On Obama and Black Boys

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

As of this writing, the current national Gallup poll has Senator Obama leading by a respectable percentage; several previously red states are either leaning or solidly in the Obama column, and Senator McCain is fighting tooth and nail to hold on to other Republican strong holds, including his own home state of Arizona. Though most of us are afraid to say so, it appears that we are in fact about to see our collective dreams come true – one that many of us thought could not happen, and definitely not in our lifetimes. We are mere days away from what could be one of the most historic and defining moments in this nation’s history, and as a black woman, it’s been hard for me to know where to begin when it comes to expressing my thoughts about what’s coming. The fact is, the photo that accompanies this article says it better than I ever could, but here goes.

There are so many black women out there who, like me, are raising young black men. Due to a recent marriage, I’m now raising three. And it is as much a sign of how much this nation has changed that in some ways, my three sons are oblivious to the importance of the coming event, as it is an indictment on our society that as women raising black men, we’ve longed for someone, anyone to ease our fears about our sons’ futures and to be the role models that our young boys have so desperately needed for so long. Not that we haven’t had strong models for them at all, but we’ve been hard pressed to find them outside the fields of sports, music, or other areas of the entertainment industry.

I was left alone to raise the only child I’ve ever given birth to when I was just four months pregnant. The pain and fear I felt at the time soon gave way to resentment, and then to a hatred so pronounced that it threatened to swallow me whole. I had tried my best to play by the rules, only becoming pregnant after six years of marriage during which I had begun to think that I was incapable of having a child.

The news of my pregnancy was at once joyous and terrifying, as it became increasingly apparent that I would be forced to raise my son alone. Back then, I could not comprehend how it was that the father of my only child could not understand how much his son needed him, how much I needed him, and the pain of the rejection of me an my son was unbearable at times. It was everything I could do after the birth of my sweet David to will myself on a daily basis to be grateful for the part-time status of his father, and the modest child support he paid faithfully each month. But it was what I had to do, for my son’s sake, and also because a guiding hand, a role-model, a mentor, my son’s father could and would never be.

What was even harder is that it wasn’t long before I realized that I had to find some way to learn to forgive my ex-husband; I eventually realized that he himself was and is a product of a shattered home, and ill-equipped to play the role of father and husband. Raised without his birth father, and ultimately without his birth mother, he had no real guiding hand, no role model of his own to speak of. His was an existence of sustenance only; as a result, he had no foundation given to him in what it meant to be a father and a husband, to raise a black boy in this society, to set and achieve goals, or anything like that. The condition of his life has been one of playing what he’s been dealt, and the result is that though he loves our son as much as he knows how to, he has nothing meaningful in the way of a winning hand to deal my son.

My story is not unique. From the young woman who may have gotten caught after a cataclysmic lapse in judgment, to those who like me, watched their husbands walk out on them after years of marriage, literally leaving them holding a blue diaper bag, many black women have had to come to terms with the idea that we have been left alone to raise little men. As a population, we have allowed ourselves to fall into a cycle of family disintegration that has become all too common place. These days, it’s the African-American kids who live in in-tact two parent homes who are the weird ones. In our communities, having a father who is in the home, productive and engaged has become a novelty. A tragic, gut-wrenching novelty.

But for the most part as black women, we’ve persevered. Doing all that we can to expose our sons to the right influences, to talk tough to them when we need to in their fathers’ absence, and to do and say whatever we can to try to mold them into the men they need to be. Sometimes without the benefit of having had a male role model to emulate ourselves, and all the while praying that OUR sons will prove the ugly statistics that we can’t escape or get out of our heads wrong.

The reality is, the problem is generational, and has its roots in slavery and the systemic destruction of the African family unit as it was when slaves were brought to this country. Many stories of the time tell of how upon arriving on these shores, men were immediately separated from their children and wives, in order to begin the process of degradation and humiliation that would ensure that their spirits would be broken, and that they would willingly comply with their masters’ wishes. It began way back then, and persists to this day because of our inability to re-discover our strong family ties, through the lingering effects of Jim Crow, the confusion of first segragation and then forced desegregation, and the plain old racism and failed attempts at evening the playing field (like welfare, and in some respects affirmative action).

So it was, that we the black mothers of America found ourselves; over the years, frightened beyond all measure that our young men would be sacrificed to the ravages of an unfair justice system, or worse to the violence of the mean streets; or engulfed in the culture of fake opulence and self-degradation that is some rap music, and some aspects of the Hip-Hop culture; or lost and forgotten in an educational system that is tilted towards their white counteparts, and none too anxious to fix itself in order to help to turn the tide of drop-outs and illiterate graduates it produces in startling higher proportions in the minority community. And most of all we were certainly convinced that though blacks in this country have made many strides, there were still some very obvious limits, when on the national stage walked Barack Obama.

Now please don’t zone out on me. I know that Senator Obama is not the second coming, or even the answer to all our problems, but what he is is a shining beacon of hope, and proof of what we’ve all known all along – that black men can be real fathers, good husbands, and strong and thoughful leaders, hard stop. That we are a nation of little budding Obama’s waiting to happen. That with the proper care and feeding, our boys are capable of achieving the unthinkable. The beauty of Senator Obama is that he not only displays these qualities as a legislator and candidate, he displays them even more as a father to his gorgeous daughters and husband to his wife.

And so just like in the photo, Senator Obama, along with every other weight he carries on his shoulders, literally is caring the hopes of the black boys who will soon be men in this country, who generation after generation, have been able to hide their brilliance and potential behind the mantle of hopelesness that said that they could only go so far, or achieve so much. And he and his family stand as the most shining example of a strong family, black, white, or purple that we’ve seen on the national forefront in a long time. It is an astounding feeling, as the final days of the campaign fade away, to look forward to the days after November 4th, when we can all breathe an endless sigh of relief and spend our days reminisicing about the fight. And it will not be lost on any of us what this historic event can and will mean to the young black boys of this country, who after that date, will be able to say with confidence and without hesitation, “one day, I will be President of the United States”.

Look at the picture again. I get great joy in the wide-eyed wonder on my sons’ faces when I tell them that once black kids and white kids couldn’t play together – not totally unlike the giggle I get out of watching them collapse into a fit of laughter when I tell them that when I was their age, we only had four channels to watch on television. One day, my sons, and the boy in this picture will be able to astound their grandchildren with wild tales of a time in our nation’s history when the idea of a black man running for President was laughable – unheard of. And hopefully, they will smile, and take great joy in their chuckles, and marvel at the innocence that comes from being the beneficiaries of the brave and remarkable accomplishments of those who came before us.

Four Days in Denver

The Obama Campaign put together the video below, entitled, “Four Days in Denver”. As many of you know, I was a delegate for Georgia’s 7th Congressional District, along with my friend Steffini Bethea. I took hundreds of pictures, and even some video, but the video the campaign has put together gives you an amazing behind-the scenes look at the convention preparations, and also gives you a glimpse at what it was like to be there:

Going to Denver, especially being in Invesco Field on Day Four was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. If you were viewing from home, you knew that something truly special was taking place, but if you were there, in a seat during the proceedings, you couldn’t help but feel like you were part of making history yourself.

Now with only a little over three weeks until Election Day, let us all remember that even in the midst of the worst economic crisis of most of our lifetimes, growing fears about threats from abroad, and in a climate rife with bitter racial tensions, everything that we have done to get to this place has been nothing short of remarkable; everything that Senator Obama has done to bring the people of this nation together, in ways that we’ve never BEEN together has been truly remarkable. and on November 5th, when we awake to the reality that not only have we elected the first African American President of the United States, but that we’ve elected the best leader we could possibly have for our time, we will have much to celebrate. But – we will also have much more work to do.

Denver was amazing. A miracle. History-making. And it was all thanks to the long, hard work of so many of you. Nothin’ left but a countdown!

God bless President Barack Obama!

Barack Obama’s The One!

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that occassionally, I run across an amateur video-homage to Barack Obama that I decide to feature here on BWFO! Today’s video (yes) comes from YouTube, and a contributor who goes by the name of “Eracex”.

What to say about THIS video – remarkably creative, and a giggle inducer if you’re an Obama fan like I’m an Obama fan. A little hint – if you didn’t see Senator Obama dancing on the Ellen Degeneres show, just go ahead and click ‘play’:

You have to give Mr. Eracex points for creativity – taking the heated rantings of a man who is clearly NOT an Obama supporter, and turning them into a sample for such a catchy beat, that celebrates the man himself – I love it! And maybe we can all just decide to view this little video as a metaphor for our favorite Senator’s ability to withstand the slings and arrows that he so skillfully dodged during the Primary, and that he’s sure to fend off during the General Election as well.

Some may be concerned about Senator Obama’s perceived move to the political ‘center’ – not me. I understand that in order for Barack Obama to bring the change that we showed through our voting we so desperately long for, he has to make sure that mainstream America is comfortable that he is open to expanding his views on all issues – this is an absolute must if he is to pull together the coalition necessary to win in November, so it’s better that we all just relax and let the Obama Team do it’s thing. And I’m cool with that.

So fear not, Obamicans – I have no doubt that like the one-two punch he took at the bag in the video, Senator Obama and his brilliant campaign team are preparing to deliver the poltically fatal knockout punch to John McCain and his Bush-whacked policies this November, effectively obliterating John McCain’s chances at ever becoming President, and ending the Republicans’ reign of terror for the next 8 years. And let’s face it – when THAT happens, we’ll ALL feel like dancing. Even with Ellen if we have to.

Fox News’ Post-Racial Train Wreck

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

I have a stunning confession to make.

Prior to my activities as an Obama supporter and volunteer, I was a closet Fox News fan.

My affinity for Fox News began a few years back, when CNN was still a doddery, boring news channel, struggling to stem the tide of defections to the then new and exciting Fox News Network. I thought I was ‘different’, and ‘hip’ for watching the new upstart, and let’s face it, Fox News did usher in the age of cool graphics, cutting edge shows, and opinion-based journalism that now reigns supreme even at CNN with the likes of Lou Dobbs (cringe) and Anderson Cooper (yummy).

Please don’t get me twisted – I understood even then that their reporting was totally right-leaning, and often chuckled to myself at the notion that they were ‘fair and balanced’ even as I laughed at their on-air antics, but what can I say? I just really liked the on-air personalities and the fancy graphics. Pretty colors.

Also, because Sean Hannity had been a radio personality here in Atlanta, I’d followed his career all the way to Fox News. The show he did here was of course most definitely right-winged, but he at least seemed level-headed in his discussion of the issues of the day, and I saw nothing in him that seemed unfairly biased at all. And so, when he eventually made his way to Fox News, and well, blew up, I understood and even appreciated his success.

It all of course started to change when Fox News’ coverage of Election ‘08 kicked in. I was amused by Hannity’s “Stop Hillary Express”, because it was proof positive that like the Clintons, the boys at Fox never saw Barack Obama coming. And so I was of course not surprised when as it became apparent that Barack Obama would be the Democratic nominee, Fox and Sean Hannity decided to turn both barrels on him. It was then that I began to drift over to MSNBC and CNN to check out what was happening on the political reporting front, and it became patently clear that Fox was, let’s just say, a bit biased in it’s reporting. I went cold turkey on them then, because I wanted to hear only the positive news about my candidate for one, and also because I realized just how far the other cable news networks had come in retooling their shows, their on-air personalities, etc., to become more entertaining and informative while I had been languishing at Fox News.

What I did NOT see coming was how crazed the folks at Fox would soon become over the prospect of an Obama presidency, and the desperate, almost manic zeal with which they would soon begin attacking Senator Obama and all things African-American in order to sway the American people to their way of thinking. It would almost be funny if it weren’t so….unfunny.

For me, it all boils down to Fox News holding Senator Obama to a higher, more ridiculous standard than they ever would any white candidate. From their railing on about the absence of a lapel pin of the American flag on his suit jacket (when there is scant little evidence that ANY of the other candidates ever wore one) to their insistence on repeatedly running photos of him wearing Kenyan garb and using it to question his allegiance to radical Muslims – Fox has clearly and unfairly tried to strike fear in the hearts of the American people with this kind of rhetoric. But that’s only the beginning. The kind people of Fox News, and the myriad of pundits with which they associate have proven over the course of the last several months to be not only inconsistent standard bearers, but borderline racists, who are either actually panicked over the prospect of a black man becoming President, or doing a damned good job of making us all think they are.

Case in point – what the hell is a ‘terrorist fist jab’? When I learned that blonde bomb shell and Fox News host E. D. Hill had uttered these ridiculous words to describe the fist pound (as the mainstream media has NOW come to call it) that Michelle and Barack gave one another on the night that he clinched the nomination, I was mortified. I think it would have been perfectly appropriate to tease the Senator and his wife about what some might view as an unconventional salutation, but to characterize it as a ‘terrorist fist jab’ was just – dumb and racist. Period. And I guess I really didn’t want to believe that the guys and dolls at Fox were stupid racists – I wanted to believe that they just had strongly held views about their politics. Silly me.

Then of course, we have the ‘Fox & Friends’ crew, lamenting for a full TWO HOURS over Barack’s assertion that his grandmother was a ‘typical white person’ when he described how she might see people on the street that she might fear; this as news reports were breaking regarding the breach of the candidates’ passport files by Justice Department employees, and right after Senator Obama’s historic speech on race. It was like they hadn’t heard a single word of the speech, or chose to ignore its relevance. Either way, so blatant was their coverage that day that even Chris Wallace – himself a conservative Fox News personality – had to break in on air and ask them to make it stop, in what I consider to be one of the rare displays of balance I’ve seen on Fox since the election began.

And it goes on an on. Fox News dived all over a story from Insight, the online internet publication owned by the Washington Post, that reported that Senator Obama had attended a madrassah in Indonesia as a child, a type of school where young muslim extremists are educated. They later had to broadcast ‘clarifications’ regarding the story, which was of course false, but have yet to do a complete 180 on the essence of the story’s message.

We’ve had Liz Trotter, another Fox news reporter, crack a joke about assasinating Obama, graphics displayed during news stories referring to Michelle Obama as Barack’s ‘baby mama’, and a host of other reporting that has begun to make Fox News look like they’ve lost their collective minds. But nothing, and I mean NOTHING tops Sean Hannity’s lunatic ramblings night after night, after miserable night, over what he sees as Senator Obama’s radicalism, evidenced of course by his association to the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

Hannity’s blatant attempts at keeping the Trinity United Church of Christ and a handful of comments made by its former pastor over the span of 30 years alive and well in the minds of Americans is also racist, pure and simple. Racism after all, has been defined as an intolerance of another race or other races, and what Sean Hannity has displayed in his constant, never-ending reporting about Senator Obama, Reverend Wright, Michelle Obama (and her lack of pride in her country), etc., etc. is precisely that – intolerance. Intolerance of the black experience, intolerance of a man’s right to choose how and where he worships, intolerance of ideas different than his own – intolerance.

The idea that in a 2008 America, there are still people who don’t understand that many in the black community are still vocal about the ravages of economic and social inequality that have weighed our collective progress down since slavery is amazing to me. And that a man as intelligent, as thought-provoking and learned as I thought Sean Hannity was can’t seem to get past his flag-waving, love-me-or-leave-me American ideas long enough to acknowledge same is, well, disheartening.

And this, I think has been the most disappointing aspect of Fox News’ post-racial melt down, because as I said before, I never thought of Sean Hannity as a racist before – just a staunchly conservative, opinionated personality.

Only those who refuse to acknowledge the differences in who we are as black people, and what our experiences in this country have been would listen to his rantings and hear anything other than crap. And yet, with the launching of his ‘Stop Radical Obama Express’, he’s turned up the dial on the fear-mongering, race-baiting, and plain old lies all in order to quell the tide of support for a man who has never displayed even an ounce of intolerance for those different than himself in the twenty-plus years he has been a public servant. Mr. Hannity questions the judgement of Senator Obama over his association with Rev. Wright, but not John McCain’s over his involvement in the Keating 5 scandals of the late-eighties. He harangs Michelle Obama over the idea that this campaign has made her proud of her country for the first time in her life, but gives Cindy McCain a total pass on her past drug addiction and theft, and she and her father’s role in the same Keating scandals. And most disturbingly, he continues to drive home the idea that Senator Barack Obama is too ‘radical’ to be President, citing his ties to this controversial figure or that one, never bothering to expend a moment of airtime exporing the violent flip-flopping and pandering that John McCain has had to do in order to get and stay in the good graces of the Republican conservative wing.

But I guess he wouldn’t, would he? Because then he WOULD be fair and balanced. I don’t think that any of us that have set our sights on the transgressions of the Fox News Network want special treatment for Senator Obama or anyone else. I think we’d like for them to a) really try and be more responsible in their reporting, and b) take a deep and somber look at the level of bias they’ve introduced into this election cycle and put the brakes on it. It does nothing but harm the process, and I believe that most honest, good-hearted Americans are not buying it anyway.

If that weren’t true, Senator Obama would not be smoking John McCain in the polls in so many important swing states, as he is as of this writing. Sean, you are a brilliant guy – can’t you and your buddies at the network find a way to fight this battle based on the issues and not the fears of the American people? I hope you can, because BWFO is watching you, dude, all of you, and we’re going to shoot the tires off of the “Stop Radical Obama Express”. Believe that.

See You At The Finish Line!

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

I have to admit – at times, I have been just about ready to shoot myself in the face over this nomination process.

I can’t quite tell whether or not I’ve been antsy because I’ve never been this engaged in a nomination fight before, or if this really truly has been the world’s longest primary race, or race of any kind in fact. I guess I could delve into Wikipedia to try and gain some historic perspective, but damnit, I just don’t have the energy.

I think the most amazing part of being so deeply interested in the happenings of this particular race has been watching the cataclysmic shift in the political power base, and specifically watching Billary go kicking and screaming into their joint political sunsets. I don’t think anyone could have imagined a year and a half ago that we would be about to witness the bitter end of the Clinton era, and everything that entails. I don’t think anyone saw it coming, especially not the Clintons themselves – the ushering in of a new day, rife with so many possibilities. I also don’t think anyone could have predicted how really truly enlightening the whole thing would be – how many bright hot lights would be shone on so many things and people who I’m sure would rather have continued to dwell in the dark.

Let’s see – you have the Bush Administration, just recently being outed by Scott McClellan, who essentially in one fell literary swoop, validated everything that the nation has slowly on its own grown to know about Dubya’s White House, and it’s shady and reckless dealings. It feels to me like a pretty rare moment, when a consummate administration insider breaks under the pressure of his own conscience to cast such damaging aspersions on a sitting President – and just in time to save us from a possible third term at the hands of a man who thinks it was all okay. Whoa.

And of course you have Billary – and the take-no-prisoners, leave no truth standing approach to power grabbing that they’ve been accused of for so many years by the political right. I cannot tell you how many Rush Limbaugh littanies I’ve sat through during which he described the Clintons and their tactics in terms that at the time seemed petty, sarcastic, exaggerated, and otherwise unbelievable. As I re-play some of those snarling recitations back in my head now, I have to admit that the guy had a lot of it right. Much to the Clintons’ chagrin, the power of the media, the Internet, and technological advancements in general have made it possible for each and every one of their campaign-trail transgressions to be vetted and broadcast and bandied about in near real-time for every rabid blogger and every news organization in the world to guffaw about. I mean, even with my deep disdain for Ms. “they-shot-at-me-so-I-deserve-to-be-President”, I can’t help but believe that she honestly just didn’t realize how easy it would be for someone to produce the very footage of the Bosnian event that she tried to re-write in her many retellings of the story. A Jehdi-mind trick gone awry, and all because of a tragic underestimation of the power that is access to instant information.

Then there are the lunatic ministers – Hagee on the right, Wright on the left, and so many others somewhere in between, who in
doing what has in the past come so naturally (and without repercussions or consequences) have managed to create an entirely new discussion about Religion and Politics, Religion and Race, Religion and Gender (I thought Michael Pfleger’s imitation of Hillary was hilarious, by the way), and Religion and well, Religion. Are we better off because we all now know what some who claim to be purveyors of the Gospel, spreaders of the good news of the deity of their choosing, etc., also may have dangerous opinions, and way too much power through which to spread them? This is a question that I think we’ll all begin to ask once the dust settles, and President Obama is busy about the business of running the country; but for now, still only a question.

But finally – we have the colossal, glaring spotlight that now shines on the failings and mis-steps of the Democratic Party rule-makers (see “Superdelegates – Who the F&%$ Knew?!?”, and ” A Brief History of the Michigan and Florida Democratic Primaries”). If we hadn’t been thrown head-first into what now feels like a never-ending nominating process, would we have ever been alerted to the disastrous and possibly even unconstitutional methods by which the Democratic Party has decided to select its candidates? Most certainly not!

Yep – these have been truly illuminating times, and it’s not over yet. This week will be one for the history books. This week, we resolve the issue of “hey, those votes don’t count – no wait, I need them, so uh, yes they do!” This week, your favorite Senator and mine will almost assuredly be rewarded for playng by the rules, and running one of the most honorable campaigns on record when he overcomes the remaining 45 delegate deficit to secure the nomination. And this week, the nation takes a historic quantum leap towards electing a non-white-male to the presidency of the United States. I’m awe struck.

It’s been tough, though. So many days and nights of political disagreements, phone calls, events, road trips, etc. Now that I’m on the other side of this thing? I feel like, hey – if as a nation we were forced to suck down a blue pill and open our eyes to the realities of our churches, our political process, and our society in general, then so be it. No matter what happens from this point forward, this race has changed the nation forever – we’ve seen the matrix, and we can never go back now. The only thing left for us to do is don the cool black outfits, slick our collective hair-do’s back, and begin to do the work that will turn what we realize now is a flawed reality into the one we long for. The one that Senator Obama has proven by his historic candidacy is attainable.

It has been tiring, emotionally draining, exhilerating, and yes, ever-so frustrating, but now that we’re in plain sight of the finish line, I think we’d all have to agree, it’s all been so worth it! Black Women for Obama loves you, America! See you at the finish line!