The Revolution WAS Televised

As much as I love the Gil Scott-Heron song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," I'm glad to live in the era where he was proved wrong. At least I'm pretty sure he was, because I saw the Revolution this morning on my flat screen Sharp, along with hundreds of millions of other people who watched their TVs, their computers, their iPods and their cell phones, all across the globe.

(If you don't know the song you can get a taste of it on You Tube by clicking here: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised) 

Ironically, the one way Scott-Heron got it right in the lyric -- "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised / The Revolution will be LIVE!" -- he could have never fully imagined in 1970. It was "live" all right -- live on every news channel and network, live on the internet via CNN.com among others, live on chat pages, blogs, cell phones, landlines, texts, e-mails and oh yeah, live in person. This was not just a political, cultural and historical revolution, it was a revolution in communication.

I myself watched it on TV as I posted status updates on Facebook, and that was a wondrous way to share, get instant feedback (from friends as close as down the street to as far away as Ireland), and read what was other people's minds as it was all going down. For instance, I learned exactly where to look for my friend Dena's brother Jay in the melee -- bass trombonist for the Air Force Band, front row, third from the left (saw a lot of big brass, but alas, never saw him). My sister Lesa called from her cell and we chatted as I got emotional -- she was on her way to pick up our mom Joyce to go to an Obama party. As it got to oath time, I ran downstairs, interrupted my son Xavier's therapy and turned on the TV so me, my husband Warren, Xavier and his vision therapist Sandy could all watch THE MOMENT. I teared up -- Sandy got chills -- Warren held Xavier and smiled at his two year-old. His smile seemed to say, no matter what the challenges, anything is possible. Xavier cooed and drooled.

Then we listened to THE ADDRESS -- I can't remember it well now, other than the impression it left. It was quietly celebratory, intelligent yet accessible, encompassing and pointed ("Time to make hard decisions / not to compromise ideals for safety / restore science to its proper place," etc.), patriotic but expansive. Then Warren, Xavier and I drove to Xavier's speech therapy. I texted in the waiting room with my friend Stacy and learned that Obama (like me) is a lefty. Just when I didn't think my pride in this man and his accomplishments couldn't soar any higher, it found a new level. Sorry, but I'm a sucker for a southpaw.

When we got home, two e-mails were waiting for me: one from my friend Susan Shaffer in New York who e-mailed from her iPhone; another from my friend Vanessa inviting me to an impromptu Obama party that I obviously missed. Back on Facebook, lots more updates -- on CNN and CNN.com, more footage, photos, updates. Even the reporters were in the crowd with Flip Videos, uploading "man on the street" bits to Twitter and Facebook, just like the man on the street was doing! The Revolution was most definitely televised -- because EVERYBODY had a way to televise it!

BUT, even more important than the technology and communication revolutions we took part in today, was the realization of the Revolution Martin Luther King, Jr. "dreamed" of forty-six years ago, a dream the majority of this nation helped turn into reality last November the old-fashioned way: by getting up, getting out and walking into voting booths all across the land. 

Not only did a "black man" become President of the most powerful nation in the world today, a young man became President, a biracial man became President, a son of an immigrant became President, an intelligent man became President, an inclusive man became President, a humble man became President, and a loving husband and father became President. This list, I'm sure, could go on and on, as it should, because there should never be anything finite about Revolution. After all, it changes everything. Especially when it's televised.

LLH out.

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The First Black Anybody

Everyone has "that one" in their life right now, right? That one friend or relative who sends you every article, video, blog or humor item that has anything to do with Obama, making your e-mail inbox swell from 10 to 100 messages on a near-daily basis? If you don't, you probably are "that one" and if you are, I salute your commitment to political spam... I mean, getting the word out. For me, "that one" is my Auntie Brenda, so whenever I see a have e-mail from blakin, I skip over it because I know it will be long and/or time-consuming. But I recently found a moment to hack through my blakin e-mails and read a piece by Frank Schaeffer of the Huffington Post entitled "Obama Will Be One of The Greatest (and Most Loved) American Presidents."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/obama-will-be-one-of-the_b_132843.html

I don't know why, but of all of the Obama fodder in my box, this one made me more than a little "Yes, We Can" -- it actually made me weepy, emotional and (dare I say?) hopeful.  Not only because this self-described life-long Republican and Christian is so eloquent about the virtues of Obama, but because it's the first time the simplest argument to vote for Obama occurred to me.  He will absolutely be the best president this generation has ever seen - -because he HAS TO BE. 

The First Black Anybody, it hit me, is always superlative whenever he or she crosses lines that have not been crossed before.  Not only are they preternaturally gifted in their field of choice (Jackie Robinson, Arthur Ashe, Ralph Bunche, W.E.B. DuBois, Leontyne Price, to name a few), they also possess the demeanor, will power and acumen to earn the respect even of those most resistant to their presence in a heretofore homogeneous field.  The First Black Anybody knows everyone is watching him or her, some with fingers crossed, some with eyes askance, and if they "mess up," it becomes painfully unlikely that The Second Black Anybody will get their proverbial turn at bat.

Obama, put plainly, is a man without a net, so he must cross the high wire intact, or perish.  Does old boy McCain have that kind of pressure on him?  Um, not so much.  Of course, The First Black Anybody theory isn't the only reason I'm voting for Obama, but I must say, I do love that he's the guy who's playing "all in" because he does not have the luxury of hedging his bets. And that's the guy who for damn sure knows how to play his cards.  And since I have no other metaphors to mix, I will close by saying feel free to use this argument with any undecided friends of yours because even though there is a level of facetiousness and whimsy to it, it's really kinda true.

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A Sacred Institution Between Two Unwilling Teenagers

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Y'all know what I'm referring to, right? The third in the most-awesome series of SNL political spoofs ever? You know -- the Joe Biden/Sarah Palin debate parody from Saturday night.  Tina Fey and gang were on fire and never did they shine more brightly than with the single line above.  If you want to catch the full context, watch the video above.  It will show you the whole segment but if you just want to hear the line (the whole sentence is actually "I believe marriage is meant to be a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers") scroll about six minutes in.

The reason the above joke/sentiment made me laugh out loud and almost damn-near cheer my TV (it got the most live-audience applause, too) is because I can't stand that neither the republicans NOR DEMOCRATS will support gay marriage.  I'm not so sure about Palin or McCain, but I know Obama and Biden know better -- two men so knowledgeable about history and civil rights have to know how unfair it is to deny ANY citizen ANY right.  But they choose to pander because they feel they can't risk the political backlash in so close a race. Though I rarely start a sentence with the following because I feel it is reductive, I can't help it in this case. As a black person (that's the sentence starter right there), it is unconscionable to me to ever deny any law-abiding citizen the right to participate in any government-sanctioned activity.  I think about voting rights, property rights, housing rights, hell, even marriage rights (first for blacks -- the broom jump developed because it wasn't legal for slaves to marry -- and interracial marriages were illegal until 1967) and in every case, the people who wanted them were denied such rights because the majority perceived them as "less than."

So they can say all they want about tolerance and "a civil union is just the same" -- but it's not.  It is NOT the same.  Does 1896's Plessy vs. Ferguson "separate but equal" ring a bell for anyone?  Or that it had to be undone fifty-eight years later by Brown v. the Board of Ed? (I didn't even fact check the dates -- they have been seared in my brain since high school because they've always struck a deep chord with me.) Come on, people, let's spare ourselves the decades-long anguish over this and do the right thing now.  Does it make any sense to you that two "oops, we got pregnant" teenagers who don't even want it can get all the rights and legal protections of marriage?  That prisoners like Erik Menendez who murdered his parents can get married?  But good, loving people like my friends Ray Lancon and Sara Washington (I've been feeling your recent pain over this one, girl) can't? If that's not calling somebody "less than," I don't know what is.

California Voters -- No on Prop. 8. Voting any other way says you are against liberty and justice for all. This is not my opinion, this is fact. And it is also a fact that those against gay marriage will be proven wrong and one day gay marriage will be as commonplace as seeing a woman vote (an abomination in 1919) or a black person in a public swimming pool (cause for a lynching before the 60s). 

Okay, so... this is a screed as well as Deep Pop.  But we still love it.

April 7, 2009 UPDATE:  As everyone knows, Obama/Biden captured the White House on November 4, 2008, shattering a ceiling most felt would take several more generations to break through.  But even with that huge leap forward, California took a huge step back by passing Proposition 8.  The matter is still in the state Court of Appeals, and hopefully justice will prevail.  In happier news, Vermont and Iowa approved gay marriage this week, bringing the total of states that sanction same-sex matrimony to four (the other two are Connecticut and Massachusetts).  Four down, forty-six to go!