On this Inauguration day, I choose to reflect on President Obama’s first inauguration on January 20, 2009 and what it meant to me. It was a blistering cold day with temperature in the 20’s. I attended with a college friend and sorority sister. We were so excited that we could hardly sleep the night before. My friend wanted to get there very early to make sure we had a good spot. We were not fortunate to have tickets with seats. We settled on arriving at 7:25 am.—a little later than the original 5:00 am time my friend suggested. The actual swearing in was not until 12 noon. The time passed by effortlessly. We talked to those in the crowd as though they were old friends. As I looked around the crowd, I saw faces of all races, ethnicities and ages. I recall an older black woman who came from Florida. Her son brought her a ticket and paid for hotel room in November. When she had to have back surgery, her son assumed she would not be able to attend. She was determined to make … [Read more...] about Remembering Barack Obama’s First Inauguration
African Americans
The Trump Era and Justice for People of Color
President Elect Donald Trump has nominated Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions as his pick for Attorney General of the U.S. Sessions is a lightning bolt for anything related to civil rights and justice for people of color. Much of the progress seen in the Eric Holder era and now Loretta Lynch era may likely soon be erased with a much darker side taking its place. The prior history of Sessions speaking out in support of the Klu Klux Klan (“KKK”) in the past years, is troubling for civil rights advancement. Some of the areas at risk are police consent decrees, federal police lawsuits for excessive force and death of unarmed individuals, immigration legislation deferring deportation of “Dreamers”, reduction of mandatory minimums, Voting Rights legislation, federal lawsuits opposing voter disenfranchisement and the Civil rights Division, itself. Sessions favors increasing the prison population. Former Attorney General Eric Holder favored decreasing the prison population by reducing … [Read more...] about The Trump Era and Justice for People of Color
No Trump, No Way, No How
The presidential elections of 2008 and 2012 now seem like a century ago in terms of where the country is now headed. In 2008 and 2012, President Obama campaigned on hope and change which resonated with voters. In 2016, we see an extreme form of racism, xenophobia and misogynist campaigning by Donald Trump appealing to many voters. And with a little of over a month until the election, there appears to be a growing trend leaning now towards Donald Trump. In November, we could be calling Donald Trump our next president. In the eight years of President Obama’s two terms, I came to realize that racism is alive and well in the U.S. In fact, it never really went anywhere. While many persons speak of patriotism towards the U.S. and against protests during the playing of the national anthem, there was often little patriotism shown towards our Commander in Chief with many persons, including Republican members of Congress and the GOP Senate disrespecting President Obama throughout … [Read more...] about No Trump, No Way, No How