WAS I RIGHT ABOUT OBAMA?

So that’s my first Angry Black Man question, and I know it’s a lot of ground to cover, but how do you feel things have worked out since then, both with the economy and with this President? That was a huge turning point, that moment in 2008, and my own feeling is that we didn’t turn. Hum? No, the thing is he posed as a progressive and turned out to be a counterfeit brother. We ended up with a Wall Street President, a drone President, a national security President. The torturers go free. The Wall Street executives go free. The war crimes in the Middle East, especially in Gaza, the war criminals go free.

And yet, you know, he acted as if he was both a progressive and as if he was concerned about the issues of serious injustice and inequality and it turned out that he’s just another neoliberal centrist with a slick smile, a tan suit, and nice rhetorical flair. Damn!!

And that’s a very sad moment in the history of the country because we are—we’re an empire in decline. Our Black culture is in increasing decay. Our inner-city school systems are in deep trouble. Our political system is dysfunctional. Our leaders are more and more bought off with legalized bribery and normalized corruption in Congress and too much of our personal life. You would think that we needed somebody……. A transformational President who could revive some democratic spirit and democratic possibility…That’s exactly what everyone was saying at the time, especially us Black folk. That’s right. That’s true. It was like, “We finally got somebody who can help us poor folk.” And he posed as if he was a kind of an Abe Lincoln. Hum? Yeah. That’s what everyone was saying, especially us Black folk.

And we ended up with a motherfuckin brown-faced Bill Clinton. Another opportunist…. Another neoliberal opportunist! It’s like, “Oh, no, don’t tell me that!” I tell you this, because I got hit hard years ago, but everywhere I go now, it’s “Brother Norton, I see what you were saying. Brother Norton, you were right. Angry Black Man, your language was harsh and it was difficult to take, but you turned out to be absolutely right.” And, of course with Ferguson, you get it reconfirmed even among the people within his own circle now, you see. It’s a sad thing. It’s like you’re looking for John Coltrane and you get Kenny G in brown skin.

My persistent, consistent, constant and piercing criticism of President Obama is, for the most part, painfully true. Even Obama’s most loyal and devoted supporters know that my analysis is factual and true.

I was really wrong about one thing. Obama never campaigned as a true progressive. Ending poverty was not a top priority during his campaigns. He never campaigned as a Black activist. He never promised to be a strong advocate for us Black folk. In fact, his rise to national prominence was based on his out-of-touch post-racial rhetoric about one America during the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

No one should be surprised when the Obama Administration and its silly parrots constantly repeat the silly motto that “he is not just the President of Black America.” You will never ever hear any other group of people embracing and repeating such a self-defeating and pathetic slogan. Imagine the Jews saying Obama is not just the President of Jewish America. Imagine the LGBT community saying that Obama is not just the President of gay America. Imagine the Hispanic community saying that Obama is not just the President of immigrant America. Imagine white feminists saying Obama is not just the President of women. Those groups would never spout such bullshit.

Unlike our Black community, those groups do not surrender. They do not accept symbols over silly ass substance. They vigorously push their agenda. Unfortunately, we Black folks are pacified by symbols and gestures. We are so drunk with Obama-aide and infatuated with the concept of a Black President that many of us have lost our complete motherfuckin minds and our principles. Besides, no one should be surprised by Obama’s stance on the recent crisis in Israel and Gaza. Obama never campaigned as a friend of the Palestinian people. Like all of the clowns before him, Obama bowed down before the altars of AIPAC and Israel. During his first and second campaigns, Obama laced up his shoes and tap danced for em like Bojangles. Damn!!

A majority of Black folks avoid that truth by contrasting Obama and his past election opponents Mitt Romney and John McCain. Clearly, I think Obama was the better choice in those elections. That is why I voted for him. Unfortunately, both parties are owned by Wall Street and AIPAC. In this two party corporate dictatorship we call America, true progressive candidates and parties are not viable alternatives. Too often, they just can't get elected. They don’t have the money and resources to compete with the Democrats and the Republicans on a national level. They don’t receive the same level of media attention as the corporate parties. Until those changes, we are forced to settle for people like Barack Obama. Do not be mad at me, its just a painful truth, and to tell you the truth..........shit ain’t getting any better!!!!!!!

LEAVE MY BLACK WOMEN ALONE!!!!

Listen…those of you in the Black community who love to play respectability politics, particularly when Black women are at the receiving end of the disrespect, can complain about how repulsive a specific segment of Black women are all you want, but what does the act of shaming a Black woman accomplish, exactly? Who are you brothers trying to impress, when you loudly declare how immeasurable you've made the divide between yourselves and those very women, in a sorry ass bid to prove how respectable and ‘unlike them’ you really are?

As for the stereotypes about the frightening Angry Black Woman, I’ve concluded a long time ago, that no matter what any Black woman does, she’ll always continue to come under harsh scrutiny; whether it’s from the white folks gaze, us Black men, other people of color, or other Black women. Whether they’re docile, educated, upwardly mobile, successful, or have a recurring date to have a drink with Michelle Obama, society will always stigmatize Black female behavior. Black women aren't saints. None of them are infallible….they’re subject to stumble, hurt, make stupid choices, and experience the range of circumstances and emotions just like everyone else gets to work through. But because they’re expected to continue playing mule alongside our Black male ego and remain unflappable but silent, they’re humanity goes unrecognized. Yes it does, I know! Anti-Black woman sentiment and castigation doesn’t have a genuine or vested interest in what it is exactly, that’s making young Black women tick and lash out, because it’s much easier to gaslight, grind and ax, and to continue marginalizing them. Even Michelle Obama isn't above the hurtful critiques, or having stereotypes attributed to her…….hum?

Black women needing to have valid critiques and conversations about the public displays of destructive and at-risk behavior young Black women are caught exhibiting, goes without saying. But they need to be productive and broken down accordingly, because it’s definitely a lot deeper than 5-6 minute viral videos.

They need to ask legitimate questions; like why many of them support websites like World Star Hip Hop, who thrive on seeing Black women under pressure? And why they continue to feed into the inflammatory commentary it stimulates? And while it makes them retreat, dismissing a poor Black woman as a hood-rat because of her lower socioeconomic lot in life, or to say she isn’t worthy of her humanity, mental health or rehabilitation, and deserves to have violent acts perpetrated against her for shits and giggles, is troubling; regardless of how far away Black women distance themselves from it. For those Black women, like Michelle Obama, Toni Morrison, and others, who have the mental capacity and wherewithal to remove themselves from the critical gaze of people who don’t deem them as worthy of protection and who’d rather write them off as angry and bitter, and who rejoice at seeing them at their lowest point, do so immediately… for your own growth, self-preservation and peace of mind; and if you feel inclined or have the resources to do so, mentor those young women and girls who haven’t mastered the art of navigating their circumstances. Because continuing to pander to folks who talk over you and are adamant about telling you who they think you are, it’s a destructive dance.