very interesting article about Obama's latest fundraiser at H2O Nightclub out here in DC. It's good to see him connecting with young voters, especially because we are the ones most likely to vote for him. however, I'm still curious to see how he keeps the momentum going. Read on.
from The Baltimore Sun:
Obama's appeal strong with younger voters, regardless of raceThomas F. Schaller
May 30, 2007
I'm not sure whether America is ready yet for a black president, but I do know this much: If a Barack Obama fundraiser last week in Washington is any indication, Americans under 40 sure seem amenable to the idea.
At H2O nightclub along the Potomac waterfront, more than 1,000 people shelled out $100 each to hear the 45-year-old Illinois senator give a short speech. The crowd was predominantly young, professional, racially mixed and full of what Mr. Obama might call audacious hope.
"Everywhere we've gone, we have not just big crowds but diverse crowds - crowds that span the gamut of races, of religions, of regions, of age groups and gender," said Mr. Obama. "And that sense of people coming together is a powerful thing."
When I asked attendees why they were supporting him, the words I kept hearing were "new," "fresh" and "different."
Two Haitian-born sisters in their 20s who became naturalized citizens a few years ago and have never voted in a presidential election showed up at the nightclub to get a closer look.
"I'm supporting him because it seems like he's bringing new ideas," said Daphne Francois, a law student at New York University visiting her sister, Regine, an attorney from Silver Spring. "I think he's trying to be inclusive of all ideas," added Regine Francois. Josh and Micaela, a husband and wife in their mid-30s who asked that their last name not be used, both voted for George W. Bush in 2000 but switched to John Kerry four years later. They found a sitter for their two kids so they could come over from suburban Arlington to check out the first African-American male Democrat elected to the Senate.
"I cannot believe how much he's bringing a new dialogue to the table," remarked Micaela, a Latina who served in the military and is a registered Republican. "He's not the same old, same old."
"We're really hopeful that America can get swept up in a leader, because we really haven't had much leadership in a while," said Josh, who is white and a registered independent.
These are the voters the Obama campaign is trying to lure and motivate.
"Politics in this town seems to always involve power trumping principle," Mr. Obama told the audience. "We get discouraged, and half of us don't bother to vote and the other half go to the polling place and hold our noses and vote against somebody rather than for somebody."
In his speeches, Mr. Obama talks a lot about the crippling power of cynicism. On May 19, he gave the commencement address at Southern New Hampshire University. "I rebelled, angry in the way that many young men in general, and young black men in particular, are angry, thinking that responsibility and hard work were old-fashioned conventions that didn't apply to me," he admitted. "I partied a little too much and studied just enough to get by."
After he and some college buddies "trashed" a dorm room, Mr. Obama's girlfriend pointed out that her grandmother was once a custodian who spent years cleaning up the messes left by thoughtless college kids like him. That moment, he says, caused him to remember that the world didn't revolve around him.
Mr. Obama admonished the new graduates to seek goals beyond the material. "In a few minutes, you can take your diploma, walk off this stage, and go chasing after the big house and the large salary and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should buy," he said. "But I hope you don't. Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a poverty of ambition. ... And it will leave you unfulfilled."
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
i'm still here
:-)
...life is just gettin in the way, is all. I'll be back with more thoughts on the random, more daily obama, and more musings about life in the Nation's Capital.
...life is just gettin in the way, is all. I'll be back with more thoughts on the random, more daily obama, and more musings about life in the Nation's Capital.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
loryn's list of objects worth lusting after
yes that is alliteration.
i haven't done this in a while but with summer approaching i decided it was time to do another list of things i'm lustin' after.
most of you saw my post about my upgrading to a white blackberry pearl, so i wont' repost that. (y'all lazy folks can just scroll down and see the joint). so I'll start with the dress i tried on today at banana republic:
some of you know that i'm a Zeta. well, it's time for a new blue dress. i would look devilishy phine in this thing*, and i know because i tried it on at lunch today. it's about 15o bucks but honestly: i'd drop that much for this thing cuz it's so cute. 100% silk as well.
*see, i was trying to keep from saying "devil in a blue dress" because that is corny.
okay next up:
I was so in lust with this damn thing I wrote a Facebook note about it. it's good for just about any occasion---NPHC info session, sorority chapter meeting, rush, even casual friday at work. and I love the old school flair.
i haven't done this in a while but with summer approaching i decided it was time to do another list of things i'm lustin' after.
most of you saw my post about my upgrading to a white blackberry pearl, so i wont' repost that. (y'all lazy folks can just scroll down and see the joint). so I'll start with the dress i tried on today at banana republic:
some of you know that i'm a Zeta. well, it's time for a new blue dress. i would look devilishy phine in this thing*, and i know because i tried it on at lunch today. it's about 15o bucks but honestly: i'd drop that much for this thing cuz it's so cute. 100% silk as well.
*see, i was trying to keep from saying "devil in a blue dress" because that is corny.
okay next up:
i tried them on. they make me feel like a wanton sex kitten. i don't think there's anything else to say about these shoes. except....will you buy them for me?
and now, the obligatory greek item:
I was so in lust with this damn thing I wrote a Facebook note about it. it's good for just about any occasion---NPHC info session, sorority chapter meeting, rush, even casual friday at work. and I love the old school flair.
I may post more things. for now, this is what I got.
And yes I realize I had a Zeta blue themed-post. eh, deal with it.
Daily Obama: The Obama Girls and Affirmative Action
Good Op-Ed piece about the Obama girls and how they will or won't benefit from Affirmative Action. The author raises good points about the fact that the girls won't have as much of a challenge getting into whatever college they want but it won't be because of their race---it will be because of their class and who their parents are.
I do agree that while race is still a problem in this country, it's class that blocks or allows people to go to college. Like Obama says in the article, there are plenty of poor white children who can't afford to go to school in this country.
A Question Of Race Vs. ClassAffirmative Action For the Obama Girls?
By Eugene RobinsonTuesday, May 15, 2007; A15
Barack Obama doesn't think anyone should cut his two daughters any slack when they apply to college -- not because of their race, at least. In the unlikely event that the Obama family goes broke, then maybe.
In an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Obama waded into the central issue of the affirmative action debate: race vs. class. Perhaps typically, Obama's remarks were more Socratic than declarative. He didn't really answer the question, he rephrased it. Maybe the way he posed it, though, will lead to a discussion that's long overdue.
George Stephanopoulos asked Obama whether his daughters should be able to benefit from affirmative action when the time comes for them to go to college. The girls "should probably be treated by any admissions officer as folks who are pretty advantaged," Obama said.
Stephanopoulos was driving at the question of whether race-based affirmative action programs are still needed. Another way to frame the issue is whether race or class is the more important factor in our society. Are minorities who are raised in middle-class or wealthy homes still held back by racism? Or should we now focus on socioeconomic status as the principal barrier keeping people from reaching their potential?
Obama's answer, basically, was yes. To both questions.
Obama has repeatedly gone on record as a supporter of affirmative action. But "if we have done what needs to be done to ensure that kids who are qualified to go to college can afford it," he said in the ABC interview, "affirmative action becomes a diminishing tool for us to achieve racial equality in this society."
He seemed to side with those who think class predominates when he said, "I think that we should take into account white kids who have been disadvantaged and have grown up in poverty and shown themselves to have what it takes to succeed."
It's hard to disagree with that proposition, especially as economic inequality worsens in this country. Harvard University (where Obama went to law school) has taken the lead in guaranteeing that money will not be an obstacle for qualified low-income students.
But Obama seemed to agree with those who point to the lingering effects of racism when he noted that "there are a lot of African American kids who are still struggling, that even those who are in the middle class may be first-generation as opposed to fifth- or sixth-generation college attendees, and that we all have an interest in bringing as many people together to help build this country."
That observation points to circumstances that have to be taken into account. Diversity, in my view, is very much in the national interest. But diversity is a process, not a destination. We have to keep working at it. And since a college degree has become the great divider between those who make it in this society and those who don't, affirmative action in college admissions is one of the most powerful tools we have to increase diversity.
The formal separate-but-equal framework is long gone, but de facto separation and inequality persist. Minority students are disproportionately disadvantaged by having to attend substandard primary and secondary schools. Their parents are less likely to have attended college and thus may not be familiar with all the things parents have to do to make their children competitive when it comes time to apply for college admission. And while racism is not the institutional and legal straitjacket it was 50 years ago, it persists in subtler yet still pernicious forms.
Yes, class is important. But race is, too, and while I hope we eventually get to the point where race is irrelevant, we still have a long way to go.
As for Obama's assessment of his daughters' privileged status, that's just a statement of the obvious. With such Type A, high-wattage parents, those girls probably will have the grades and test scores to get into any college. And if they don't, they will benefit from a different affirmative action program -- one that for many generations has ushered the academically undistinguished scions of prominent families into the nation's most selective colleges and universities.
Let's not pretend that college admissions has ever been a level playing field. Obama graduated from Columbia; his wife, Michelle, from Princeton. This means that at those two Ivy League schools, their daughters will be "legacy" applicants, just like George W. Bush was at Yale and legions of Kennedys have been at Harvard. Given the Obamas' power and fame, admissions officers at the schools they attended -- and probably at other elite schools, too -- are going to find a way to let the Obama girls in.
I do agree that while race is still a problem in this country, it's class that blocks or allows people to go to college. Like Obama says in the article, there are plenty of poor white children who can't afford to go to school in this country.
A Question Of Race Vs. ClassAffirmative Action For the Obama Girls?
By Eugene RobinsonTuesday, May 15, 2007; A15
Barack Obama doesn't think anyone should cut his two daughters any slack when they apply to college -- not because of their race, at least. In the unlikely event that the Obama family goes broke, then maybe.
In an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Obama waded into the central issue of the affirmative action debate: race vs. class. Perhaps typically, Obama's remarks were more Socratic than declarative. He didn't really answer the question, he rephrased it. Maybe the way he posed it, though, will lead to a discussion that's long overdue.
George Stephanopoulos asked Obama whether his daughters should be able to benefit from affirmative action when the time comes for them to go to college. The girls "should probably be treated by any admissions officer as folks who are pretty advantaged," Obama said.
Stephanopoulos was driving at the question of whether race-based affirmative action programs are still needed. Another way to frame the issue is whether race or class is the more important factor in our society. Are minorities who are raised in middle-class or wealthy homes still held back by racism? Or should we now focus on socioeconomic status as the principal barrier keeping people from reaching their potential?
Obama's answer, basically, was yes. To both questions.
Obama has repeatedly gone on record as a supporter of affirmative action. But "if we have done what needs to be done to ensure that kids who are qualified to go to college can afford it," he said in the ABC interview, "affirmative action becomes a diminishing tool for us to achieve racial equality in this society."
He seemed to side with those who think class predominates when he said, "I think that we should take into account white kids who have been disadvantaged and have grown up in poverty and shown themselves to have what it takes to succeed."
It's hard to disagree with that proposition, especially as economic inequality worsens in this country. Harvard University (where Obama went to law school) has taken the lead in guaranteeing that money will not be an obstacle for qualified low-income students.
But Obama seemed to agree with those who point to the lingering effects of racism when he noted that "there are a lot of African American kids who are still struggling, that even those who are in the middle class may be first-generation as opposed to fifth- or sixth-generation college attendees, and that we all have an interest in bringing as many people together to help build this country."
That observation points to circumstances that have to be taken into account. Diversity, in my view, is very much in the national interest. But diversity is a process, not a destination. We have to keep working at it. And since a college degree has become the great divider between those who make it in this society and those who don't, affirmative action in college admissions is one of the most powerful tools we have to increase diversity.
The formal separate-but-equal framework is long gone, but de facto separation and inequality persist. Minority students are disproportionately disadvantaged by having to attend substandard primary and secondary schools. Their parents are less likely to have attended college and thus may not be familiar with all the things parents have to do to make their children competitive when it comes time to apply for college admission. And while racism is not the institutional and legal straitjacket it was 50 years ago, it persists in subtler yet still pernicious forms.
Yes, class is important. But race is, too, and while I hope we eventually get to the point where race is irrelevant, we still have a long way to go.
As for Obama's assessment of his daughters' privileged status, that's just a statement of the obvious. With such Type A, high-wattage parents, those girls probably will have the grades and test scores to get into any college. And if they don't, they will benefit from a different affirmative action program -- one that for many generations has ushered the academically undistinguished scions of prominent families into the nation's most selective colleges and universities.
Let's not pretend that college admissions has ever been a level playing field. Obama graduated from Columbia; his wife, Michelle, from Princeton. This means that at those two Ivy League schools, their daughters will be "legacy" applicants, just like George W. Bush was at Yale and legions of Kennedys have been at Harvard. Given the Obamas' power and fame, admissions officers at the schools they attended -- and probably at other elite schools, too -- are going to find a way to let the Obama girls in.
Monday, May 14, 2007
ummm...let me upgrade you?
so i've been thinking recently that it's time to upgrade to a smart phone....you know the phones that let you make calls, take pictures, check email, surf the web, automatically clean yr dirty draws...
Now in a perfect world where Loryn was richer than Paris Hilton, the move would be an iphone, but of course we don't live in a world where that is the case. we live in a world where Loryn goes with whatever is affordable after the mail-in rebate. So that means I'll have to just continue to lust after the iPhone from afar...besides, buying an iPhone would definitely mean moving the Cingular network, which trust me, i don't want to think about.
okay maybe not that last one, but i think i'm ready for a phone that does more than just make phone calls. i want the whole experience.
so my younger brother and sister both have sidekicks, and i'm thinking i may want one too. But answer me this....are sidekicks more for just teenagers? like if i get one, will i look like i'm 16?
then there was the blackberry pearl, which was sleeker, sexier, and more grown. I feel like if i REALLy wanna get my grown woman on, this would be the one to get.
Now in a perfect world where Loryn was richer than Paris Hilton, the move would be an iphone, but of course we don't live in a world where that is the case. we live in a world where Loryn goes with whatever is affordable after the mail-in rebate. So that means I'll have to just continue to lust after the iPhone from afar...besides, buying an iPhone would definitely mean moving the Cingular network, which trust me, i don't want to think about.
What do you all think? The fun sidekick to style on people with? or the Blackberry Pearl to pimp with?
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Mayor Fenty, you are the bamma of the week.
As some of you may or may not know, Adrian Fenty, the mayor of DC, has been given the authority to take over the DC public schools. I originally supported that idea, and I applauded Mayor Fenty for having such a passion for changing the way our children are educated in this
city.
Then I read this article and while I still applaud his dedication to improving the school system, he loses some points for plagiarizing HIS ENTIRE PROPOSAL.
What kind of bamma sh*t is that?
Because I KNOW we all learned in grade school that copying other people's work is not the right thing to do. What bothers me is that here he is, heralding this plan as his own and yet it was lifted from someone else's work.
I showed this article to a friend of mine yesterday. He said that while he could see that the plagiarizing issue is bad, "it's a plan to improve the school system, not an application for the Nobel Peace Prize."
I get it. I also get that most policies, especially those involving urban areas, are borrowed from cities and states where those policies worked. But come on a whole document? After telling everybody and their mother that you had all these ORIGINAL plans for improving the school system? That's just embarassing.
Man, I would hate to be in his communications office right now. I bet that office is blowin the hell up. This could be a huge PR let-down for him.
Somebody call Huggy Lowdown, cuz this guy is the bamma of the week.
Monday, May 07, 2007
The Daily Obama: Michelle Obama stands by her man.
I know I'm real late with this one tonite, kids---I got caught up in the matrix that is the Jack Bauer Power Hour (24 for those of y'all in the slow class)--But here's an article about Michelle Obama camapaign for the Barack-star.
I like her more and more by the minute. When I think of her being the first lady I just smile. Hopefully she don't do nothin crazy like tellin folks to "shove it" like John Kerry's woman.
Michelle Obama Campaigns for Husband
By BEVERLEY WANG
The Associated Press
Monday, May 7, 2007; 5:33 PM
WINDHAM, N.H -- Michelle Obama said Monday that although her husband can electrify a crowd with his speeches, the Democratic presidential contender won't be perfect as the campaign drags on.
"Barack has given people that hope, but he's going to get tired. This is a long campaign," Michelle Obama told Democrats gathered for a house party in Windham, N.H. "I joke he's not going to be able to bring people to tears with every speech that he makes. He's going to make stumbles.
"And what's going to keep this going are the people around this room and around this country who are finding other people to get involved."
Michelle Obama, a 43-year-old Chicago hospital executive, drew more media coverage on her solo day trip to the first primary state than some presidential candidates. Her husband, Sen. Barack Obama, was in Detroit, speaking about fuel efficiency and the auto industry.
Obama talked about herself first and her husband second while mingling with voters at the home of a software engineer. She introduced herself as a working-class daughter of public schools and Chicago's South Side, whose parents sacrificed to put her and her brother through Princeton University.
When the topic shifted to her husband, Obama said frankly she was ready to write him off when she first met him.
"His name was Barack Obama, and I thought, 'Well, I'm sure this guy is weird, right?'" Obama said, to laughter. When she found out he grew up in Hawaii _ "Spent his formative years on an island. And I thought, 'Well you've got to be a little nuts.'"
Obama said she quickly changed her mind after their first conversation.
"I realized we had more in common than we thought," she said.
Obama also addressed what some perceive as her husband's greatest flaw as a candidate _ his lack of political experience as a freshman senator.
"I know that experience is important but experience without the sort of moral compass is not enough," she said.
"He doesn't have the check-marked experiences but he has the experience that makes a difference," she added, noting her husband's work as a community organizer, civil rights lawyer, law professor and state lawmaker.
I like her more and more by the minute. When I think of her being the first lady I just smile. Hopefully she don't do nothin crazy like tellin folks to "shove it" like John Kerry's woman.
Michelle Obama Campaigns for Husband
By BEVERLEY WANG
The Associated Press
Monday, May 7, 2007; 5:33 PM
WINDHAM, N.H -- Michelle Obama said Monday that although her husband can electrify a crowd with his speeches, the Democratic presidential contender won't be perfect as the campaign drags on.
"Barack has given people that hope, but he's going to get tired. This is a long campaign," Michelle Obama told Democrats gathered for a house party in Windham, N.H. "I joke he's not going to be able to bring people to tears with every speech that he makes. He's going to make stumbles.
"And what's going to keep this going are the people around this room and around this country who are finding other people to get involved."
Michelle Obama, a 43-year-old Chicago hospital executive, drew more media coverage on her solo day trip to the first primary state than some presidential candidates. Her husband, Sen. Barack Obama, was in Detroit, speaking about fuel efficiency and the auto industry.
Obama talked about herself first and her husband second while mingling with voters at the home of a software engineer. She introduced herself as a working-class daughter of public schools and Chicago's South Side, whose parents sacrificed to put her and her brother through Princeton University.
When the topic shifted to her husband, Obama said frankly she was ready to write him off when she first met him.
"His name was Barack Obama, and I thought, 'Well, I'm sure this guy is weird, right?'" Obama said, to laughter. When she found out he grew up in Hawaii _ "Spent his formative years on an island. And I thought, 'Well you've got to be a little nuts.'"
Obama said she quickly changed her mind after their first conversation.
"I realized we had more in common than we thought," she said.
Obama also addressed what some perceive as her husband's greatest flaw as a candidate _ his lack of political experience as a freshman senator.
"I know that experience is important but experience without the sort of moral compass is not enough," she said.
"He doesn't have the check-marked experiences but he has the experience that makes a difference," she added, noting her husband's work as a community organizer, civil rights lawyer, law professor and state lawmaker.
Oh s#&t, son, it's SA-RA.
So I recently picked up this here album by SA-RA Creative Partners.
I don't know what to say really, except for the fact that I ignored these cats severely for like two years and now I realize that that was pretty lame of me.
This album is a great mix of funk, electronica, soul, and hip hop. It is a smooth, funky, sexy collection of work. Some great cameos by Erykah Badu, Bilal, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and the late great J-Dilla. The Dilla Track may be my favorite. Standout tracks include, "Glorious," "And if," "Rosebuds,", the aforementioned Dilla Track entitled "thrilla," the semi-title cut "Hollywood", and I'm also a big fan of "Sweet Sour You" if not for any other reason than for the fact that Bilal's falsetto=pure sex.
Low points: can't pick a whole lot of them, but i'm going to go with "lean on me" featuring Kurupt (though I like kurupt on here, makes me wanna throw on my blue chucks), and "Tracy"---because it sounds like a Kelis track and I would rather see Kelis on a track like this than this annoying broad I've never heard of.
I also appreciate the slight west coast flavor they bring, seeing as that I am from killa cali and they are too. Given that they share the same hometown of Los Angeles as J*Davey, I wonder if they have collaborated with them? Can someone (*cough* honorable media*cough*) confirm this for me? Furthermore, I wonder if Kanye will sign J*Davey to G.O.O.D records? That would be rather sweet.
I should add that they are Okayartists so you can check them out on that website. You can also check out a pretty decent article about them at HipHopDX.
Oh, back to J*Davey for a second. So the guy in the group, D'Leau....how about I knew him back when we were both pretty young and still living in LA cuz we went to the same church. And his mom sang in the choir and had a beautiful alto voice.
How about, aside from the fact that he had no idea I was alive, I also had the biggest crush on him ever. Yep, sure did.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
sigh...DL on Don Imus
i can't deal.
it wasn't right when Imus said it, and it's not cool when DL Hughley says it either.
and there's no reason why he should be bashing our women on a national television like that.
we need to get rid of this double standard bullsh*t.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
thoughts on the random
On: The Mondays
my grandfather has been really sick lately, so i went home for a few days to see how he was doing and to hang out with my siblings. i got a lot of rest and spent some good time with my family, and then by saturday nite i was back in DC.
needless to say, monday hit me like a ton of bricks. i was just so blown! this had to have been THEE worst case of the mondays i've ever experienced. i looked at my alarm clock after it went off monday morning and just wanted to cry.
and i STILL got in the office at 8:15am, almost an hour earlier than i'm expected to be there--which was probably the strangest thing about it. I was almost certain I'd oversleep and be late for work.
Musings about the metro.
--Is it just me, or is the green line moving WAY faster than the red line nowadays? I live off the green line and i don't remember hte last time i waited more than 5 minutes for the next train. the red line on the other hand is really touch and go. it's a bit strange since it used to be the complete opposite.
--and while we're talking about the green and red lines, i have to say taht those two lines put together have the nicest selection of attractive men. not that i'm necessarily checking htem out, but when you spent 6 years in an all girls institution before going to a co-ed school, you never lose the urge to check out the selection. then it got me thinking: how many successful couples initially met during a ride on the metro?
trying a new recipe
so a few weeks ago, an acquaintance of mine gave me a recipe for sambusas (if you really wanna know, Google). part of the recipe called for me to deep fry the food. well, i think i made the oil too hot, cuz the sambusas were pretty much burned to a crisp.
the second time around they came out fine, but i was real bothered by the first go around because i almost never eff up a recipe. i guess there's a first time for everything.
my grandfather has been really sick lately, so i went home for a few days to see how he was doing and to hang out with my siblings. i got a lot of rest and spent some good time with my family, and then by saturday nite i was back in DC.
needless to say, monday hit me like a ton of bricks. i was just so blown! this had to have been THEE worst case of the mondays i've ever experienced. i looked at my alarm clock after it went off monday morning and just wanted to cry.
and i STILL got in the office at 8:15am, almost an hour earlier than i'm expected to be there--which was probably the strangest thing about it. I was almost certain I'd oversleep and be late for work.
Musings about the metro.
--Is it just me, or is the green line moving WAY faster than the red line nowadays? I live off the green line and i don't remember hte last time i waited more than 5 minutes for the next train. the red line on the other hand is really touch and go. it's a bit strange since it used to be the complete opposite.
--and while we're talking about the green and red lines, i have to say taht those two lines put together have the nicest selection of attractive men. not that i'm necessarily checking htem out, but when you spent 6 years in an all girls institution before going to a co-ed school, you never lose the urge to check out the selection. then it got me thinking: how many successful couples initially met during a ride on the metro?
trying a new recipe
so a few weeks ago, an acquaintance of mine gave me a recipe for sambusas (if you really wanna know, Google). part of the recipe called for me to deep fry the food. well, i think i made the oil too hot, cuz the sambusas were pretty much burned to a crisp.
the second time around they came out fine, but i was real bothered by the first go around because i almost never eff up a recipe. i guess there's a first time for everything.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Daily Obama: Barack Obama, Gospel And Verse And Bromide
Taken from The Day-Connecticut:
Sometimes you take a shot. On Wednesday evening I was interviewing Barack Obama and we were talking about effective foreign-aid programs in Africa. His voice was measured and fatigued, and he was taking those little pauses candidates take when they're afraid of saying something that might hurt them later on.
Out of the blue I asked, “Have you ever read Reinhold Niebuhr?” Obama's tone changed. “I love him. He's one of my favorite philosophers.”
So I asked, What do you take away from him? “I take away,” Obama answered in a rush of words, “the compelling idea that there's serious evil in the world, and hardship and pain. And we should be humble and modest in our belief we can eliminate those things. But we shouldn't use that as an excuse for cynicism and inaction. I take away the sense we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard, and not swinging from naive idealism to bitter realism.”
My first impression was that for a guy who's spent the last few months fund raising, and who was walking off the Senate floor as he spoke, that's a pretty good off-the-cuff summary of Niebuhr's “The Irony of American History.” My second impression is that his campaign is an attempt to thread the Niebuhrian needle, and it's really interesting to watch.
On the one hand, Obama hates, as Niebuhr certainly would have, the grand Bushian rhetoric about ridding the world of evil and tyranny and transforming the Middle East. But he also dislikes liberal muddle-headedness on power politics. In “The Audacity of Hope,” he says liberal objectives like withdrawing from Iraq, stopping AIDS and working more closely with our allies may be laudable, “but they hardly constitute a coherent national security policy.”
In Chicago this week, Obama argued against the current tides of Democratic opinion. There's been a sharp rise in isolationism among Democrats, according to a recent Pew survey, so Obama argued for global engagement. There's been a sharp rise in pessimism about whether America can solve its problems, so Obama argued for optimism and possibility.
In other words, when Obama is confronted by what he sees as arrogant unilateral action, he argues for humility. When he is confronted by what he sees as dovish passivity, he argues for the hardheaded promotion of democracy in the spirit of John F. Kennedy.
The question is, aside from rejecting the extremes, has Obama thought through a practical foreign policy doctrine of his own — a way to apply his Niebuhrian instincts?
Conversational candidate
That question is hard to answer because he loves to have conversations about conversations. You have to ask him every question twice, the first time to allow him to talk about how he would talk about the subject, and the second time so you can pin him down to the practical issues at hand.
If you ask him about the Middle East peace process, he will wax rhapsodic about the need to get energetically engaged. He'll talk about the shared interests all have in democracy and prosperity. But then when you ask him concretely if the U.S. should sit down and talk with Hamas, he says no. “There's no point in sitting down so long as Hamas says Israel doesn't have the right to exist.”
When you ask about ways to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, he talks grandly about marshaling a global alliance. But when you ask specifically if the Iranian regime is deterrable, he's says yes: “I think Iran is like North Korea. They see nuclear arms in defensive terms, as a way to prevent regime change.”
In other words, he has a tendency to go big and offer himself up as Bromide Obama, filled with grand but usually evasive eloquence about bringing people together and showing respect. Then, in a blink, he can go small and concrete, and sound more like a community organizer than George F. Kennan.
Finally, more than any other major candidate, he has a tendency to see the world in post-national terms. Whereas President Bush sees the war against radical Islam as the organizing conflict of our time, Obama sees radical extremism as one problem on a checklist of many others: global poverty, nuclear proliferation, global warming. When I asked him to articulate the central doctrine of his foreign policy, he said, “The single objective of keeping America safe is best served when people in other nations are secure and feel invested.”
That's either profound or vacuous, depending on your point of view.
Sometimes you take a shot. On Wednesday evening I was interviewing Barack Obama and we were talking about effective foreign-aid programs in Africa. His voice was measured and fatigued, and he was taking those little pauses candidates take when they're afraid of saying something that might hurt them later on.
Out of the blue I asked, “Have you ever read Reinhold Niebuhr?” Obama's tone changed. “I love him. He's one of my favorite philosophers.”
So I asked, What do you take away from him? “I take away,” Obama answered in a rush of words, “the compelling idea that there's serious evil in the world, and hardship and pain. And we should be humble and modest in our belief we can eliminate those things. But we shouldn't use that as an excuse for cynicism and inaction. I take away the sense we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard, and not swinging from naive idealism to bitter realism.”
My first impression was that for a guy who's spent the last few months fund raising, and who was walking off the Senate floor as he spoke, that's a pretty good off-the-cuff summary of Niebuhr's “The Irony of American History.” My second impression is that his campaign is an attempt to thread the Niebuhrian needle, and it's really interesting to watch.
On the one hand, Obama hates, as Niebuhr certainly would have, the grand Bushian rhetoric about ridding the world of evil and tyranny and transforming the Middle East. But he also dislikes liberal muddle-headedness on power politics. In “The Audacity of Hope,” he says liberal objectives like withdrawing from Iraq, stopping AIDS and working more closely with our allies may be laudable, “but they hardly constitute a coherent national security policy.”
In Chicago this week, Obama argued against the current tides of Democratic opinion. There's been a sharp rise in isolationism among Democrats, according to a recent Pew survey, so Obama argued for global engagement. There's been a sharp rise in pessimism about whether America can solve its problems, so Obama argued for optimism and possibility.
In other words, when Obama is confronted by what he sees as arrogant unilateral action, he argues for humility. When he is confronted by what he sees as dovish passivity, he argues for the hardheaded promotion of democracy in the spirit of John F. Kennedy.
The question is, aside from rejecting the extremes, has Obama thought through a practical foreign policy doctrine of his own — a way to apply his Niebuhrian instincts?
Conversational candidate
That question is hard to answer because he loves to have conversations about conversations. You have to ask him every question twice, the first time to allow him to talk about how he would talk about the subject, and the second time so you can pin him down to the practical issues at hand.
If you ask him about the Middle East peace process, he will wax rhapsodic about the need to get energetically engaged. He'll talk about the shared interests all have in democracy and prosperity. But then when you ask him concretely if the U.S. should sit down and talk with Hamas, he says no. “There's no point in sitting down so long as Hamas says Israel doesn't have the right to exist.”
When you ask about ways to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, he talks grandly about marshaling a global alliance. But when you ask specifically if the Iranian regime is deterrable, he's says yes: “I think Iran is like North Korea. They see nuclear arms in defensive terms, as a way to prevent regime change.”
In other words, he has a tendency to go big and offer himself up as Bromide Obama, filled with grand but usually evasive eloquence about bringing people together and showing respect. Then, in a blink, he can go small and concrete, and sound more like a community organizer than George F. Kennan.
Finally, more than any other major candidate, he has a tendency to see the world in post-national terms. Whereas President Bush sees the war against radical Islam as the organizing conflict of our time, Obama sees radical extremism as one problem on a checklist of many others: global poverty, nuclear proliferation, global warming. When I asked him to articulate the central doctrine of his foreign policy, he said, “The single objective of keeping America safe is best served when people in other nations are secure and feel invested.”
That's either profound or vacuous, depending on your point of view.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Black people, what the hell are we thinking
For those of you who don't know me, I refer to myself as a post-millenium Womanist. When I was in undergrad, I focused heavily on literature concerning critical race theory and gender studies. For one of my final reseearch papers, I wrote about hip hop feminism and how the onus is on women to change the way we are portrayed in the media. The superheads of the world are popular because we make them popular, we make it okay for Black women to exploit themselves sexually and to be exploited.
But when I saw this video, I realized for the millionth time that it starts in the home. about 45 seconds into this music video for Huey's Pop, Lock and Drop it, you see 8 and 9 year old girls doing exactly that--pop, lock, and dropping it.
I thought I had seen it all. Why is this considered acceptable behavior?
I remember when I had gone shopping about a month ago and I saw a 4 year old girl wiggling her little behind and getting into what the kids call a "3-point stance." Her mother was no where to be found.
Who is teaching our girls that being that sexual at that young of an age is cute? Why are we letting them grow up so fast?
Why do we allow adults to act that way in front of them? Because of course they're learning this at home.
I am a strong believer in girls' advocacy. I think female reproductive health is very important, but what's even more important is stressing maturity--8 years old is just too young for a little girl to be dancing that way. There is nothing cute or charming about a young black girl dancin like she's a stripper and actin like she's doin a tip drill.
A friend of mine suggested that I write a letter to BET. Not that he thought they'd actually pull the video but so that they know that at least one Black woman doesn't tolerate it. But herein lies the dilemma: I know in my mind that this song is degrading to women, with bow wow being heard in the remix tellin a woman to shake her ass and "if you not doin it for me, then do it for these dollahs." I know this song is terrible and that it's just another way that we disrespect each other. I know this, and yet when I was in H2O the other weekend with my girls and a few guys I was the first one cuttin a serious rug when the dj started playing this single. It isn't something I'm proud of, it isn't something I excuse or justify, but I think it's the dilemma that all women face. It is deplorable, and yet we can't get away from that beat.
But I digress. It's time that we stop talking about how f*cked up white kids are and look at our own children and what we're teaching them. We need to stop making videos like this one of our children and passing it off like it's cute.
It's not cute now, nor has it ever been.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Whose is it?
Now most of the time, this is a family blog, but if you're at work or around children, i'd thrown on some earphones or watch when you're alone.
I really debated for a long time about whether or not I wanted to talk about this youtube here on Ignorant Art. Then after actually reading the manuscript and then actually seeing the actual video, I couldn't just ignore this without giving my 2 cents and sharing it with all of you out there in the blog-o-sphere. Ladies and Gents, meet Dr. Alexyss Tylor. I found out later on today that she also has a myspace page, which features a crocheted model of a uterus. That alone just blows my mind.
Firstly, this ish is HILARIOUS, no doubt. Between the phrases, "He's screwing you into submission" and "don't let him hit that bottom" I must have woken up my neighbors with my laughter. It's almost like this woman just has an obsession with the crassness of the words themselves.
Now, there's is NO DENYING that this woman is crazy, as I commented on Facebook today when an acquaintance of mine posted it. But...I have to say....in some ways, she has a point. Yes (good)sex CAN give a man power over a woman. But why?
Where did we get to a point where sexual prowess=world power (so to speak)?
Where did we get to a point where sexual prowess=exertion of dominance in the relationship?
It makes you think about why sex and sexuality can drive the way men and women relate to each other.
It also makes you wonder about the answer to life's eternal question: "can a woman REALLY have two g-spots?"
Monday, April 16, 2007
am i wrong for hopin the girl can read?
i mean....it's cool that she can dance....but i hope she's putting as much attention into her books as she is into walkin it out.
do they have her A+ tests on the refrigerator?
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
the ONLY Don Imus post that matters.
So as most of you know, Don Imus came under fire for his calling the Rutgers Women's Basketball team "nappy headed ho's" among other things (Click here if you have been living under a rock).
He's gotten a lot of flack for the comments...being called a racist, being called a sexist, and recently being taken off the air for two weeks.
Do I think he should be fired? absolutely not. I don't think they were meant to be hateful comments. I do think they were inappropriate, and probably offensive, but I also think this brings up the same type of issue the Michael Richards n-bomb fiasco brings up, and that is this: maybe we, Black people, need to stop calling our women hoes.
I realize that not using the N-word--even if it ends in an 'a'--won't change the racist attitudes of some white people--but it bothers me that when a black man calls a black woman a hoe we look the other way, but let a white man say the same thing to a black woman and it's a travesty.
Tell me, why do we hold white people to a higher standard than we hold ourselves?
I'm not really even talking about the references to bitches and hoes in hip hop--i think that's talked about enough--but this is about every day references to black women as hoes.
Just the other day one of my male friends said he doesn't buy drinks for "hoes in the club"
i've heard "there were some fine hoes there"
"this hoe jus rolled up on me"
and I'm sure there is a black man out there callin his sister/wife/girlfriend/jumpoff etc. a "nappy headed-hoe."
The point is, before we get on a white shock jock's case for degrading our women, maybe we need to check ourselves first.
And that is ALL I am going to say about that.
He's gotten a lot of flack for the comments...being called a racist, being called a sexist, and recently being taken off the air for two weeks.
Do I think he should be fired? absolutely not. I don't think they were meant to be hateful comments. I do think they were inappropriate, and probably offensive, but I also think this brings up the same type of issue the Michael Richards n-bomb fiasco brings up, and that is this: maybe we, Black people, need to stop calling our women hoes.
I realize that not using the N-word--even if it ends in an 'a'--won't change the racist attitudes of some white people--but it bothers me that when a black man calls a black woman a hoe we look the other way, but let a white man say the same thing to a black woman and it's a travesty.
Tell me, why do we hold white people to a higher standard than we hold ourselves?
I'm not really even talking about the references to bitches and hoes in hip hop--i think that's talked about enough--but this is about every day references to black women as hoes.
Just the other day one of my male friends said he doesn't buy drinks for "hoes in the club"
i've heard "there were some fine hoes there"
"this hoe jus rolled up on me"
and I'm sure there is a black man out there callin his sister/wife/girlfriend/jumpoff etc. a "nappy headed-hoe."
The point is, before we get on a white shock jock's case for degrading our women, maybe we need to check ourselves first.
And that is ALL I am going to say about that.
Friday, April 06, 2007
i had to post this
you gotta love the logic.
"but if he's gonna come in here, he's gonna kick MY ass!"
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
I don't normally like to talk about the girl, but...
this, ladies and gentleman, is beyonce's best song. period.
don't argue with me on this one.
Monday, April 02, 2007
alanis morrissette covers "my humps"
i am dyin laughin. alanis morissette is stylin on fergie hard right now.
i like it more than corinne bailey rae's jazz cover of "sexy back"; folks talked about the chick really bad after this, but i secretly dig it.
what is the deal with all these artists re-making pop hits? i mean it's funny but i'm wondering where the trend came from.
nelly furtado re-made Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy"...it was ehh, but if i find it i'll post it up.
i like it more than corinne bailey rae's jazz cover of "sexy back"; folks talked about the chick really bad after this, but i secretly dig it.
what is the deal with all these artists re-making pop hits? i mean it's funny but i'm wondering where the trend came from.
nelly furtado re-made Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy"...it was ehh, but if i find it i'll post it up.
Daily Obama: Jesus Christ, what's next?
i don't really know what to say about this one..so for now, i will say nothing.
From the Washington Post:
Sculpture of Obama As Jesus Causes Stir
By NATHANIEL HERNANDEZ
The Associated Press
Monday, April 2, 2007; 6:02 PM
CHICAGO -- He wears Jesus' robes and a neon blue halo, looks like Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and is causing a stir at a Chicago art school.
An undergraduate student's papier mache sculpture of Obama as a messianic figure _ entitled "Blessing" _ went on display Saturday at a downtown gallery run by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. By Monday, word of the piece had spread on political blogs, and the school had been flooded with calls.
David Cordero, 24, made the sculpture for his senior show after noticing all the attention Obama has received since he first hinted he may run for the presidency.
"All of this is a response to what I've been witnessing and hearing, this idea that Barack is sort of a potential savior that might come and absolve the country of all its sins," Cordero said. "In a lot of ways it's about caution in assigning all these inflated expectations on one individual, and expecting them to change something that many hands have shaped."
Obama's campaign worked Monday to the distance the Illinois senator from the artwork.
"While we respect First Amendment rights and don't think the artist was trying to be offensive, Senator Obama, as rule, isn't a fan of art that offends religious sensibilities," said Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
Cordero said the school had fielded plenty of calls about his work, "some of them from angry people." He also said he had heard from a few potential buyers.
Bruce Jenkins, dean of the art school's undergraduate program, said response to the piece _ part of a student exhibition _ has been mostly positive. He said people should take a close look at the sculpture and the context it was created in before judging it.
"When you see it, when you spend time it with it, you understand that it's not a provocative work at all," Jenkins said. "It opens a set of questions."
The Archdiocese of Chicago had not seen the work as of Monday afternoon and could not comment on it, said spokeswoman Dianne Dunagan.
The piece comes amid Catholic outrage in New York that led to an art gallery canceling an exhibit featuring a nude 6-foot-tall, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ.
Artist Cosimo Cavallaro said Saturday that he has received threats as a result of the sculpture, called "My Sweet Lord." Cavallaro said the controversy spurred "thousands" of e-mail messages from people offering help, donations and exhibition space.
From the Washington Post:
Sculpture of Obama As Jesus Causes Stir
By NATHANIEL HERNANDEZ
The Associated Press
Monday, April 2, 2007; 6:02 PM
CHICAGO -- He wears Jesus' robes and a neon blue halo, looks like Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and is causing a stir at a Chicago art school.
An undergraduate student's papier mache sculpture of Obama as a messianic figure _ entitled "Blessing" _ went on display Saturday at a downtown gallery run by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. By Monday, word of the piece had spread on political blogs, and the school had been flooded with calls.
David Cordero, 24, made the sculpture for his senior show after noticing all the attention Obama has received since he first hinted he may run for the presidency.
"All of this is a response to what I've been witnessing and hearing, this idea that Barack is sort of a potential savior that might come and absolve the country of all its sins," Cordero said. "In a lot of ways it's about caution in assigning all these inflated expectations on one individual, and expecting them to change something that many hands have shaped."
Obama's campaign worked Monday to the distance the Illinois senator from the artwork.
"While we respect First Amendment rights and don't think the artist was trying to be offensive, Senator Obama, as rule, isn't a fan of art that offends religious sensibilities," said Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
Cordero said the school had fielded plenty of calls about his work, "some of them from angry people." He also said he had heard from a few potential buyers.
Bruce Jenkins, dean of the art school's undergraduate program, said response to the piece _ part of a student exhibition _ has been mostly positive. He said people should take a close look at the sculpture and the context it was created in before judging it.
"When you see it, when you spend time it with it, you understand that it's not a provocative work at all," Jenkins said. "It opens a set of questions."
The Archdiocese of Chicago had not seen the work as of Monday afternoon and could not comment on it, said spokeswoman Dianne Dunagan.
The piece comes amid Catholic outrage in New York that led to an art gallery canceling an exhibit featuring a nude 6-foot-tall, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ.
Artist Cosimo Cavallaro said Saturday that he has received threats as a result of the sculpture, called "My Sweet Lord." Cavallaro said the controversy spurred "thousands" of e-mail messages from people offering help, donations and exhibition space.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Kanye West-The "I'm Good" Mixtape
I was just thinking about this album this weekend. It actually defined my sophomore year at GW. That was the same year that College Dropout dropped, and also Kanye came to perform at my school as well.
Anyway, it was the soundtrack to my first summer in DC as well. constant play on my big massive stereo in Schenley fo-oh-fo' (404, y'all). My stereo was such a beast, you could hear it all the way down the staircase.
listen to the mix tape here.
Anyway, it was the soundtrack to my first summer in DC as well. constant play on my big massive stereo in Schenley fo-oh-fo' (404, y'all). My stereo was such a beast, you could hear it all the way down the staircase.
listen to the mix tape here.
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