Ten things I love about America:
1. I can go from sea to shining sea and only have to speak English, except of course if I'm in Los Angeles or Miami.
2. When I am stopped by the police, I will live to complain about it. (Most of the time.)
3. I can drink the water without getting immediately ill.
4. No one is setting off bombs in the middle of the street ... most days anyway.
5. I won't be murdered for voting in a general election. I might be ridiculed, but very unlikely to be murdered.
6. Education is free and compulsory.
7. I can pursue happiness. Even if I don't attain it, I can pursue it. If I change my mind about what makes me happy, I am free to stop pursuing the one and start pursuing the other.
8. We are all cowboys, but yet we somehow always end up rooting for the Indians. (No offense to my Native American friends and family members.)
9. It is relatively easy to get fresh fruits and vegetables.
10. Last but certainly not least, I am free to worship or not to worship as I see fit.
I tried to find things I hate about my country, but I can't. If you cut me, I bleed red, white and blue. There are things I don't like about this country, but hate is much too strong a word so I will call this section:
Ten things I'm not too crazy about in America:
1. The legacy of slavery lives on. I am a Black person in Orange County, California so I have less rights than every other non-Black person in Orange County, California.
2. I love the world. Some Americans have a hard to draw the distinction between loving the world and hating my country, but that is because our borders insulate us. We should get out more.
3. People fail to appreciate the responsibility of freedom. The right to act freely comes with a responsibility to be accountable for your actions.
4. Civil courts aren't civil. Judges are fallible and lawyers are paid to manipulate the system. I do think our legal system is infinitely fairer than the alternatives which makes it that much harder to be unhappy with it.
5. Cigarettes are legal in places where trans fats have been banned.
6. America is soft on crime whereas I have a more draconian view towards criminality. I believe in capital punishment for murderers, rapists and those who intentionally harm children. I think people who steal should be disfigured so they can be easily identified. Bring back the scarlet letter.
7. The media drives too much of our political and social agenda. I won't ask, won't tell, and don't care. So long as you don't involve me or hurt my interests, your personal choices are just that: personal and a choice. If, however, you decide you want to care for my children, parents or self-interest in any capacity, then I will ask, expect an answer, and care.
8. The twenty largest cities drive too much of our economic and social agenda. We have forgotten that rural America is still America. More Americans need to see this great country so they will realize that America is not homeless people at the L.A. Mission or children shooting children, but a place where families gather around and children go fishing in a creek. We have lost sight of what is important, which is our people.
9. We have inferior tequila, scotch, vodka and coffee ... all my favorite drinks in no particular order (though coffee is by far and away my favorite).
10. Last and certainly the thing that irks me the most about our country: with all of our wealth and abundance, with all that we have been blessed with, with all the beauty that exists from coast-to-coast, we usually take the low road.
America is a great idea. It is one worth fighting for and protecting. We are all responsible for building a nation. Go do your part and know that I will do mine.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Ask For the Right Things
How many times have you been asked to make a wish for something and then wasted your wish on the wrong thing?
That happened to me earlier today. Someone challenged me to make a wish as if my one wish would be granted and I thought long and hard about what has been troubling over the past few months and tried to be very specific in my wish lest I leave a loophole in my request.
I didn't think about it at the time for it was just a silly wish, but now it's all I can think about. When I made the wish, my husband was out of the house and I just assumed that everything would be okay and that he'd be home around 6pm and we'd have our normal evening together. At 5 pm I started looking for him and that's when I realized that I made the wrong wish. All I really want is for him to be here with me -- okay, healthy, happy, here. That's all I really want.
Now it's 6:51 pm and he is not at home. I can't reach him and I don't know where he is so of course I'm worried. I can't think about what we're going to do tomorrow until I get through my today.
Next time I make a wish, I know what it will be. Every time I make a wish I know what it will be ... for the people I love the most to stay healthy. I wish that I could hug my parents today for it's been too many years since I've last hugged them. I wish to sit around the table with my family and watch my nieces and nephews (and grandnephews and niece) play.
But most of all, I wish David Sr. would walk through the door right now.
That happened to me earlier today. Someone challenged me to make a wish as if my one wish would be granted and I thought long and hard about what has been troubling over the past few months and tried to be very specific in my wish lest I leave a loophole in my request.
I didn't think about it at the time for it was just a silly wish, but now it's all I can think about. When I made the wish, my husband was out of the house and I just assumed that everything would be okay and that he'd be home around 6pm and we'd have our normal evening together. At 5 pm I started looking for him and that's when I realized that I made the wrong wish. All I really want is for him to be here with me -- okay, healthy, happy, here. That's all I really want.
Now it's 6:51 pm and he is not at home. I can't reach him and I don't know where he is so of course I'm worried. I can't think about what we're going to do tomorrow until I get through my today.
Next time I make a wish, I know what it will be. Every time I make a wish I know what it will be ... for the people I love the most to stay healthy. I wish that I could hug my parents today for it's been too many years since I've last hugged them. I wish to sit around the table with my family and watch my nieces and nephews (and grandnephews and niece) play.
But most of all, I wish David Sr. would walk through the door right now.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
I Wonder Why America Is Losing The War on Terrorism
WARNING: I AM VIOLATING MY OWN RULE THAT HATRED WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.
Before I finish looking backwards, I have to look around. I'm seeing "peace officers" being shot, judges going to jail, people trying to blow our airplanes out of the sky, and I wonder why. I have lots of time to wonder and study.
Yesterday I had a two-hour lunch with a Kenyan gentleman who shared his plight with me. He has three children ages 11 to 15 who speak English, French and their native tongue. They came to this country in search of a better life, but unfortunately they ended up in Costa Mesa. The teachers ridicule his children for speaking English with an accent yet teach the Hispanic students in Spanish because our school system does not require students to be bilingual.
Three Black Kenyans who speak multiple languages including English are spat at, ridiculed and harassed on a daily basis by many Hispanic students who only speak Spanish, and our system not only allows it but suspends the Kenyan students when they complain. I suggested that he move his children to another school. Where he is from he does not have that luxury, but here in America, he is free to choose. His eyes lit up in astonishment at this mere suggestion. I gave him my permission to be free.
I love my country, but sometimes I feel as though my country does not love me, so I wonder why?
Why do I love my country? I look at the history of this country and I know that I have given much more than I have received. I know that I had to fight like hell to force this country to accept my gifts and fight even harder for the few gifts I have received in return. How does that make me any different from every other good American? In my opinion, the great Americans are the ones that gave all to this country, the ones who laid down their lives so that my son can walk free. Who am I to demand anything from this country? The land provides me with food, the lakes provide me with water, the woods provide me with logs for lumber to make shelter. If anything, I owe this country much for what it has given me.
Why do I love my country? I know my country hates me. They hate my Black skin, my kinky hair, my Black husband, and my Black son. They hate my Black parents, my Black siblings, my Black friends and my Black enemies. They hate me when I am ignorant but hate me even more when I am educated. They hate me when I am weak but hate me even more when I am strong. They hate me when I am unarmed but really hate me when I am armed.
They hate me. Why do I love my country? I love this country because despite their hatred towards me and people who look like me, this country demands that I get educated, demands that I am given equal opportunity, demands that I be protected from predators, allows me to participate freely in its political process and its institution, gives me access to quality medical care, and defends my right to complain about how poorly I am treated. Despite their hatred for me, this country does more for me than countries that love their citizenry. That is why I love this country that hates me.
I don't love my country blindly the way I used to when I was young; it's a mature love and deep admiration than only comes once you get to know a country. I still believe in the idea of America so I continue to fight for my country.
God Bless America.
Before I finish looking backwards, I have to look around. I'm seeing "peace officers" being shot, judges going to jail, people trying to blow our airplanes out of the sky, and I wonder why. I have lots of time to wonder and study.
Yesterday I had a two-hour lunch with a Kenyan gentleman who shared his plight with me. He has three children ages 11 to 15 who speak English, French and their native tongue. They came to this country in search of a better life, but unfortunately they ended up in Costa Mesa. The teachers ridicule his children for speaking English with an accent yet teach the Hispanic students in Spanish because our school system does not require students to be bilingual.
Three Black Kenyans who speak multiple languages including English are spat at, ridiculed and harassed on a daily basis by many Hispanic students who only speak Spanish, and our system not only allows it but suspends the Kenyan students when they complain. I suggested that he move his children to another school. Where he is from he does not have that luxury, but here in America, he is free to choose. His eyes lit up in astonishment at this mere suggestion. I gave him my permission to be free.
I love my country, but sometimes I feel as though my country does not love me, so I wonder why?
Why do I love my country? I look at the history of this country and I know that I have given much more than I have received. I know that I had to fight like hell to force this country to accept my gifts and fight even harder for the few gifts I have received in return. How does that make me any different from every other good American? In my opinion, the great Americans are the ones that gave all to this country, the ones who laid down their lives so that my son can walk free. Who am I to demand anything from this country? The land provides me with food, the lakes provide me with water, the woods provide me with logs for lumber to make shelter. If anything, I owe this country much for what it has given me.
Why do I love my country? I know my country hates me. They hate my Black skin, my kinky hair, my Black husband, and my Black son. They hate my Black parents, my Black siblings, my Black friends and my Black enemies. They hate me when I am ignorant but hate me even more when I am educated. They hate me when I am weak but hate me even more when I am strong. They hate me when I am unarmed but really hate me when I am armed.
They hate me. Why do I love my country? I love this country because despite their hatred towards me and people who look like me, this country demands that I get educated, demands that I am given equal opportunity, demands that I be protected from predators, allows me to participate freely in its political process and its institution, gives me access to quality medical care, and defends my right to complain about how poorly I am treated. Despite their hatred for me, this country does more for me than countries that love their citizenry. That is why I love this country that hates me.
I don't love my country blindly the way I used to when I was young; it's a mature love and deep admiration than only comes once you get to know a country. I still believe in the idea of America so I continue to fight for my country.
God Bless America.
Monday, January 4, 2010
DARE TO BELIEVE IN A PERFECT WORLD
What better time than at the very beginning of a new decade should we dare to believe in a perfect world?
What better time than now should we decide that poverty, disease, greed, and suffering are not inevitable?
What better person than you to heal the world?
DARE TO BELIEVE
WORK TO ACHIEVE
I'm still looking backwards to see my way forward. Ten years from now, I'd like to look back and not see War. I'd like to look back and not see famine, genocide, and destruction.
Who are our believers? Who are our achievers?
What better time than now should we decide that poverty, disease, greed, and suffering are not inevitable?
What better person than you to heal the world?
DARE TO BELIEVE
WORK TO ACHIEVE
I'm still looking backwards to see my way forward. Ten years from now, I'd like to look back and not see War. I'd like to look back and not see famine, genocide, and destruction.
Who are our believers? Who are our achievers?
Friday, January 1, 2010
Looking Backwards Before Looking Forward (Part 1)
2010. A new decade. We made it through the first decade of the 21st century, my sixth decade on this Earth. How’s it been so far?
We’ve made it through the 60’s …The assassination of John F. Kennedy Jr., Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy. We made it through social upheaval in the United States, The Cuban Missile Crisis, The Six Day War between Egypt and Israel, Vietnam. The U.S.A. survived the British Invasion -- The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and The Who and established our own sound, The Motown Sound. Despite everything, we put men on the moon and thirty-two African countries gained independence.
We made it through the 70’s …We endured through Watergate, school bussing, disco and gasoline shortages. Mother Africa endured multiple conflicts including Idi Amin initiating the Ugandan-Tanzanian War, the brutality of the South African police resulting in the Soweto Uprising and the Angolan Civil War. Pakistanis hijacked four airliners in 1970 and then initiated the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, while Palestinians kidnapped and murdered Israeli athletes from the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Augusto Pinochet came to power, much to the detriment of Chile. We saw the end of the Vietnam War, which resulted in the fall of Saigon, about as far from a victory as one could imagine. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge didn’t help matters. Saddam Hussein began his rise to power but the U.S.A. was preoccupied with the Shah of Iran and the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Despite everything, we created personal computer, calculators, microwave ovens and VCRs and the Soviets started flying space stations.
We made it through the 80’s. Ronald Reagan declared “War on Drugs” and Nancy Reagan encouraged us all the “Just Say No”. The meltdown at Chernobyl changed the world’s opinion about nuclear power. AIDS changed the political, moral, social, and medical landscape. Africa remained in turmoil, but all eyes were on Ethiopia and the famine which killed more than one million. The South African Border War ended after thirty years of conflict between Angola, Namibia, and Zambia. Jean-Claude “Baby-Doc” Duvalier was overthrown in Haiti while war raged between Iraq and Iran in the Middle East. We saw the Lebanese War, Falklands Conflict, Polish Uprising, First Intifada in the Gaza Strip, Soviet-Afghan War, Tiananmen Square, and Vietnam-Cambodia conflicts. Assignations and assignation attempts were plentiful norm including the attempt on Ronald Reagan (March 1981), the attempt on Pope John Paul II (May 1981), Anwar Sadat (Egypt, October 1981), Indira Ganhi (India, October 1984), an attempt on Margaret Thatcher (Britain, 1984) and Olof Palme (Sweden, February 1986). Airplanes were regularly blown out of the sky, and the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, taking David’s cousin Ron McNair and Carnegie Mellon’s xxx. The Berlin Wall came down. We limped out of the 80’s, with the toxins from the Bhopal disaster still in our lungs and the oil from the Exxon Valdez on our backs, but Nintendo was there to save us.
(end of Part 1.)
We’ve made it through the 60’s …The assassination of John F. Kennedy Jr., Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy. We made it through social upheaval in the United States, The Cuban Missile Crisis, The Six Day War between Egypt and Israel, Vietnam. The U.S.A. survived the British Invasion -- The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and The Who and established our own sound, The Motown Sound. Despite everything, we put men on the moon and thirty-two African countries gained independence.
We made it through the 70’s …We endured through Watergate, school bussing, disco and gasoline shortages. Mother Africa endured multiple conflicts including Idi Amin initiating the Ugandan-Tanzanian War, the brutality of the South African police resulting in the Soweto Uprising and the Angolan Civil War. Pakistanis hijacked four airliners in 1970 and then initiated the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, while Palestinians kidnapped and murdered Israeli athletes from the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Augusto Pinochet came to power, much to the detriment of Chile. We saw the end of the Vietnam War, which resulted in the fall of Saigon, about as far from a victory as one could imagine. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge didn’t help matters. Saddam Hussein began his rise to power but the U.S.A. was preoccupied with the Shah of Iran and the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Despite everything, we created personal computer, calculators, microwave ovens and VCRs and the Soviets started flying space stations.
We made it through the 80’s. Ronald Reagan declared “War on Drugs” and Nancy Reagan encouraged us all the “Just Say No”. The meltdown at Chernobyl changed the world’s opinion about nuclear power. AIDS changed the political, moral, social, and medical landscape. Africa remained in turmoil, but all eyes were on Ethiopia and the famine which killed more than one million. The South African Border War ended after thirty years of conflict between Angola, Namibia, and Zambia. Jean-Claude “Baby-Doc” Duvalier was overthrown in Haiti while war raged between Iraq and Iran in the Middle East. We saw the Lebanese War, Falklands Conflict, Polish Uprising, First Intifada in the Gaza Strip, Soviet-Afghan War, Tiananmen Square, and Vietnam-Cambodia conflicts. Assignations and assignation attempts were plentiful norm including the attempt on Ronald Reagan (March 1981), the attempt on Pope John Paul II (May 1981), Anwar Sadat (Egypt, October 1981), Indira Ganhi (India, October 1984), an attempt on Margaret Thatcher (Britain, 1984) and Olof Palme (Sweden, February 1986). Airplanes were regularly blown out of the sky, and the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, taking David’s cousin Ron McNair and Carnegie Mellon’s xxx. The Berlin Wall came down. We limped out of the 80’s, with the toxins from the Bhopal disaster still in our lungs and the oil from the Exxon Valdez on our backs, but Nintendo was there to save us.
(end of Part 1.)
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