Tag Archives: Barack Obama

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Leonard Pitts’ Novel ‘Grant Park’ Provides a Framework to Say Goodbye to President Obama

A Book Review...

grant park photo

Hello World,

Earlier this month, I delivered a speech as a part of my church’s annual Racial Reconciliation Service. I was asked to speak on the theme “Things We Have in Common” based on Ephesians 4:1-6. About the time that I was asked to be the featured speaker in October, I was aware that a creeping sadness was starting to make itself known in my consciousness. Maybe it’s just me, but ever since President Obama was elected in November 2008, the air has felt different, like a new optimistic oxygen had been injected into the atmosphere overnight from the moment Senator Obama was named the victor in the presidential election to the morning we woke up living in a country where a black man was named president-elect. This new air had me feeling high like I was a party balloon floating and preening…

So as the days ticked by last October while a new crop of presidential candidates began vying for our votes (when I finally started paying attention to them anyway), it occurred to me that we were on the cusp of President Obama’s last full year in office. And since I had that realization, I feel like I’m breathing a little less of that new oxygen, like I’m a party balloon just past its prime hovering closer to the ground each day…

So what does all of this have to do with Grant Park, the latest novel from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Leonard Pitts, Jr.? Like the youth pastor of my church is fond of saying in his sermons, I’m so glad you asked that question. Below is the official description of the book…

Grant Park is a page-turning and provocative look at black and white relations in contemporary America, blending the absurd and the poignant in a powerfully well-crafted narrative that showcases Pitts’s gift for telling emotionally wrenching stories.

Grant Park begins in 1968, with Martin Luther King’s final days in Memphis. The story then moves to the eve of the 2008 election, and cuts between the two eras. Disillusioned columnist Malcolm Toussaint, fueled by yet another report of unarmed black men killed by police, hacks into his newspaper’s server to post an incendiary column that had been rejected by his editors. Toussaint then disappears, and his longtime editor, Bob Carson, is summarily fired within hours of the column’s publication.

While a furious Carson tries to find Toussaint—while simultaneously dealing with the reappearance of a lost love from his days as a 60s activist—Toussaint is abducted by two white supremacists plotting to explode a bomb at Barack Obama’s planned rally in Chicago’s Grant Park. Toussaint and Carson are forced to remember the choices they made as young men, when both their lives were changed profoundly by their work in the civil rights movement.

Racial Reconciliation…

As I began to prepare my speech, I realized that the two-term presidency of President Obama has been the proverbial “best of times” and “worst of times.” Below are the exact words from my speech…

In reflecting on President Obama’s historic presidency, the anniversaries of so many pivotal historic events have coincided with his two terms in the White House. Last year, we recognized the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama. In 2013, we recognized the 50th anniversary of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. And less than 50 years after his death, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in D.C. debuted in 2011. All of these pivotal events happened during the Civil Rights Movement when there were seemingly two Americas – one for White America and one for Black America.

And yet during this time, over the last eight years, the nation has grappled with the deaths of black boys from Trayvon Martin to Tamir Race, the Confederate flag debate and the shooting massacre at Emanuel AME Church and more.

Time seems to be moving forward and standing still.

While I was preparing my speech over the last few months, I read Leonard Pitts’ Grant Park. And while it is a work of fiction, it made me feel like I was in 1968 watching the sowing of seeds of civil unrest that came to a glorious fruition when President Obama was elected in 2008. Pitts does an excellent job of capturing a conversational President-elect Obama just hours after he wins the election. And as we know now, eight years later, racial reconciliation in this country, despite President Obama’s election, still has a ways to go. Pitts’ novel provided a framework to examine where we were in 1968, how far we came in 2008 and the journey we still have to tread post Obama…

A Love Story…

My favorite character in the book was Bob Carson. In 1967, he was an 18 year old eager to join the Civil Rights Movement so much so that he elected to attend small Christian college in Mississippi to the alarm of his white parents. He welcomed ” protest and snarling dogs and Freedom Riders and marches and injustice and voter registration and ferment…change.” After arriving on campus, he joined Students Organized in Unarmed Love (SOUL), which included black and white students, and met Janeka Lattimore at one of the organization’s meetings. They quickly begin an interracial romance which obviously was particularly challenging then. So I love a coming-of-age, against-the-odds love story. It reminded of the real-life interracial love story of novelist Alice Walker and Mel Leventhal which also began at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. (I read about it in a book about her life. ) So even while I was thinking deeply about the nuanced racial issues that were examined in the novel, I was also racing through the pages to see what happened to Bob and Janeka.  When Bob first sees Janeka at a meeting, he is immediately drawn to her beauty  and curvy body but then scolds himself for his lustful thoughts. “This was his sister in the body of Christ. She was his colleague in the struggle for human rights. More than that, she was a human being with a mind, and emotions and a soul and inherent, intrinsic worth. Yet, her he was cataloging her, the pieces of her, as though she were side of beef. What kind of loathsome male chauvinist pig had he suddenly become?”

I won’t tell what happens to them, but I will say this. Young Bob is an enthusiastic Christian ready to take on his pastor about racial reconciliation as it is espoused in the Bible even quoting Malachi 2:10, a Bible verse that I used in my speech. (Thanks Mr. Pitts 🙂 !) But Old Bob had evolved into “an Easter Christian, a Christmas Christian, when he bothered to be any kind of Christian at all.” I speak from experience: One of the things that will make you lose your religion is lost love…And that’s all I have to say about that…

The Future of Journalism…

As a journalist, I also appreciated the examination of the journalism industry. At the start of the book,  Malcolm Toussaint is disillusioned with his career although it has been good to him, taking him “from a hovel on the south side of Memphis to this palace in Chicago, two Pulitzer Prizes, countless lesser awards lining the walls of his office.” He also writes a “twice-weekly nationally syndicated column,”  and “New York Times bestsellers blurbed by Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton.” Despite Toussaint’s “storied career” in journalism, my field has been undergoing a seismic shift with the advent of the Net…It’s scary and exhilarating at the time…Sadly, newspapers and magazines continue to die, but I have hope that true storytelling will survive…somehow and some way…

So here are a few of the lines that ring true for journalism going forward. “Suddenly, it was no longer enough to be the best journalist you could be, to do the work and put it out there and let it speak for itself. Suddenly, you were supposed to keep a Facebook page and answer emails and moderate discussion on your message board.” Here is a description of a young journalist in the novel who actually wanted to work at a newspaper: “The old heads in the newsroom called people like her ‘true believers,’ meaning Gen Y kids who somehow missed the memo that a thing was not worth doing unless it was done digitally.”

While there are more elements I can highlight in this excellent book, I hope I’ve given you enough to get this book! And if you’re looking for a way to come to grips with the pending last days of President’s Obama’s presidency and be entertained at the same time, Leonard Pitts’ Grant Park is a must read…

Any thoughts?

 

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Michelle Got a Big Ole Butt…Now, That’s Change I Can Believe In!

 

Hello World,

About a week ago, some friends and I met at a forum my friend hosted to discuss various issues in the black community. Of course, one of those topics was the election of the first black president and the changes that are likely to take place in our community as a result. Many of the women, including me, spoke with pride of finally seeing a sho nuff Black woman celebrated at a worldwide level. For once, it seems that the ethnocentric standard of beauty rather than the Eurocentric standard of beauty won out…And no disrespect to my high yella sisters, but it seems to me that when many black men “make it” they choose to go for either the white girl or the closest they can get to it…But Barack, who is the next leader of the free world, chose a brown-skinned, black woman who goes weaveless. No disrespect to those who accessorize with weaves, but that’s cause for a celebration. Had this election occurred when I was a little girl, I’m sure it would have gone a long way to affirm the beauty that I sometimes questioned when I looked in the mirror…more about that later.

So when a friend of mine e-mailed this article to me a few days ago, I was delighted. I was also suprised that I had neither written nor said anything about one of Michelle’s most salient features.  In the article,  First Lady Got Back by Erin Aubry Kaplan, she describes her joy of seeing a woman with one of our culture’s most celebrated features in the White House.

“Free at last. I never thought that I — a black girl who came of age in the utterly anticlimactic aftermath of the civil rights movement — would say the phrase with any real sincerity in my lifetime. But ever since Nov. 4, I’ve been shouting it from every rooftop. I’m not excited for the most obvious reason. Yes, Obama’s win was an extraordinary breakthrough and a huge relief, but I don’t subscribe to the notion that his capturing the White House represents the end of American racial history. Far from it. There is a certain freedom in the moment — as in, we are all now free from wondering when or if we’ll ever get a black president. Congratulations to all of us for being around to settle the question.

But what really thrills me, what really feels liberating in a very personal way, is the official new prominence of Michelle Obama. Barack’s better half not only has stature but is statuesque. She has coruscating intelligence, beauty, style and — drumroll, please — a butt. (Yes, you read that right: I’m going to talk about the first lady’s butt.)”

Yes, that’s right Michelle, you can call her Mrs. Obama if you’re nasty, got a butt, and I, for one, say it’s about time that booties be celebrated at a worldwide level. Brothers, can I get an “Amen” this Sunday? One of the points that Kaplan makes in the article is how black women sometimes feel like we have to hide our booties to blend in at the workplace.

“Thanks to Michelle, looking professional and provocative in a distinctly black way will become not only acceptable but also part of a whole presidential look that’s more, well, inclusive. Now we’ll all be able to wear leggings to board meetings; we’ll sport pencil skirts sans the long jackets meant to cover the offending rear at big conferences where we have to make a good impression.”

As I said in my last post, I grew up in white schools. However, when I went home I was surrounded by black people in my neighborhood. This dichotomy created confusion when it came to my beauty and culture.  I remember in third grade as a part of a history lesson, my classmates and I had to dress up as American historical figures. A newspaper photographer took pictures of some of us and told us that we were going to be in the paper. I was crushed when I saw a picture of me and a classmate. In the caption of the picture, it was said that I was a “slave woman,” and the other girl in the picture was Betsy Ross. Umm, excuse me, Mr. Newspaper Photographer Man, I was Harriet Tubman!!! (If you couldn’t get that simple fact right, then you shouldn’t have been in the business!)  Incidents like this chipped away at my self esteem.

Around that same time, the little boys in my neighborhood began telling me I had a big butt. I did notice that my little girl dresses bunched up in the back but I wasn’t too self conscious about it until they started to notice. I also noticed that the little girl dresses on the white girls at my school moved easily over their backsides as they skipped along. (I won’t even get into my fascination with their swinging ponytails.) I figured if I noticed, they noticed too. So what was my antidote? Every day for a long time I started standing with my back against the wall and tried to tuck my butt in. I figured the wall would help me stand so that my butt went in rather than protruded.

It didn’t work. In the seventh grade, this guy, Francisco Ruiz, said to me, “Why is your butt so big?” (Yes, I still remember his name.)  I was flabbergasted and unsure how to respond. I,  after what seemed like ten minutes of stunned silence, finally uttered, “I don’t know.” After that I had had enough, and I was determined to go to a black high school. I lobbied for my cause for about a year.  As I said in my last post, my parents did finally relent and let me go to a black high school and from the moment, I walked into its doors, I no longer felt like I had to apologize for my big booty.  By the time I graduated from high school, I had totally stopped trying to camouflage my booty altogether. In fact, my shorts and jeans were probably too tight for my mama’s taste.

And now that I’m in my ’30s, there are even books to back up what I now know to be true. Having a big booty is like having “an open door that no one can shut.” (Shout out to my Bible Study class! Tell me if you can find where this excerpt of scripture is found in Revelation. Forgive me if I’m being sacrilegious.) Has anyone ever read  “The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right?” It is basically a book about playing hard to get as a strategy to get a man. The first rule in this book is, “Be a ‘Creature Unlike Any Other.” The feminist answer’s to this book is “The Real Rules: How to Find the Right Man for the Real You.” The first rule in this book is, “Treat Men the Way You Want Them to Treat You.” Both books have good points. But the third book,  “The Sistahs’ Rules (Not to be Confused with The Rules): Secrets for Meeting, Getting and Keeping a Good Black Man,” I can really get down with.  Rule #1 in this book is, “Celebrate the Power of the Booty.” Now, I know that brothers like to quote this line from Poison -“Never Trust a Big Butt and a Smile.” But they just frontin’. They know there is power in the booty!

Having a big booty can take you places in life – just ask Michelle O.

P.S. I wish I could go back in time a la “Back to the Future” and tell that my 8-year-old self! And since Kaplan referred to Sir Mix-A-Lot’s hit, “Baby Got Back,” in her commentary, I feel compelled to include his video here.

Any Thoughts?

 

 

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The Obama Nation v. The Hater Nation

Hello World!!!

The hate is thick! Since our first black president-elect was chosen on Nov. 4, hate , like the lava from a volcano, has been oozing out and I hope things don’t erupt…But on the other hand, I, like many other Americans I’m sure, didn’t expect the first black president to skate into the White House unfettered by the restraints of racism.

However, I am bothered by the response of some Christians’ response to Obama’s win because whether they want to admit it or not, they too, are racist. (Yeah, I said it. Shout out Michael Baisden, ha,ha)  Here’s the thing. I am a Christian. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. I believe He arose from the dead. I believe that He is coming back again. Case closed. But I sincerely believe that these Christians, these Christians who have hijacked the Republican Party, sincerely believe that if you are not on their side, then you are on the side of the devil.

A friend of mine, Ms. D, sent an e-mail to me about this big time Christian’s response to Obama’s historic win. Apparently, this guy Dutch Sheets, who I had never heard of before last week, is a minister and prayer warrior known throughout the world. His printed response is Exhibit A in my argument that some Christians are just racist when it comes to their lack of support of Obama. (Actually for the purpose of brevity, I don’t have an Exhibit B, but whatever- it’s my blog. 🙂 )

Read his  written response here. Here are just a few snippets of some of the things Sheets said. First of all, he said that Obama’s win was not God’s will. He said that “as a nation we put on the blinders concerning Barak Obama’s background, associations, beliefs, and practices and set these causes (he was referring to abortion and other issues) back years, possibly decades. And in doing so we took another step away from God and His plans for America and another step toward judgment.”

First of all, I promise you that this guy spells “Barack” as “Barak” throughout the whole article. What is up with that? You don’t even respect him enough as the president-elect and as a human being to spell his name right. This seemingly small mistake points to a latent disrespect of the man. And it’s funny about this whole association thing that the Republicans tried to make an issue of prior to the election. For months, Obama was criticized for his association with his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. I don’t say that I agree with all of Wright’s beliefs, but at least everyone could point to the fact that Obama had a Christian pastor. What pastor was McCain associated with? Since we are talking about beliefs, associations and practices? What does McCain believe? Who was he associated with? What were his practices? I won’t dredge up all of the issues of this past election season, but as someone said to me last night, when you would rather elect a known adulterer who shies away from any discussions of faith, than someone who you can identify as a Christian who has been the faithful husband of one wife and call that “God’s will,” then I have got to believe that another issue is really the real issue.

Then Sheets goes on to detail some of the judgments that Americans will face as a result of Obama’s presidency, “more economic woes” was at the top of the list.  Well, Mr. Sheets, if “economic woes” is a sign of God’s judgment, then God used President George Bush to usher in that judgment, and we all know that he is a true Christian as he is a member of the Republication party. (The sarcasm is dripping from my lips…) Actually, it is my belief that if Bush hadn’t been such an atrocious president, then Obama wouldn’t have had a chance to get elected. I wonder if that was God’s will too…

He then goes on to address any false predictions he may have made regarding the election and the resulting backlash. “Like many, believing I had many promises and confirmations that God would ‘grace’ us with a pro-life president in this election, I failed to consider strongly enough that all promises-even scripture are conditional 99.9 percent of the time…If this caused any harm or confusion, I apologize.” He said he was “somewhat angry at the nation in general and much of the Church.” You know what I say to that, stop writing checks with your mouth that your actions can’t cash…

And here’s the kicker. He compared Sarah Palin to women in the Bible. “I believe she is an Esther, a Deborah, with a huge mantle from God for reformation. God has great destiny for her related to this nation if she chooses to continue down this path.”  (Sheets haven’t you learned? Stop writing checks!) Goodness, I must have no spiritual discernment to miss that Sarah Palin is a Biblical woman reincarnated. If that is the case, then Bush is Abraham or maybe even Paul…Mr. Dutch Sheets, you may be “passing the dutchie” because you are sadly mistaken! And you know what else, I just think you are a part of the Hater Nation rather than the Obama nation. And since Obama will be the next president of the United States of America, it is with a special joy that I say this. “America. Love it or Leave it.”

I could say more, but I won’t because I want to hear from you…

Any thoughts?