What Has Been Will Be Again (Part 2)

Between Bush I and Bush II several occurrences could have greatly altered the global economy. One such occurrence involved the phantom executive powers President Albert Gore, the president that never was. His initiatives could have stabilized the American economy while bolstering smaller economies that could have allowed us to invest in the global markets. By creating new environmental regulations that could have produce more jobs for more Americans, we could be at this moment a more ecologically friendly nation and been years into the process of weaning our nation off of the dependence on foreign oil. We do not know how things would have been under his leadership, but I would have liked to see.

What Has Been Will Be Again (Part 1)

As African Americans, we have always been students of history, though at times we have been victimized by it. Our current time teaches us that what we are seeing in the economic, religious and social climates in America are shifts and cycles that bring us to a better place of consciousness of God and ourselves. We should further note that we can and we will do more than survive this moment; we will be made better by it. There is no growth without conflict and struggle, and our current struggles are only indications that we are at the tipping point of a great awakening of creativity and great personal and collective power. We cannot forget that America is still the “Great Society” that LBJ envisioned. It is when we remember all the things that we have forgotten that we find our hope again.

An Open Letter to President-Elect Barack Obama

Good day, sir, and congratulations. You must be exhausted. I know I am and I have not been running for high government office for the last two years. You have made a tremendous personal accomplishment, and it is one that has captured the imagination of a generation. I feel what others who watched Dr. King give his “I Have a Dream” speech must have felt. I realize that I am witnessing this comet—a shooting star, as it were—and I understand that this is a once in a lifetime gift God has given to us, and we are all blessed to be alive and see it together.

The Politics of Us

Britney, Jamie Lynn, Lindsey Lohan, Bristol, Rudy Huxtable. Which girl doesn’t fit in this equation? Rudy Huxtable the is correct answer. She was the fictional character created by Dr. Bill Cosby for his award-winning sitcom of the 1980’s. The truth is that Rudy is the exception, and has always been the exception. There are more Bristols living in homes than Rudys.

Yes We Have!

Today, for the first time in history, the largest group of poor Americans is children. If fidelity to freedom and democracy is the code of our civic religion, then surely the code of our humanity is faithful service to the unwritten commandment that we will give our children better than we ourselves received. Like these children, America herself has been impoverished from its promise of a better future for all. Hope has always been the cornerstone of our progress as Americans, and there are moments when hope, which can be stubborn and unyielding, wins out over experience.

You

Was I dreaming or weren’t we in love? Did I dream that moment in my life or was it just my mind playing games on me? It was so long ago but I remember love like it was yesterday, love insults time in our hearts and imposes on our present realities. Vanished love is empty and painful. I said hello and you seemed a little distracted, distant, that intrigued me. You seemed as if you had met me before. Maybe you had in another life and I was meeting you for the first time. I will never forget that night. I remember what you were wearing, how you wore your hair, how you smelled. Little things like the tone of your voice, the way your hand felt in my hand. Those eyes… were so deep and enchanting; I was taken from the moment we spoke. I fell in love with love and I was so hoping love would fall in love with me. You have been embedded in my memory and I can’t forget You an often I try so hard to remember You .

It is the little things take our hearts. It’s nothing you can do on purpose. It is the joy that is found in you being so uniquely you and that can’t be found anywhere else and we all stand infatuated by you. It is not limited by anything external. It is your voice, your walk, and your way. These things can’t be scripted, acted or even duplicated; they are just You…