Is Obama “cutting his own dick” by speaking to the Black community about morality?

Jesse, Jesse, JESSE!!! When will you learn?

***UPDATE, WE FOUND THE ACTUAL FOOTAGE AND IT’S WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT!!! CHECK IT OUT AFTER THE JUMP!!!***

Apparently Jesse Jackson thinks so. He just apologized on CNN for saying that Obama was “cutting his own dick” by giving speeches in which he appeared to be “lecturing” Black people about morality and personal resposibility.

I believe the apology was more about the words he used and not the context of the statement, but I have to ask, what is wrong with telling Black people to step it up? Malcolm did it, Martin did it, Jesse and Al USED to do it…

So what changed? See, I’m starting to believe more and more that one of the glaring problems in our community is that we DON’T have enough people holding us accountable for our own actions. It’s very easy to say that we are not given enough opportunities and to use that as the reason that we are not achieving the way that we should be. But the fact is, those who came before us succeeded with FAR LESS than we have now. Some couldn’t read or write, some couldn’t even ply their trade without feeling the sting of defeat and discrimination at every turn. That hopelessness obliterated some, true indeed. But that same despair gave birth to some of our most joyous moments. In the midst of those moments, we had leaders who were unafraid to tell it like it was. We valued that.

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Remember back in the day? And it’s sad that I can say “back in the day” at the tender age of 28, but the truth

Remember these days? When there was an extended family that REALLY helped to raise the kids?

is, my generation was the last one that had the power of the village theory behind it. You know, it takes a village to raise a child? What happened to that mentality? It left when the parents of the children got younger and younger and therefore the grandparents, aunts and uncles got younger and the wisdom that we used to value wasn’t there because no one was old enough to have it. Yes, being mature for your age is great, but that phrase explains the problem. For your age. Not the same maturity that comes with having seen a lot, or having made the mistakes and learned the wisdom from those moments.

We’re not used to having any candidate speak to anyone’s morals (beside the religious right), much less the lives of Black people. But that’s because we have never had a candidate who understood it. Yes, Obama is bi-racial.

This is the first time African-American's have come this close to seeing anything that looks remotely like their own lives behind the walls of the White House. The implications are real and should be understood.

But the experience that he lived and the places he’s been are saturated with the African-American experience, including his own wife and children. They are not a Black family that came from money. Obama’s family wasn’t rich and neither was Michelle’s. They worked hard and persevered despite the racism and the sexism and all the other ism’s that plague African Americans. And look where they are now! We are not used to this, so we find reasons to not be okay with it. But I wonder where we would be without it right now. In this moment in our history where Black people are at a crossroads, we need just that. Our culture is being exploited (again), our people are being disrespected and mistreated (again) and I respect the fact that he is standing up to do it even as he is the Democratic presidential nominee. What do you think???

~ by Miss D. on July 9, 2008.