Friday, August 29, 2008

Today American History is Written -Obama gets another 1st & McCain gets to tout more Maverick Republican.



Today American History is recorded! Hillary Clinton gets another first & makes good with the sisterhood of the traveling pant suits in reviving the women's movement, Barack Obama gets another 1st and makes good with civil rights leaders of all hues to reach the mountain top where McCains, Bushes , Palins, Clintons , Kennedys , Singhs, Chens, Rodriguezes, Mohammeds, Jacksons, Smiths, Takizawas & Obamas, all have just as much right & claim to America & the white house as the other. Today McCain took back the democratic unity thunder & wrote his own ticket to history by getting himself a stand in for Hillary Clinton in order to be able to continue to tout more Maverick Republican. If the real thing won't work for you getting her votes by virtue of advertising, why not get an imitation. Now the maverick can also get on the straight talk bus of the Change that is going to & Will Come! Maverick (Being independent in thought and action or exhibiting such independence. One that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group; a dissenter).

After Democrats have proven with 18 million votes that America is ready to see a woman in the White House, other than the first lady, it finally hits the republicans that Americans truly want change & not more of the same. Is McCain a maverick for change or one that brings change to help his political desire to win by any means necessary? Is McCain truly a maverick or pulling the ultimate "okey doke" for women who want to bring their own history to fruition which they fought so hard for & thought rested with Hillary Clinton. McCain has taken the page out of the Democratic book in continuation of his idea of himself as an independent thinker that breaks from the ranks of old school Republican ideas, since the Republican Party has never charted such unknown territory as a woman VP. The Democrats recognized a woman's worth as second in command & having the ability to lead our nation when called on in 1984, but it took 24 years & 18 million women's votes in a highly contested election year of change to let the Republicans step up & not take the woman's vote for granted.

It just seems like an unfortunate ploy of desperation to use a women to get the woman's vote that McCain couldn't get on his own maverick ideals. We should have all known that this may have been McCain's checkmate after he tested the waters by using Hillary Clinton's achievements as a woman in an attack Ad. against Obama, for not putting her second in command, without any real sense of outrage from women or Hillary Clinton over such use of her achievements & celebrity to push his own political agenda. Even Paris Hilton fought back at the use of her achievements as a celebrity being used against Obama to bring attention to McCain.

Any sort of complacency by anyone who wants change in whatever manner, can drastically change the future of America. We did not heed this call in the last election & received 4 more years of worse than the same. Young people promised to stand up & let their vote be counted in the last election along with millions of new registered voters, but when it came down to be counted many sat idly by as we experienced war, economic, national & global crisis leading us to the crossroads of Change that we now face.

As much as I am ecstatic as An African-American & as a woman witnessing all these firsts & maverickisms that are setting the stage for the much needed progress toward the type of change needed for a nation, at a time of suffering thru war, environmental & economic crisis; I can't help but to see it as reflective of one of the darkest periods of suffering & biggest leaps of Change in American history, The 60's. As we celebrate & make comparisons with Barack Obama's time in history to the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a Dream" speech in 1963 & JFK's democratic nomination acceptance speech in 1960, lets not forget the failures, road blocks & the everyday Americans who just had enough & wanted a better America & stood up & were counted to bring about the achievements that made their journeys just as impossible as possible along with the faith that kept their dreams alive for many generations to come. The dream toward the future of America; one that would be newly redefined, free of our many isms (racism, sexism, religious isms), and one that would return to our foundation of a moral high ground, a global leader that promotes & exemplifies freedom in our own individual freedom of choices & destinies, that is only limited by our own individual determination , hard work & imagination! This is the foundation that America was to represent to & for all the people, religions, cultures, sexes and individuals of the globe, who all had a hand in creating what is known globally as "The American Dream". It may mean different things for every individual, but at the foundation of it is hard work = achieving your dreams/limitless possibilities.

John McCain threw in his checkmate by making today about him & his limitless possibilities in throwing everyone for a loop with his choice for VP, Governor Sarah Palin, a first time governor of Alaska. Alaska = issue of offshore drilling, Sarah Palin = 18 million women's votes possibly up for grabs. I hate to be so cynical on this as Governor Palin has fought to make her own way into the history books, but it seems McCain will do or say anything to win & Barack Obama better be ready to also do whatever it takes to win. I guess that's classic American too- "survival of the fittest"!

Now that everyone can say they are a maverick or on the change ticket equally reflective of the new era of historical occurrences that are to bring CHANGE to the fabric of America , lets get to the real issues & not let the divides of the 60's once again keep us from fully achieving Change! Let's not forget Jim Crow, The Women's Movement, The Civil Rights movement, the inner battle amongst women of color in America & in particular Black American women to be put in a place where their allegiance to race & gender would be tested, the never ending Vietnam war, the clash amongst race, gender, religion , the haves & the have nots. Let's truly examine how far we have come when we cast our vote! The world is once again keeping a watchful eye on America to see if we can stand up to the test & come out as a world leader; honestly & truly reflective of the freedom & the limitless ideal of the "American Dream".

No matter what any one says about people around the world hating America , the ideals of "The American Dream" represent their definition of America . Whether they believe it to be an attainable goal reflective of our times & progress, or just the folklore of America's past remains to be seen. Our CHOICE as AMERICANS, not women ,Black Americans , White Americans, Asian Americans , Latino Americans, Catholic Americans, Muslim Americans, Jewish Americans, Gay Americans, and all of the other attachments & hyphenations which we uphold to define ourselves beyond Americans, will define our leadership in the world. America is reflective of all of the attachments that we add to defining who we are because the foundation of Americans & America was attained based on all the different attachments & those that came before them under one nation with liberty & justice for all. The Chinatowns, Koreatowns, Provincetowns, little Italys , Harlems, el barrios, north, west, east & south sides, temples, mosques, cathedrals etc., all make up what the fabric of America the beautiful & lady liberty is all about!

We all have a place in America & the right to the fruits of America that was made possible thru the service, commitment, blood, sweat, tears & love of America displayed by our founding fathers, our ancestors , and those that came before us and set our path as Americans. Let's focus on the things that unite us as Americans instead of the attachments that divide us. Let's understand that the idea of Change is not too far fetched or too hard to achieve, or needs decades of experience to bring to fruition. Let's understand that Change is not having countless dreams deferred while others thrive in the same struggle for civil rights,women's rights & equal rights for all Americans!

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