Here's another piece of the "New Racial Order" series from the Birmingham Weekly, including an interesting take on what Obama can do to reach out to southerners from SC to Texas who voted so emphatically against him in on Election Day.

What are we doing? REALLY?

This morning I was on a full bus in Seattle. A passenger boarded, using crutches. In every other city or town I've ever ridden public transportation, several people would have been falling over themselves offering their seat. Not in Seattle. He had to ask for someone to offer their seat...I am not shitting you, people. And the first person to move was the oldest person seating up there. At least four of the younger folks seated didn't even look up from their books or blackberries! Now, one of the younger gentlemen did finally give up his seat, so that both the injured rider and the older woman could sit down. But, really...

Many of us are still exuberant about what happened on November 4th, and we might even be patting ourselves on the back for what "we" accomplished. And I'd be willing to bet that some of them were sitting at the front of my bus this morning. But I've got news for everyone. The "change" that we were all looking for on Election Day won't happen if we (you, me, and the people on either side of you) don't change. We are entitled to NOTHING as a result of what happened on November 4th. If we don't change, how are the next 4 years really going to be any different? What did we really 'win' if we just plug ourselves back into our iPods and ignore everyone around us?

As for me, I think I'll start sitting at the front of the bus. At least then I can be sure that a seat will be available for someone who might need it more than me.

Who's hurt most by this crisis?

For anyone who thought I was just being dramatic in my post about not wanting the media or politicians (including our President-elect) to make this financial crisis about the plight of the middle class, here's an article from Sunday's NYT.

The election of Barack Obama

:-)

This expression has been on my face for the past 37 hours. I'll let others who are better at historical punditry explain how significant this is. I just want to comment on the last portion of Barack's speech in Chicago on Tuesday night. It's difficult at times to imagine what is possible, and imagine whether or not we can really change as a country and as a people. Even for those of us who WANT that change, it's difficult. Maybe even more so. But the story of Ann Nixon Cooper and others like her give me pause. As he described all of the things that she had seen in her life, it became clear to me that change does happen, we can make progress in the face of extreme adversity. Even if we don't get there in my lifetime, the promise of this wonderful experiment we call America is what makes it worth continuing to struggle and fight for. I will never forget Tuesday night. I got to share it with some incredible people, and we will have that for the rest of our lives. Even my 6-year old niece was excited.

I still have that grin on my face. But it's time to get to work. And I'm not just talking about what I do for a paycheck.