Hush Little Baby Don’t Say A Word

A hush or maybe a slight hiss is the sound or lack of that I heard today while I returned to work two days after the election. I purposely did not go in on Wednesday it was my official “Can’t Take White People Day”. After the surviving the OJ verdict and the angry mob I faced at work I refused to deal with this once again. With OJ there’s no way I could defend him, guilty or innocent he was a wife beater. But when it comes to Obama I don’t want to hear shit. I will go off and as we say it would be on and popping. So for my own safety and the safety of others I choose to stay home yesterday, I considered my day off my own official holiday.

I had a feeling when I went to work today the climate would be somewhat different and as our elders would say stay true to your feelings. Today was a trip, white people who normally speak to me still spoke but couldn’t look me in the eye; it could have been that silly grin I had going on, who knows. Their conversations were brief and overly aloof. What I did see was office doors were closed and I heard the faint sound of the phrase “I can’t believe it” and they weren’t talking about butter. As the few of us who gave each other imaginary fist pounds and my personal favorite the “O” sign modeled after JayZ’s Hov symbol many of us couldn’t help but notice this separation or segregation of office personnel. As one of my colleagues stated “They are pissed off”. While that may be true, guess what I don’t care, they can all personally Kiss My Ass. I just love blogging I can say what I want and they don’t have to know, how therapeutic!!! The more I think about it the angrier I get and the more hilarious it seems to me that they’re mad. In 230 plus years we get our first black President and they’re mad. Folks, 230 plus years nothing but white men and the first black man and they’re PISSED. They feel violated, discriminated and now fear being the minority. Oops sound familiar!?!?!?

In my opinion white people have no reason to be mad, oh please, grow up. One time in history a black man is ruling this country and you’re losing your damm minds. You want to cry injustice and unfairness. Let me tell you what injustice and unfairness really is: This is so good I have to bullet point it.

• Kidnapped from your homeland
• Robbed of your culture, religion and language
• Permanently separated from your family to the point you don’t even know who your real family is
• Women, men and children raped and tortured
• Denied the ability to read
• Set free with no resources onto an angry mob can someone say KKK
• Treated less than a dog
• Have to sit in the back of everywhere

And some of this happened in the past 40 years which is during this lifetime for some of us.

So white people if you want to be pissed off and feel like you’re being targeted you have nothing to fear. When it comes to injustice we as black people have that game beat. You can only cite two times in which you felt injustice and that was OJ and Obama (coincidentally two O(s)). We on the other hand have centuries we can cite so please stop the bullshit. If you want to trade places with us then go ahead and try. I bet you wouldn’t survive one day being black. So take your whinny, woo is me ass and just suck it up. The President is Black and Fabulous and America will be better off with him.

On another note some may think and rightly so that I write kind of black pantherish, kind of a militant if you will and yes I do; as I said before that’s the beauty of anonymous blogging. I choose to stay anonymous because I still have a daytime job and you can imagine how I would scare whitey with my true feelings. While trying to stay on the topic what I would like to say is despite the majority of my feelings I commend those white people who defied bigotry and prejudices to vote for Obama. As I watched the newscast of Harlem, Chicago and all other parts of the country and the world my heart was filled with so much joy not just for Obama but for the legitimate unity I saw. My hat goes off to you and I applaud your courage to stand up for what you believe is right even when you have others in your circle who disagree. That takes real courage and I want to THANK all of you for thinking beyond and executing as such. Maybe America has a chance and as Obama said we can really be the UNITED States!

Have We Overcome?

Well Well Well He did it!!! Barack Obama is the President Elect of the United States! There is joy and euphoria throughout the world. Are you hearing me, throughout the world. Apparently American citizens weren’t the only ones who were suffering under this Bush regime. New Years Day may be January 1st every year but I can tell you this for most folks November 4, 2008 is our official New Years Day!! If my writing could come to words you would truly understand how happy I am or maybe not. My voice is so hoarse from screaming last night that it will take me days to get it back, oh well I’ll live. And live I will do as a witness of one of the most historical times in this nation as I join my fellow compadres who know first hand what our suffrage has been just because of the color of our skin, which brings me to another topic, the media and the general American (white) public.

Throughout the barrage of commentary I’ve noticed that many analyst, journalist, politicians and anyone who feels they can lend an opinion to this historic event have all been sympathizing with the black plight we’ve been experiencing since the first slave ship landed in Jamestown. I’m hearing CNN, MSNBC, FOX even Karl Rove say things like this win is historical for the African American community who have suffered so many atrocities and injustices. MSNBC even had Tavis Smiley on as the resident Black man sufferer talking about the whole Civil Rights movement, Jim Crow, Martin Luther King the whole shebang and all along these white commentators are saying how this was only 40 years ago and how hard we had suffered. Something is a bit amiss about this!

I somehow recall that whenever we shouted discrimination, inequality, racism, we were always told for the most part we were whining or we’re lazy or the best of them all we’re just making excuses. How many times have you heard a white person say their grandfather came over as an immigrant and worked his way up to own the family business, blah, blah, blah and in the same breath it’s usually mentioned how black people make excuses for their dilemmas. The real cause of the dilemma is never mentioned. And when it comes to dilemma I’m talking about basic human rights, the right to use a bathroom, a drink of water, the right to vote! Nope this was our dilemma that prevented us from doing almost anything at all. And as these commentators say it was just yesterday, I’m like REALLY?!?!?! – are they just waking up to this. Most of us already know this was just yesterday. When you still have the same people who were beaten and denied their basic civil right still living to talk about it, guess what yes it was just yesterday! But for today what’s different? The difference now is the face (symbol) of America. Our new leader looks like us, therefore his problems are the same as ours and now those problems are amplified and become all of America’s problems. As I hear this newfound sympathy and understanding I wonder is this all it took, was for one of us to become President to get America’s understanding of what we went through? Or is it because as a society we embrace the ideology of our leader? If that is the case then no wonder why we’ve been in peril for 230 plus years. All of our Presidents have been white men and for the majority racist white men. This means for centuries we as a people have lived under a rule an ideology that does not include us and in no way ever benefited us and amazingly we SURVIVED!

One good thing has come out of this election besides Obama and that is endurance and strength. As I said yesterday no other group of people can compare to our ability to combat injustice and grow stronger with every battle we encounter. Every group except for us has been compensated for their atrocities, yet We Have Overcome all of the garbage that has been in front of us! I know we’re proud of President Barack Obama and we should be damm it!!! But we should also take a minute and be proud of ourselves. We may not be at a point where we’ve completely overcome but Lord knows we’re on the right path to doing so! Once again God Bless You All, Stay Safe and Keep Progressing, Nothing can stop us!!! Love, Blacktina

Throw Your Hands in the Air and Party Like You Just Don’t Care!

Being a Black Puerto Rican I can tell you my family partied for anything. If it’s not a baby shower, the baby’s christening, the baby’s first birthday and then the wedding (sometimes we do things a little different ). The point is we love to party and obviously party for any reason. Why am I bringing this up, well I think they’ll be plenty of partying going on if Obama wins and rightly so. I’ve been hearing commentators, black radio personalities and other media advising us that if Obama wins we need to conduct ourselves in the same classy manner that he has conducted his campaign. OK, who you kidding?!?!?! I do agree that NO we should not be rioting or celebratory shooting, or playing loud rap music filled with obscenities as we roll through white neighborhoods (though that would be funny), NO WE SHOULD NOT being that!!! However, I don’t know about the rest of ya’ll but if Obama wins I will be outside my front door yelling his name. I will have no problem seeing another person of color in the street and tell them Sistah or Brotha Congratulations to us all. I would have no problem defending our President Elect to any white person who is equally pissed off at my joy. No I won’t be silent. I had to be silent when OJ was set free, but this, Hell Naw I’m opening my mouth. See as a people we always have to be silent. Why do we have to be this passive aggressive race who gets crapped on and the one time something good happens we have to be considerate for those who crapped all over us! Yeah they’re feelings might be hurt, but so what, our feelings have been hurt, crushed, bruised, hell we were told we couldn’t have any feelings. So for once and for something that may take another 100 years to accomplish why can’t we scream from the rooftops?; Why can’t we throw Obama parties?; Why can’t we hang a picture of Obama in our office?; Why do we have to be concerned with the feelings of others who will always loathe us and couldn’t less about our feelings? Why Why Why???? Just so we can appear as the bigger person or be like them and hide our feelings in public but when we get home explode the way they do when they probably say Nigger 100x in 2 minutes. Why?? See I’ve never been like them and I never will. Maybe I’m wrong but I refuse to hold my tongue about this historical event my race may achieve. I’m partying with my hands in the air and will make some noise as the fellas say Ho! and the ladies say Owwww!

The Honeymoon Period

“Pins and needles, needles and pins a happy face is a face that grins”. For those of you who grew up in the 80’s and watched reruns of The Honeymooners may remember this little mantra that Ralph Kramden had to repeat in order to deal with his nerves and as usual try not to blow his top. Well folks today I feel like Ralph, I’m not honeymooning but I’m on edge and I’m sure judging by the date many of you know why and probably feel the same. Can someone scream HISTORICAL, JUSTICE, INTEGRITY, PRIDE, EQUALITY. This is what an Obama win will mean to me!

I’m sitting on edge waiting for tomorrow’s results and waiting to tell my daughter that NOTHING can stop her. I have always told my child to strive for the best but I’ve also prepared her for the unnecessary clever obstacles that will she face because of the color of her skin. Now I’m not saying an Obama win will change racism because NO it won’t! Racist will be Racist, hell that’s what makes America. However an Obama win will give all of us hope that it is possible, it’s no longer a dream, a fantasy, an illusion or a Yeah Right moment, but it’s TRUE, A REALITY that will go down in the history books. Imagine our future babies going to school learning about slavery and then moving onto the Civil Rights Movement (Martin) and then the millennium with President Obama, talk about PROGRESSION. It may have been a slow progression but nonetheless it’s still progression! We also need to tell our babies why it has been SLOW, what we as a people have been faced with but how we as a people have endured and persevered! No other race throughout the universe can ever compare to our strong stride, our proud ways and our ability to keep it moving with no help at all. I’m sure many will cry, oh please there’s Affirmative Action and other host of programs. Most of these programs were designed so white people can have jobs and funding. No darling we made it from our sweat, tears and the promise that we know we’re destined for better! Unlike the Jews or the Japanese we’re not able to sue, that’s what they tell us, we’re not entitled to reparations or unpaid wages or civil payments for the brutal destruction of our families, NOPE, not us, but we still come out on top!

I hope to God Obama wins and yes for my own personal reasons and that of my people, I’ll admit that, but more importantly to show that we can lead and change a broken America for the better, something his opponent cannot do!

Pins and needles a painful way to spend the day, but no more painful than my slave ancestors picking cotton after a whipping in 100 degree weather, no this pain is nothing! I’ll hold on to these pins and needles all day today and early tomorrow if I have to. The second part of the saying is a “happy face that grins” and Lord knows tomorrow I hope to be a happy grinning Blacktina! God Bless you all!