The Diversity Projekt
Empowerment for All People of Color
-
Archive of "2008 Election" Category
Obama, Mixedchicks and Community Action
I often forget that I am an immigrant. While I have lived in the U.S. for a little more than a decade and had considerable contact with U.S. (military) culture growing up, I still feel quite foreign. I have a hard time viewing myself as American. However, when I am in Germany, I feel more American than when I am here in the U.S. It probably has more to do with my perception of myself, than how I think others view me.
Nevertheless, throughout this entire election season, I have felt extremely connected to my American-ness. I have participated in the German electoral process. I was quite aware of the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, which left me with a very weiry perception of the U.S. electoral system. This election was extremely redemptive for me. It reminded me of the awesomeness of possibility in America, as well as the potential of the American spirit.
This election was also extremely transformative for me on a personal level. Participating in community activism, both directly relating to the election and with specific social justice issues, gave me the confidence to take some personal steps. I took active steps to move from the private to the public sector. I was comfortable (yet miserable) working in the private sector and new that I wanted to do good professionally. Fear prevented me from taking that leap. I gained the necessary courage through my volunteer work over the last year.
I joined the Nationalities Service Center shortly after the election. For the first time in my life, I feel like I am exactly where I am supposed to be. Over the last couple of weeks, I have had opportunities meeting and speaking with several of our clients. While I have not experienced any of the devastation and hardships these individuals have, I can relate to the culture shock of coming to America and the challenges of adapting to American culture and live. Yet, the lessons I have learned while adapting to American life, are invaluable and help me on a daily basis in my work.
I am working from home today. I could have watched Obama’s swearing in and speech via CNN live stream, but I really wanted to see everything. While Germany has a significant minority population, having a person of color as chancellor is highly improbable. Germany lags light years behind the United States with race relations (due in part to American Jim Crow policies of the 40s and 50s). Nevertheless, I am extremely blessed to see the inauguration of America’s first African American president, while residing on this side of the Atlantic.
As I went back and forth between CNN and MSNBC, I was in awe of the crowds that came out to watch President Barack Obama take the oath of office. I can’t find the appropriate words to express how profound this historical day is. Not only are Americans in every state glued to their TVs (or freezing in DC), but people all across the world are eager to see our America’s first bi-racial president take the oath of office. This mixed-chick is very proud!
Nevertheless, as an immigrant and as a mixed chick, seeing Barack Obama take the oath of office is awe inspiring. It speaks to the awesomeness and possibility of what America stands for. Although somewhat battered and bruised, the American spirit is alive and well.
Not only does this moment signal a new era in American leadership, but it also ushers in a new committment to community, both nationally and locally. I cannot remember another MLK Day where so many people got out into their communities. At NSC, we had over 30 volunteers attend an orientation and participate in a day of service. Many will most likely continue to volunteer their time and talent to our organization. Several of my friends participated in service activities throughout Philadelphia – painting schools, cleaning up playgrounds, collecting books, etc. I can only imagine how our clients, refugees, asylees, and other immigrants, perceive this moment.
I am under no illusion that things will miraculously fall into place and our problems will be solved over night. We are inheriting a hot mess that. But, it is not an insurmountable disaster.
There are many things we can do to maintain plugged in:
1) Enter the public sector. Many non profit organizations are still hiring. I recently transitioned from the private to the public sector. It is the best decision I have ever made. I am doing good and making a descent living at the same time.
Check out Idealist.org, Opportunity Knocks and in the Philadelphia area, the new Philadelphia NonProfit Information listserv. To tap into public interest networks, check out YNPN, ChangeMakers, Change.org and USAService.org.
2) Volunteer at your local YMCA or community centers. Become a Big Brother or Big Sister. Visit the elderly in retirement homes. Volunteer with the Special Olympics. Volunteer as a literacy or ESL tutor. And, if you are financially able, donate to charities that provide direct service to vulnerable communities.
3) Taking special care of ourselves, physically, emotionally and spiritually. If we aren’t well, we cannot achieve our full potential in helping others.
How are you being the change in your own community? What are you doing to remain plugged in?
Voices of Philadelphia – Performance of Freedom
Today’s Voices of Philadelphia is brought to you by James William Ijames. I first met James on November 4 at the election watch party hosted by yours truly. After adding him on Facebook, I realized that he worked at a rather spectacular museum and I was curious to see how the new President-Elect impacted the ways in which he viewed his job. But, I will let him tell you….
Performance of Freedom
By James William IjamesI am an actor. Organizations pay me to become someone else for “two hours traffic” of a stage. My craft is disappearance and reappearance. I am a modern magician, inside a tradition that stretches all the way back to the beginning of human communication. Acting is all about choices. As a boy, I was told by those who loved me I could be whatever and whom ever I chose. This I suppose was the start of my pretending, the start of my journey to play as many different persons as possible, to plum the depths of the human animal through words, movement, and breath.
My day job is performing a massive show at a museum in Philadelphia, home of the American Government, called Freedom Rising. Going into that huge three hundred seat theater on November 6th and saying “What makes us Americans? What makes us a nation? A stubborn human insistence on independence, Connected to the most powerful vision of human free ever expressed” had new meaning. I think, perhaps, for the first time, I meant those words. The “vision” of the fore fathers is now more complete.
Nothing in my wildest imaginations could have prepared me for the developments of November 4th 2008. Time stopped, the ground moved and everything I hoped for suddenly became true.
The dramatis personae inside this moment were a black man of Kenyan and Caucasian descent, his African American wife from the working class south side of Chicago and his two young daughters, destined to become the benefactors of this point in time. The stage? America’s perfectly flawed political machine. The audience? The entire world. It is only now, some days later that I can begin to put into context this international performance.
Newly elected president Barack Obama strode on his stage in Grant Park waving at the masses, reminded me of Shakespeare’s Mark Anthony speaking over the dead body of tyranny. It was one of the most theatrical experiences of my life, and hundreds of miles away I was in the audience. The audience for this spectacle stretched out over the face of the earth. Sudden outbursts of collective joy dotted the globe. An entire segment of the species gathered together in the name of hope. As Martha and the Vandellas put it there was literally “dancing in the streets.” A truly worldwide moment of theater, focused squarely on a young, idealistic junior senator from Illinois, bringing to mind another great politician from the same state that aided in making this moment possible.
The journey of people of African descent in this country is easily likened to the epic journey of Odysseus. Blinding the Cyclops of Slavery, defeating the hurricane of Jim Crow and Lynching, and overcoming the Siren songs of crack cocaine, poverty, and institutional racism, finally reaching the shores of the promised land. As we look over, and begin work on moving forward we can not forget the past. Nor can we rest and become complacent. The last stretch of the journey is before us. The curtain has not yet descended on our story. The final act has not been written. Our story is the story of humanity at its absolute strongest and fittest. What the future holds is entirely up to the choice we, the players, make and the commitments we make to change.
Independent Sector – Closing Plenary Luncheon – “A New Look at Race and Gender in Americ”
Round-table Discussion: Beyond Election 2008: A New Look at Race and Gender in America
Moderator: Kalvin Taketa, IS Board Member and President/CEO, Hawai’i Community Foundation
Panelists:
Randall L. Kennedy, Michael R. Klein Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, Harvard University
Sterling Speirn, President, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Luz Vega-Marquis, Secretary, Independent Sector and President/CEO Marguerite Casey Foundation
Maria Wilson, President/Founder, The White House ProjektWhile I had limited power, I was able to jot down some thoughts that jumped out at me:
Speirn: “While the glass ceiling was smashed, there are millions trapped in the basement.”
Kennedy: Why is there a “who’d have thunk it” idea that Obama could be elected, that people could have pulled the lever to vote for him.
We need soon however to be thinking about what next” and I hope that we are not so entranced by what happened last week, that we fumble an opportunity to push the agenda for social justice.
Wilson: Two conversations got invoked in this election:
1) race
2) gender
3) class – Obama class upwards and Clinton class downwardsThe changing of the conversation is a major milestone in this country.
“You can’t be what you can’t see.” – What happened all over America, is that there are children from all races and gender that they can be president of the United States.
I know that I cannot celebrate very long, but it is great!
Vega: “The real America showed up at the poles.” In response to the idea that Palin spoke for the “real America.”
The real America finally got included. The fact that she is proud that Latinos voted the right way in this election.
Taketa: Obama as a transcended of all aspects of our population. Is Obama unique?
Kennedy: Obama is an extraordinary politician. Yet, Obama had a hard fought campaign for the Democratic nominee on gender. Gender and racial lines are moving. They are still there but they are moving. Obama still had to overcome his race. There are a variety of politicians of a variety of racial politicians and women politicians. Obama is the person of the hour but he is the tip of the iceberg. In a way this is the most hopeful thing of the election. There is more coming.
Speirn: If the issues are not central nothing will change. Education system is bankrupting our nation. Health status and economic status which is linked to education. The social determinants of education far outweigh all other issues.
Vega: Expectations of Obama are high. He also talked to us about us and what responsibility we take as members of this society to take active part in our future. We need to be responsible for the kinds of things we want to see. We need to begin shaping agendas in our communities. We expect miracles, but we need to hope in what we really can change. It is the collection of our efforts to build a better society.
Wilson: Obama did something transcendent – The major ways AA leaders have made progress is through challenge. Some questioned that AA could not make progress without bargaining. Obama assumed good will which is the third way – not challenge or bargaining. No negative stories about the campaign staff – mission of being respectful and doing good.
Wilson: about Clinton’s campaign – when it comes to gender, gender will always trump gender. But if you only have one person who is different, you look at what they have different. Gender is central. It meant that Clinton had to walk all fine lines about being tough enough and maintain appeal. At end of campaign she felt she had nothing to lose, and she was more authentic.
Wilson: We learned about the continuing way gender continues to be reported in the media. There was an enormous amount of sexism in this election.
The movement – Civic engagement of young people, women and African Americans:
Kennedy: the horizons have been widened traumatically. The sense of possibility – young women, people of color – frankly regardless that everyone’s horizons were opened and that has something to do with extraordinary moment we are in. Even people who did not vote for Obama, even his rivals, many of them have been changed and moved to opening their horizons.
Wilson: inspiring but what do we do next? If they are not engaged – if it is just about their votes – we will lose them again. Obama has a plan, but we all need a plan too for the energy.
(ran out of battery)
This conversation derailed within the first five minutes of comments. The panelists began discussion the ways in which the 2008 Election redefined discussions of Race and Gender in America, particularly the ways in which these new discussions influence the non profit sector and the ways in which the non profit sector can contribute to these discussions. A great topic, particularly since a “what now?” theme ran through the entire conference. However, the conversation quickly jumped to the failures of the Clinton campaign, policy reform and eventually the prison system. Once again, a fruitful discussion on race and gender derailed! Is it that we don’t know how to have a meaningful discussion on race or that it’s just to complicated and uncomfortable?
LiveBlog – Independent Sector, Public Policy, Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Public Policy and the New Administration Q&A
Not hopeful for an effective lame duck session. Some have said that we need to ban the idea of the first 100 days with the issues this country is facing. Can you speak to this?
Nicholas Giordano: This transition is unprecedented – economic situation, two wars and general economic problems.
300 executive branch positions need to be filled. The top cabinet positions will be filled quickly so that when Congress goes back into session, the nomination proceedings will go pretty quickly.
Do you think the Bush Admin right now is ready to step aside? What indications?
Nicholas: Pretty positive. President Bush has gone forward and made sure money was put aside to for a seamless transition. Named internally those who will be responsible for policy transition. They seem to have all pieces in place. There will be some bumps, but the prospects are good.
What is the best way to get ideas into the transition team?
Nicholas: All transition team personnel have been announced so there are great access points. The change.gov platform is great for people to get information and jobs. However, getting information directly to the people responsible is the best way.
What changes can we expect with the House leadership?
Nicholas: This leadership has shown the ability to control the agenda to a great degree. Not much will change with the pickup of the 20+ seats. This will further embolden them. Pelosi and the team has been good in controlling the agenda. I would expect more of that. Leadership change will occur since Rahm Emanuel going to the white house. The ratio in the committees will change a bit. The democrats will have more flexibility in the caucus
in general. There is less a concern for the need of republicans to push things through.SHIFT
Some questions about defining the non profit community there have been some discussions about whether charities engaging with the poor are the only effective non profits, but public policy non profits are essential in that process.
Nicholas: Mr. Rangel has talked a lot of time taking about the corporate tax code and reform. This will be essential. Also the Ways and Means committee will be influential in the fiscal policies.
Senate Finance Committee: Sen Grassly has been proponent of more regulation of charitable organizations. Rised questions about university endowments and whether hospitals are providing sufficient community benefit, but he has also had a close colleague in Sen. Boccas who has shared concerns but has great interest in the share of non profits.
Efforts in creating an increase in Philanthropy. What is the outlook for further investigations and what will be Mr. Grassly’s role going forward?
Over the last two years the issues, the chairman Boccas and Sen. Grassly has not been aligned. Chairman Boccas in the caucas is looking make an effort to be bipartisan. The will also be responsible for the tax issues and health care reform issues so from his standpoint there will be several important priorities.
An Open Book, Sharing to Heal
This has been an unprecedented and most historic week. A new day has truly come, bringing with it a tremendous amount of responsibility for our new President-Elect, as well as for every single American. Each of us has a responsibility to engage in our communities. We no longer have any valid excuse to complain and watch the world pass us by (not that we really had an excuse before).While Barack Obama will in 74 73 days become the President of the United States and have the authority and capacity to enact change from above, teach and every one of us has the opportunity to enact change within our own lives. The one thing I have learned through this election is that grass roots is where sustainable change really occurs.
Lately, I have spent more time than usual talking politics on this blog I do not view The Diversity Projekt as a fundamentally political blog, at least not directly. I clearly make a political statement with my chosen subject matter and the ways in which I articulate my position, but I would not consider myself a pundit or political commentator. Not in the least.
Nevertheless, I speak about my life, about my experiences and the world around me. In doing so, I am often far more transparent than I should be. I often struggle with how much or how little to share, particularly when it comes to personal and intimate issues. In those instances where I have chosen to redact myself, I ultimately felt like I was editing myself and my experiences away.
One of the issues I have been extremely open about is my recent family reunion with my birth father. Someone recently asked how I could be so open about a topic that is so intimate, how I could experience it in public view. Others have suggested that I not be so public about everything. After a recent incident, I considered being more private about this recent journey. However, after much thought, I came to the conclusion that I would be doing myself and others an injustice.
My life up to this point has significantly influenced why I am publicly documenting my experiences. Looking back, I wish I had documented several earlier events – political and cultural awakening as an AfroGerman and the events leading up to the decision to actively search for my birth father. I have since sketched several aspects of the beginnings of this journey.
I document this journey as much for myself as I do for others who might find themselves along a similar journey. I did not have a road map growing up. Nor did I have anyone to lean on who understood the things I was experiencing or feeling. I did not have any role models who reflected my duality. I often felt like a one person freak show.
Even today, I struggle considerably with coming to terms and being comfortable with my biracial and multi-ethnic identity. I am not entirely comfortable with the color of my skin or my curly hair. I feel equally estranged and rejected from my white and black heritage. Feeling content with living within the margins is something I have yet to achieve.
I hope this blog helps someone, even if that someone is me.
The World Media on U.S. Presidential Election
While many Americans are attentively tuned in to witness Obama’s first steps as President-Elect, much of the rest of the world is doing the same. Here are some of the highlights that caught my attention:
In “48 years after JFK became President…”, Bild Online draws parallels between the Obamas as the new First Family and Kennedy era. <Much of his success and popularly is reduced to pop culture attributes in this particular article – “he is cool”, “he is enchanting”….”he is from Hawaii.”
The Times of London ran “Black Pope could follow Barack Obama’s election” says US archbishop” based on comments by Daniel Gregory, Archbishop of Atlanta. Obama’s victory has been seen as not just a victory for black Americans, but a victory for all of humanity by the Roman See.
PressTV released an impressive roll call of the various World Leaders who congratulated Obama on his victory and in which South African President Kgalema Motlanthe called Obama’s presidency a coup for the entire African Diaspora.
An article in Deutsche Welle expresses Germany’s best wishes to Obama. It also indicated “Doubts of Obama’s Green Committement”. The German government hopes that the Obama administration will signal a new direction in American climate change policies, however, indicates that the climate will take a backstage to the economic crisis.
Several interesting headlines from newspapers across Germany: Neue Westfaelische Zeitung “Guten Morgen, Mr. President!”; Die Presse “Obamas Amerika”; and Die Welt “Obama Makes History” and today’s “Michelle Obama wird eine politische First Lady” (Michelle Obama will be a Political Fist lady)
Winds of Change, America’s “Berlin Wall”
I am not sure if it has fully sunken in that Barack Obama is our next President of the United States. I am truly overwhelmed with emotion. I have not been able to stop crying since CNN announced Obama’s victory last night. I initially planned to head home around 10 pm, but decided to stay to experience this moment with all the wonderful people who came out. I didn’t want to miss a beat. I knew that we were on the road to victory when Pennsylvania and Ohio turned blue. Yet, I was not prepared for my reaction when CNN called Obama’s victory. I completely lost it.I was emotionally detached for most of the day. I dropped in on many polling locations throughout Northeast Philadelphia to get a sense of how people were feeling and whether they were having any issues. I was also able to drop in and take pictures at most Obama campaign offices. Final destination – Rum Bar for the watch party. We started filling up around 9pm (PA polls closed at 8pm EST). Great conversations were had by all and the drinks were definitely flowing. I have the hangover to prove it. I was excited and deeply honored to share in this moment with those in attendance. I also feel considerably fortunate to have had the opportunity to share this moment with my Twitter family and my brothers and sisters in Europe through the Black Women in Europe LiveBlog.
As I settled down for the night, sandwiched between my puppy and kitty (who were unprecedentedly civil with each other), I took some time to reflect on the awesomeness of this historic event. I had to sleep on it before I could think clear enough to pull my words and thoughts together. I drove to Center City Philadelphia today for a meeting. As I approached the city skyline, I noticed that the world seemed different. Philadelphia looked the same, but something felt different. I immediately thought of sense of possibility and determination that propelled thousands of individuals the Eastern Bloc to challenge the status quo. It also reminded me of a song that dominated the German airwaves as the Berlin Wall came down:
My support of Obama’s candidacy has always been twofold: intellectual and emotional. I truly believe Obama is the best choice for America, and clearly, much of America agrees. His election is also profoundly personal for me. It speaks to the awesomeness that is America, despite our flaws. This could have never happened at home in Germany.
Oddly enough, my initial thought was to call my birthfather. I knew that he would understand how emotionally profound this moment is for me without my having to explain it. I wonder if the color of our skin will always be our only common ground.
Barack Obama’s election is not only a mandate for his vision of what America should and could be, but also a mandate for all of us – Republican, Democrat and Independent – that our vision and mission towards a better tomorrow is the righteous path. He called upon all of us in his victory speech to carry the torch for change in our own communities:
“The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.”
This is a transformational moment that transcends all measure. It brings me back to how I felt when the Berlin Wall and the Inter-German Border crumbled. The passion, vision and conviction of those who have the capacity to see beyond the horizon of the present. A time where thirst for freedom and humanity outweighed fear and uncertainty. I am humbled that I am alive and old enough to understand the profundity of both of these events. I am excited to witness and participate in the many ways in which I believe Americans will begin to unite and transform our communities.
I used to feel that I missed out on historic and transformational moments, that I was born at the wrong time. I missed the Civil Rights era of the 1960s. I missed the birth of the AfroGerman movement in Germany. I missed the era of Gloria Steinem, Langston Hughes, Audre Lorde and Martin Luther King, Jr. However, I have come to realize that while we share in and are indebted to that legacy, our time is NOW! My moment is THIS moment! I am grateful to be a part of these watershed moments of my generation – the collapse of the Iron Curtain and (re)unification of Germany, the end of Apartheid in South Africa, and America electing its very first Black President. It does not get any better than this!
Diversity Projekt In The News
I initially posted the Rum Bar Watch Party on a few LiveJournal groups, but never thought that it would trickle along the media circuit.
I was pleasantly surprised when several people mentioned the posting on several local and regional sites. If you come across any additional listings, please do let me know.
Someone told me that we were listed in USA Today, but that seems rather unlikely.
YES WE DID
What a monumental night. I am still speechless and completely overwhelmed. I will collect my thoughts and post something more substantial in the coming days, however, as I was sifting through the many photos I took today, this one jumped out at me. It captures how I feel right now:
2008 US Presidential Election Results LiveBlog
Join me on this historic election night for voting results coverage! I will be a panelist with the Black Women in Europe liveblog coverage from Election Day locations throughout the Philadelphia area.
I will give my take on the events and coverage from various polling locations in Philadelphia, as well as from the 5th Ward Obama Campaign Office in Chinatown and the Center City West Obama Campaign Office. I will end up at the Election Results Warch Party at Rum Bar at 20th and Walnut Streets in Center City Philadelphia. Get perspectives from sisters in various countries throughout the world on Barack Obama’s historic race for the White House.
IMPORTANT:
Please make sure that you know where your Polling Location is. This is absolutely CRITICAL!
Find out here: Committee of Seventy or call 1-866-268-8603. Polls will be open from 7 AM to 8 PM.
Also, make sure that you bring two forms of identification – one should be a UTILITY BILL and BOTH should indicate your voter registration information!
Don’t forget to bring a cup of your favorite java or tea, a snack and LOTS of patience! If you are able to, please post about your polling location experiences on Twitter!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License
Recent Comments