Yesterday, while surfing the blogosphere, I visited one of my favorite news crowd-sourcing sites, Digg.com. I entered the term "Obama" and was surprised to see that almost three weeks later, folks are still ranting on (yes, ranting) about Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermon which contained several remarks some members of the media have labeled as "anti-american," "racist," and "pro-terrorist." [For those of you not familar with him, Rev. Wright was pastor of the church Senator Barack Obama (D - IL) attended when not in Washington, D.C.]
In another Digg search, I entered the term, "race" and reviewed links ranging from the full text of Barack's March 18 speech in Philadelphia to a CBS poll surveying the success of Mr. Obama's oratory genius. Ahh, the power of the Internet: it leaves no opinion or angle unturned ...
Yep, everywhere I surf on the Net someone's got an opinion about Rev. Wright or the speech Barack gave shortly after the controversial tape of his pastor was released. What to do? Jump in and give my two cents of course ...
Defending My Hero
People vote for candidates for a variety of reasons. Policy-wise, Obama and Hillary Clinton are almost identical. The deciding factor on who I plan to vote for has more to do with life experience and how it relates to the future generation of America. Most Americans aren't wealthy for the majority of their life. Most haven't been the First Lady, or had a childhood filled with upper-crust privilege. Nope, most American's work long hours for a wage that doesn't justify the amount of effort they put in -- or the results their employer will gain from it. Many young Americans come from a divorced or single parent home. An increasing number of young American's are offspring of a bi-racial or multi-racial union. None of these experiences line up with the life of Mrs. Clinton or Senator McCain (R-AZ), and after reviewing the side-by-side comparison sheet of all three candidate views, life experience rules.
When November comes around, you can bet your tax rebate that I'll be voting for Mr. Obama. It's not without hesitation however. You see, when I first learned that the senator from Illinois was making a go for prez, I was happy and saddened at the same time. Ever since I was about eight or nine years old, I became aware of the implications skin color can have on social circles, economic status and social standing. There is a unique social learning curve you endure as a bi-racial child, so being told I "look like a nigger" in the sixth grade by one of my peers had a profound effect on what friends I would keep, colleges I would attend, employers I would seek out and organizations I would support.
As a result of several incidents like the one above throughout my adolescent years, I was always keen to an open dialogue of race and progress with my friends and family. When I was in high school, I remember having this optimistic view that racism would be eradicated in my lifetime. In one particular conversation with my school mate Vic, I vividly remember asking him if we would see racism's downfall in America before we die. He looked up from his cardboard-tasting cafeteria pizza very confidently and replied, "No."
Vic's reply would stay with me for several years, drive me to read as many books on race, ethnicity, and social economic theory, and ultimately help me come into agreement with him. I guess I can chalk up my hope to demolish hate before I die to a youthfully optimistic --yet, naive-- outlook on life. Don't get me wrong though --I still have great hope the hate we experience in this country will be eradicated one day-- it just won't be when Vic or I are around.
This leads to the aforementioned "hesitation" I experience when I mention that I plan on voting for Senator Obama. More directly, I'm scared he'll be assassinated.
You see, there is still an entire group of Americans who carry the baggage, grief and pain of the United States, pre-desegregation. These Americans are on both sides of the racial fence (hence, some of Rev. Wright's remarks). It is these same American's who give birth to younger Americans, instill the same backwards and apathetic moral compass and ultimately allow hate to fester in the fabric of this nation.
I want to see someone who represents the experience of the majority of young America win the presidency and run this nation. Almost equally, I'm fearful of what tragedy could result in trying to elect the most qualified person for the job.
Am I just living in a cloud of fear, or are my feelings justified?
**Note: The views/opinions expressed in this article are the views/opinions of the author, not Razoo.com.
I spent the better part of last week in Northern Ireland. I flew into Belfast on a grey Thursday morning and took a long taxi ride into the heart of the city and my hotel, only a ten minutes walk from the inspiring façade of Queen’s College. My knowledge of Northern Ireland was short at best; I’ve seen the Hollywood interpretations, thanks to Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford (The Devil’s Own and Patriot Games), and heard bits and pieces of a difficult history through such well-groomed mouthpieces as U2. I did, after all, know the all the words to “Bloody Sunday,” based on the infamous 1972 day in Derry, Northern Ireland.
The sidewalks were wet from the rains that hang over Belfast this time of year, and students were leaving class. From where I sat, everything was normal; buildings, people, street noise and advertisements abounded. The black cab wove in and out of Lisburn Rd., Belfast’s answer to the neighboring High Street, and hung a left a few blocks down. We were driving down roads with painted curbsides, blue, white and red, “the loyalist colors,” Ken said. Ken was my taxi driver and tour guide, a Belfast resident for four decades. We squeezed down the innards of Belfast, stopping occasionally for a piece of history or the odd mural, where Ken would look in the rearview mirror to check my attention, or perhaps my reaction.
The Troubles, the period of sectarian violence between the late 1960’s and the Belfast Agreement (or Good Friday Agreement) of 1998, had marked up the streets and inevitably, the people of this town. The Troubles were made up of violent outbreaks and political activity between the majority Protestant/loyalist community and the nationalist community, generally Roman Catholic. At its most basic, the loyalists wanted to remain loyal to the crown and under British rule, and the nationalist wanted independence and self-rule. The conflict has been called everything from a civil war to terrorism, and was characterized by a flood of paramilitary violence and political warfare, leaving many dead or wounded in its 30 year wake.
Falls Rd. is synonymous with this past and stands not far off from Shankill Road, its Protestant counterpart. Both were hosts to the parasitic ethnic conflict, bearing battle wounds and inscriptions above doorframes, commemorating the matryed and the lost-too-early. The murals too, stare down from high in alleys, retaining walls and building fronts; Frederick Douglass, the mural tells me, believed in the nationalist cause. So did Ghandi, who resides next to a pipe smoking George W. Bush caricature. On the other side, the Queen’s portrait and birthday are celebrated blocks from Bobby Sands, the original of the infamous Hunger Strikers of the early 1980’s.
Between them all, the murals, the roads, the claimed curbs, stand towering Peace Lines. The Peace Lines, ironically, are a series of barriers that run through Belfast, separating Catholic and Protestant territory. The walls grow from lines in the ground, your side/my side, to twenty-five foot walls iced with barbed wire and nets to keep stones from being thrown over. Ken drove us through one of the few gates in the peace lines, which stretch for 13 miles, and we skimmed the edge of a section where tourists and well-wishers, including Bill Clinton, have left messages of peace and reconciliation.
As we sped past stone cathedrals and public housing, the irony of the walls sat heavy in me. Despite the sharp decrease in violence since the 1998 Belfast Agreement that ushered in ceasefire proclamations and paramilitary disarmament, the calm seems to run thin. The Peace Lines mark the irresolution of a long and tired conflict, a scar that cuts through Belfast, scoring the edge of stability and the return to a darker and more dangerous time.
But then, we circled a round-a-bout, I leaned back in my seat and snapped a photo of a overgrown church through the back window of the cab. As we lurched forward, I was confronted by the rest of the city, the imposing signs of a new Belfast in every direction. Titanic’s shipyard outlines the harbor and the giant ferris wheel, sponsored by Ulster Bank of Ireland, claims the skyline, much like the London Eye. City Hall is nearby, regal and serene, and the Merchant Hotel is down the street, boasting chic visitors like Tom Hanks and Bill Murray, as well as the most expensive cocktail in the world. Van Morrison and Snow Patrol call Belfast home, along with local favorites Foy Vance and Oppenheimer. People are everywhere, suits and students, and from this vantage point, the walls all disappear.
We’re nearing the end of our tour, and Ken drops us at the Hewitt pub in the shiny city centre. We pass Hotel Europa as we climb out, and Ken chimes in, “Didja’ know Europa is the most bombed hotel in the world?!” I’m reminded again that here, things are two steps forward, one step back.
Swanky restaurants and reinvented pubs line streets the entire walk back towards Queen’s. It’s late now, and university students have left their wellies in favor of footballer jerseys and mini-skirts. Someone asks me about the new Rambo movie and we laugh at American films. Secretly, I wonder if he’s Protestant or Catholic, if he walked Falls or Shankill and if he thinks it all will hold. But I don’t ask, it feels foreign to talk about such things now, when the night is free from worry and the ferris wheel is lighting up the sky.
“Insofar as Northern Ireland can be described as peaceful, that peace has come at the price of reconciliation.”- from a 2006 United States Institute of Peace report
Kenya in 2008: more than 1,000 dead. 300,000 displaced. The statistics of human suffering read like a stock ticker on the daily news. We see them online, hear them in the news, perhaps even find ourselves repeating them in conversation. But how can we possibly make sense of it all? What is the story behind the numbers, and where are the statistics of reconciliation?
Yesterday, exactly six weeks after the widely disputed Kenyan election, Kibaki's ruling party and Odinga's opposition have agreed to the formation of an inclusive, power-sharing government. While details of the truce have not yet been revealed, any step toward peace is a welcome one.
What you can Do:
Global Giving allows you to donate (and raise) money for organization responding to the post-election crisis. Sometimes even a few dollars can go a long way.
The Student Movement for Real Change has started an online petition for peace in Kenya.
In this morning's New York Times, Thomas Friedman writes about being both "baffled and impressed" by today's 20-somethings. Impressed by their optimism and idealism, and baffled by their non-radical nature and lack of political engagement. He has dubbed them "Generation Q," as in, The Quiet Americans, for their propensity to pursue their idealism quietly.
As someone who came of age in the radical 60s, Friedman's discontent with this generation's apparent acceptance of authority is understandable. Friedman challenges today's 20-somethings to do more than join a Facebook group or click a link to "sign" a petition. He believes that outrage is a mandatory component in making change, and that "they have to get organized in a way that will force politicians to pay attention rather than just patronize them." (Wall Street
might have something to say about the organizing abilities of Generation Y, given the recent mumblings of a $10 billion Facebook valuation.)
Perhaps utter discontent with the status quo is at the root of revolution. However, is one generation necessarily less altruistic, motivated or effective because they choose to make change using different tactics? Who's to say that children of the digital age won't be more effective than previous generations at making broad impacts, given their savvy understanding of how to use the internet to reach, inspire and activate people across distance, class, race and
age?
Friedman claims that "activism can only be uploaded the old-fashioned way -- by young voters... face to face, in big numbers, on campuses or the Washington Mall." What do you think? Is virtual activism real activism? Can today's generation effect change from behind their computer screens and through their iPhones? Or does it have to be done the "old fashioned" way? Tell us...
Yesterday was Free Burma: International Bloggers Day, which encouraged bloggers to post this badge to support the peaceful revolution in Burma:
Beth Kanter did a nice job of covering the details of the blogosphere rally here.
The Road
We've become quite engaged with the Burma topic over the past weeks, as our good friends at Digital Telepathy have been generating a lot of buzz around their good friends behind The Road film.
The documentary takes a personal look at the situation in Burma, and is the work of four friends who didn't set out to change the world, but are doing it
just the same. The story behind how they came to this point in their lives is quite inspirational.
Here's a quick summary:
Situation - Burma is one of the most oppressed nations in the world, and remains under the control of a brutal military Junta. With the
international community unaware of the atrocities that are taking place, it leaves little hope for those who are being afflicted. Mass rape of women, ethnic
cleansing, mandatory relocations, military recruitment of children, and forced labor are only a few of the many violations that are taking place.
Story - In the summer of 2007 four friends made a decision to embark on a journey that could cost them their lives. Their goal was to break into an unknown country, in order to uncover a story the world had never heard. Armed with cameras and Powerbars, the four friends ventured into the jungles of Burma with their cameras rolling, and what they found has forever changed them.
Goals - The immediate goals are to get the film completed, so the initial stages of raising awareness can begin. They believe that through
awareness comes action, so they are implementing tangible ways regular people like you and me can take a stand for justice. Long term goals are to overthrow the military regime controlling the country.
Learn more and get involved
Check out CNN this Saturday (10/6) for coverage of The Road. Saturday 4pm Pacific, Sunday 10am Pacific.
Today I was reminded of one of the many reasons why I love my hometown, Arlington, Virginia.
As a volunteer ESL teacher for the past seven years, I have grown to love and respect the people who come to my class from all over the world. They show up to learn English, night after night, after twelve hour days on the construction site, in the the restaurant kitchen, or cleaning our homes and buildings. And without fail, they come with an an open mind, an eagerness to learn and deep gratitude for the opportunies the United States offers them.
So it has been disheartening for me to witness the recent trend towards anti-immigrant measures enacted by local communities throughout Northern Virginia. It was particularly disconcerting to see Herndon choose to shut down their day-labor center, thus forcing hard-working men back out onto the streets and out of the job market. While I respect diversity of opinion, I have to say I was shocked at the ignorance of some of the motivations behind the closing. Exhibit A: Ann Null, a council member who opposed opening the center before she retired in 2005, said she hoped its closing would induce illegal residents in the town to leave the country. "There's a construction boom in Panama," she said. "They can find jobs in a country where they don't have to learn the language." Are you kidding me?
With the anti-immigrant sentiment swirling all around us, naturally I've been concerned about the possible impact these recent precedents would have on our community in Arlington. So I was relieved when I read this morning's press release from Arlington County:
"The Arlington County Board today adopted a resolution expressing support for immigrants and calling upon state and federal officials to enact policies that promote the integration of immigrants into society," the release states. The Board resolution affirms that Arlington "rejects policies and practices that promote discrimination, hostility, abuse, exploitation, and fear of government." Arlington, the resolution states, "is committed to be a welcoming community that recognizes the contributions of all of its members, in all of their diversity."
It reaffirms my faith in our society's willingness and ability to find solutions to our challenges, rather than turning our heads in ignorance. Thanks, Arlington, for adopting a policy of inclusion which manages to abide by our Federal laws while smartly addressing the realities of our wonderfully diverse community.
I admit I'm fairly uneducated about the issue of homelessness in America, so someone please educate me.
Take a look at this video out of St. Petersburg, FL, which shows local police slashing through a homeless tent-city.
It's pretty shocking, and raises lots of questions. So before making an ill-informed judgement, I'd love to get answers to some of these questions. What's the background here? What were the police trying to accomplish? What other tactics had they tried prior to this? Who were the folks on the losing end of this slash-fest? Had they committed crimes?
I'd like to give the benefit of the doubt to the police, that there was some rationale for the decision to destroy the "homes" of these folks. But the video is pretty harsh, and doesn't portray the powers-that-be very favorably. As someone not in-the-know about how we're dealing with homelessness these days, please tell me -- is this how we're dealing with homelessness these days?
Thanks to Triple Pundit for keeping me on top of the latest from a field near and dear to my heart: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Net Impact, a great organization of business school students and professionals committed to social responsibility, has just released its 2007 Business as UNusual Guide. In it, the the organization details the leading MBA programs and how they address social and environmental issues.
Like the recent shift towards annual CSR reports, the rating of b-schools with regard to social responsibility is a positive trend. It's nice to see that consumers (and in this case, prospective students) are driving institutional action by their demand for information and accountability. And with any luck (and a little more demand from folks like us), hopefully we'll see this trend continue to gain traction and become mainstream.
Today Forbes released it's annual 100 Most Powerful Women list. Topping the list for the second year in a row is Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany. Wu Yi, Vice Premier of China (the world's fourth-largest economy), takes the number two position.
The list also includes several other heads of state, as well as numerous corporate head honchos. Condoleezza Rice is the top U.S. leader, earning the #4 spot overall. Hillary Clinton nabbed the #25 slot, falling just shy of Oprah Winfrey (#21), Meg Whitman (eBay head, #22), Queen Elizabeth (#23) and Melinda Gates (#24).
The entertainment industry is well represented on the list, as well as academia, publishing, healthcare and human rights.
It's inspiring to see such a broad spectrum of leaders, representing so many varied interests and priorities, setting a positive course for our world. Kudos, women, and thanks for your leadership.
Razoo is a community united around making a positive difference in the world. Where passions are connected with actions, showing us that when connected, our small contributions add up to a big impact. Go ahead, have a look.
Good Happens is a daily dose of good stuff. A counter to all the bad stuff we hear every day. There's plenty of good in the world -- we find it and celebrate it here. Why? Because man can't live on dread alone.
