Tavis and Teddy

Your Brooklyn Sis is getting it together, second semester senior style, so please forgive the lack of regular postings and don't forget to wish me luck.

In the meanwhile, Massachusetts (my second home) Sen. Ted Kennedy has stepped out and officially backed our boy Barry.
While the Civil Rights OGs continue to look backwards and shuffle along to the tune of cronyism Sen. Kennedy and others have chosen to look forward.
THIS IS OUR DAY!

so lets make it happen on Super Tuesday folk

The Hope and the Dream

Sen. Obama's full speech given at Reverend King's church reminds one why hope is always audacious.

watch. learn. vote

voting for the revolution

Cornel West once said, "You can't lead the people if you don't love the people. You can't save the people if you don't serve the people." No two men embodied this love ethic more than Brothers Malcolm and Martin. And as our nation commemorates MLK's (or Martin Lutha the Kang's) birthday it is only right that Brooklyn Sis takes time out to reflect on our hard won rights. Paid in blood and paid in full. The night has been long, but we made it to the other side, we saw the rays of a bright new sun.
But the question remains, what have we done to further our journey to real equality?

On my last day on the job as a student-teacher at a NYC public high school, I decided to throw off the kid gloves. I came out swinging, straight kicking the truth to the young black youth, like Wu Tang. But my 12th graders were too busy smoking cess and drinking beer, not really tryna hear what I was kicking in they ear. I was trying to engage them in some conversation over the 2008 election - aka, the most important Presidential race of our generation. Who were they down with and why? But the kids were more interested in talking about which member of the senior class rocked the flyest gear on the regular. There are probably one hundred good reasons for this type of pervasive apathy. Endemic poverty, miseducation, the forsaken promise of the battle for equal rights are but a few. We know this, but it is my prayer that we do not let this golden opportunity pass us by. If we don't inspire a new generation of educated voters we are not only then we are in effect taking the future out of our hands. Apathy is never a good look.
We have the chance to light a fire within a whole generation. We demand change, because it is ours to have. It is our right and our legacy.

Rest in power Brother Martin.
Rest in power Brother Malcolm.

The World Is Yours

Whenever things get a little crazy, I let Nasir kick some righteous rhymnes in my ear.And given the recent tenor of the Democratic race, I'm going to be bumping the '94 classic "Illmatic" on repeat. But as as you listen to this classic in your dusty old discmen I have a few questions to pose to ya'll.

Why are so many ol' school civil rights heads talking so reckless about Sen. Obama? Is patronage in another Clinton White House that important?Have Bob Johnson and Andrew Young lost their ever loving minds? I mean I except this mess from the founder of BET, but Andrew Young? MLK must be weeping in heaven.What the hell is the race card anyway? And for that matter what is the gender card, and how does one pull it? More importantly, could women of color pull both?Why do pundits keep insisting that our boy Barry (thats Sen. Barack H. Obama, Jr. to you) has transcended race? How can one transcend their skin color, herritage and background?Why is Patricia Williams the truth, and what makes Charlie Rose lowkey bomb?
And as usual Chris Rock brings it on home - there must be something special in that Bed-Stuy air

the battle to be the first

During every Black History Month celebration of my childhood, we were always provided lists of "black firsts"; the first African-American Supreme Court Justice -Thurgood Marshall, the first African American woman to venture into space-Mae Jameson, and the first African American to win a Nobel Peace Prize- Dr. Ralph Bunche. This list goes on and on, and hopefully on Super Tuesday (February 5th aka Brooklyn Sista's birthday) we will be talking about another black first - the first African American Democratic Presidential candidate.

However, another Senator is trying to make history as well; Hillary Clinton is vying to be America's first woman president. While Jamaica, Pakistan, Liberia and Chile have all embraced female leadership, we have lagged behind. The United States remains as mysgonistic as it is racist, and both have an uphill battle ahead of them. But it cannot be denied that our country is in store for some seismic changes, as people co-sign on the prospect of having either an African American or a woman as Presidents.

But as all politics are personal and these two candidates are being pitted against each other as both of their camps court the woman and the black vote respectively. Women ralled around Sen. Clinton in her surprising win over Sen. Obama in the New Hampshire primary, although the polls showed Obama leading with a 10-12 percentage point lead ( we won't go into how polls don't effectively account for racial prejudice just yet). And in the upcoming South Carolina primary, where African Americans make up 50% of the Democratic base, the Obamistas are out in full force, billing their boy as the embodiment of "the Dream" of our ancestors and MLK.

This proud moment in our nation's history, in which we have the opportunity to look at ourselves differently, has been marred by a little bit of "who has it worse" type mudslinging. Peep Gloria Steinem's New York Times op ed peice in which she argues that, "Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life..." Ms. Steinem has seemingly forgotten the restivive forces of race and socio-economic status. She has also forgotten how race and gender intersect, leaving black women to contend with the crushing realities of instituionalized racism and sexism. Perhaps Alice Walker should pay Steinem a visit and remind her of the tenents of womanism. Even if Sister Walker does hammer home the need for feminist theory to be more inclusive of women of color, to honor our contributions and to recognize our struggles, interests of the feminist and civil rights movements have not always converged and in many ways have shut black women out.

So what is the woman of color to do? The same thing as every other concerned citizen. Educate herself on the issues and come to an educated decision on who she will be voting for come Primary Day.

Yes We Can

*disclaimer: while not an overtly politcal blog, in the weeks and days leading up to Super Tuesday Brooklyn Sis will be posting primarily on the campaign. Bet on Black - Obama '08*

I could on on and on about why the good Senator did not win the New Hampshire primary, but I'll leave that to the NY Times Caucus blog. Instead of talking about the defeatism amongst people of color about the prospects of a black Democratic nominee or President. Or instead of even talking about how we have allowed ourselves for too long to be controlled by real and perceived racism in our political actions, quitting before we've even started the race. Nor will I talk about the need for folk to educate themselves on the candidates and not to simply marry themselves to a political family because of a moment back in '92 when a certain governor from Arkansas played the sax on Arsenio.

Instead, I'm going to let Barack Obama do the talking. I hope his words inspire you to join the cause and get involved. Yes we can!

Big Fairy Tale

The perennial favorite of black America has lost many cool points from your favorite Brooklyn Sis.

In lieu of HRC's (that's Hillary Rodham Clinton to you) win in New Hampshire, I've decided to do what little I can do help further Sen. Obama's campaign. And to that end, its time to keep things all the way live about the Clintons and the former President's disgraceful display while on the stump. While addressing a member of the press, good ole Bill decided it was the perfect time to get at Obama for daring to be a viable candidate. In his tirade he all but called Obama, boy, chalking up his candidacy to a "big fairy tale", i.e - a black man who believes he actually has a shot as President must be dreaming.
Indeed, Sen. Obama is dreaming. Dreaming of an America that can make good on its promise of racial understanding, in which a black candidate isn't counted out because he is seen as "unelectable" on account of his race.

Nice Start

It looks like 2008 is getting off to a good start. Our boy Barack (pronounced as in "I rock" not "Iraq"), has trounced the competition in the Iowa caucuses, the first vote of the election year. I was a bit nervous about whether or not the Obama team could galvanize enough support in such a homogeneous state, but clearly the people want change and in the eternal words of another black leader, Sam Cooke "a change is gonna come".