Because we need a President who can speak thoughtfully and instructively instead of throwing crass insults, I present Barack Obama, speaking Tuesday in Chicago about the need to do more than just Tweet sanctimonious shade if you want to effect real change:
If I tweet or hashtag about how you didn’t do something right or used the wrong verb… then I can sit back and feel pretty good about myself, ‘cuz man, you see how woke I was? I called you out!… That’s not activism. That’s not bringing about change. If all you’re doing is casting stones, you’re probably not going to get that far. That’s easy to do [President Barack Obama, speaking at the Obama Foundation Summit, Chicago, 2019.10.29].
See President Obama’s full remarks here.
Michelle Obama also spoke to the Foundation summit. She observed that the same fear and racism of today’s Trumpists is the same fear and racism that sent white folks running from Chicago’s South Side as her family climbed the social ladder to share the American Dream:
“We were doing everything we were supposed to do — and better,” she said in an on-stage conversation with Robinson. “But when we moved in, white families moved out.”
“I want to remind white folks that y’all were running from us. And you’re still running,” she said. “Because we’re no different from the immigrant families that are moving in today. … But because we can so easily wash over who we really were — because of the color of our skin, because of the texture of our hair — that’s what divides countries, the artificial things.”
Obama says she grew up feeling “a sense of injustice.”
“You know this when you’re young,” she said. “You know when people are running from you” [Sandra Sobieraj Westfall, “Michelle Obama Recalls ‘White Flight of her Childhood on Chicago’s South Side: ‘Y’all Were Running from Us‘,” People, 2019.10.29].
Here are Mrs. Obama’s full remarks:
How I miss a real President and a real First Lady who said things worth talking about, things from which we could learn.
I miss Barack and Michelle! These two had style!
Yeah. Not only do I miss their eloquence and Michelle’s great style, hair and heart, but the passion they both have to make the world better for EVERYone.
The comments of all 3 of them, Michelle, Barack and Michelle’s bro, remind us that our purpose in life is bigger than just us. We’re all in this together, regardless of political views. Our new president in 2021 will need to keep that focus at the top of her To Do list.
Thank you Obamas!
Farmers miss President Obama, they just have a hard time admitting that a Democrat in the White House gave a damn about them.
“Bankruptcy filings were the highest in Wisconsin at 48 filings, followed by 37 filings in Georgia, Nebraska and Kansas. Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Wisconsin and West Virginia all experienced Chapter 12 bankruptcy filings at or above 10-year highs.”
https://www.fb.org/market-intel/farm-bankruptcies-rise-again?utm_source=Market+Intel+Subscribers&utm_campaign=2dd3cbc7cf-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_10_30_01_26&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8791233023-2dd3cbc7cf-260852123
Looks like the wealthy corporate farms are getting their land base up on the backs of the bankrupt. Anyone else see the pattern here?
Oh man Barack hit it why didn’t he have had some of these fireside chats when he was President. We’ve become a Gotcha Culture. My Bill Withers story: I was having a nice conversation with a younger (white) person about music trying to remember his name so described him as a black guy, which did make it click for us, but then she pounced. Why isn’t he just a man!!! Then went off into righteous tirade. He’s 81 years old now probably most people of that generation have no issue identifying as black. My friends certainly didn’t. It’s become difficult to even have a conversation and use an adjective possibly connected to race. It gets more confusing when younger people themselves want to identify that way. Jada Pinkett Smith had a Red Table Talk (her show) with a black woman adopted by a white family who said the experience has left her hollow, without the black identity she craves. She very much wants others to see her as a black woman and even questions the validity of mixed adoptions. You just can’t win for losing. Pinkett Smith stresses the importance of having these difficult conversations as something she wants to pass on to her children. Obama is right the immediate finger-pointing has to end. Have a conversation don’t get triggered. Try to understand intent before jumping down somebody’s throat to destroy an enemy who may not be an enemy.
So I’m thinking about one of my old friends who was half black, half Mexican, but in his mind he was only black. This is how he saw it. His father, who was Mexican, left them when he was young. If this conversation came up, it was likely to be explosive. That Mexican side of him, to him, just did not exist. Or so he attempted. Growing up in East LA, maybe he felt he needed to fit in somewhere. Although we had a close relationship, it was just too difficult of a discussion for him. Old pains and hurts got in the way so mainly we left it alone, but it would bubble up. Can you disavow that part of yourself? He certainly tried but it wasn’t totally working. There was inner disturbance lets put it that way.
I miss Obama, too. What a genuine person.
I think some of the best things he talked about were double standards and nuance. Our country is so black and white, and I don’t mean skin color. Many democrats act like all republicans are terrible. Many republicans act like all democrats are morons. Many people of one race hate all people of any other race. It is too rare for people to see the good and bad in others. There are good republicans and bad. There are good democrats and bad. There are toxic abusive males. There are savage and disgusting females. There are white thieves and black philanthropists. There are dirtbags and heroes among every walk of life. It’s too easy to pick a trait and hate the whole person these days. We need better examples across all walks of life. We need better media. We need better social role models. We need better politicians. We need better parents. We all need to expect more and be better, even if it takes 5% more effort. It’s not easy to look for the pros and cons of something or somebody, so it’s trendy to jump on a person or a topic based on a shallow glimpse.
I wish we could have another Obama. Absent that, I think we should eliminate the office of president and abolish political parties altogether. Enough hiding behind a catch phrase. Enough voting for Rs and Ds. This county will continue to lack substance until enough of us demand substance.
Oh Ryan stop making so much sense. The problem is both parties want an enemy. “We good they bad.” That’s powerful. That motivates the warriors, but “we’re all kind of good and we’re all kind of bad” that message doesn’t sell to the extremes. They want a black and white message which mirrors their own thought process in the meantime the vast majority in the country who want to be reasonable, want to compromise, and want a working government are suffering dearly. Hopefully with Trump it’s swung out so far that it will have to swing back to normalcy. People are totally seeing it.