Version 2.0

Culture, healing, politics and bullshit - Not necessarily in that order

The general, socio-political and very personal rantings and ravings of a hip hop head from the hood hustling for change... Of himself.

You all know me and are aware that I am unable to remain silent. At times to be silent is to lie. For silence can be interpreted as acquiescence.
—Miguel de Unamuno



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Thursday, June 05, 2008

Something To Chomp On For The Weekend

Whoa Nelly...

I shouldn't have to explain.

No one is comparing Obama to Reagan.

I am asking you to validate the fact that if change is needed you have to do the validation in the form of activity. I need to dig deep a minute and rehash some things from the primaries like if 90% of black folk and 35% of somewhat educated and above white folk will vote for Barack mathematically it doesn't stand a chance be enough for him to capture the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the white house.

Black folk make up 12% of the US population around 40 million and only 35% of those folks actually vote.

The rest of the 17 plus million that voted Obama ain't enough.

We already know that damn near half of the Clinton voters will probably vote against their own interests out of spite and will cut their nose to spite their face before they see themselves under the command of a brown-skinned president.

What we're dealing with her is either the rest of the US has either no clue, doesn't want any parts of the Senator or is either conservative enough or a die hard republican that doesn't plan on casting a vote whatsoever for anyone on the left. Most folks in rural America claim not to know Senator Obama. Funny thing is that when people are polled on the knowledge of the political race this year they bring up a minister, a crooked political fund raiser, a 60's hippie extremist or a white catholic priest. I guess television is our greatest teacher and no, folks no longer speak when they walk past you on the street.

This means that most of common knowledge comes from something dubbed 'the idiot box'.

So now I'll swerve and tell you that this election ain't about making history. It ain't about firsts. It ain't about breaking barriers and letting freedom ring in the historical sense. I do get goose bumps in knowing that the night on the convention when Senator Obama formally accepts the Democratic nomination for the presidency it will be 45 years to the day that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his 'I Have A Dream' speech in the nation's capital.

Irony
Progress
Historical


but...

My mortgage payment is still due.

I have multiple cars to pay for, multiple gas cards for both and I recently purchased a big screen TV. It's hi-def so I called the cable pimps and got the HD package. And by the time I cast my ballot in November my first elevated natural gas bill will be due. I got 2400 square feet of upstairs and downstairs to heat efficiently. I also gotta eat.

I also live in the heart of niggerdom where fabulous meets ferocious. I live on a block of property owners who like myself like a clean ride, a cool button down shirt and a fitted baseball cap placing me in the cross hairs of the gestapo-like foot soldiers that commonly mistake me for the thugs on the corner mere blocks away.

I also need to know if I lose my job I can quickly replace it with another so I can continue living my current lifestyle...

wait

Crime is related to lack of employment opportunities and also a lack of education and also due to a limit of resources. When I walk out of my duplex to grab a quarter water my similarities to dude and em' on the corner are apparent based on my outward appearance forcing the cops and neighborhood outsiders to see me as something other than I am.

The current presumptive nominee comes from that, but like him I am not either a thug, a hood, lazy nor unemployed. Bur perception is reality, right?

So why haven't my kinfolk in this generation stepped up to differentiate between hood and good?

We're scared.

I said it before a scared negro will get you killed.

That would be a rally cry to gather around your presumptive nominee and become his shield. Some of us need to be the lawyers to defend his stance. Others need to be the town criers that not only let the neighborhood know, but to go out and register more folk and inform the uninformed. Others need to get their congregations over to the town hall and disrupt council meetings...

Rappers and R&B cats need to get involved and use their influence. Where the hell is Diddy with his 'Vote Or Die' campaign now?

Bloggers need to speak to the issues on the regular. This is our time and we need to reclaim resources and put them back into the hood. There is a direct correlation between crime and lack of opportunity. When we all work, we all earn and are able to keep up with the Jonses.

All of these crews on that grass roots ish need to block off the pharmaceutical companies and create a hood lobby in order to lower medical costs.

Oh lord, I can go on... I got 800 billion reasons per year where we have the power but choose to stay marginalized due to fear and giving in to the undertones of inferiority.

Whatever, man. I've been loosing faith in my peoople for quite some time. I love y'all, but...

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

People do not realize the power of their vote. They really don't...

Rose said...

You have some good ideas here but truthfully people just don't know what to do. And most are too scared to rock the boat even when they learn that they have power.

The Second Sixty-Eight said...

Got a few 18 year olds around. I been standing on their backs about getting registered and paying attention to the adult world for a half a sec. They, like I, have a job to do this year!