Thursday, January 15, 2009

Citizen Ojo’s pre-inaugural address to Black America. You know, before Barack starts work next week.

As Barack Obama begins his presidency, black folks need to have realistic expectations. Sometimes I hear the strangest things from people. Obama is running a country were black folks make up 13% of the population. To think that we are going to have run of the joint is ludicrous. The following things are not going to happen:

1. Al Sharpton is not going to get a post in an Obama administration.
2. No reparation checks will be sent out in the mail.
3. Black men are not going to be suddenly released from prison.
4. You will not be able to curse at your supervisor and expect to keep your job.
5. “Urban Issues” are not at the top of Obama’s agenda.


I do hope that some of the legislation that is passed will be a plus for minorities. Don’t get me wrong because Obama is going to do things that will make you mad. I truly believe that he will be a better president than Bush. The bar is so low so he can’t go any lower. While I am supporting Obama and wishing him well. He is still a politician so I reserve the right to keep a critical eye on him. That means I might criticize him on this blog if he does something I disagree with. Just because he is black doesn’t mean he gets a pass. Condoleezza “Sally Hennings” Rice has been horrible for black folks. If I had of started this blog earlier, I would have been blowing her up on the regular. But I don’t just take issue with “conservatives”. I have taken issue with Bob “Pimping Ain’t Easy” Johnson and Jesse “Nut Cracker” Jackson. I do not have a problem holding black folks accountable when they aren’t doing what’s right.

The next 4 years will be about Accountability. It will be about holding our politicians accountable…..especially our black politicians. We should expect more from people we place in office. We should also expect more from ourselves. For black folks, that means carrying ourselves with dignity. Doing the best in all we do and not being complacent. People will never give us respect until we respect ourselves.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So was Tavis Smiley ultimately right about "holding our elected officials accountable" aka Barack Obama?

Eye D. VS Mel O. said...

lol @ the Al Sharpton reference. If that happens then I'll cry.

it's fine for everyone to have high expectations for Obama, however people should not become unrealistic. The dude has to try to tackle and fix 8 years of extreme national and global calamity which will not be magically alleviated b4 the end of his upcoming term.

and of course we need to hold him accountable for his actions. we did so for Bush's screw up behind! Obama, as great as we think he may be, is not expempt from that. he has a SERIOUS task on his hands which will not be a breeze, but if he makes poor decisions that lead to poorer consequences, then he should be held accountable for that.

uglyblackjohn said...

Yep!

(To everythings said)

Citizen Ojo said...

Uppity - I never had a problem with Tavis holding people accountable. The problem I had with him is the "Barack has to come kiss my ring" business. Last time I checked Tavis wasn't the spokesperson for black folks.

Eye D. vs Mel O - What? You have a problem with Sharpton being Secretary of Defense?

UglyBlackJohn - Thank you for your official seal of approval.