have to say, I can not ever remember a time when so many popular entertainment and media figures, let alone black ones, were so outspoken and involved in the political process! It is rather inspiring....

Addendum:

And apparently, Jay-Z has been making calls for Obama. Listen here for the call that some voters in Ohio got the night before the presidential primary there.....

On the eve of Super Tuesday (and Mardi Gras but that is not what this is about..)

So, a friend of mine sent me the link to this video and it actually made me tear up!

Inspiring! Please watch and please vote!

I only get one vote, huh?

This past week, I proudly concluded my streak of never watching one of George W Bush's State of the Union addresses. I just can't stand to see what he has to say and the poor and unpolished way he says it. I can't stand his little beady eyes and his little smirkish grin. And what I cant stand the most, what makes me cringe is that people in other countries actually think he represents me in any way!

With that being said, how nice it is to have two democratic candidates that I would be happy to have in the White House, representing me and promoting the things that are important to me! But as I was concluding watching the debate on Thursday, from a policy perspective, i didn't really see much appreciable difference between Clinton and Obama. And the things that he did hold up as differences, who was opposed to the war from the start, some intricacies of their health care reform initiatives, and some points on immigration policy don't seem like that big of differences. Let's face it, almost anything would be better than what we have!

This is truly a historical time and an exciting one! Either a woman or a black man will be the Democratic candidate for president this year. Momentous is that say 100 years ago, neither of those groups were even allowed to vote in this country. I am sure there are many of the older generation who never thought they would see this day in their lifetime. And it is here, and it is exciting. One of the most impressive things about Barack Obama has been his ability to mobilize and engage previously politically disenfranchised sections of the population, namely the youth and black communities. I see my 22 year old cousin actively inspired by Barack and actively involved as a volunteer in his campaign, putting up flyers, attending speeches. Barack likely has some of the broadest financial support of any presidential candidate. He has refused to take money from PACs and lobbying groups and 90% of his campaign contributions have been in amounts of $100 or less! And he raised $23 million dollars in the month of January alone, more than any presidential nominee in history.

I was struck by a question that was asked by a 38 year old woman during the debate which said that she has never had the opportunity to participate in a presidential election where there wasn't either a Bush or a Clinton running. Obviously, this is the same case for me. For 20 years there has been either a Bush or Clinton in the White House! I did like Hilary's response though ("Maybe what we need is another Clinton to clean up after this Bush!") And let's face it, the 8 years of the Clinton presidency were not bad ones. We had a trade surplus, a strong economy and good diplomatic relations around the world. But, I can't assume that similar things would automatically happen with Hilary in the White House. As she likes to remind us, she is not Bill. Hilary says that she has the experience on her side but sometimes it takes impassioned eyes, not exposed to all the seediness and backdoor dealsmanship of the Washington political machine to really get things done.

If I am taking the political process seriously, I can't pick who I want to be president based on who I like better. I should pick based on who is best for this country. As a black woman, I would be happy to see either a woman or a black man as president of this country.

So the long and the short of it is, that am still not completely decided. This is going to be a far more difficult decision for me than the actual presidential election. I guess I will just see who I am feeling most inspired by on Tuesday!

US Political Science 101

Given all the energy around the presidential elections this year, I decided I needed a little personal refresher on the American electoral process and I thought I would share it with you!

Most Americans are of the belief that the United States is a true democracy and that our president is popularly elected. However, this is not the case. In fact, as we have seen most recently in the 2000 election between George Bush and Al Gore, it is possible for a president to be elected without winning the majority of the popular vote. (Bush actually had 500,000 fewer popular votes than Al Gore.)

But how can this be!?!?
It is because of a little thing called the electoral college. The electoral college is a system in which states are assigned a certain number of delegates and these delegates are the ones who actually determine who becomes president. The electoral college system was devised by the framers of the Constitution, ostensibly because of the difficulty of actually counting each popular vote at the time, and also as a way to ensure that smaller states were not penalized and were given a more even shot at determining a president.

So, how are the number of electoral college delegates a state gets determined?
The Constitution stipulates that the state are allowed to have a number of delegates equal to their total congressional representation, the number of senators and representatives they have in Congress. And, since 1836, all states, except Maine and Nebraska, have chosen to give the winner of the popular vote in a state all of their electoral votes. So when you think about election day coverage and you remember seeing, as the votes rolled in, states on a map being classified as Red (Republican) or Blue (Democrat) that is what is happening. And they are classified as such because that party's candidate has been awarded all of that states electoral votes.

While most of the time the electoral college system serves to amplify the results of the popular vote, the winner of the popular vote receives proportionally speaking a higher percentage of the popular vote, there have been 3 times, included the election in 2000 (when Bush won with 5 more electoral votes than Gore) when the popular and electoral votes were not in line. Both Rutherford B. Hayes and Benjamin Harrison, in 1876 and 1888 respectively, were elected with a electoral majority but popular minority. And these types of occurrences, especially in the modern day when popular votes can easily be counted, bring into question whether or not the electoral college system is truly out of date. But since it would take a constitutional amendment to change this and there is significant fear among smaller states that it would jeopardize their ability to shape a presidential election, it seems unlikely that this will change in the near future.

But what about the presidential primaries?? What purpose do they serve in all of this?
When citizens vote in presidential primaries and caucuses, they are determining the number of delegates that will vote for a particular candidate in that political parties national presidential convention the summer before the presidential election. At this convention, the Republican and Democratic parties officially announce their presidential nominees, although the results are often known beforehand given the scrutiny with which the media tracks the primaries.

With that being said, please see the Presidential leaderboard I have added to my blog, at the bottom of the left nav bar, for up to the minute presidential primary results.

And that is the end of your US political science lesson for the day! ;-) Now, you know how important your vote can be! If you are already registered to vote, please come out and vote in your state's presidential primary. The margins separating the presidential candidates on both sides are very small. Also, please make sure that you are register and come out and vote in November. This is going to be a very important and pivotal election. We have seen where 8 years of complacency have gotten us! Exercise your rights as US citizens and remember those who don't have the ability to shape the political futures of the countries in which they live!

Bureaucracy - Your Tax Dollars At Work

Today, I did one thing that I have been dreading. No one really wants to go try to get something done at a place where you know you are going to get the run around. But that is what you have to expect when you deal with a government agency. Today, I went to try to dispute the property taxes charged on some properties I purchased last year. I noticed that the amounts are severely out of wack for the value of the properties and their location within the city. I expected that this wouldn't be a simple thing to fix, especially since the county has already gotten their money but I decided today was the day to start trying to unravel the process. After all, it means money back for me which, especially at this time, is sorely needed.

So first, I went to one office that could only help with with disputes for taxes for the current year. The woman was very helpful and told me that I needed to get copies of the deeds for the properties in the courthouse next door and then come back and go to the office next door to hers to speak to the assessor in charge of the area where the property is. Getting the deeds was a relatively simple and quick process. The woman at the records office was very helpful. And then I came back to talk to the assessor. My assessor was actually in court that day so another guy filled in for him. He and I spent 2 hours trying to sort through everything. The end result was that I was told that there were not individual parcel numbers for each property, they were still in larger lots and that the assessments for the properties were not up to date -- last done in February and did not reflect completed construction. So the plan I left with was to do or make sure everything got done to get individual parcel numbers for each property (that included surveys etc.) and also schedule a time for the assessor to come back out and re-assess the property. This would require him having access to the inside of the buildings which are all already occupied -- not very convenient. All this has to be done before I can even talk to the people who set and collect the taxes about getting money back!

After this, I decided, I might as well make a day of it and go to the unemployment office and file for unemployment. It couldn't be worse, right? After all, people file for unemployment every day..... The process was rather streamlined, simple, and non-particularly time consuming. I was out in about an hour and 20 minutes. I was glad to get that off my list.

However, it seems that there will be many more days at the tax assessors office ahead for me. The builder claims that they have already gotten parcel numbers for the individual properties and that they were issued by the City, although the COunty has no record of them. So, I am going to try to go back with the builder to the assessors office for another saga of "Bureaucracy - Your Tax Dollars At Work." Stay tuned!

Presidential musings....

I saw a funny bumper sticker the other day that, after I realized what it said, made me chuckle. It said:

Democrats are sexy
Who ever heard of a fine piece of elephant?

So I have been watching the presidential primaries/caucuses this week, especially the Democratic race. Many things have been said in recent weeks about who should or will become president, why this person could, why this person shouldn't etc...

I was listening to the radio the other day and I overheard the DJ talking about a comment posted on the website of a well-respected African-American organization saying something about how if Barack Obama was to become president it would be a step back for the black race because he would undoubtedly be killed in office. Whether he would or not remains to be seen, but I just thought that this was one of the stupidest comments I had ever heard. This is a smart man, he and his family know the potential personal security risk that they are taking by him running for President and making a stand for change in our political arena. And this is a risk that he is willing to make. And which is better for the black race, to ask our leaders to hold back and not aspire to the highest heights so they won't be killed. This also means that they won't be as effective. I don't wish assassination on anyone but part of the reason the those like Martin Luther King Jr are so inspiring to us is because they paid the ultimate sacrifice, and this ultimate sacrifice was what spurred and motivated a greater populace to work and fight for change. It is unfortunate that this has to happen to get people of their butts in protest but lets face it, it really does. There is too much complacency in this country.

I am really puzzled about what the outcome of this presidential race will be come November. It will likely become clearer after the primaries are over. There are thousands of polls being taken across the country to try to predict how and why people are and will vote the way they do. But it possible that the most accurate predictors and most telling polls that anyone could ask could probably end up being the following:

Who would you rather have as president of the United States? A Mormon or a black guy? or..... A Mormon or a woman? (although it is unlikely that you would actually get people to respond honestly.)

I can't wait to see what the results of this election are. We have had enough of Bush (I actually had enough of him in November 2000 but apparently the rest fo a you all didn't!) and it's time for some new, smarter, more articulate more worldly blood in the White House!

Watch NBC Nightly News this week!

News about this series has been going around but in case you haven't heard yet, Brian Mitchell is doing a 5 part series starting Monday on the problems facing African-American women in this country. Topics will range from education to relationships, the 2008 election to health, interracial dating to the portrayl of women through hip hop music.

Please check it out and encourage others you know to do so as well! On your local NBC station. You can also check www.msnbc.com for message boards and blog entries on the series.