It's Thanksgiving, Right?

(In Full Disclosure: This post is adapted from the November 21, 2007 Blog)

Those of you who regularly check in have come to expect a variety of discussion topics, usually centering on some current and significant event, or person in the news. In the grand scheme of things, this week is no different in terms of there being a teeming cornucopia of possibilities from which to choose.

President–elect Obama continues to move with all deliberate speed to appoint his Cabinet, select a Team of Economic Advisers, and cement his Inner Circle. Wall Street and the Stock Market are still showing signs of volatility, but trending favorably in response to his moves.

American Automakers have less than a week to respond to Congress with a retooled robust business plan that offers cogent details on how General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler will reposition themselves in a leaner, greener, 21st Century modality. Meanwhile, auto workers ask why banks seem to have gotten a pass on a bailout/rescue, while this key segment of the manufacturing sector is being held to a different, considerably higher standard. Finally, in a couple of days we will see if lingering fears are confirmed that Black Friday may be awash in red ink.

Instead of choosing from those, or selecting one of many other hot-button topics du jour, I have instead taken note of the example used in TV and Syndicated Radio scheduling. A great deal of money has been invested in numerous sophisticated studies and other research, all of which have found that you and your families will be busy enjoying good food, and better company, rather than watching or listening to your favorite TV or radio program.

Being a reasonably astute observer, I infer…you, gentle readers, will also not be spending an inordinate amount of time reading blogs, no matter how deep, or insightful they may be. To that end, this week’s conversation will, like last year’s pre-Thanksgiving missive, be a derivative of David Letterman’s frequently mimicked Top Ten List. No newspaper, magazine, blog, or TV links to track and follow, just my personal list of the top ten things I am thankful for as we prepare for Thanksgiving Day, and the advent of the holiday season in general.

Without further ado, the things for which I am thankful for this Thanksgiving include:

#10. Basketball
Pee wee, high school, college, NBA; basketball is fantastic. I have played the game for more than 40 years. It is a source of enjoyment and relaxation, and a catalyst for spirited debate. In a nutshell, it is therapeutic. I am at peace.

#9. Talent, ability, and resourcefulness to earn a living
Each of us is endowed by our creator with an enormous array of skills, talents, abilities, and potential. Having the wherewithal and opportunity to employ one’s gifts in productive and useful purposes is a blessing of the highest order. I am blessed.

#8. Knowledge that I am bigger than my doubters
In life we all encounter obstacles. It is incredibly important to refuse to be diminished or deterred by detractors and doubters. It is even better to use these occurrences as opportunities to grow. I am growing.

#7. Wisdom and examples of elders and Griots
It is often said we should learn from our mistakes. However, very often those who passed this way before, parents, and advisers, extend themselves by sharing the lessons of their challenges. As a rule of thumb it is better, as well as less costly and painful, to learn from others’ mistakes, rather than our own. I am open to learn for others.

#6. Intellectual curiosity
The world is hugely complex and growing more so, daily. Successful navigation requires a certain child-like inquisitive nature; a willingness to suspend belief in boundaries, limitations, and impediments, and instead surmise that every question has a complementary answer, every challenge, a gallant conqueror, and every potential failure, a Phoenix-like solution. I am rising.

#5. Teachers, professors, advisers, and counselors
The United Negro College Fund popularized the phrase, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” No individual or group of professionals is more undervalued in our society than those who embrace the essential work of taking young flexible minds and shaping them into vessels that will serve as personal on-board computers and navigation systems for the next 70 to 100 years. I am a product of having had many amazing teachers.

#4. Life, health, strength, and vigor
It goes without saying; most of our fondest desires can be experienced, only if we have at least a modicum of life, health, strength, and vigor. As long as we have a reasonable portion of these commodities, we have endless possibilities to shape our own destiny. I am alive, healthy, strong, and vigorous.

#3. Miracles
In the year 2008, American citizens affirmed by ballot, miracles do happen. America is by no means a perfect society, and has not magically morphed into one by electing Barack Obama. What we have done through this unique act of collective courage is invest in the American Dream; reinforcing with vigor, our pursuit of “A More Perfect Union.” I believe in Miracles.

#2. My parents, may they rest in peace; Family Reunions, and friends and loved ones
Parenthood is a calling; one for which not everyone is cut out. It is a lifetime sentence, complete with a never-diminishing commitment. However, when done well, it is also the most rewarding experience known to humans. Family Reunions are parodied, and cariacatured, and otherwise made fun of, with impunity. Yet, for many, they are the paragon of returning to ones source. I attended two this past summer, and they were abundantly reaffirming. Each of us is challenged to transform our existence from merely making a living to enjoying a fully engaging fruitful and productive life. No single factor is more critical to maximizing life’s bountiful range of experiences than the players present in one’s inner circle. They see you as you are…and love you anyway. I am fortunate to have had parents, who not only gave me great advice, but who provided me phenomenal examples; I revere my family, nuclear and extended; also I am inspired by my friends and loved ones.

#1. Understanding God is good…all the time!
In 2 Corinthians 12:9, God advises: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” My parents, my life, my friends, my teachers, my intellect, my elders, my knowledge, my talent, and yes, even my affinity for basketball are all gifts…from God. I am the humble benefactor of His glorious goodness, grace, and tender mercy. Amen!

As you head off to enjoy time with friends and family, and partake of your favorite repast, take this original Holiday Haiku, from me, made especially for you and Thanksgiving Day.

“A Thanksgiving wish:
Eat, drink, and be quite merry,
Peace be unto you!”

That’s it for me. Happy Thanksgiving; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/. A new post is published each Wednesday.

A (Sex) Change You Can Believe In!

OK, now that I have your attention; not that kind of sex change. In the euphoric response to the triumph of President-elect Obama, we may be overlooking another aspect of change that has been sweeping the American political landscape for some time. It is not that this particular change has gone unreported. However, due to the global, if not intergalactic acknowledgment of the dawning of what some people think of as the Obama Era, this continuing phenomenon has garnered less broad discussion and a lack of prominent emphasis that might have occurred otherwise. The issue at hand is the steady increase in the number of women elected to key positions.

Take the U.S. Senate for example. Through the 2006 elections, only 35 women had been appointed or elected to serve in the Senate. To put that in perspective, consider those 35 women comprise 1.85% of the 1,897 Americans to hold the post since the inception of the institution in 1789. You may ask, just how few is that in the grand scheme of things? The number is so few, that when Barack Obama is sworn in on January 20th, there will instantly become a greater percentage of black men to have held the American Presidency (2.27%), than women who have served in the U.S. Senate. Consider that, 12, or more than 1/3 of those who served were appointed (7 to fill unexpired terms held by their deceased husbands), not elected, and it puts the matter squarely into historical perspective.

Senators Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire), and Kay Hagan (North Carolina) will be sworn in January 6, 2009, when the 111th Congress convenes, bringing the total number of women in the Senate to 17; most ever at one time. This will eclipse the previous record of 16, during this year’s 110th Congress. Hagan defeated Senator Elizabeth Dole, so the total will increase by only one. With the election of Senator Hagan, North Carolina becomes the first State to have sent women from both parties to the Senate. The election of Shaheen and Hagan also elevates the total number of women elected to the Senate, in the history of the position, to 37.

In the lower house of Congress, ten women will be added in January, bringing the total number of women in the House of Representatives to 74, also a record number. The previous record was 71, set in 2007 elections (for the 110th Congress). Ironically, with 17 Senators, and 74 House members, the percentage of women will be 17% in both Houses of Congress during the 111th Congress.

Of course, here in North Carolina, in addition to Senator-elect Hagan, we had another intense political battle in which a woman triumphed. Governor-elect Beverly Perdue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Perdue), the only female newly voted in as Governor in the 2008 elections, defeated Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory. Christine Gregoire, the incumbent from the State of Washington, was the only other woman to win a gubernatorial race last week. With that, the number of women Governors held steady at 8.

While women’s success in American politics is clearly trending upward, despite the failure of Senator Clinton and Governor Palin to achieve their objectives, consider two States in particular as makers of this case. First, the State of New Hampshire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire), which as previously noted, also added a U.S. Senator. The Granite State became the first to make women a majority of its State Senate. Thirteen of the State’s 24 Senators will be women, when the body is sworn-in this January. Believe it or not, this nugget has been highlighted in the news. I bet you missed it though.

OK, savants, I hear you saying underneath your breath, “But that was in New Hampshire, for God’s sake. ”Let’s talk about someplace not located virtually in Southern Canada.”

Fair enough. How about the Southern United States? The Tar Heel State; good ol’ North Carolina (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina) is another example of women bringing home the political bacon. The Northern Carolina, which turned blue for Democrat Obama, the first time since Jimmy Carter’s successful 1976 Presidential bid, and elected its second-ever woman to the U.S. Senate, also elected women to 6 of its 10 Council of State positions, including, governor, treasurer, auditor, secretary of state, labor commissioner and superintendent of public instruction.

By contrast, despite the furor over the President-elect and the ensuing debate about whether his successful candidacy single-handedly transforms America into a post-racial society, the number of blacks in Congress remains relatively flat. In fact, the Presidency’s gain will in turn be the Senate’s loss, as Obama has gave up his Senate seat this past Sunday. There were no new black Governors elected November 8th either. So, if 2008 marks a shifting of political fault lines, it appears in the broad scheme of things it may be a sexual, I mean gender, revolution, not the post-racial quake, diversity optimists have prematurely hailed, spinners have deftly sold, and pessimists have fatalistically rued.

If it sounds as if I am not quite ready to just act as if the past never happened, there is a good reason. I’m not! On this question, I am reminded of the words of two noted writers. One, George Santayana, wrote in Reason in Common Sense, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The other, William Faulkner, wrote in Requiem for a Nun, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” In fact, Obama even paraphrased this Faulkner quote in his now famous Race Speech, A More Perfect Union (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWe7wTVbLUU) (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/18/obama-race-speech-read-t_n_92077.html), which he delivered March 18th at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

Now, let me be clear, President-elect Obama assembled a superior team, ran a brilliant campaign, faced an opponent who made a series, of key errors in strategy and judgment, and benefited from a calamitous financial crisis, the likes of which America has not experienced since the Great Depression. In short, though he was aided by external influences, he won a hard fought and well-deserved victory. Of that, there should be neither doubt nor question. “I’m just saying…” as we stagger under the influence of adulatory pride in “our signal societal accomplishment,” understand that we still have significant work to do. Moreover, there are other fundamental changes occurring before out very eyes, including, "A (Sex) Change You Can Believe In!" Don’t sleep on them. I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_United_States_Senate

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http://news14.com/content/local_news/triad/601153/women-lead-new-state-government/Default.aspx

The Passing of an Icon's Matriarch; A Moment of Silence, Please!

In the eyes of the world, eight days ago, America took a giant step. It appears most observers reflect on the import of that moment and conclude it was a step in the right direction. Leaders and common folk from around the globe have shared countless expressions about the significance, both symbolic, and concretely substantive, of our National awakening. All this is perfectly true, and yet, I am troubled. Now I have friends who may insist they could have told you that all along. But seriously, let us take a moment for deliberative contemplation.

Indeed, last Tuesday was a day, when all we knew about the historical dynamics of American politics was exploded and reformatted, in one thrilling Nation-wide vote. Regardless of whether one exulted or exclaimed, “Woe is me,” Team Obama has wrought an incredible Change. Remember that!

The resulting aftermath rendered Barack Obama President-elect. The junior Senator from Illinois campaigned brilliantly for 21 months. His name has long been elevated to “household, not just all across America, but around the world. Without question, that is important, and should not be…no, cannot be refuted, or even diminished.

But while the Election was a grippingly electrifying event, there was another occurrence of a fundamentally important nature last week. Madelyn Payne Dunham died Monday, the day before the Election. Unlike Barack, her name is not of the household variety. Yet, he claims her as his inspiration, and the shaper and framer of virtually all that you know of him. Based on that admission alone, I am moved to view her passing as noteworthy, on the most grand of scales.

We have been quick to embrace Michelle, Malia, and Sasha. Their images are almost as familiar to us as Barack’s. Recently, we have been advised that as future “First Children,” they have become Fashionistas, and like Michelle before them, their ensembles may become the leading edge for coming trends, or at least conversations.

Contrast that with Mrs. Dunham, Obama’s grandmother, who had not been interviewed since Barack’s now famous 2004 Democratic Convention Keynote Speech (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awQkJNVsgKM)/( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UDKXKGZ3PY), and whom was never on camera during the Presidential Campaign, and it is easy to understand why she and the impact and influence she had on President-elect Obama seems to simply fly underneath the radar at this moment.

That is just not OK! Perhaps I am more focused than some, and even more attentive than I might normally be, because I have been to three funerals recently. They were “Celebrations” of the lives of three unique women; one, a mother and politician, one, a mother and minister’s wife, and one, a young woman who was not yet a mother, and who really was too young to leave her parents and friends. Yet that is an integral element of the nature of the Circle of Life. We know not the moment or the hour when our appointed time will come.

Mrs. Dunham lived 86 years. Hers’ was a long and productive life. She was accomplished in many ways, but will almost certainly be remembered by most as Obama’s Granny. In addition to referencing her in his Race Speech, A More Perfect Union (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrp-v2tHaDo), Obama described her as having "taught me values straight from the Kansas heartland" - things like "accountability and self-reliance. Love of country. Working hard without making excuses. Treating your neighbor as you'd like to be treated."


So, while I hail the coming of Barack Obama’s administration, and I hold good wishes, and great expectations for his Presidency, which does not begin until January 20th, I am slowing my roll, and I encourage you to slow yours, so that for just a fleeting instant in time, we can honor the Passing of an Icon's Matriarch; a Moment of Silence, Please!

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday.

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The People Have Spoken; "Yes We Can!"

Fifteen months ago, I wrote a six paragraph note to a few friends. Hours later that missive would become my first blog entry. The topic was Barack Obama. More precisely, “Obama Plays the Experience Card,” which might aptly have been called the Inexperience Card. At the time, Senator Hillary Clinton was the odds on favorite to secure the Democratic Nomination for President. Alternately, Senator Obama was considered, in many corners, to be the little known junior Senator from Illinois, recognized more for skillful oratory than political acumen.

Fast forward 71 blog posts later- Dateline: Tuesday, November 4, 2008, 11:00 p.m.

Today the people of the United States of America spoke. What did they say? The short answer is, at 11:00 P.M., Eastern Standard Time, when the California polls closed, media outlets in effect uttered the pronouncement, “Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama). But they also said, collectively, and with vigor, the experience of the past 8 years is not what this Country aspires to during the next four years. American voters emphatically rejected the policies, politics, and many of the politicians that brought us wars in Iraq, and Afghanistan, and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Hearkening back to the time I initially wrote about Senator Obama, he contended his inexperience was actually a plus. He was in the early stages of making the case that we, the people, wanted change, and furthermore, that he was just the man to bring us “The Change We Could Believe In.” The argument was predicated on the fact that the experience of those in Washington was the foundation of a specific way of thinking. That mind set, he suggested, had caused widespread internal malaise, ever-deepening fiscal insolvency, and international reputation of isolationism and classic ugly Americanism. It was time for Change, he concluded.

Obviously, between that day in August 2007 and today, a host of twists and turns ensued. One of the most significant impediments to any contemplation of Barack Obama as a serious candidate for President was the competing Candidacy of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. The junior Senator from New York had a deep reservoir of support, a robust fund raising apparatus, universal name recognition, and the imposing legacy of being the wife of a former President, and the allegiance of numerous black supporters.

The Democratic Primary season quickly defaulted into a race between the two junior Senators. In hindsight, one of the best things to happen to Senator Obama was the arduous battle testing he received, courtesy of Senator Clinton. Much as with athletic contests, the superior competition forced Obama to raise his game. By the time the General Election Campaign kicked-off, Senator Obama had been thoroughly prepared for whatever Team GOP would throw at him.

Senator Obama and his team crafted a uniquely successful fund raising mechanism that was so wildly successful, it set and then broke several records. He and his strategists developed precinct organizing and Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts for the Primaries, and the General Election that were not only textbook in their conception, but brilliantly executed. He and his Vice President selection, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, won (according to most independent news sources) all three Presidential Debates, and the Vice Presidential Debate.

So as we embark on the historic Presidency of Barack Obama, what do we know, and what do we not know? Beginning with the latter question, we do not know precisely how the Senator will govern. But there have been clues. He has formed an impressive array of advisers on foreign, domestic, and economic policy, among other things. Using these resources as touchstones should serve him and us well.

Alternately, if we know little about his style of governance, we know volumes about how he thinks and leads. Clearly, in direct defiance of Senator McCain’s assertion during the first Presidential Debate, Obama knows the difference between strategic and tactical, and how to formulate and effectively execute both. The Clintons and McCain-Palin would likely attest to that today. Several weeks ago, during his endorsement of Obama, General Colin Powell praised Obama for his high-powered intellect, but also noted that he was a good fit for leading the Country at this time because of his being a generational as well as a transformative figure. He will bring a renewed elevation in depth and quality of our National debates, as a sense of re-engagement on numerous foreign policy fronts and issues.

You may note I did not lead with black pride as the central element of this discussion. Clearly, yesterday’s vote was a defining moment in our Nation’s history. However, it remains unclear what it defined. Senator Obama did not run on race, and I will not compress his election into a referendum on melanin. A friend of mine contends that we have entered the Post-Obama era. Without getting into a long, tortuous explanation, to use a football analogy, that means we moved the chains yesterday; we advanced. But just as in football, there is plenty of game left. In short, for those who would like to take issues of race, ethnicity, diversity, and other similar issues off the table now, forget about it. The reality is this is the beginning, not the end.

But lucky for you, it is near the end of this conversation. Remember, as you wend your way through the day; know that from Halifax to Honolulu, the “Audacity of Hope” of an entire people (Americans) has been validated. As President-elect Obama said in his acceptance speech (http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=4226712&cl=10539568&src=news), “Change has come to America.” He went on to note the climb will be steep, and long, but we will get there. “Yes We Can!” I’m done; Holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com. A new post is published each Wednesday.


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