The 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington-Segregation Then, Segregation Now, Segregation Forever

                          "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation
                                where they will not be judged by the color of their skin,
                             but by the content of their character." - Martin Luther King

It's disconcerting to me to juxtapose the words of Martin Luther King with a paraphrase of the words uttered by segregationist George W. Wallace. But this is the way my mind works when thinking back over the 50 years since the first March on Washington led by Dr. King back in 1963 and the upcoming events to mark the occasion this weekend.

I was too young, being only 13 years old, to take part in the first march, but I watched the grainy black and white images of that massive crowd on the 6 o'clock news with the same intent that I watched the shows my parents allowed me to watch, back in the day, and time passed. Given the chance, I vowed to go and take part. Make my voice heard.

50 years. Just passed my 63^rd birthday and I'm packing for DC. Going to the Anniversary March. Going to stand in front of the Lincoln Memorial with other like-minded people and remember the words of Dr. King. I am geeked about this trip because it's been a long time coming, but instead of total elation, my heart is heavy thinking about it.

“I have a dream...”

I think many of us figured the dream would be halfway realized by now, 50 years after the fact. But all you gotta do is to look at the upcoming festivities to understand that Dr. King's ideas are still blowing in the wind.

There is the March on Saturday, August 24^th I will call it The people's march. It is expected to be the biggest event since it's on Saturday and most people have the time, and don't have to work. It's a good day to teach history to the kids. The Park police are planning for about 150,000 people, about half of what originally turned out back in the day.

Dr. King actually delivered his speech on August 28^th, so some other people and groups have organized a march on exactly the same day, complete with church bells ringing at 3pm and a speech from President Barack Obama, standing in for Dr. King. Obama's speech is supposed to be a grand thing, designed to move us forward as a nation toward the goals espoused by Dr. King back in the day. The main problem with the August 28^th event is that it falls on a Wednesday, in the middle of the work week, not exactly designed to be people friendly, is it. I was initially confused by the two different dates with both events calling themselves the Anniversary of the March on Washington. And I'm sure that confusion still exists for others, as well.

Back on Saturday, the 24^th, Black conservatives are going to hold their own thing, a breakfast, put together by RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. It is a sit down affair, very dignified, designed to do....well I'm not sure what it is designed to do, since only politicians and their supporters have been invited to participate. People, Dr. King's people, need not apply, it seems.

Here is my problem...

Why three separate events when Dr. King was all about inclusion and equality? Why is Al Sharpton and his National Action Network, joined by the NAACP and a host of other groups marching on Saturday, totally ignoring the group putting together the march on Wednesday that features the first Black President of the United States?

And what better way for the GOP to convince some of us that they really are about inclusion then by taking part in either one of the other affairs?

Segregation then, segregation now, segregation forever, it seems...

Seems like anyone really wanting to honor Dr. King would have had one big people friendly affair in the spirit of the original march.

“I have a dream....”

Congressman John Lewis who also addressed the crowd 50 years ago as president of SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee said this about Dr. King;

"Dr. King had the power, the ability, and the capacity to transform those steps on the Lincoln Memorial into a monumental area that will forever be recognized. By speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations."

I wish that the folks in charge could have understood this and planned their events with the people in mind rather than their own agenda at the fore front. It would have shown that the words spoken by Dr. King that day are honored in spirit, if not in daily practice.

“why can't we all just get along?”

What Rodney King said. What Dr. King meant. What will need to happen if we are all to survive.

“I have a dream...”

Me too...

The VP and Mista- Joe Biden and Paul Ryan Aftermath

The Vice Presidential debate is over and if nothing else, it was extremely entertaining, if you like watching adults beat up on snarky, petulant children. The VP in the debate was of course Joe Biden, However, I don't really know what to call Paul Ryan. He didn't want to be called “congressman,” which he is and has been for the past 14 years. He wanted to be addressed as “Mr” instead, which is his right, I would guess.

So what, is this, his way of distancing himself from the most do nothing Congress in the history of America? He can use any title that he wants, but it doesn't erase the fact that he is one of the most extreme members of the worthless, teabagger 112^th

The night was heavy on foreign policy, which was good, considering the moderator was the very accomplished Martha Raddatz, ABC's foreign policy expert reporter. Even Joe Biden said that Martha had been to Iraq and Afghanistan more than either of the contenders sitting at the table with her and she showed off her stuff, too amidst the bombast that was flying around the room.

One also got the sense that women live in America, too. Talk did turn briefly to Abortion. Both men are Catholic, with Ryan vowing to impose his personal belief system onto the country at the first given opportunity. He believes life begins at conception, a belief that effectively relegates women to baby-making machines. Biden also claims the pro life label, but said he does not believe that others, namely women, should live by his personal belief system. He said women should govern their own lives, just as men do.

Still no mention of immigration or unemployment, two issues that heavily affect those of us who are not white and male. Maybe next time. Biden was able to expose the fact that most of what the Romney/Ryan ticket claims are differences in foreign policy from The President are in fact not differences at all. The policies are practically mirror image to what is currently in play. No difference.

If there was a winner, it was Joe Biden, who worked through a lot of euphemisms to keep from calling Paul Ryan a liar to his face. He got his points across without having to go there. Biden accomplished what he set out to do and that was to wipe any perceived egg off of President Obama's face, since most pundits feel he screwed the pooch in the first debate a couple of weeks ago. Conservative columnist George Will, who was ecstatic at Romney's performance two weeks ago, went so far as to say that the only reason Barack Obama is up in the polls in the first place is because he is Black. Can't wait for his column this week. Probably will say Biden won because Obama is Black.

MR Ryan had to prove that he could handle himself in the spotlight. He got rattled, but managed to survive. He proved to be a good sidekick, however, there is much need to grow and improve, if he intends to claim the top spot on the teabag ticket in 2016. Al Sharpton called Ryan a fibber instead of a liar-said he had not yet grown into full blown liar status.

Honestly, I can't imagine that there are people who haven't yet made up their minds about this election. It's over, one way or another. It is time to vote.

Vote Responsibly on November 6^th.

Death-Bringing Out the Worst

Vultures pickin' at the bones of Michael Jackson

Suddenly, anybody who merely stood in his shadow, handed him a menu, watched him board a plane, passed him on the street, lived 20 doors down and thirty blocks away...is a media anointed expert on Michael Jackson....

Jackson very publicly distanced himself from his family...his father in particular...yet here’s Joe demanding a second autopsy to get some answers about "his boy."

"His boy" was a 50 year old man...

Rev, Inc.....Al and Jesse, the religious pimpin’ race hustlers extraordinaire....suddenly pop up as spokesmen for the family...

The ex nanny...the unauthorized biographer....the dancer in the fourth row of the chorus who danced behind him.....

All suddenly proclaimed experts on the King of Pop by the mainstream media..

All talking about his alleged drug abuse....all quiet and enabling while there was still time to help him....

silenced by the money...

The drama surrounding Michael Jackson is not new....the bigger the star...the crazier the circus when they pass......

James Brown..the godfather of soul...lays in state while the family fights over where to bury him...

Marvin Gaye..killed by his own father...10,000 people turned out to attend his wake...

Sam Cooke.... Aliyah, Otis Redding...Lisa Lopes....Tupac...Biggie Smalls....Frankie Lymon....

death gave them the kind of notoriety and peace they didn’t have while living..

Michael’s legend....monumental in life...

Will be insurrmountable in death....

Still Holding My Breath

I knew it was serious when I saw all the young men and women dressed as if they’d only just gotten out of bed and needed to run out for some milk for the baby or smokes to jump start their day. The hood rats were up and out, but not on the corner. Not on this day, election day. The young men who sometimes make me cringe when I look at them, or hear them curse for no reason were up early. Usually cursing is the norm. It’s just the way they talk to everyone. But not today. The way they choose to dress, allowing their jeans to dangle to their knees in order to show off their designer boxers, makes me uncomfortable.

Pricey baseball caps seated sideways on their heads covering their doo rag, which covers their hair. Walking billboards from head to toe screaming out their favored clothing line. The hood rats were not restless this day. This day they were in line ahead of me at the poll, waiting quietly, talking respectfully to their elders, patiently allowing themselves to be directed by the poll officials, because like everyone else they were there to cast a vote for Barack Obama. They got it. They are not lost souls. They understood the importance of what was happening. America was aligning itself with the universe. Karma at work.

As I looked around, Sly Stone was ringing in my ears...”it’s a family affair..” Mothers showed up with their grown kids. They young ones followed, playing musical chairs and chowing down on chocolate chip cookies while the old ones took care of business. The wait was roughly 40 minutes..no one complained or got ugly, or walked out.

I like election days at my polling place.. it’s the one day of the year that you spend a little time hanging out with your neighbors. The conversations were friendly, meandering, passing time until the voting booth became available.

My precinct is like a village, young and old participate and they bring their kids. The poll workers are the same folks. I know them on sight and they know me. Pleasantries fly up and down the table, catching up since the primaries, which was the last time I’d been there or seen them. I flash ID only because it’s the law, pick up my two page ballot and step into the booth.

Voting was easy. The wait until the polls closed was excruciating. Just couldn’t keep myself busy or my mind off the subject at hand. Barack Obama.

I’ve already written about what I was feeling after his victory was announced. I’ve spent the past couple of days crying, thinking and tearing up. It’s been a very long catharsis. One that I don’t think is over even now.

Too many times, we’ve been to the mountain top, or looked out over the river and not been allowed to cross over. I was too young to vote for Kennedy. I was only 13 when he was killed. I remember the assassination of Malcolm X and the killing of Martin Luther King as if it was yesterday. I remember going to bed thinking Bobby Kennedy had won the California primary and would soon be our president, only to wake up and learn that he, too had been killed. I recall the run of Congresswoman Shirley Chisolm. It made me proud, but no one, not even I, took her seriously. The runs of the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton were little more than punch lines for late night TV.

Always, one step forward, two steps back. Never in my lifetime did I think a black man or woman could cross over the summit. Right up until the time the vote was called for him, I had trouble believing. Voter suppression, racism, ballot errors..something was going to screw it up.

And you know what.....I’m still holding my breath until January 20th, 2009. So many things can go wrong in the next 75 days.

But even at this point, I’m grateful....thank you white people for putting away fears of the boogie man. Thank you for turning out and finally, finally, allowing us to feel, for the first time, that we are simply Americans, real Americans.

It’s okay.....you don’t have to like us, but by voting for Barack you have finally conceded that all humanity does not necessarily look, act, or talk like you.

Kramer Redux

I have a problem with the way Michael Richards is making amends for his racist tirade at the Laugh Factory last week.

After further embarrassing himself on Letterman, Richards hires a public relations expert, who allegedly has years of experience in handling black people. This hack then proceeds to have Richards call Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to apologize.

Why?

Jackson and Sharpton weren’t the ones offended. Jackson and Sharpton don’t represent the guys who were in the audience. Jackson and Sharpton don’t represent black people.

In fact, the only people who think Jackson and Sharpton are leaders of the black race, are white people.

That is probably the most racist thing about whites....they think that one man or woman can legitimately speak for an entire race of people. Jackson and Sharpton have been making hay off this assumption for years.

They have no power within the community. They are convenient. When some news talking head needs a comment from a black man, they go find Jesse or Al.

So now we go through news conferences with Richards saying he’s sorry again, while Jesse or Al or both stand solemnly in the background.

The only thing missing is the “power to the people” salute, black fist clothed in black leather glove thrown to the sky in unity.

“Kramer”..... dump the hack, get away from Jackson and Sharpton, and get yourself into counseling or some anger management courses. You need to deal with what’s going on inside you before you step back onto a stage.

Your fans will wait.