Some Things I Think About

We Are The Ones.

IT'S A MOVEMENT YA'LL.

WHAT IS JOHN LEWIS SCARED OF?

Damn, the Clinton's have got Congressman John Lewis shook.  In his interview with NBC's Andrea Mitchell he looked and sounded like he needed to be in the witness protection program.  Changing your mind about endorsing Hillary is worse than getting the hell beat out of you by racists in the south?  Wow!!  If he's doing it to save his  congressional seat in Georgia, he may be to late.  Evidently he has been unchallenged for some time.  Not anymore.  A young Black minister is going to run against him this year. 

Lewis said that the Barack campaign is a movement he did not recognize at first.  He sure didn't.  At the debate in Myrtle Beach, SC I could swear I saw Lewis and Hillary super supporter, Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, giving each other high fives when Hillary snapped at Barack about his affiliation with "slum lord Resko". 

Maybe he's just going to miss being invited to the Clinton house parties where Hillary dances down the Soul Train line that Andrew Young described a few months ago.

Nicky Barnes; Thug Love

No I'm not going to gloat about Obama's latest triumph.  10-0 pretty much speaks for itself.  Hillary is toast and not even worth talking about right now. 

A few days ago I watch the Dame Dash produced documentary, Mr. Untouchable.  When I was a preteen in the South Bronx, Nicky Barnes name rang out every where.  He was THE ghetto rock star.  Everybody knew somebody who had professional or personal ties to Barnes.  After watching the documentary twice I decided to check out the DVD extras.  There are interesting interviews with some of Barnes former associates, his lawyer, the informant that helped take him down and Thelma Grant, the mother of his two daughters. 

His rationale for snitching is iffy.  He cites the most pressing reason as being his fellow council member, Guy Fisher, screwing his favorite woman, Shameka.  Nicky Barnes views himself as Machiavellian.  Hell has no wrath like the fury of 'the king.'  His crew left him for dead essentially after they realized he was never going to be released from prison.  No money for lawyers.  No respect for his word.  When his main muscle refused to put Guy and Tito, the guy screwing Thelma, 'in the dirt', Barnes exacted vengeance.  Okay.  Everybody went down.  Guy, Thelma, Tito, everybody.  Shameka was murdered. 

I was most struck by the audio special feature.  There's no video, just Nicky rambling about his life and the people who have been a part of it.  He insinuates that Guy Fisher is an open homosexual in prison and has a life partner.  When he talks about Shameka is when he really reveals his crassness and coarseness.  He disgustingly discusses her female anatomy.  I'm surprised this was included.  Shameka as shown in the documentary was indeed a very attractive woman.  Nicky leaves nothing to the imagination as he asserts the attractiveness of every part of her.  His description and tone were sort of shocking to me.  I wonder if he knew this would be included.  He expresses no real sorrow over her death acknowledging only that it was done to send a message to him as he prepared to testify against everyone he knew.  In the documentary he discusses thug love as it pertained to Thelma.  The talk of Shemeka is all about her beauty.  In the audio portion its all about her vagina. He apparently showered her with expensive things and enjoyed sex with her a great deal.  Maybe that's how thugs express love.  Associates say as Shameka came on the scene, Thelma faded to the background.   "You could see he really felt something for Shameka," the wife of a former associate says.  Maybe you had to be there.

The SS Hillary is Slowly Sinking

Let me just say I don't at all believe the Clinton campaign has raised the money it claims since Super Duper Tuesday.  If they now have the professed amount in their coffers, I doubt if it came from a grassroots effort.  All of a sudden Hillary has grassroots appeal to raise 7 million dollars?  I think not.  Follow the money.  The Clinton's won't make that easy.  She is refusing to disclose her income tax returns unless she wins the Democratic nomination.  Hmm. 

What a political weekend.  Obama sweeps 3 states and the US Virgin Islands.  Hillary did not even have the class or good sportsmanship to acknowledge must less congratulate her opponent during her speech in Virginia Saturday.  As she left the stage and walked through the crowd she was surrounded by ecstatic chants of "O bam a, O bam a." 

Next big political headline?  "Clinton Campaign Manager Calls it Quits."  Maybe she did quit but I just have this image in my head of an angry Hillary storming around like Joan Crawford in Mommy Dearest. Cold cream smeared all over her face, eyes bulging out of her head, screaming, NO MORE LOST PRIMARIES!!! I think she fired old girl.

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Sweep sweep!!

Whew!!  I'm going to patent the Obama broom.  The one he used to sweep up with today.  In case you have not heard Barack won Nebraska by 68%, Washington by 68%, Louisiana by  58% and the US Virgin Islands.  Hillary and Barack spoke from Virginia tonight after the sweep.  MSNBC commentators were giving Hillary big props on her speech. I was not as impressed.  Maybe I was distracted by how tired and beat she looked.  The beginning of her speech sounded to me alot like a concession speech.  That may be wishful thinking on my part.  I'm not the only one that thinks Mrs. Clinton is losing this thing.

Peggy Noon an wrote in article about Friday in the Wall Street Journal stating basically the same thing.  "Mrs. Clinton is losing this thing. It's not one big primary, it's a rolling loss, a daily one, an inch-by-inch deflation. The trends and indices are not in her favor. She is having trouble raising big money, she's funding her campaign with her own wealth, her moral standing within her own party and among her own followers has been dragged down, and the legacy of Clintonism tarnished by what Bill Clinton did in South Carolina. Unfavorable primaries lie ahead. She doesn't have the excitement, the great whoosh of feeling that accompanies a winning campaign. The guy from Chicago who was unknown a year ago continues to gain purchase, to move forward. For a soft little innocent, he's played a tough and knowing inside/outside game."

One of the high points of the article is when Ms. Noon an compares Hillary to Rasputin and the Glenn Close character from "Fatal Attraction."  She wonders if Hillary Clinton can lose with grace.  Being the bare knuckled, back alley brawler that she is, it will be hard for her to do.  I for one am hoping Hillary can bow out with grace and take her defeat like a woman.

WHEN Hillary loses I would hope that she can emerge a new woman. One that is true to herself. Losing could be a blessing for Hillary if she chooses to view it that way. She could become as Oprah said at UCLA "a free woman".  Shed herself of the baggage that is Bill Clinton. Shed those pant suits, that sour demeanor and hard heart.  Rumors are that she is having an affair with a member of her staff. The young woman is beautiful. If the rumors are true then Hillary should save the rest of her money and go live some where in bliss with her lady friend.

I ain't one to gossip, so you ain't heard that from me.

But it's pretty well known.  GOOGLE the name Huma Abedin   

So This Is Really Why Hillary Cried

When the Obama camp announced they had raised $32 mil. in January alone, the Clinton camp remained strangely silent.  At the end of January, Hillary lent her campaign $5 mil. from her personal funds.  According to various articles on the net and several news reports, Hillary's campaign has been under a financial crunch since the Iowa primary. 

This information puts several things in a whole new light for me.  Hillary serving peach cobbler to reporters on the plane for one.  No wonder.  Due to a lack of funds, Mrs. Clinton is no longer traveling in a Gulf Stream, she is now riding on the press plane.  No wonder Bill was so testy in South Carolina.  He must have felt a great deal of pressure to undermine the Obama momentum.  Hillary's tears in New Hampshire were real!  Her campaign finance manager had over spent in Iowa and funds were low.  Then she lost the primary there.  Going in to NH Obama seemed to be on the brink of blowing her out of the water.  Hillary had been preparing herself for a run at the presidency probably since Bill was elected.  No wonder she cried.  She was heartbroken and disappointed.

I really don't fully understand Hillary's appeal to women. I would think feminists would be somewhat offended by her candidacy. She's running on platform of experience which is based primarily on her having been the spouse of a Governor and a president. Her husband, an ex-president has been more visible and vocal during the campaign. In some instances he was more visible and vocal than her. A president is supposed to be strong and decisive. Hillary cries when things are not going her way. It's not out of compassion for any cause or any person other than herself. When she feels cornered she sends her husband out to do her dirty work. What is there to admire in that?

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How Obama Taught Me to Hate Black People

I found this essay on message board I like to frequent.  It was originally a myspace entry.

Her name was Leanita McClain.

By all accounts, she was intelligent, upwardly mobile, beautiful and one helluva writer. She was the first Black person to sit on the Chicago Tribune editorial board and by any standards a very successful person. Indeed, she was a product and reward of the civil rights movement. I confess I never read her work back in the day, as in the early 80’s I was more into Star Wars than Chicago politics. I did get a chance to read and learn about her while studying the Harold Washington era, specifically the wins and loses attributed to it. I also wanted to learn why my late father used to look upon that time with detail and pride.

However, more than anything else Leanita McClain is best known for an op-ed piece she wrote entitled “How Chicago Taught Me To Hate Whites”. In this classic essay, Leanita McClain wrote about how the ugly racial polarization and attitudes of Chicago ’s whites toward the late Mayor Harold Washington in specific and Black People in general all but drove her to hate. She questioned her sanity and the sanity of whites, as well as the value of all she had obtained as a product of the civil rights movement. Leanita came to a devastating conclusion, one that never really changed but that she admittedly forgot. Leanita remembered than no matter what she was still a ****** albeit an educated, soft-spoken one. But, it was deeper than that for her. Leanita McClain often wrote of how she felt torn between her success and her people. She lamented how whites never really trusted her and Blacks never forgave her for her success. This complicated her angst, as she felt she had lost the love of her people for being successful; you know we have created the myth that in order to be truly Black, one has to be poor and in the muck with the people. This account touched me dearly. I remembered (during my transition to the man I am now) the many nights with tears in my eyes and confusion as Nickjack tried to explain to me that being successful would not null my commitment. In fact, it would increase it, as I would be truly pissing off the power structure by advancing, being successful AND Pro Black. The other narrative, she argued only affirmed white supremacy in as much as it kept us mediocre and low. I thought about Dan’s explaining wealth to me; showing me that we are the only people who didn't understand wealth, power and politics. I also realized something else when I reflected upon Leanita McClain troubles and my growth.

Leanita McClain seemed to suffer from the mixed blessing that is “The Gift”, the ability to see the world without time. I doubt if she knew it, but she saw the upcoming battle of the new millennium, as Black people would still have to face American racism, and at the same time begin to question the concepts and notions of what Black is. This had to be hell for a product of the civil rights movement because Black in 1983 had a linear meaning and she defied that meaning. That is why this sorrow and guilt was always a central theme of her writing. This gift, can either take you to great heights, or drive you to unbelievable lows. I know, I have this gift and I am still trying to figure out where it is going to take me. Sadly, I know where it took Leanita.

On Tuesday, May 29, 1984, at the age of 32 Leanita McClain took her life.

This blog this is not about gifts, but rather politics and Black Life. I have come to a very scary conclusion and in some areas, it makes me wonder if I will wind up like Leanita McClain.

So why does Leanita McClain’s story touch me? It touches me because I understand. You see like her I have the gift, the ability to see the world without time and I realize that Black people are missing the boat on some thing major right now. I believe we are so afraid the possibility of winning that we are actively trying to sabotage our own success. We are in at a place in history where our community is going to change forever. What is this defining moment? In a name, it is Barack Obama.

If the Harold Washington campaign taught Leanita McClain to hate whites, then the Obama campaign is teaching me to hate Blacks. Yes, you read that correctly: The Obama Campaign is teaching me to hate Blacks. The curious thing is Obama is not saying anything to force me to be ashamed of myself, but rather our collective response is teaching me to be ashamed, making me ashamed and ultimately moving me towards hate.

From the Black Feminists who somehow think a southern pseudo conservative white woman has their interests at heart over a Black man, to the civil rights leaders do afraid of being obsolete, to the Black Elite who are afraid of their own, to the nationalist who are just plain hating, our response has not been were it should be. Every time I hear one of those darkies, pontificate on how Obama “doesn't have experience” to “his drug (sic) usage” to “he doest talk about Black problems” I fucking throw up and damn near Black out (no pun intended). Every time I see some coon on TV screaming for Hilary, I go batballs crazy. Are we that fucking insane? Really?

Man if Obama were J Jewish or Irish this would be a no brainer. Think I am lying, look at the State of Israel and Mayor Richard Daley. You don’t think J ews find problems with Israel ’s foreign policy worldwide. Hell yeah they do, but generally they don’t SHIT WHERE THEY EAT. You don’t think white Chicago is tired of Richie? Hell yeah, but it will be a COLD DAY IN HELL before they publicly flog him and let another one of us in office. But then again this is why they have power and we crave it. They get the joke. We don’t.

Obama destroys notions and conventions that most sambos don’t get or wanna get. He is a threat to their comfort zone. Instead of understanding this, instead of supporting him and seeing where this goes they just hate. I mean like sickening kinda hate. Consider the following groups.

To the Black Elite, Obama breaks the rules. He is in their club, but didn’t have to sell their soul or whore out to do it. He learned the political game and made it work. He didn’t their money nor their ignorance. All he needed was Oprah, the mama of the Black Elite and he has made his shit work. He didn’t need to open a bunch of shitty theaters, marry outside his race, have a horrid TV network or any of that nonsense. He just did what he needed to do.

To the Civil Rights Leadership/Black Intellectual, he represents unemployment. They have milked the whole voice of the voiceless, dictionary to white folks, power broker routine to the point of in effectiveness. They have no new solutions and no new ideas. Hell, they don’t even have new problems. Its just a bunch of tired Negroes who’d rather be an overseer on a Clinton plantation than retire on an Obama oasis. Seriously, why would Obama need these tired Negroes? Translate what for whom? He comes from the activist community. He’s been in the muck. Oh wait I forgot, that don’t count because he’s not a preacher. He didn’t “mawch wif dawtar king” He doesn’t talk about “white supremacy as it relates to the underclass and the destruction of ancient Kemit in the lowe nile valley”. He doesn’t give “uh duh” speeches. Pffft. No these dudes don’t wanna have to file for unemployment and would rather kill our next level of existence than accept the change. Fun fact people: He is a politician first, an activist second and he is working the political scene not the activist scene.

To the Black Middle Class, Obama answers the question that killed Leanita McClain: Can on be upwardly mobile, successful and still connected to your people? Hell yeah! He is upwardly mobile and still connected. He didn’t forget. He married a Black woman with hoodish tendencies. His daughters are Black. Yet, he ain't poor and he ain't trying to be poor. To the Black Middle class he’s a critique: You can be successful and connected.

To the lower classes, Obama means no more excuses. Nobody is gonna wanna hear shit about the man, racism, white supremacy, no fathers etc (and these problems are VERY real). Every brother or sister who doesn’t do the damn thing will hear “it didn’t stop Obama”. In short, we are gonna have to figure out new ways to resolve our inequities without pointing to the man. Nobody is hearing that and to keep shouting it is like yelling in the wind. Obama is forcing us to address things differently.

This past week I taught a class on politics and culture at a Chicago High School . In this, I told them the final lesson was adaptation and survival. While this may be a scary process, it is an essential process.

So what are we going to do? Are we going to seize this time, adapt and survive? Or are we gonna continue to try to recreate the tired battles of the sixties, that really cant be re-fought in 2008.

What are we prepared to do? That question remains.

I asked earlier if would I end up like Leanita McClain. This shit IS depressing. It is stressful and I am the same age as she when she lost. Is this Melodramatics on my part? Perhaps, as I don’t think I’ll die. I DO have hate in my heart.

I hate my people for not doing what needs to be done.

This is Straight, No Chaser.

TLT
terrance.thomas@gmail.com

PS: For more information on Leanita McClain check out this site and excellent tribute:
http://www.blacknla .com/news/ Articles/ VHNightLite. asp

To read her classic essay "How Chicago Taught Me to Hate Whites" go here:
http://condor. depaul.edu/ ~chicago/ primary_sources/ LMcclain. html

Follow Your Own Truth

  I am constantly blown away at the major players that endorse Barack.  Any one who does not think it is awesome that Maria Shriver aka Mrs. Terminator, endorsed Obama today well I don't know what to tell you. 

"We are the ones we have been waiting for."

YES WE CAN

I am a huge Obama supporter.  His message of hope touches me to the core.  I don't remember ever being this invested in any political campaign.  Until about around Sept/Oct 2007 I was a Hillary Clinton supporter.  That started when she purposed her health care plan some years back.  Ever since I held the opinion that Monicagate was all about Republican subterfuge.  I thought Hillary was a strong competent woman that intimidated political men.  Then Obama came to focus on my radar.  My son came back from his barber with a handout advertising that Barack would hold a meeting there.  Now I know the barber and like him well enough but I scoffed at what I believed was just some barbershop bluffing.  Guess what?  He really came.  Sat in one of the chairs, got a haircut and just talked to the people gathered.  Now I currently live in a small rural SC town.  Most people have never even heard of it.  But Obama had.  That did it.  I signed up as a volunteer.  Any candidate that made it his business to connect personally with small town folks, well this was something different.  This was someone that was reaching out and touching the masses.  Figuratively and literally.  At the Obama campaign office in town the campaign workers were impressive.  They were young people who had left the familiarity of their home states, Ohio, New Hampshire, etc. to come to a rural southern town to convince us how great Obama was.  Some were Black and some were White.  There were males and females. They all had Obama fever and they spread it. I'm proud to say I caught the fever.  When he won Iowa I was ecstatic.  When Bill Clinton started talking smack, I was livid.  I didn't think Bill and Hillary would stoop so low.  They did time and again.  I made a personal resolution to work tirelessly to get Obama's message out.  When he won SC, trouncing Hillary in a major way, I was so proud I could burst.  Barack Obama has an intelligence and vision for a new America that is truly inspiring.