Adding my voice to the masses

[eumelia]

Congratulations to President Obama.

As per request of a friend on my f-list I'm adding the word "premature".

Happy D?

It is a very prestigious award to be won indeed. Personally, I think the Nobel Peace Prize is a bit of a crock.
Too many people who shouldn't have touched it, got it.

The award is largely about vision, which Obama certainly has, but it's also about action taken. While what he's done so far appears good, a lot of it has been raising awareness; now, I'm all about raising awareness, it is a very important part when it comes to activism and social change.

The notion of a black man as President should not be taken lightly. My dad keeps telling me that this is one of the reasons America is great; only in America could a minority be voted as leader.
I mentioned Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir of Iceland and Tarja Halonen of Finland.
Those of you not in the know, both are Lesbian Women and are the Prime Ministers of their countries.

They don't count of course. Because America is great, those Scandinavian countries don't even speak English.

Whatever.

Obama's policy of dialouge still needs a lot of time to work and needs time to saturate into our minds, because the past eight years have mainly been *bam bam bam* and it takes a long time to get used to quiet.
If it even happens.

All that is to say; I like Obama, but other than do a lot on the conciousness level (which is of the good), I want to see him implement something תחלס - that is... there has to be a bottom line somewhere.

Comments

[rm.livejournal.com]

The thing about the two Scandanavian leaders as a comparison to Obama, is that it's so apples to oranges. The institutionalization of racism and the acceptability of some forms of racism to the degree that most people don't even know their own racism is so epic here that it really, really is something in a way that I don't think can be compared to other places. We are, ourselves, surprised -- some of us with relief, and, sadly, some of us with horror (see, Right Wing extremists). I don't know enough about the internal history or politics of either Iceland or Finland to really be able to comment on their prime ministers, but considering they are both two of the best countries for women's equality in the world, I'm unsurprised that neither misogyny nor homophobia derailed these women's careers. I wish we could figure out whatever it is that made this stuff okay there.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I get that, and true it is a flakey comparison, but at the time I was trying to make about of systemic racism in America, which I know a little of from my time there and knowing other Americans.
Which kind of counters the whole greatness factor, America is so much more an Idea (kind of like Israel) and it's executed so badly (again, like in Israel) that I was trying to make a point about minorities in power.

But yes, the US is very epic when it comes to the kind of lack of critical thought when it comes to systemic, systematic and historical processes.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Oh hey, have you ever read anything by Steve Erickson? He's a novelist and also a political writer who is very into writing about the Idea of America, and how that fucks our shit up. What's interesting about him, to extend this to other conversations you and I have, is that in several of his non-fiction political books, he has lengthy digressions in which he winds up trying to follow Sally Hemmings (who he uses as a fictional character in several of his novels) who he swears he sees while in the midst of doing what he's supposed to be doing. His work is strange, challenging and at times problematic (but is that problem his own relationship to race in America or merely the fact that his is portraying the utter fuckery that is racism in America?). He shows up as a fictional character in his novels as well (so the bleed works both ways), and I don't think there's anyone doing more thoughtful work about what the idea of America means as a global word problem.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I'd never heard of him, but sounds fascinating.
I'll check him out.

Race in America is a very sticky subject, specifically because it's very hard for people to get rid of the ideal idea in one's head about what America represents, rather than what it is. I think that's one of the reasons the relationship between the US and Israel, because both are countries based on the fact that they supposedly move towards something and in fact nobody can agree to where, except in very abstract ways (and in reality it causes violence, division and a cycle of hare that's very difficult to break).

[rm.livejournal.com]

I'd recommend Arc D'X as an access point, and if you like it, I'll direct you to some of the others -- all his books are circles that interlock with other circles, so they all relate, but there's no necessary order to read them in.

[http://users.livejournal.com/vinyl__/]

yes.

and the kicker to me is that because of the timeline, Obama would've been nominated something like 12 days after he entered office.

premature is indeed the word.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

As I said, when it comes to consciousness, awareness and even discourse he's done a lot. I just don't know how it implements IRL, which worries me.

Did you put a bug in my house?

[ladytolstoy.livejournal.com]

We had the same response to the news around here. Everything sans la belle dames of Scandinavia. Interesting morsel. Even the Leonard Cohen, just not that song.

Values are great, but they need to be translated into action in order to be fully appreciated.

Kudos, great blog.

Re: Did you put a bug in my house?

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Which LC song were you listening to? :)

Re: Did you put a bug in my house?

[ladytolstoy.livejournal.com]

Anthem.

[stateofwonder.livejournal.com]

The reason why I think this is fucked up is that it's going to just add fuel to the fire of the conservative line that Obama is a pop figure/celebrity, not a credible and effective leader. Maybe he deserves it, and maybe he doesn't, but what we can say for sure is that this is going to be used to tear him down. I think it's a really awkward and uncomfortable position to put him in.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

That's true, though his response (not deserving it and using it as a platform for action) I think should help shut up most of those critics, I think.

[lishablog.livejournal.com]

"They don't count of course. Because America is great, those Scandinavian countries don't even speak English."

HA! LMAO!!!