Reading That's Good For You

It's been about ten days since the electorate chose Barack Obama as its next president, and during that time, there have been numerous occasions when I've been moved all over again at everything from the symbolism to the actuality of the meaning of an Obama Administration.

One such occasion was when Amy Goodman hosted Alice Walker on her Democracy Now! program. Walker read her open letter to Barack Obama:

Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.

A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

In Peace and Joy, Alice Walker

You can also watch her appearance here. There's a pretty good introduction from a Uruguayan writer who reminds Obama to remember that the White House was built by slaves. It begins about eleven minutes into the video.

A Stay With Two Hours To Go

The Troy Davis case down in Georgia is getting some national and international attention, but not nearly enough.

In short, Troy Davis (an African American) was convicted of killing a (white) police officer in 1991 and sentenced to death. Since the trial, seven of the nine non-police witnesses have recanted their testimony, some claiming that the prosecutor threatened to charge them with perjury if they had recanted at the time.

Yesterday, after various parole board and court denials, Troy was two hours from lethal injection when his last channel of hope, the Supreme Court of the United States, put a stay on his execution until they review the case next week.

I freely admit that I don't know much about the case except that there's no physical evidence and that the prosecution won its conviction based on the testimony of the witnesses.

As we know, in recent years, SCOTUS has taken a sharp turn to the right (activist judges, indeed), so I have little faith that they'll overturn the conviction, order a new trial, etc. Call me cynical.

But if there's any doubt at all, how can capital punishment be used to put this man to death?

Wait. Scratch that. How can the state sanction the murder of any individual, whatever the crime? It's fucking medieval.

Naturally, both of our major party candidates for president support the death penalty. That makes both of them more cynical than I am. After all, putting someone to death denies the possibility of redemption on any level.

If you want to read more about Troy and his case, this is his website. I've heard interviews with his sister (the radio program Democracy Now is following the case), and she's fighting this battle and a recurrence of cancer. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), she's impressive.

Guest Post - Baldy in a Battleground - Episode 7

Barber Shops and Beauty Salons

In this battleground state, barber shops and beauty salons are considered official places for canvassing. On the ground we have faith coordinators, youth coordinators, and barber shops and beauty salons coordinators.

I found this to be hilarious, and asked (incredulously, I might add) if the whole barber shops and beauty salons thing wasn't a joke. My supervisor's response? You know Obama is black, right?

So then I suppose I should set up shop outside a Popeye's. Or maybe a reggae shop. Oh wait, perhaps a stand that sells watermelon and kool-aid?

Diversity Reminiscent of Offensive Jokes

Local advertisers understand that we've got ourselves a melting pot here in New York City, so portraying diversity in local ads proves a sensitivity to our many cultures. Or perhaps local industry just knows that they have many target audiences from which to take money.

Large companies will create individual ad campaigns targeted toward the different markets. But what do you do if your budget only allows for the creation of only one campaign or even only one ad?

Easy! You shove as much diversity into that ad as possible!

A pattern is emerging on NY1, everyone's favorite local news station. You get three people. A white dude, an Asian woman, and a black dude. Show them enjoying your product in perfect harmony. Done.

The white dude is sometimes a white woman, if more women use the product than men.

A white dude, an Asian girl, and a black guy are watching TV... A white girl, an Asian chick, and a black dude are going shopping...

Keep an eye out for this pattern, B&E readers, and ask yourself: where are the Latinos at?

A Word or Two About Racism

(Because really, B&E readers, why not?)

With the McCain campaign implying that Obama's uppity, with Bill Clinton's continued denials that he's racist, and with the popularity of a game that uses "race cards," I figured I'd inject myself into the discussion for the six of you that like your baldness effective.

At some point (probably in college), I accepted that racism was an institutional problem. The general inequalities between black and white in this country are the result of hundreds of years of racism. That the divide between black and white is once again growing... also a result of racism. It's in the interest of the people in power (in this case, white people) to keep the power structure in its current form.

We've made some progress over the past few years (Look, ma, no more slaves!), and the civil rights movement brought us a few steps closer to equality, what with affirmative action and all (something the racists want to take away). But the fact remains that we are a racist country that benefits those of us who are white.

Take my own family for a moment... My mom and dad were born a part of the largely undereducated, underpaid part of society, the daughter and grandson of German immigrants. During a time of segregation, they got themselves a decent education and worked their way through college. Starting off downright broke, through teaching and ministering, they clawed their way into the middle class and gave my sister and I more opportunity than they had. We went (mostly) to public schools, and because we lived in a perfectly nice middle class (mostly) white neighborhood, we attended the (mostly) white, middle and upper class public high school, arguably the best high school in town. Both of us went to private colleges. If I'd made decisions unrelated to my soul, I could probably be one of those rich fucks that annoy me so much. Hell, maybe I'd even be a Republican.

The opportunities afforded to my parents and then to me would not have been possible if we weren't all white. I'm not saying that my folks didn't also work their asses off and pull themselves up by the bootstraps (and all that code-talk for getting rid of "government handouts"). But we had a distinct institutional advantage. We look like the people in power.

So when Lindsay Graham says unequivocally that John McCain doesn't have a racist bone in his body, well, based on how I think about it, that's a horseshit statement. When Bill Clinton insists he's not a racist, more horseshit. You're white; I'm white. We've had more benefits because of our institutionalized race advantage, and we are therefore culpable in the racism of this country, i.e. we're racist.

Perhaps McCain, Clinton, and I aren't bigoted, prejudiced, or discriminatory, and maybe what I'm talking about is more semantics than substance, but I don't think it is. I think it's important that whitey take responsibility for the institutionalized racism in the United States.

The first step is acceptance. We're all a bunch of racists! Wake up, white people! Oh, wait, that doesn't sound quite right.

You're Totally Playing the Race Card on Me

At my job, we've started to accuse each other of playing the race card. It's a totally fun thing to do. Other cards you might try playing at your jobs:

- the gender card
- the sexual orientation card
- the global warming card
- the bald card (a personal favorite)
- the [illness-or-disability-of-choice] card
- the Manny's-now-a-Dodger card
- the lawyer card

I don't know where the hell this deck of cards came from, or what any of these cards actually mean, but it sure makes for a great game of canasta!

You're Making It Even Harder for White People

There's a fantastic Thai restaurant in nearby Woodside that the missus and I like to frequent from time to time. It's called Sripraiphai, and although I may have that spelling just a little bit off, it is seriously good. In fact, a friend says a Thai man in our neighborhood called it the best Thai food outside of Thailand. It's good enough that I'm prepared to believe him.

So when the missus, the big sis, and I had leftovers from our meal at Sripraiphai the other night, you better believe I was psyched as all hell to take that shit for lunch.

When I opened the to-go bag, I noticed one of those foil bags housing one of our leftover items. It said, "Good Chinese Food" on the front.

It's no secret that we white people have a hell of a time distinguishing amongst our Asian brothers and sisters. I feel like I've gotten pretty good at it, having lived in a city with a vibrant and diverse Asian population for quite a few years now, but I'm also not so confident in my abilities that I use a term more specific than "Asian" if ethnicity is relevant to my character description.

The Asian foods, on the other hand, are quite easy to distinguish, at least how they're presented in their American forms. But this "Good Chinese Food" bag really threw me for a loop.

What if my favorite Thai restaurant is actually Chinese? Now that would be inscrutable.

Bruce LeeRoy vs. Chow Yun Fatchmo!

Once upon a time, in South Africa, Chinese immigrants were known as Chinese immigrants. Then, with the establishment of apartheid in the 1940s, the Afrikaner government classified the Chinese as "colored." In the 1970s, Taiwan established economic ties to South Africa, and Taiwanese immigrants were "honorary whites."

Because no one could tell the difference between the Taiwanese and the Chinese, things got a little easier for the Chinese in South Africa. They still had no rights, mind you, but they also had the honor of sharing the white facilities with a bunch of racist, cracker-ass bitches. Lucky, lucky Chinese.

So when apartheid ended in the 1990s, the Chinese were lumped together with whitey and therefore denied the benefits available to other "colored" groups.

Well, no longer. On Wednesday, Chinese South Africans were reclassified as "black."

Maybe this explains why there are suddenly so many Chinese Soul Food restaurants cropping up in New York City.

(Thanks to my esteemed Chinese-American Art Director at work for the link and the ensuing smartass IM conversation. Bruce LeeRoy was all him.)