Saturday, June 28, 2008

on obama's speech 'a more perfect union' (written 3/19/08)

I submitted this to a couple of places... and it never got posted... :x so i decided to post it onto my blog. I wrote my response literally the day after reading Obama's speech after he gave it. Honestly, I was frustrated.. and yes, this was before he told muslim women not to stand behind him during his campaign.... then apologized... (don't get me wrong.. i like obama... but you'd have to read on to get what i'm trying to say)


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I write this article, not in anyway to condemn Senator Barack Obama for his speech made on March 18th of 2008, but rather to point out some difficulties regarding our American population. Senator Obama alluded to the fact that through narrating our stories to one another, one will be able to recognize differences, yet move towards the same goal. He calls our goal “a more perfect union”. He relays his story as being only one of many that people may identify with, yet as being very exclusive to the United States of America. He feeds the nation self worth, through these statements, but nevertheless, gives a remedial injection, mentioning that “words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage”. Senator Obama gives his speech in order to defend himself against claims that have been circulating the media. Issues that may reflect him in a negative light, nevertheless, he casts a whole population of people into a similar shadow. What is going on?

Senator Obama is a leader, who is heavily influenced by his experiences, proposing solutions to an open-ended list of problems. He attempts to parallel his narrative of experiences to great American leaders such as Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and Dr. King. Yet, his narrative goes haywire half way through his speech. Being a political leader who does not fit into the structured norm he must constantly be backed into a corner on the defensive. Senator Obama describes himself as being half black half white, raised both in a poor nation yet experiencing some of the best education, he places himself in the shoes of almost every person in the world. His speech seeks to unify the masses under the ideology that we all are working towards the same goal. He attempts to reconcile the differences, similar to Lincoln’s tactics of using religious rhetoric to unify the masses, but places a racial twist, nonetheless his attempts are self-destructing. Yes, we can be unified under a patriotic nation, a union, and work towards the same goals, yet his speech bends into becoming one of religious pedigree. Senator Obama is forced to defend himself against the allegations and rumors center himself based on being a Muslim. He is forced to strip himself from his father’s religious ideology of Islam, or what he calls “radical Islam”. The question is then, why do so in such an extreme?

Senator Obama sought to break the stereotypes that surrounded him about being affiliated in a black Christian nationalist movement, once statements made by Reverend Jeremiah Wright were publicized and linked to Obama. It is as though Obama wants to unite the people under the “union” regardless of race, yet if one falls into a category of being a Muslim or a Black Christian Nationalist, they suddenly cannot be a patriotic people, cannot adequately unite with others under a movement towards “a more perfect union.” In attempting to deconstruct stereotypes perpetuated in the media about himself, he reconstructs a whole new stereotype without even truly realizing it. Senator Obama, who has been heavily advocated for within the Muslim or the Black Christian Nationalist population are now being alienated do to his self-inflicted segregation of religious ideology. Senator Obama does not realize, that the majority of the political and religious leaders within the Muslim community and the Black Christian Nationalist community advocate for the same ideals he proposes, but are now excluded from reaping the benefits of the common good. He creates an “us versus them” mentality, just because of the sound bite caught from the words “radical Islam”.

I believe that in order for his speech to actually seek to unite the people, Senator Obama cannot use rhetoric that seems religiously exclusive. Yes, he may combat the rumors circulating about being a Muslim or coinciding with the ideologies publicized on Reverend Wright, but he cannot create a new stereotype. It is a simple as stating “I am not a Muslim” rather than labeling the Muslim population as “radicals”. We are in a point of time where the American public need to understand each others stories, just as Senator Obama relayed, that in order to overcome stereotypes and move towards “a more perfect union” differences must be recognized, biases must deconstructed, and the people need to build coalitions, networks, and ties regardless of race, gender, and religious affiliation, towards the betterment of society. I appreciate Senator Obama’s relaying of his story, because it makes the American public understand him a bit more, but it should not be done at the expense of excluding a whole category of people. We are an American public, regardless of race or religious ideology, and our goal is for the betterment of the society for the common good of all the American population.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Suspended

So, I wrote this piece before I left for Syria, the day I found out my uncle passed away. I was soo frustrated that I started writing... But all my poetry turns political... :x Anyway. Read away:

Suspended

in time, in air, in fear

of everything for everyone, everywhere

Like i just backed up into a traffic jam

road blocked state of mind

stuck in a perpetual purgatory of hurt

Skidding, spiraling, sliding, slumping into an self-created inferno

Only to be burnt by lighting both sides of the candle

Lack of control, with no real handle on life

Bungee jumping into a symphony of self pity

Every smack against the dried ground like the beating of drums

Or is it my heart beating, thumping, pumping

Or did I rip out my mind

only to feel my vertebrae echo like the crack of a whip

As I continue to slip out of reality

And dip into a delusional fantasy

So that I don't have to deal with life

Because every morning is like a bolus shot

Of numbness crawling up my left arm

And my vicodin to ease the pain is the ninth stop at the coffee shop

Tuned back into being a machinated piece of the system

No thoughts, no words, no actions

Silence, the companion of static on this radio station

Of control.

Our emotions as fickle as channel surfing

We hear:

Suicide bomber click

Shop lifting click

Alligator bites click

Health care kills click

Play station upgrade click

Drive by click

Hunger strike click

Union fights click

Mother dies click

Guns sold click

Teenage rape click

Heroine addict click

Terrorist rampage click

Plastic surgery click

Child molested click

Prada the new click

Summer snow click

Cure to aids click

Britney fakes click

Obama's race click

Till the only constant to stick is the mind on autopilot

Because everyone is ADHD, and OD'd on Ritalin

While society creates a tunnel vision

Of what to follow, and anyone out on the periphery

Is blasphemously a threat to the very nature of humanity

The focus hones into only one clarity

Homogeneity is the source of all good

And defying the norm, means you're misunderstood

Knowing the truth, makes you a crook

And history is only one more fairytale book to be told

So that along with our minds, our bodies can be sold

Into a slavery of forgotten self-worth

And as the process continues we become processed goods

Sold over the counter, till all you could do

Is wait on the shelf for someone to acknowledge you

Maybe pat you on the head, give you a gold star

Because you forgot about how messed up the world is so far

You deleted memories of racism and pride

You were debooted, misplacing all the truths you had to hide

Downloaded a virus that made you forget

How Palestinians were stripped of their identity

Just as blacks were robbed of their identity

Just like Arabs are stereotyped by their identity

Just like natives were raped of their identity

Just like Hispanics were pillaged of their identity

Just like the Irish were forced to water down their identity

Just like Muslims are coerced to compromise their identity

Just like youth are told to give up their identity

So, even though I'm spiraling down into oblivion

I leech out the poison their IV-ing into my skin

I break my knees so I can get down and pray

For me not to succumb to their mainstream ways

Yeah, my problems chuck me down into self-hate at times

But at least I'm not one more figure stuck in the regulated lines

Of control.

Because my motto is "speak your mind"

(Feel free to leave comments you wild people you...)

Sunday, June 1, 2008

in another country

I'm currently in Syria right now, rather than at home in Michigan... Which wasn't even my home until about 10 months ago... or actually since it is now june 11 months ago.

I am going insane with boredom... I want to do something fun.

I'm meeting up with my cousin in about half an hour at the university of Aleppo.. ooooh the excitement... actually... that is not sarcasm.

Okie I'm gonna go... because i'm supposed to leave in 2 minutes.

yay yay.

salam
PEACE
\V/