Good Morning, Sunshine

To fall in love,
with the things you do.
Don’t sell yourself
to fall in love
with those things you do.

~Slum Village, Fall in Love~

Bush said he has some regrets. I hope all those people who voted for him twice have some regrets too. ~CNN~

Ya know, I’m actually not convinced that Oprah made a huge difference for Obama. I mean, I’m sure it didn’t hurt, but Obama has his own brand of magic outside of Oprah’s well-known powers. ~BET~

Is there a grandmother of the year award? If so, this woman wins hands down. At 56 years old, she was the surrogate mom to her daughter’s triplets. Yes, TRIPLETS.  ~Detroit Free Press~

I can’t tell you how much I love to see my Detroit folks getting the shine they deserve in the national media. Black Milk, ya’ll. ~All Hip Hop~

In case this was tearing you up inside, that 150-year-old turtle who went missing a few weeks ago, decided to mosey on home. He’s doing just fine. ~SF Gate~

 

Towards A More Perfect Union: Empowering Youth

So, me and you (yo’ momma and yo’ cousin too) helped my main homie President-Elect Barack Obama make his way into the White House. Now that we all have attended the rallies, bought the buttons and downed shots at the word “maverick” in debates, we have to get down to business. My “Towards A More Perfect Union” series will look at what we (the people we have been waiting for) can do to help Obama get this country on the right track. You down? Cool, let’s go.

GOAL: Empowering Youth

REASON: Whitney said it best, the children are our future. Young people right now are in the middle of a toxic intersection of easy (and often wrong/misleading) information via the internet, an embarrassingly inadequate public school system, extreme financial instability for their families due to the plummeting economy and layoffs announced by the thousands almost daily, mind numbing (literally) music that does little more than encourage virtual sex on the dancefloor and conspicuous consumption and to top it all off, we are pillaging the earth at record speed due to our need to fill up plastic monster trucks for the rough terrain of suburan cul-de-sacs. The rugrats of today will be running this country tomorrow, so we have to make sure they are as spiritually, intellectually, morally and physically prepared as possible to take on the enormous task of being productive world citizens. Doing this helps our main homie Obama because as we set an example for the young people, we will simultaneously be contributing to making the American Dream a reality. Plus, we have to make sure Obama 2.0 is in the making. Click on the link below to see a few concrete ways we can work towards the goal of empowering youth.

 

Good Morning, Sunshine

I’m so happy to have you here
Standing right by my side
Is it a dream or reality
If it’s a fantasy, please don’t wake me

~Guy, Let’s Chill~

He’s 8 years old and he’s charged with two counts of murder. ~CNN~

Folks keep dropping off their wayward teens to Nebraska hospitals. ~KETV~

R. Kelly’s 15-year-old nephew was shot allegedly as he tried to rob a barbershop. ~BET~

Hey Erykah, here’s when it’s useful to be a “bag lady.” ~WBIR~

The Obamas met with President Bush and his wife. ~Salon~

 

Good Morning, Sunshine

I’m sure though I’m not sure
But if we never try, We’ll never know
It’s better to have loved then not to loved at all.
Not trying is worse than to stumble and fall
And if we do, I’d rather it be with you
Cause at least there will be sweet memories.
Oh I’m not scared…

~Jazmine Sullivan, Lions and Tigers~

My main homie President-Elect Obama is all about getting stuff done. Word. ~BBC~

Some of this is just goofy and some of it is hilarious. The writer is transporting us into the future and we get to see the fates of some of the familiar faces on the 2008 presidential campaign trail. Rudy Giuliani’s future had me dying laughing. ~Salon~

This radio guy named Jim Quinn definitely put his foot all up in his mouth. He had a pretty ridiculous answer to a question he asked himself. The question was “What’s the difference between a welfare recipient and a slave?” I’ll let you clink on the link to see the answer. I don’t get too upset about these overtly racist nutjobs with radio shows and what not though. They have an audience. They can say whatever they want as far as I’m concerned and people can complain about it as much as they want too. Gotta love the first amendment. ~BET~

Well, I’ll be darned. Looks like Sarah Palin may have been good for something after all. ~Washington Post~

 

Good Morning, Sunshine

Whose world is this?
“It’s yours!”
It’s mine, it’s mine, it’s mine

~Nas, The World Is Yours~

The presiential election is a wrap, but there’s still a few Senate races that are up in the air. ~CNN~

Some very cool pictures of my main homie Obama. ~Boston Globe~

Here’s a list of some extremely wrong predictions given during the presidential campaign. ~Salon~

California is getting the side eye from. You elected the terminator as your governor twice and now you’ve banned gay marriage? Who are you people? ~KCRA~

This is a long article, but it’s interesting. It’s about how society is sexualizing very very young girls and how unhealthy that is. ~Daily Mail~

 

A couple thoughts about President Elect Obama

Barack Hussein Obama will be the 44th president of the United States
of America.  I felt strangely confident that he would win, so I didn’t
have any anxiety about that on election day, but I was (and still am)
incredibly excited about this new chapter in this country’s history.
Besides being completely enveloped by the rush of joy at the bar where
my husband and I watched the election results, I was elated to see the
pictures and video of people all over the world celebrating Obama’s
win. Take that in for a moment. People across the globe have been
wearing Obama t-shirts, making up songs and dances about him and
praying for his ascent into the White House. When is the last time the
whole world was so invested, so enthused (100,000-strong crowd in
GERMANY?!)  about an American president? Never.

There also has never (in my lifetime anyway) been a president who was
able to mobilize the American people in such large numbers. McCain was
right about Obama being a celebrity, he absolutely gets rock star
attention, but it’s not for doing drugs or flashing the paparazzi.
Obama has so captured the attention of the world because he appeals to
our higher selves, the parts of us that believe in creating a more
perfect union and believe that we can actually do something towards
that goal. Obama said we are who we have been waiting for and he’s
right.

So many of us have invested so much into his campaign that we feel
like WE are moving into the White House.  In a way we are. Obama is
definitely yoked with (and lifted by) the hopes and dreams of millions
of people who are now looking at him as the ultimate living symbol of
inspiration. We’ve all worked so hard to get him there and now we need
to work just as hard WITH him to get this country on the right track.
We can’t get lazy and expect Obama to become a magician and solve all
of our problems.

For that reason, I have decided to start a new blog series entitled
“Towards A More Perfect Union.”  In it, I will focus on a particular
goal such as empowering youth fore example and I will also have
practical objectives we achieve to reach our goal such as becoming a
mentor, hanging out with your nieces/nephews/cousins, etc.  I’ll keep
doing the series as long as I keep coming up with stuff and as long as
I feel so inspired to do so. The series will hopefully be a guide for
all of us to be the best Americans, the best world citizens and the
best people we can be.

 

Our 44th President, Barack Obama

I have so many thoughts and emotions swirling around right now. Did you watch all of that last night? Obama didn’t just win, he WON!!! There wasn’t a hanging chad, provisional ballot or Supreme Court order in sight. Where were you when you knew Obama was going to win? What did you do?

Oh and how excited are you to have Michelle Obama as the First Lady??!!

 

Good Morning, Sunshine

Remember today. Take a picture of yourself. Write a little note about your feelings. Your kids, grandkids and great-grandkids will want to know what you were doing when this country was in the midst of a historic election. You all already know I’m for Obama all day and if the polls are even  remotely correct, it looks like the majority of American voters are on his team too. But whoever you’re rooting for (I see you Green Party!), take it all in and be proud of a country that has a black man as a major party candidate for president.

Many of this country’s founding fathers were slave owners. Some of the very people who wrote the most eloquent and idealistic founding documents for any country on this planet were not opposed to owning other human beings. Slavery wasn’t that long ago in the grand scheme of things–same for sharecropping, Jim Crow, rampant lynching and many other atrocities. How wonderful to be alive at this particular point in time to witness this. I am truly excited for this day. Now stop reading this blog and go vote.

OBAMA, BABY!

 

Good Morning, Sunshine

Baby, take off your cool
I wanna see you, I wanna see you

~Andre 3000 feat Norah Jones, Take Off Your Cool~

Did you see my main homie Obama do his thing last night? Out of the park. ~CNN~

Must read new fiction? ~Salon~

Here’s a review of John Legend’s new album. I will definitely be copping this. ~All Hip Hop~

See, this is why you should be nice to EVERYONE, especially that random operator at the call center. ~Telegraph~

 

Good Morning, Sunshine

I’m the beginning,
And you’re the after.
You hear the universes pulling us closer.

~Floetry, Closer~

Did you check out McCain and Obama at the Alfred E. Smith dinner? They were both hilarious. ~MTV~

Mr. Blackwell of the famous Worst Dressed List passed away over the weekend. I would say celebs could breathe a little easier now, but the blogs have more than taken over on that front. ~CNN~

Obama says he would offer Powell a j-o-b as a top avisor in his administration. ~Salon~

This is awesome. I was just telling my husband that I wouldn’t mind living above a museum or something. Don’t think I would want to live inside of one per se, but still cool nonetheless. ~NY Post~

Someone actually stole a beach in Jamaica. Interesting. ~BBC~