blog - gObama 2008
Local school near Kisumu (Kenya) that was named after Sen. Obama visited his ancestral home
(Berlin, Germany - 0.30 a.m. local time)
Suspense - on and on. Although Obama won an absolute majority of all delegates chosen by the people - Hillary is standing tall throughout this battle. Looks like she wants to secure her vice pres post.
As I searched for a picture of the Obama grandmother, I found this picture on the net that shows a school in Kenya named after him. The fact that the people of Africa are in need of a credible visionary figure of their own and have chosen to support Obama in Kenya, makes me ponder on the news about South Africa.
Mandela was and is still that legendary figure. He is now retired and South Africa has spiraled into a chaos of xenophobia and hatred.
I wonder what would Obama do under those trying circumstances?
Is there a top-down approach when people in poverty look for scape-goats and kill other migrant workers?
Can there be a unified (non-Bono)strategy from the government to erase poverty from the vast areas of squatter camps that scar this beautiful continent?
As African people migrate to big cities in search of jobs and better life, there is hope and false promises that drive them. Yes, they flee from war and famine, but why is the agricultural output of African nations dwindling?
No government can change the effects of a global neo-liberal market economy. The ANC government has good intentions, but they are bankrupt when it comes to execution of a combined strategy for the millions of migrants that are living there.
This is a tragedy since millions of potential workers have flocked to SA as the shining symbol of hope and tolerance. As they figured out, that there are not enough jobs for them, it seems the Western promise of democracy and peace is under attack. The despair and ignorance of a few local cab drivers (who sparked off the riots) in the famous township of ALEX, sends a shock-wave through the world. I wonder if Obama could handle this crisis with a remedy of hope... this is real and not for play!
By the way, I sat in the same local taxis every morning and watched these drivers when I crossed the Alexandra market on my way to work in Sandton 2 years ago. These desperate South Africans drivers are fearless and work hard - they are certainly not to blame. But in the fight for survival, where do we draw the line?
Can the so called civilized elite (which I am part of as a Western migrant from the East)stand in moral judgement of these acts of mob violence?
A systemic violence that in a capitalist, post-industrial world pushes the male breadwinner into a landless (meat/miner) worker. Men loose their dignity if they can not own and work the land or run a private enterprise as we can see over and over again. They are normally abused by their nationalist government and have chances to join the army... they will go to war for the nation, tribe, hood. Are we again just in between two world wars? I dare to say: I HOPE not.
Well, on a lighter note check out those sites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbjBHkKiS4c
“This is real and not for play. I'ma vote Obama's way. We 'hood. We votin'. and throwin' it up! F*ck what yo mama say. I'ma vote Obama's way.”
http://www.theroot.com/id/46590
The Obama Hour
Finally, one of us is properly
positioned to run. By "us" I mean Black,
by "positioned" I mean White
and by "run" I mean Race, speeds of darkness,
the way "silver writes" faster than revolution
and the lit and darkening skin of the sky.
The triumphant exasperation, though, belongs
to the word "finally" with its slanted f
signifying relief, a "'bout time" up from the reservoir
of coded sighs we make to mask time,
Colored People's Time, our well-known resistance
to the Romanized face of the clock. To discuss running,
running the country, a black man running,
an African running America, you must discuss Race
including the difficult qualifying times
between the theft of our arrival and hate crimes.
Race as gift, as campaign donation, and gifts matter.
It's racist to erase Race (because "erase"
means Blackness, ethnic cleansing,
get rid of the Blacks); and worse to hack off history
or any limb at anytime, except for purposes
of assimilation and modern design.
In place of the usual halo of numbers, orange balls
and spindles.
Lazy, often late for work, our walk a discourse,
shifting, like the unemployed shadow of a brother
leaning on a corner.
But America prefers Religion to Race
and a clock has disciples, hours,
cuckoos and cock-a-doodle doos.
The people "go to sleep" and the people "wake up"
to nature,
nations and denominations of,
not the bedside duet of alarm and digital glow.
----------------------
Robin D.G. Kelley is the author of Freedom Dreams:
The Black Radical Imagination.
And here is what some journalist thinks about Obama’s internet strategy - which is in fact not new at all.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7412045.stm
This is real and not for play...
Thursday, May 22, 2008
(Berlin, Germany - 0.30 a.m. local time)
Suspense - on and on. Although Obama won an absolute majority of all delegates chosen by the people - Hillary is standing tall throughout this battle. Looks like she wants to secure her vice pres post.
As I searched for a picture of the Obama grandmother, I found this picture on the net that shows a school in Kenya named after him. The fact that the people of Africa are in need of a credible visionary figure of their own and have chosen to support Obama in Kenya, makes me ponder on the news about South Africa.
Mandela was and is still that legendary figure. He is now retired and South Africa has spiraled into a chaos of xenophobia and hatred.
I wonder what would Obama do under those trying circumstances?
Is there a top-down approach when people in poverty look for scape-goats and kill other migrant workers?
Can there be a unified (non-Bono)strategy from the government to erase poverty from the vast areas of squatter camps that scar this beautiful continent?
As African people migrate to big cities in search of jobs and better life, there is hope and false promises that drive them. Yes, they flee from war and famine, but why is the agricultural output of African nations dwindling?
No government can change the effects of a global neo-liberal market economy. The ANC government has good intentions, but they are bankrupt when it comes to execution of a combined strategy for the millions of migrants that are living there.
This is a tragedy since millions of potential workers have flocked to SA as the shining symbol of hope and tolerance. As they figured out, that there are not enough jobs for them, it seems the Western promise of democracy and peace is under attack. The despair and ignorance of a few local cab drivers (who sparked off the riots) in the famous township of ALEX, sends a shock-wave through the world. I wonder if Obama could handle this crisis with a remedy of hope... this is real and not for play!
By the way, I sat in the same local taxis every morning and watched these drivers when I crossed the Alexandra market on my way to work in Sandton 2 years ago. These desperate South Africans drivers are fearless and work hard - they are certainly not to blame. But in the fight for survival, where do we draw the line?
Can the so called civilized elite (which I am part of as a Western migrant from the East)stand in moral judgement of these acts of mob violence?
A systemic violence that in a capitalist, post-industrial world pushes the male breadwinner into a landless (meat/miner) worker. Men loose their dignity if they can not own and work the land or run a private enterprise as we can see over and over again. They are normally abused by their nationalist government and have chances to join the army... they will go to war for the nation, tribe, hood. Are we again just in between two world wars? I dare to say: I HOPE not.
Well, on a lighter note check out those sites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbjBHkKiS4c
“This is real and not for play. I'ma vote Obama's way. We 'hood. We votin'. and throwin' it up! F*ck what yo mama say. I'ma vote Obama's way.”
http://www.theroot.com/id/46590
The Obama Hour
Finally, one of us is properly
positioned to run. By "us" I mean Black,
by "positioned" I mean White
and by "run" I mean Race, speeds of darkness,
the way "silver writes" faster than revolution
and the lit and darkening skin of the sky.
The triumphant exasperation, though, belongs
to the word "finally" with its slanted f
signifying relief, a "'bout time" up from the reservoir
of coded sighs we make to mask time,
Colored People's Time, our well-known resistance
to the Romanized face of the clock. To discuss running,
running the country, a black man running,
an African running America, you must discuss Race
including the difficult qualifying times
between the theft of our arrival and hate crimes.
Race as gift, as campaign donation, and gifts matter.
It's racist to erase Race (because "erase"
means Blackness, ethnic cleansing,
get rid of the Blacks); and worse to hack off history
or any limb at anytime, except for purposes
of assimilation and modern design.
In place of the usual halo of numbers, orange balls
and spindles.
Lazy, often late for work, our walk a discourse,
shifting, like the unemployed shadow of a brother
leaning on a corner.
But America prefers Religion to Race
and a clock has disciples, hours,
cuckoos and cock-a-doodle doos.
The people "go to sleep" and the people "wake up"
to nature,
nations and denominations of,
not the bedside duet of alarm and digital glow.
----------------------
Robin D.G. Kelley is the author of Freedom Dreams:
The Black Radical Imagination.
And here is what some journalist thinks about Obama’s internet strategy - which is in fact not new at all.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7412045.stm