Obama’s Presidency Means It’s Time for Each of us to Help Create the Society he so Eloquently Spoke Of
- By Jolanda Jones
- Published 07/7/2009
- Economics
- Unrated
It took over 200 years for a Black to hold the highest political office in the United States and arguably the world. We definitely should celebrate independence alright—the independence to be intelligent without shock and disbelief; the independence to shatter unflattering stereotypes (since most stereotypes of the Black community are unflattering); the independence to break immeasurable barriers introduced by centuries of bitter racism and hate; and the independence to finally prove that Blacks are not the second class citizens that were excluded in the “all men are created equal” segment of the Declaration of Independence! Countless notable and prominent Blacks, from the Slavery Era, to the Civil Rights Era, and now to the new Millennium, have cemented their place in history to make this mind-set possible. President Obama’s victory was the Black community’s victory specifically and the worlds’, generally.
His election instilled overwhelming feelings of confidence, which had been suppressed by many years of de facto and de jure oppression. When he took the oath of office on January 20, 2009, the Blacks’ community’s hopes and dreams of higher achievement for our race sat high upon his shoulders. But those feelings have not yet been transferred and put into concrete action by us.
After all the “Yes We Cans” and the belief that President Obama is the realization of Dr. King’s Dream, my concern is that the fanfare and Black progress may settle into apathy. Did we really think that it would be that easy?
That his success would just transfer to us through osmosis with no action required of us? We need to help him with coordinated and collaborative action! We must take greater strides to become a better group as a whole. To achieve this goal, we must acknowledge two aspects of consciousness discussed in the Africana Studies discipline, which plays a huge role in the pathway for political, economic, and social success or failure.
Consciousness towards oppression and consciousness towards victory are two purposes that differ considerably. Black scholar, Cornel West uses the term neolism or neolistic to describe an individual who recognizes how bad a situation is, but they do not have a solution for it. It is the most elemental form of consciousness because it is rather simple to place responsibility and subsequent blame on someone else (hint, hint that’s those who would blame everything on President Obama).
Consciousness towards victory is thinking victoriously rather than focusing on the negative oppression.
Individuals who are conscious towards victory clearly have a positive attitude and strong beliefs that all things are possible. We have more inspiration because we have a Black president. The problem is we need more than the inspiration; we must buy ourselves some boots and pull ourselves up by our boot straps.
President Obama is a human. In other words, he’s not perfect, and history shows us that no previous president was perfect.
Let’s not just wait for President Obama’s excellence to manifest itself as long lasting, as only history will show that. We must create our own; right here, right now.
This requires constructive actions with significant results.
We need to volunteer in our communities. Gentrification is an issue that is claiming many of our urban areas.
The suburbanites want to move back to the city, “clean it up” and drive the housing costs in the once inner-city community to costly prices.
We must volunteer and contribute to non-profit organizations that will use the time, efforts, and resources to seek grants to improve our urban communities, so they can maintain their character. The Independence Heights, Third Wards, Sunnysides, Kashmere Gardens, and Acres Homes of the world may not yet be the most aesthetically pleasing communities, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and, these communities are beautiful to us.
We need to create and head our own non-profits. Our non-profits should pick up the slack for what the government is unable to do. The S.H.A.P.E. Community Centers, Hester Houses, Beulah Shepard Community Centers, Tejano Centers, Tracy Gee Community Centers and Covenant Houses of the world genuinely bridge that gap.
They work with children of incarcerated parents; help ex-offenders re-enter society; teach our children the importance of our past; provide educational tutoring; feed the hungry; help veterans; bridge the digital divide; care for our senior citizens; and provide moral, mental, and physical support for the destitute, parentless, young adults, etc. We need to be more involved with the political process from running for political office to donating and volunteering for or on political campaigns. Political equality is an essential principle to acquiring social, economic, and educational fairness.
It stresses that all citizens are sufficiently capable of participating equally with others in the governing process.
We need to register ourselves and others to vote. If we saw nothing else from the Election of 2008, we saw how our vote made a difference in the primaries and in the general election.
Previously apathetic first-time voters were the difference! As we’ve just fired up our bar-b-que pits; watched the fire works and fanfare; and lounged with family and friends in celebration of the U.S.’s independence, we must remember that with independence comes a huge responsibility. The time has come for each of us to actively contribute our part to the change.
It’s time to believe in ourselves as much as we believe in our president. It’s time for us to use our minds and our ambitions to help create the society our president spoke of so eloquently on Election Night. If you aren’t fired up and ready to go, then something is wrong with you! I’m fired up and ready to go; now, what about you?
PICKING UP THE SLACK: For the past four years, Abundance Living, a reentry program for ex offenders has been located in Acres Homes. Organizers have recently begun the resurrection of McMaster’s Restlawn Cemetery. The cemetery is located across from Cemetery Beautiful on Wheatley in Acres Homes. Abundance Living has partnered with Project Respect and is reclaiming lost resting places and restoring them to their rightful and respectful condition. The City of Houston has supplied the project with the necessary landscaping equipment to perform this arduous task. Over the summer they will specifically provide and compliment this project with that personal touch that our bereaved ancestors so endearingly deserve. In the photo above, Perry Kyles points towards a headstone that was hidden by the overgrowth.
His election instilled overwhelming feelings of confidence, which had been suppressed by many years of de facto and de jure oppression. When he took the oath of office on January 20, 2009, the Blacks’ community’s hopes and dreams of higher achievement for our race sat high upon his shoulders. But those feelings have not yet been transferred and put into concrete action by us.
After all the “Yes We Cans” and the belief that President Obama is the realization of Dr. King’s Dream, my concern is that the fanfare and Black progress may settle into apathy. Did we really think that it would be that easy?
That his success would just transfer to us through osmosis with no action required of us? We need to help him with coordinated and collaborative action! We must take greater strides to become a better group as a whole. To achieve this goal, we must acknowledge two aspects of consciousness discussed in the Africana Studies discipline, which plays a huge role in the pathway for political, economic, and social success or failure.
Consciousness towards oppression and consciousness towards victory are two purposes that differ considerably. Black scholar, Cornel West uses the term neolism or neolistic to describe an individual who recognizes how bad a situation is, but they do not have a solution for it. It is the most elemental form of consciousness because it is rather simple to place responsibility and subsequent blame on someone else (hint, hint that’s those who would blame everything on President Obama).
Consciousness towards victory is thinking victoriously rather than focusing on the negative oppression.
Individuals who are conscious towards victory clearly have a positive attitude and strong beliefs that all things are possible. We have more inspiration because we have a Black president. The problem is we need more than the inspiration; we must buy ourselves some boots and pull ourselves up by our boot straps.
President Obama is a human. In other words, he’s not perfect, and history shows us that no previous president was perfect.
Let’s not just wait for President Obama’s excellence to manifest itself as long lasting, as only history will show that. We must create our own; right here, right now.
This requires constructive actions with significant results.
We need to volunteer in our communities. Gentrification is an issue that is claiming many of our urban areas.
The suburbanites want to move back to the city, “clean it up” and drive the housing costs in the once inner-city community to costly prices.
We must volunteer and contribute to non-profit organizations that will use the time, efforts, and resources to seek grants to improve our urban communities, so they can maintain their character. The Independence Heights, Third Wards, Sunnysides, Kashmere Gardens, and Acres Homes of the world may not yet be the most aesthetically pleasing communities, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and, these communities are beautiful to us.
We need to create and head our own non-profits. Our non-profits should pick up the slack for what the government is unable to do. The S.H.A.P.E. Community Centers, Hester Houses, Beulah Shepard Community Centers, Tejano Centers, Tracy Gee Community Centers and Covenant Houses of the world genuinely bridge that gap.
They work with children of incarcerated parents; help ex-offenders re-enter society; teach our children the importance of our past; provide educational tutoring; feed the hungry; help veterans; bridge the digital divide; care for our senior citizens; and provide moral, mental, and physical support for the destitute, parentless, young adults, etc. We need to be more involved with the political process from running for political office to donating and volunteering for or on political campaigns. Political equality is an essential principle to acquiring social, economic, and educational fairness.
It stresses that all citizens are sufficiently capable of participating equally with others in the governing process.
We need to register ourselves and others to vote. If we saw nothing else from the Election of 2008, we saw how our vote made a difference in the primaries and in the general election.
Previously apathetic first-time voters were the difference! As we’ve just fired up our bar-b-que pits; watched the fire works and fanfare; and lounged with family and friends in celebration of the U.S.’s independence, we must remember that with independence comes a huge responsibility. The time has come for each of us to actively contribute our part to the change.
It’s time to believe in ourselves as much as we believe in our president. It’s time for us to use our minds and our ambitions to help create the society our president spoke of so eloquently on Election Night. If you aren’t fired up and ready to go, then something is wrong with you! I’m fired up and ready to go; now, what about you?
PICKING UP THE SLACK: For the past four years, Abundance Living, a reentry program for ex offenders has been located in Acres Homes. Organizers have recently begun the resurrection of McMaster’s Restlawn Cemetery. The cemetery is located across from Cemetery Beautiful on Wheatley in Acres Homes. Abundance Living has partnered with Project Respect and is reclaiming lost resting places and restoring them to their rightful and respectful condition. The City of Houston has supplied the project with the necessary landscaping equipment to perform this arduous task. Over the summer they will specifically provide and compliment this project with that personal touch that our bereaved ancestors so endearingly deserve. In the photo above, Perry Kyles points towards a headstone that was hidden by the overgrowth.