Commentary
Robinswing, Black Kos Editor
I woke up this morning with the thought...next weekend the president elect will be Barack Hussein Obama. Needless to say this has been a good day.
It’s been a good day in spite of those folks who are quaking in their boots waiting for the outcome of a foregone conclusion. In fact if it were anybody else they would go ahead and call it now. The writing on the wall is not hieroglyphics.
There are those who seem to think that reading the writing on the wall will jinx something. As if. This is an idea whose time has come. Nothing stops it.
I am not superstitious. My kid brother used to call it stupid station. John McCain is superstitious. Or more aptly, stupid station. ‘Nuff said.
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If I were a superstitious woman I would drape my television with garlands of garlic least palin come into my home whilst I am out of the room and away from the remote. I do not watch her or her running mate. On purpose. I do not like their funky vibe. I do not care what they say. They do not speak to me. I have no need of garlic. I ain’t scared of no ghost. It’s the ancestors I am concerned with.
There are times when I can hear the voices of my ancestors. They speak to me and not only cry out for justice, but shout out their blessings. I imagine that on Tuesday night I will hear from them in a voice I have not heard before. Utter jubilation. We’ve never been here before. Not even close.
Barack Hussein Obama is the answer to over four hundred years of prayers and longing.
The ancestors have been waiting for this time since that first child looked upon the face of slavery. This is what freedom is about. Free to be anything you want to be regardless of your race. We’ve been telling ourselves that this is the truth. Now, the energy around Barack Hussein Obama is the realization that it was indeed true.
Last year when the veil was lifted I saw something I will share with you now.
At first there was a fine mist covering everything. Suddenly I saw a light and could make out the figure of a man. Superman.
I saw something else as well.
Superman wears Obama Pajamas.
Now, run and tell that.
The tragic murders of Jennifer Hudson's family are a crushing reminder of the many ills Barack Obama cannot magically heal.
The Root === What Hope Can't Fix.
As Jennifer Hudson closed her eyes, holding that last note of the national anthem at the Democratic National Convention in August, one can only imagine what she was dreaming in that brief moment. Certainly not about the nightmares October would bring.
As much of the country is brimming with promise, poised for hopeful discussions about how far we've come as a nation, the shocking and brutal murders of Hudson's mother, brother and nephew in Chicago are vicious reminders of the harsh realities in many black communities that will remain unchanged next week—regardless of the outcome on Nov. 4.
Hudson's Oscar, her No. 1 hit and her $100,000 reward weren't able to save her family from the combustible mix of social forces that left her loved ones vulnerable in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago. And as inspiring and transformational as he may be, there will be nothing a President Obama can do to magically erase years of crumbling schools, more convictions than graduations, absent role models and father figures, crack vials and corner liquor stores.
"Michelle and I were absolutely heartbroken to learn about this unimaginable tragedy, and we want Jennifer to know that she is in our thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time," said Sen. Obama in a statement released by his campaign....... More
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Ebony / Jet === Hip-Hop Isn’t Dead, Just the Female MC.
At the BET Hip-Hop Awards, there was not one female rapper nominated.
Unfortunately, that’s not an oversight since, truthfully, there are no female rappers of note to nominate. This stark reality makes the female rap medley featuring MC Lyte, Yo-Yo, The Lady of Rage and Salt-N-Pepa especially bittersweet. Their ability to still command the stage after all these years draws even more attention to the disappearing female MC.
Since these ladies came to rap prominence, hip-hop has expanded considerably. From coast to coast, state to state, there never seems to be a drought of young men picking up the mic. It’s not that some women aren’t trying. The problem is the standards have changed. It would be unfair to blame it all on Lil Kim, Foxy Brown and Trina but it’s hard to deny that these women have played a significant role in sexing up female rappers. A male journalist friend once tagged Lil Kim "a lyrical porn star" and I can’t say that I completely disagree.
There’s nothing wrong with celebrating female sexuality but it’s quite a different story when it’s used as a crutch. What endeared us to Salt-N-Pepa in particular was that they were average fly girls: not overly sexed, but not unladylike either. Hip-Hop resonates for a lot of listeners because, at the end of the day, most of the guys on wax are djays trying to make a better way. Female rappers too often miss that mark. And it’s not always their fault....... More
Former NBA star Charles Barkley spoke Monday to CNN's Campbell Brown about politics, race and his plans to run for governor in his boyhood home state of Alabama.
CNN === Charles Barkley
Brown: Talk to me a little bit about your own political aspirations. You said in the past that you want to go back to Alabama. That is home for you.
Barkley: Alabama needs a lot of help. You know Campbell, the reason I have become really pro-active -- and to be honest with you I never really got involved with politics until John Kerry and John Edwards last time. And the reason I'm supporting the Democratic Party [is] no more than I like Barack. I think he is a friend of mine. I think he is a wonderful, wonderful person. The reason I voted for John Kerry last time and have been more out there this time, I look at the -- it's really about rich people versus poor people and I think it is a travesty what they have done to poor people in this country. And lets be realistic, it doesn't, George Bush -- I don't care. It's not going to have any effect realistically on my life who the president is. The reason I am supporting the Democratic Party, I think it is a bona fide tragedy what has happened to poor people in this country and the gap between the rich and the poor is wider than it has ever been. You got this bailout situation, I just think it's a travesty.
Brown: So are you going to run for governor?
Barkley: I plan on it in 2014.
Brown: You are serious.
Barkley: I am, I can't screw up Alabama.
Brown: There is no place to go but up in your view?
Barkley: We are number 48 in everything and Arkansas and Mississippi aren't going anywhere...... More
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NY Times === Unease Sits Heavily in a Group of Black Voters.
For weeks now, James Jones has been extra courteous in traffic and at the gas station because he has an Obama sticker on the back of his truck. "Something like that might make a difference for Barack Obama," Mr. Jones explained. "I’m not taking a chance."
Mr. Jones, a black warehouse worker, bought campaign signs for his yard and made sure his family had valid voter registration cards. He and his wife cast their votes 10 days early to avoid last-minute problems at the polls.
So imagine Mr. Jones’s disappointment this week when he got word of a rumor making its way around his humble southeastern part of town — that early voting is nothing more than a new disenfranchisement scam, that early votes are likely to be lost and never counted.
"I went to the library where I voted and I said, ‘Ma’am, I heard rumors that early voting is dangerous, is that true?’ " Mr. Jones, 47, said he had asked an election worker. "She said: ‘It’s pretty well safe. I wouldn’t worry about it.’ "
But in conversations with about a dozen Jacksonville residents in cafes, outside churches and at their homes over three days, Mr. Jones and many of his black neighbors worry anyway, unable to put aside the nagging feeling that somehow their votes will not be counted....... More
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The Root === Why Sarah Palin is getting no love from black women.
An evening at the Urban League of Central Carolinas was advertised as a discussion of the black women's agenda with a multigenerational panel. And it followed the program, until the topic turned to Sarah Palin.
That's when it got really interesting.
You think Barack Obama exposed a racial divide this election season? Bring up the Republican vice presidential nominee and stand back. While some white women admire the self-styled "hockey mom," and believe that, "she's just like me," you will not get that reaction from many black women.
Of course, my poll isn't scientific and no group is monolithic. But please, trust me. This reaction is from a usually calm person who nonetheless suppresses the urge to scream whenever Palin appears onscreen. Even Tina Fey's Saturday Night Live impression makes me skittish.
I wouldn't call it "Palin derangement syndrome," but I still find myself wondering, "What gives?"
One woman on the panel, a multilingual business analyst, who is a wife and mom, drew nods when she said of Palin: "I don't see her as a qualified person to run the country." "She's not a Republican Hillary," she said....... More
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Eboney / Jet === The GOP manufactured voter fraud lie.
Now that we know the polls for the Presidential election are looking increasingly worse for John McCain of Arizona, those on the ground, working the streets of voter America, trying to get the vote out, and most importantly, the votes counted, expect a tsunami of voter challenges on Election Day. It is, as many have asserted, one way the Republicans can make it close. And the GOP is aware if they can make it close, they can win it. The bogus election of 2000 tells them so.
The latest evidence of the coming wave of GOP voter challenges that is percolating is the ACORN voter registration fraud scandal, or should I say, the scandal that isn’t really a scandal. ACORN (stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), a well respected community organizing group that, for decades, has worked in poor and low income communities on a variety of issues, describes the manufactured scandal, as a pretext for a Republican attempt to jack the election through voter suppression.
"The thing that is not funny is that they are going to bring an army of challengers to polling places," an ACORN official in North Carolina advised me. The alleged voter registration fraud scandal (the McCain campaign also tried to link Barack Obama to the scandal) was implemented according to the same official to "divert attention away from ...efforts to challenge legal voters."....... More
BBC === A rebel leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo whose forces are threatening the city of Goma has told the BBC he has declared a ceasefire.
Renegade General Laurent Nkunda urged government troops to follow suit.
Thousands of people have been fleeing an upsurge in fighting in the east in recent days, pouring into Goma.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the violence was "creating a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic dimensions" and urged a truce.
Gen Nkunda told the BBC: "We are not far from Goma but because there is a state of destabilisation in the town we decided in our movement to cease fire and unilaterally to proclaim a ceasefire."....... More
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BBC === A Miami jury has convicted the son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor for torture and conspiracy.
Chuckie" Taylor - who was born in the United States as Charles McArthur Emmanuel - faces a possible life sentence for the crimes. They were committed between 1999 and 2003, a period when he was in charge of a notorious Liberian military unit.
The case was the first test of a 1994 US law allowing the prosecution of citizens who commit torture overseas. Charles Taylor is awaiting his fate at a court in The Hague - he denies 11 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Chuckie Taylor is due to be sentenced on 9 January.
Torturing group
Both father and son have fallen from positions of great power and, if Charles Taylor is found guilty, both would face the prospect of lengthy spells behind bars.
Charles Taylor Snr faces war crimes charges in The Hague ....... More
Racist Dirty Tricks in WI: "Change means BLACK!" by ThatTallGuy
I see Black People or How the "Left" Will Help to Suppress Black Turnout... by mka193
SNL Black Face. by Dr Teeth
"I do not want a black man running my country" - McCain Supporters in PA say "Bomb Obama" by HansBennett
Early black vote so far Blowout: up to 300% of 2004. by HEAT
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Commentary
dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
I have one quick message to all readers. VOTE! No more needs to be said. I will see you on the otherside of November 4th! Let's make history!