Public Post
JD invited me to see Barak Obama with him tomorrow.
Well...actually he challenged me to see Obama. *lol*
I keep getting the, "Ami - what do you think of Barak Obama" question from people, which annoys the crap out of me (no offense to my darling f-listers who've asked me that). I mean, no one asks me, "Ami - what do you think of Hilary Clinton," even though I'm a woman!
Why? Because I'm a black woman - emphasis on black, first, then woman.
(You can argue against this claim all you want but it won't stop it from being true, and it happens to 'us black folk' all the freakin' time. Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill? Oh yeah. OJ? Yep.)
My responses tend to be equally obnoxious things like, "I try not to (think of person X)," or, "Why - do I suddenly represent the entire black populace, now?"
BUT, JD's challenge that I intentionally stay ignorant to be as obnoxious as possible to these queries has some truth in it. I mean, why don't I know more about Barak Obama?
(Okay, he didn't actually put it like that - I'm taking politico-poetic license.)
Obama's a potentially viable candidate - especially now that California has moved up its primary (the argument being that early front-runners with name cache will have a much better chance of locking in the official candidacy if they're popular here, and he's popular here). He also has a remarkably similar background to myself...
Part of the problem is I don't like having to choose between the potential of having the first woman in the White House versus the first black in the White House. I'm afraid it'll polarize the Democrats, or worse - we'll wind up with them as running mates and be stuck with another Republican president because is the US really ready for the first black AND woman in the White House? (And no, I'm not so sure Giuliani or McCain 'wouldn't be that bad' - I've heard that before and it wasn't true.)
So I'm sucking up my ignorance and going to see the man speak tomorrow, on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon...in Oakland, where he's arguably more popular than all but three or four other places in the country (ie Chicago, Detroit, etc.)...and there will be many, MANY people and I can feel my agoraphobia creeping in even as I type... Still, it's a ticketed event so maybe it won't be so bad?
Also on that front:
selkie63 posted this:
Chris Rock on if America is ready for a Black president:
"It's ready for a retarded president, why wouldn't it be ready for an African American president?"
LMAO! Except...I don't like to laugh at people with mental disabilities, being one, myself. Thing is, Bush isn't retarded, he's criminally stupid...or just ambitious, lazy and stubborn... Either way, he's a menace.
Also, I went to Yoshi's last night with a friend to see/hear Randy Weston and Billy Harper (really, you can't go wrong with jazz and Japanese food!). When did I suddenly get a social life?!?! Sure, it was my New Year's resolution, but I've always failed at it before. Well...go, me! *g*
Well...actually he challenged me to see Obama. *lol*
I keep getting the, "Ami - what do you think of Barak Obama" question from people, which annoys the crap out of me (no offense to my darling f-listers who've asked me that). I mean, no one asks me, "Ami - what do you think of Hilary Clinton," even though I'm a woman!
Why? Because I'm a black woman - emphasis on black, first, then woman.
(You can argue against this claim all you want but it won't stop it from being true, and it happens to 'us black folk' all the freakin' time. Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill? Oh yeah. OJ? Yep.)
My responses tend to be equally obnoxious things like, "I try not to (think of person X)," or, "Why - do I suddenly represent the entire black populace, now?"
BUT, JD's challenge that I intentionally stay ignorant to be as obnoxious as possible to these queries has some truth in it. I mean, why don't I know more about Barak Obama?
(Okay, he didn't actually put it like that - I'm taking politico-poetic license.)
Obama's a potentially viable candidate - especially now that California has moved up its primary (the argument being that early front-runners with name cache will have a much better chance of locking in the official candidacy if they're popular here, and he's popular here). He also has a remarkably similar background to myself...
Part of the problem is I don't like having to choose between the potential of having the first woman in the White House versus the first black in the White House. I'm afraid it'll polarize the Democrats, or worse - we'll wind up with them as running mates and be stuck with another Republican president because is the US really ready for the first black AND woman in the White House? (And no, I'm not so sure Giuliani or McCain 'wouldn't be that bad' - I've heard that before and it wasn't true.)
So I'm sucking up my ignorance and going to see the man speak tomorrow, on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon...in Oakland, where he's arguably more popular than all but three or four other places in the country (ie Chicago, Detroit, etc.)...and there will be many, MANY people and I can feel my agoraphobia creeping in even as I type... Still, it's a ticketed event so maybe it won't be so bad?
Also on that front:
selkie63 posted this:
Chris Rock on if America is ready for a Black president:
"It's ready for a retarded president, why wouldn't it be ready for an African American president?"
LMAO! Except...I don't like to laugh at people with mental disabilities, being one, myself. Thing is, Bush isn't retarded, he's criminally stupid...or just ambitious, lazy and stubborn... Either way, he's a menace.
Also, I went to Yoshi's last night with a friend to see/hear Randy Weston and Billy Harper (really, you can't go wrong with jazz and Japanese food!). When did I suddenly get a social life?!?! Sure, it was my New Year's resolution, but I've always failed at it before. Well...go, me! *g*