 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Obama  Re Considered
By Justin Mitchell
By now it has become well known that Illinois Senator Barack Obama is thinking about running for President in 2008. Equally well known is the fact that Obama, the son of an African immigrant, enjoys practically unmitigated widespread popular support among Democrats and possibly even some independent and moderate Republicans. He has been touted as a refreshingly new avatar of hope, perhaps the only potential Democratic Presidential candidate unencumbered and unsullied by the party s reputation as a bastion of dastardly, befuddled, and insipid nonentities. Here, finally, they say, is a candidate with personality and panache, not simply a politician but a figure, a man who elicits a kind of unctuous, gleeful awe from a wide array of average Americans.
Yet while it is certainly a sign of progress that such reverence should be shown toward any man of African descent by mainstream America, one cannot help but notice that such enthusiasm is almost always reserved for moderate blacks who have no direct connection to the legacy of American slavery and the psychological, cultural, and socioeconomic circumstances it has produced. Perhaps the only black politician with as much mainstream support is Colin Powell, who, like Obama, is also a first generation African American. Powell, however, came of age at a time when the grey area of ethnic differences within the AfricanAmerican community was overshadowed by onedimensional problems such as legalized discrimination. During this period, many black figures throughout the country who werent born to American parents, from Harry Belafonte to Stokley Carmichael, took their political and cultural cues from the AfricanAmerican community. Many of them were also among the most radical political and social critics of their day. Obama, on the other hand, belongs to a different generation, one that is fascinated with multiculturalism and has developed without having witnessed as much blatant anti-black hatred and violence. The neoconservative backlash to 60s radicalism has succeeded in convincing many Americans of the notion that questions of racial equality are tiresome, anachronistic, and divisive. The AfricanAmerican community has become increasingly isolated in its firm belief that race still matters. AfricanAmerican leaders who continue to remind mainstream of America of its persistent racism are marginalized and
vilified as racebaiters. Which, of course, raises the question is Barack Obama an AfricanAmerican leader
The answer is a complex one. Obama is all too happy to play up his distinct ethnic heritageit functioned as a central rhetorical symbol in his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Conventionwhich fits his image as the new redeemer, the guy not only without the baggage of the Democratic party, but also without the baggage of 400 years of racial oppression. He portrays himself as a moderate Democrat and expresses heartfelt belief inand embodiesthe myth of the American dream. This allows him to be black in a different way than, say, Harold Ford Jr., who, despite his equally strong AfroEuropean features, similarly moderate politics, and
comparable rhetorical gifts hasnt managed to gain the same degree of popularity and respect. All this is to say that Barack Obama is perhaps more important as a measuring stick for what white America wants than what AfricanAmericans should expect to get in 2008. In other words, he has great significance as a symbol for American blacks insofar as he can communicate the subtle psychological and social state of mainstream Americaits aspirations, its preoccupations, its health or lack thereof. Through Obama AfricanAmericans can gain further understanding of their own political situation and perhaps even begin to reevaluate their own relationship to the American dream.
|
 |
1. Do you agree with the statement that now the Democrats have control of Congress that there is a bright future for Black America
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Agree
Indifferent
Somewhat Disagree
Strongly Disagree
2. How strongly do you support the following
Establishing a deadline to bring the troops home from Iraq
1 2 3 4 5
Imposing a National Draft as suggested by Rep. Charles Rangel
1 2 3 4 5
Congress restoring Federal funding to Public Housing
1 2 3 4 5
Impeaching Dick Chaney for theft related to Enron and Halliburton
1 2 3 4 5
Electing Sen. Hillary Clinton President in 2008
1 2 3 4 5
If you strongly agree, check 5. Select only one choice.
3. Do you believe that the Congressional Black Caucus will provide strong leadership for Black America
Yes
No
Maybe
Not Certain
|
 |
From Russia With Love
By K.B. McDavid
I have always been fascinated by Russia. It is a very complex country filled with intrigue and mystery, possessing a tremendous literary history. Russia also has a rich history of political assassinations to which it has added one more.
 The assignation of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB agent who defected to Britain, was a very public message to the world  what I would like to call a jail house kite. This public violent message says, We are back. Dont mess with us. Full stop. End of story. The British investigation is a parliamentary
saving face measure. The world knows what happened, and Russia doesnt give a
shit. Check Mate.
Mr. Litvinenko lived the last years of his life as a very public critic of President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Government. So he had to die in a
very public, slow, and gruesome way. The insides of his body rotted away from radiation poisoning. Just look at the pictures of what he was to what he
became. From Russia with Love, a personal nuclear bomb. Lesson number one, dont mess with a former K.G.B. agent who is a former Judo champion, obviously a
master chess player, and is now one of the most feared men in the world.
Mr. Litvinenko was a brave but foolish man. He had lived in a world of intrigue, death, and deception yet felt he had a safe haven as a British citizen.
In 1998, Mr. Litvinenko, along with two other F.S.B. agents the new K.G.B., held a press conference in Moscow to confirm Russian billionaire Boris
Berezovskys claim that the Russian government was plotting to assassinate Berezovsky. Mr. Putin was the head of the F.S.B. at the time. After he defected to Britain,
Mr. Litvinenko published a book accusing the F.S.B. of staging a wave of bombings in Russia to instigate a second Chechen war.
The Bomb was dropped on November 1, 2006. Litvinenko met with Italian academic Mario Scaramella at a hbar in London. Mr. Scaramella had received emails detailing a plot against his and Mr. Litvinenkos lives. However, both men dismissed the threats because they were so specific in detail. Soon after, Litvinenko hooked up with former K.G.B. associates at the Millennium Mayflower Hotel. Not too bright when you have the head of the K.G.B. pissed at you.
In the weeks before Litvinenkos death, he had begun investigating the shooting death of
Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian journalist who was also a fierce critic of
President Putin and his policies in Chechnya. Not a smart thing to do if you
feel your life is in danger. Perhaps this was the last straw for the Russian President.
The Russian chess game denounce communism, implement supposed market reforms,
elect a president, and act like a friendly nation until you have enough power
to tell every one in the world fk off. The Soviet Union went bankrupt in Afghanistan.
Did the Soviets manipulate the situation so George W. could bankrupt America in the same way
I wonder if America really won the cold war.
|
 |
he had received e-mails from an unidentified source suggesting he and Mr. Litvinenko were in danger from people linked with some clandestine organizations not directly under control of Russian establishment but from Russia.
Russian ExIn the weeks before his death, Mr. Litvinenko had begun looking into the shooting death in Moscow of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a fierce critic of Mr. Putin and his policies in Chechnya.
US blocks Hizbullah funds in S. America The tri-border region is considered a haven for arms traffickers, smugglers and counterfeiters and is home is thousands of Lebanese Muslims.
Israel must be wary of paying the price for Iraq's mess
Hamas officials have managed to smuggle more than  66 million in cash through the Rafah border crossing in the past eight months, a member of the Hamasled Palestinian Authority government said Wednesday.
|
|
 |
The Politics of HairPart I
By Kelly Harrison
Hair is used to define people no matter what race they are, but in the Black community it is apparent that hair can be used in a much more discriminatory way. The success of job interviews can easily be dictated by the style in which one wears his or her hair. Attending a job interview while wearing an afro can be the equivalent of going as an unkempt mess, and quite often I feel that I absolutely have to press my hair to get a job.
I feel that this is an important subject because hair helps define who I am and how I conduct myself in different situations my hair disguises me as a chameleon in work, in school, and at play. When I listen to songs about Black hair I have to wonder whose point of view is correct. Specifically, I Am Not My Hair by India Arie stands out. She speaks about how hair should not be used to define people. But, realistically, it is
extremely evident that Black hair can be used as a form of expression. When I rock a natural people look at me in a different way they assume Im a veggie eating, poetry spitting, Black history expert when I am just embracing the natural curl pattern of my hair. It is funny to think about the realism behind hair sometimes I wonder if I keep my hair pressed because it is easier to maintain or if it is actually because I am subconsciously submitting to some deep form of oppression.
I had a friend who had dreadlocks because he wanted to appreciate the beauty of his natural hair in its most natural state, and he only dated women who did the same. But he didnt date Black women because he didnt appreciate their natural beauty. It would be easy to be upset that he wasnt interested in Black women because he appeared to be a deep sistaloving brotha. But if I were upset, I would be perpetuating stereotypes of Black hair.
The moral of this story is that we should judge not by ones hair but by their actual beliefs. If not, we will end up knowing nothing about the people with whom we have the most in common.
|
 |
ul
|
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
[an error occurred while processing this directive]