Black Is Making a Comeback

I know it's been a while since I've commented on current events but it's taken me some time to get my mind together to discuss the issues that are important to me. I must admit that even I have been bamboozled and distracted by the nuances and blatant "coonery" of the "entertainment" industry. I know that now more than ever I desperately need to be "reeducated" with information that has been written from my the perspective of my own people, people of color who largely have been displaced, destroyed, disadvantaged, and oppressed at the hands of "hardworking" white people, in the words of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. I cannot express how disheartened and concerned I am at the utter irresponsibility and cruelness that this administration has caused over the course of the past 8 years. As I slowly come to grips with the utter reality that this Administration is not the first to commit such atrocities to people across the world, and certainly won't be the last, I am conflicted daily with my desire to be "patriotic" and "optimistic" while not ignoring the grim reality that it is.

The US media and in particular, the press have participated in the concerted and strategic transmission of blatantly inaccurate and misleading information about foreign affairs, especially in the Middle East and the "War on Terror." At times I find myself so confused as to what to believe and what to question. The politicians are so powerful in their ability to mislead and persuade the masses of Americans that I find myself at times even feeling vulnerable. I am at a time in my life where I am finally "taking off the rosy colored glasses" and seeing the reality of what is truly taking place. Our country's leaders, both Republicans and Democrats have disillusioned the world with their lies, corruption, greed, and lust for power and influence. We have alienated the world under the Bush Administration and continue to pillage, exploit, steal, kill, and destroy people of color predominantly, all under the guise of freedom and democracy. I feel like for the past 21 years of my life, I have been indoctrinated with lies and misinformation not only about myself and my ancestors, but also about my country and its role in international relations.

I simply don't understand why at a time when I should be proud that the United States' Democratic Party just nominated the first African American for President, why in the midst of my pride and happiness I can feel nothing but sadness, apprehension, and anger. Anger that despite this momentous occasion, despite it all, terrible things are still and will continue to take place around the world under the flag of the United States of America. I just don't understand why as I attempt to educate myself so that I one day can go out to the world as an intellectual and critical thinker, white men are plotting and planning on how they can continue to profit take over the world. It's a situation in which I will probably never understand but one which will continue to plague my mind and undoubtedly the minds of so many others. Honestly, I don't know what needs to be done but I honestly and truly believe it starts from the bottom up. People have got to wake up out of this brainwashed mind daze that we are in and begin to truly critically think and analyze the events that are happening around us. People have got to be armed not with guns but with knowledge because knowledge truly is power. Our youth have got to stop being taught to value money, fame, and material possessions and start valuing each other and education and all of the joys it brings. I don't know how we can change the way we function but we have to start somehow and we have to start today. It begins with each and everyone of us making a decision that instead of doing what is expected of us, we will go above ad beyond that and do the unexpected and the unimagined. It is time for us to truly do what we never though was possible and to tap into our uncharted potential as human beings. I will leave it at that.