The DailyGrind

let the phat farm church say amen!!

i remember when the blackman couldnt vote which hasnt been that long ago.Why are whites so threaten by Rev Wright telling it like it is.Just trying to find an excuse to not elect a blk man that is most definitely qualified to run this country.In the words of the great white leader"Bring it on"

If there is one thing this primary has done it's to upturn all the ugly little stones which many wish would stay unturned.  Shyt ain't pretty and sometimes it comes out raw and uncut.  I took no issue with Wright.  He comes from that old school period.  Put the brotha in context.  He may be angry and full of fire, but he says what many of us feel.  If we didn't agree with it, we would say so.  Some of those who don't agree might just get up and leave.  Others are just good listeners and can pull apart the situation into its individual elements... they can see the forest for the trees.  To me, someone who can do that, shows themselves to be a great peacemaker type... they actually listen and still come out with their own conclusions.  Obama, based on what I have gathered, is a healer-type in the racial sense.  I see that in him now. While "race" should have nothing to do with his electability... indirectly, by default, it DOES.

Although, Obama is part of the "Baby Boomer" generation, a more conservative group of folks... Obama is a late boomer.  So when he talks of change, it's because he's embodyin those principles.  He stands on the threshold of an old government and a new one.  While the Boomers represent what led UP to the Civil Rights movement... Gen X is its after effect... post-Civil Rights and completely non-conservative.  We rejected many of the things held in high regards by the boomers and embraced the technology age as it emerged (ie: arpanet/internet etc.).  Um, we be the "hacker generation"... :-)  Hip Hop is Gen X... distrust of authority, much more freer in outlook than our boomer predecessors, but always electric and volatile.

Both generations, however, are bridge generations between the old guard and today.  As such, we still hold some of the post-Civil Rights movement fury... Malcolm X, MLK, etc... with-IN us.  Yet, we also want to break down barriers to understanding people from all walks of life... do everything on some next level.  In turn, the generation of TODAY, Generation Y, is further along, as would be expected... but, what they have inherited is an even MORE damaged world.  What each generation HAS, within their beings, to bring to the table is a more clear understanding of just HOW exactly to heal the past, since the past to THEM is a relic of sorts.  Although they can't say: "I was there, I understand fully"... they are actually FREE from that luggage and provide an even fresher optimism to our dying world.  While Elder experience should never get ruled out, neither should fresh optimism be shot down.

The plus syde of living in 2008 is that life has become more and more interactive, in part... or mostly due to... the Internet.  Socialising has gotten more fun... although... I don't think the world is any LESS racist than before.  I do believe that as we go more international... the differences might actually grow into commonalities, but racism is alive and well in this country.  That kids think its funny to hang nooses in trees in a sign that shyt is still the same.

I had an older mentor friend who came from Pastor Wright's time frame.  He was an older AA man in his 60's with a PhD... a very articulate man... but... you couldn't tell that man nothing.  Almost everytime I spoke to him, he would find someway to inject how much he despised white people, yet for the most part he was cordial to their face.  This attitude is one that is held by some of our Elders.  They have their reasons for being that way... doesn't make it right.  Some Anglo-Americans, and even some immigrants to America, might find it hard to digest the anger that comes from certain home-grown communities of colour (Black and Latino).  Truth be told, sometimes it can get to be a bit strong... but, if they want to get to know us... meet us in the middle.  WE do it all the time with them... well... maybe not ALL the time.  As for myself, I am always extending myself to others regardless of where they come from.  It seems necessary these days to make it a point to place your self in a position to be able to dialogue.  For all the fire I spit... I can still break bread with others  who totally GET where I am coming from even IF there are those that want to hang onto every word just for the sake of picking an argument without reason.

I find that, by and large, many people in the United States (White, Black, Latino, Asian, Native) don't always want to learn about another's culture preferring to stay within the confines of their own safe zone.  If we could all just "adopt a culture" (so to speak) and take the tyme to cross the line... maybe, just maybe... we might gain a better insyght into what it will take to bring everyone together.