Tellin' the truth & shamin' the devil

Don't front. You know his speech on race relations in America was dope. A topic we may have turned every which way but loose in the privacy of our own homes, social circles, barber shops and beauty salons- but avoid like the plauge in mixed company. But Obama, bless his heart, really did put the whole sordid truth on blast! He was smooth gangsta with it and I loved it! I even caught myself clapping at the monitor, throwing one hand up in the air while gently rocking to-and-fro, straight church lady style. All that was missing from my little Race Relations Revival was a collection plate and my serving notice to Barak that he "betta preach!"

Yes indeed! Barak's speech was in as neat, tidy and easily digestible a package that the vast majority of Americans have come to depend on when getting bad news. It was a tough pill to swallow - has been stuck in the collective throat of America for years. But, it just might be the beginnings of a cure for what has ailed this nation for a long while.

Race relations- certainly not the most comfortable of topics to circumnavigate in mixed company - but it's about damn time that somebody, on a national level, sincerely tried.

That Obama .... smooth like butta I tell ya.

I will also tell you that my man has got mass appeal for days on end. I have no hard data upon which to support this next claim, but my Spidey senses tell me that if it were up to the children of this nation (particularly little black boys and little black girls...big up Dr. Martin Luther "the" King) Barak would be President TODAY! When your last name is not "Bird" or you don't "transform and roll out" and your name is still ringing bells with the Toys R Us set- you know you got game!

Shug asks me everyday, as we pass a neighbors lawn sign urging others to vote for Barak, "Mommy, did he win yet?" He then proceeds to create yet another six year old free style in honor of his latest hero. Today it went a little something like this...hit it : "Go Barak, Go Barak....Oback Barammey, Oback Barammey - YEAH, he's gonna win, win,win!" Didn't you know, it is the poetic license of all 6 six year olds to create freestyles that don't actually rhyme?

Heck, this joker must be type smooth with his game, because he even got me off my comfy couch of political apathy to cast a vote for once for a candidate who was both A. actually running and B. still alive. Among my personal favorite past "written in'" choices would be Malcolm X, Shirley Chisholm and my son, Big Shuggie. Honestly, I have always felt bad about the prospect of not voting- given all that Dr. Taylor drilled into my brain during one of her many famous lectures on Afro-American History @ old H.U. But, like most other things in my life, I had to find a way to vote on my own terms. Writing a candidate in has been my way of making peace with participating in a process that I lacked complete faith in. Wasted vote, wasted shmote- sue me!

But Barak has changed all that. During this primary, I actually voted and encouraged others to do the same. Picture that! When a friend told me that he was going to be making calls for the Barak campaign he instantly became my "hero du jour!"

"KC, are you voting for Barak because he's Black?" some might ask. Allow me clear my throat before answering this one ya'll -umm, ummm,ummm.... "Hell Yeah!....And your point is?" I find Black men to be among the most intelligent, creative, resourceful, dependable and honest creatures on this planet and Barak is no exception.

Democrat or Republican- I could really give a rats-it's all the same gang. Unless, of course, you have money and lots of it. At which point, the question then becomes which party will pass legislation to help you keep more of your money in your coffers and out of the hands of those lazy poor folk (who, by the way, must have some greasy hands cause they just can't seem to keep a firm grasp on those bootstraps long enough pull themselves up.) And since my bank account reminds me daily that I am one, maybe two paychecks away from being counted among those with greasy ass hands, I don't have to concern myself with the tedium of bi-partisan politics.

Rest assured, I am not naive enough to believe that Barak will be able to create world peace, end world hunger and reverse the trend of global warming overnight, if at all. Given the state of the world wide economy and the precarious position the U.S. dollar finds itself therein at this juncture, the chips are stacked against my man. However, it was ostensibly "skilled and experienced" politicians that have brought us to our present political, economic and environmental nadir. Ergo, my logic is this- - - How much worse a job could the man do than the Arch Enemy of all would be- Evil Doers, Alderman George Bush has done? And done marvelously, I might add, all in the name of the "exactitudity of his rightetness" (his words, not mine).

It has been my experience that when shit gets thick, brother's have a way of working it out. Therefore, as far Shug and I are concerned, Obammey should continue to run! run! run!- and God willing- win! win! win!

"I's votin' now ya'll"- Stringer Bell would be so proud!

One, KC