"Revisiting The Reverand"
"Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race." -MLK, Jr.
"They ask if our own nation wasn't using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent." -MLK, Jr.
"And I come by here to say that America, too, is going to hell if she doesn't use her wealth. If America does not use her vast resources of wealth to end poverty and make it possible for all of God's children to have the basic necessities of life, she, too, will go to hell." - MLK, Jr, Memphis, Tenn., March 18, 1968
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Neither this (nor Obama's very clear separation from Rev Wright) changes much. I think that the overall message...the overarching point that is tantamount is that political systems (the inequitable DEM-nominating system that makes the ordinary voter obsolete due to the SuperDelegates, the voter-nullification inherent in the American national Electoral College System as it relates to electing a President, the disproportionate effect that money, power, and elite status have on elections, etc) need to be brought to account for any notions (tangible effects) that veer away from the person-oriented emphasis and equal value that the Constitution and higher powers of morality hold-to-bear for ALL people, regardless of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, political positioning, religion, immigrant status, sexual orientation, educational background, etc. I think that the question...that many of us have to do a "self-check" about is" "Are we more concerned about Obama being elected or do we have a greater concern for having sound and just policies that serve the needs of the "high-and-mighty" and the needs of the "low-and-downtrodden"...equally"??
Those are BIG IDEA issues...and those do not so readily fit into the 5-second soundbytes (and the air time that has been sold to advertisers that shop products on erectile dysfunction, soap, feminine hygiene products, pharmaceuticals, groceries, or the next theatrical blockbuster...that fund the bottomline profit margin of the corporate-owned "media"). These BIG IDEAS are often shaped and molded by BOTH internal and external forces...and that's the thing that (sorely) a lot of folks, a lot of citizen-voters and residents...don't seem to get (or don't want to get), and the media is not putting those viewers in the most advantageous position to get [it]. For all of the folks that are "comfortable" with the system, then things are good. For all the folks that are "uncomfortable with" (and "discomforted by") the political system and the millions of voiceless that they represent, the "agitation" that Rev Wright and those of his ilk brought was necessary. I didn't (don't!) agree with everything that Rev Wright said. I didn't (don't!) agree with everything that Obama espouses. But...I agree with the fact that both are free (and have serious duties) to walk the path they feel has been laid out for them. I think Obama's distance and speech...was more about what he perceived as Rev Wright's "attack on his integrity" (by intimating that Obama was "being a politician," it may give some the feeling that Obama is not sincere, not genuine, and lacks integrity). That is something that most anyone would take very personally and may disassociate as a result (btw: I do think that some citizen-voters may think that it smacks of hypocrisy because when Obama talked about opposing NAFTA and reforming it, his campaign official told Canadian officials on the plane (and this was recorded as you recall) that "oh, this is just politics...he's just being political." That official remains with the campaign and Obama did not disassociate himself from him.).
I started with the MLK quotes above...because many "romanticize" the actions and memories of MLK. He was fiercely anti-establishment, anti-status quo, and "raged against the machine." He used many of the Black Liberation Theology tactics and imagery that Rev Wright incorporates. But...those are conveniently forgotten. He talked about America going to hell. He talked about America being the most violent nation (and that being an embarrassing thing - maybe he would have the same kind of "for-the-first-time-I'm-proud-to-be-an-American" moments that Michelle Obama had). Who knows? But..."the system" (and all of its incidents and attributes that retard, rather than advance, ALL people...fairly) needs to be RE-SHAPED and RE-IMAGED and RE-IMAGINED. That is only going to happen due to the AGGRESSIVE efforts by those stakeholders within the system, and those stakeholders that are more external to the system. And...Obama is one of those inside stakeholders. As a liberal progressive, there's nothing that I'd like more than to see a Black man (this Black man) as President. As a liberal progressive, and in the same vein as Cornel West's statements...in the same vein of "some" of Rev Wright's statements...and in the same vein as those that share the "same space" in the liberal progressive movement that I am a part of...Obama-as-President will be the highest representative of "the system" and if we are going to be true to "change," then he will equally be challenged...not-as-a-person, not-as-a-symbol-of-advancement, not-as-a-Black-man...but as the de facto and de jure head of that system. Together (external and internal forces aligned with "creative tension"), this inside/outside approach may move America from "being great" to being "THE GREATEST THAT IT CAN BE."
Progressively,
LeftAngst
"They ask if our own nation wasn't using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent." -MLK, Jr.
"And I come by here to say that America, too, is going to hell if she doesn't use her wealth. If America does not use her vast resources of wealth to end poverty and make it possible for all of God's children to have the basic necessities of life, she, too, will go to hell." - MLK, Jr, Memphis, Tenn., March 18, 1968
----------------
Neither this (nor Obama's very clear separation from Rev Wright) changes much. I think that the overall message...the overarching point that is tantamount is that political systems (the inequitable DEM-nominating system that makes the ordinary voter obsolete due to the SuperDelegates, the voter-nullification inherent in the American national Electoral College System as it relates to electing a President, the disproportionate effect that money, power, and elite status have on elections, etc) need to be brought to account for any notions (tangible effects) that veer away from the person-oriented emphasis and equal value that the Constitution and higher powers of morality hold-to-bear for ALL people, regardless of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, political positioning, religion, immigrant status, sexual orientation, educational background, etc. I think that the question...that many of us have to do a "self-check" about is" "Are we more concerned about Obama being elected or do we have a greater concern for having sound and just policies that serve the needs of the "high-and-mighty" and the needs of the "low-and-downtrodden"...equally"??
Those are BIG IDEA issues...and those do not so readily fit into the 5-second soundbytes (and the air time that has been sold to advertisers that shop products on erectile dysfunction, soap, feminine hygiene products, pharmaceuticals, groceries, or the next theatrical blockbuster...that fund the bottomline profit margin of the corporate-owned "media"). These BIG IDEAS are often shaped and molded by BOTH internal and external forces...and that's the thing that (sorely) a lot of folks, a lot of citizen-voters and residents...don't seem to get (or don't want to get), and the media is not putting those viewers in the most advantageous position to get [it]. For all of the folks that are "comfortable" with the system, then things are good. For all the folks that are "uncomfortable with" (and "discomforted by") the political system and the millions of voiceless that they represent, the "agitation" that Rev Wright and those of his ilk brought was necessary. I didn't (don't!) agree with everything that Rev Wright said. I didn't (don't!) agree with everything that Obama espouses. But...I agree with the fact that both are free (and have serious duties) to walk the path they feel has been laid out for them. I think Obama's distance and speech...was more about what he perceived as Rev Wright's "attack on his integrity" (by intimating that Obama was "being a politician," it may give some the feeling that Obama is not sincere, not genuine, and lacks integrity). That is something that most anyone would take very personally and may disassociate as a result (btw: I do think that some citizen-voters may think that it smacks of hypocrisy because when Obama talked about opposing NAFTA and reforming it, his campaign official told Canadian officials on the plane (and this was recorded as you recall) that "oh, this is just politics...he's just being political." That official remains with the campaign and Obama did not disassociate himself from him.).
I started with the MLK quotes above...because many "romanticize" the actions and memories of MLK. He was fiercely anti-establishment, anti-status quo, and "raged against the machine." He used many of the Black Liberation Theology tactics and imagery that Rev Wright incorporates. But...those are conveniently forgotten. He talked about America going to hell. He talked about America being the most violent nation (and that being an embarrassing thing - maybe he would have the same kind of "for-the-first-time-I'm-proud-to-be-an-American" moments that Michelle Obama had). Who knows? But..."the system" (and all of its incidents and attributes that retard, rather than advance, ALL people...fairly) needs to be RE-SHAPED and RE-IMAGED and RE-IMAGINED. That is only going to happen due to the AGGRESSIVE efforts by those stakeholders within the system, and those stakeholders that are more external to the system. And...Obama is one of those inside stakeholders. As a liberal progressive, there's nothing that I'd like more than to see a Black man (this Black man) as President. As a liberal progressive, and in the same vein as Cornel West's statements...in the same vein of "some" of Rev Wright's statements...and in the same vein as those that share the "same space" in the liberal progressive movement that I am a part of...Obama-as-President will be the highest representative of "the system" and if we are going to be true to "change," then he will equally be challenged...not-as-a-person, not-as-a-symbol-of-advancement, not-as-a-Black-man...but as the de facto and de jure head of that system. Together (external and internal forces aligned with "creative tension"), this inside/outside approach may move America from "being great" to being "THE GREATEST THAT IT CAN BE."
Progressively,
LeftAngst
posted by LeftAngst at 2:58 PM
1 Comments:
LeftAngst - Where have you been? It has been over a year since your last post. I have never felt the need to comment before tonight, but when I saw your most recent posting I had to let you know how much your thoughts have been missed. I really enjoy reading your work. Your writing is brilliant and extremely expressive. It forces one to think about the issues. Continue to "blog progressively" and a little more frequently. Excited about your return. We anxiously await your next post.
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