YES WE DID!!!!!: He did it ^_^

On Novemeber 4, 2008, Barack Hussein Obama was declared to be the 44th President of the United States of America. To me this historic moment meant a lot because as young black woman growing up in America, I was constantly told what I could not do because of my skin color, not because I was not capable, but because other people in high positions were still too ignorant and racist to allow me to do such things. I cried like a baby because I was sooooooo happy.

Yesterday, I overheard my drawing professor talking with a woman (another student who is in the 23 age + program) say that her parents cried (not tears of happiness) but boo-hoo cried because their leader, our leader, is black. I know there have been derogatory text messages passed around, one that said: you're gonna need some water b/c there will be saltines walking around...now I was thinking this is just a bad joke that people should not be passing around, but unfortunately in (almost) every joke, there is some kernel of truth--in this case there was.

There was a classmate who put on her facebook status: well welcome socialism and communism. F*** the N*****s....needless to say she was reported to our school's honor council, whether or not she received punishment is unbeknown to me. My World History Professor at the beginning of class Wednesday afternoon said regardless of who you voted for this is a historic moment and you should be proud that in a country with legal slavery just 150 years ago could have an African American voted into office. There were grumbles such as "history my a**." Oh, my favorite facebook status (i'm being sarcastic if you couldn't detect it): oh don't worry, he'll be assassinated anyway.

These people talk about him like he's not a person, like he's not a father, like he's not a son, like he's not a husband, and like he's not the president of the United States. So has King's dream been achieved. On paper, it has been achieved for years--on paper. I would like to say I am living the dream, people are still racist, but they cannot legally stop me from receiving my college education, cannot legally stop me from living my life of freedom. But examining the hearts and minds of all Americans, some people out there refuse to educate themselves and put aside blind ignorant hate; therefore some aspect of the dream will never be achieved and there will still be a need for affirmative action--for the people in high places who slyly try to hold people back.

Some people are saying "the dream" has been achieved since Barack has become president, but if that truly is the case, then that "dream" was already achieved on Nov. 3, 2008 the only difference was no one had voted yet. I beg to differ--"the dream" has not been truly achieved in that respect; otherwise Barack would not have had to have secret service protecting him since BEFORE he officially decided to run for the presidency.

I say, to those who say "the dream" has been fully achieved because of Barack winning, then it was already achieved when Bush was in office because of all the other accomplishments and jobs and careers African Americans have done. I say, to those who say "the dream" has not been achieved, no it has not, but Barack winning is a sign of it being a long time coming, but we have an even longer way to go. Look at what people said when he ran, he's a terrorist, he wants socialism and things of the like. As soon as the day comes that a Hispanic individual runs for office, people are going to be saying they're going to let all the illegal immigrants in and things of the like, watch.

Until then, I am extremely glad that I can say there is a first family in the history of the United States that looks like my family. Perhaps one day, they can drop the African off of African American, because I have never spent even one day in that CONTINENT (this is to call out the fact that African American does not even specify which country my decedents come from.) I am an American, just like my president, who this time actually happens to look like me (complexion-wise.)

Janie's Gotta Gun Scene from not another teen movie...

this scene always has me rollin

Somethin' I gotta get off my chest....respond if u want

I feel like there’s all of these people voting for the candidate that they think will enforce the quote “Christian” rules the best. First of all, if you force someone to do the right thing, they are not going to understand it because they do not believe what you believe so they do not live by your standard. I personally think it is wrong to force someone to live by standards of something which they do not believe in. Apparently God does not agree with that either since He has given us free will. People just need Jesus, not to have rules enforced on them. They do not understand picking up their cross and bearing it because they do not know Jesus who died on the cross. Maybe Christians should be less concerned with relying on the government to enforce “Christian” rules and should start relying on themselves to do the work and evangelize to instill Christian values in the American people. You cannot change one’s behavior and expect their faith to be changed. The people need to get faith first, accept Christ, and then the change can begin. Until then, you cannot force someone to live by that in which you believe/have faith.

SNL: Biden/Palin Debate

Hilarius! Enjoy ^_^

A Woman's Worth by Goldie Taylor

A Woman's Worth
We've come a long way baby
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
By Goldie Taylor
I have been a mother all of my adult life. A single working mother. I put off dating, took menial jobs far beneath my qualifications and baked my share of ginger bread cookies for PTA Night, all so that three incredible children could have a better life. I chose their lives over mine. I don't have to tell you that it wasn't easy. Unfortunately, my story, our story, is not unique.
We slept in cars, bought groceries with food stamps and prayed for a better day. When that wasn't enough, I put myself through school at Emory University and took a part-time job as a staff writer at the Atlanta Journal Constitution. That was over a decade ago.
Along the way, things got better. I've been an executive at two Fortune 500 companies and a practice director at two multinational public relations firms. Today, I own an advertising agency and I've authored two novels. A third and fourth are on the way, God willing. All of this was possible because somebody laid a brick or two on the road for me.
A few weeks ago, I woke in tears. It was my 40th birthday and certainly not a time for sadness. Rather, I cried in joy because for the first time I realized and could embrace the value of the struggle. The bright little girl, who once cried in my arms because we didn't know where we were going to live, was headed off to Brown University . The small boy who had been the "man of the house" far too soon was now truly a man. And the tiny, angelic baby who had come to this world precious and innocent just 15 months after him was now a 16 year old girl headed out to her first job interview.
For all of this, maybe I should be proud of a woman like Sarah Palin. Maybe, just maybe, I should be rejoicing in John McCain's selected running mate.
But I'm not.
I am not a "bed wetting liberal" nor am I a "right-wing zealot." What I am is a working mother. And I cry foul.
I won't, for a moment, denigrate her experience or lob spit balls at her family. I will, though, take issue with what she knows. Or more succinctly, what she does not know. Living in Alaska , I'm not sure how much she knows about the people living in inner city Baltimore . I don't know how much she cares about the 125 murders this summer in Chicago . I have no idea what she believes about HIV/ AIDS and the havoc it wrecks on Black women or the cancer rates in East St. Louis . She hasn't said nary a word about Hurricane Katrina or the infant mortality rates in Appalachia .
I do know that she's a life-time member of the NRA, a proponent of individuals who wielded the very weapons that killed my father and brother. I do know that she “lives really close to Russia ,” but I'm not so certain she is ready for Putin. I know she wanted to ban books for public libraries and sex education in schools, but that her 17 year old is pregnant and preparing for a shotgun wedding. I know that she loves her husband enough to allow him (and probably did herself) use her office to settle a personal score--one that the McCain campaign would now like to cover up under a blanket of Juneau snow. I know that the Alaska Independent Party, and its secessionist platform, was enticing enough for her to attend its conference (and for her husband to become a card carrying member). Does she love her country? I'm sure. Enough to support those who want to leave it.
But I have no earthly idea what she knows (or could possibly know) about national domestic policy or foreign diplomacy. For all of her working class values, she never once mentioned the Middle Class in her diatribe that mocked her opponent's experience. Having been the mayor of Wasilla (pop. 6,000 at the time) and governor of Alaska (a state a smaller than the county I live in) for a little over a year, she felt she was qualified to do that. And obviously, so did John McCain.
If she's qualified, then so am I.
But in this country I love, she has been afforded the ability to run. The very constitution she says doesn't apply to the men at Guantanamo says she can. But this is about more than that.
As Gloria Steinem said in a recent Los Angeles Times editorial, "Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie."
The good news is thanks to Shirley Chisholm, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Angela Davis, Condoleeza Rice, Anita Hill, Madeline Albright, Maxine Waters, Kathleen Sebelius, Hilary Rodham Clinton and a slew of others, there are 18 million proverbial cracks in the ceiling. Our collective political and economic power is due to the strides (and leaps) they, and others, took on my behalf.
I am grateful. I am deeply humbled to stand on the bricks they'd laid before me.
But, whatever our struggle was (and is) that last thing I want is to be patronized. Just as I cannot support just any African American who decides to offer themselves up for public service, I will not toss my vote to someone just because we share the same chromosome mix. To do so would dishonor the vow I made to my children, to myself. I did not vote for Al Sharpton, wasn't old enough (nor would I have) voted for Jesse Jackson and I certainly will not support Sarah Palin. Identity politics, especially in this case, are a sham of the worst order.
When I cast my vote, it will be for people who will lay more bricks for people like me. It will be for people who will put diplomacy before war, challenge us all to provide healthcare for the sick, help another child go to college, and check the special interests in Washington .
This fall, I'm not looking for a woman. I'm looking for a brick layer.
I could care less if that person hasn't spent "enough" time in Washington or can "properly field dress a moose". I could care less if that person likes hockey, soccer, football or table tennis. I could care less if they graduated from Harvard or the University of Iowa . I'm a Christian, but I could care less if they are down with Deuteronomy, Leviticus or Numbers. I want them to uphold the Constitution.
So no, I will not sit idly by as they attempt to suspend habeas corpus at Guantanamo Bay, engage wiretaps on American citizens without a warrant, and hide behind executive privilege when they are caught firing attorney generals based on how well they tow the Republican line. I won't let them cost us $12 billion a month fighting a war that should have never been authorized and never been waged. Not while working people lose their homes to predatory lenders and watch as we bail out the financial institutions that created the housing crisis.

I will not, in the name of history, vote for a woman like Sarah Palin who does not share my values.
But here’s what I will do.
I will continue raising money for Barack Obama. I will get on the phone again and call people in distant states I've never met. I will e-mail, call, and knock on doors until the final vote is cast. I do this, not because he shares my skin, but because I admire his principals and he shares my values. I do this because Barack Obama is more than a community organizer, he is a bricklayer. And he sees -- just as he sees the light in Michelle's eyes -- my struggle, my worth as a woman.