Gunfighter: A Modern Warrior's Life

Remembering Nick Manoukian

A few years ago, I first told you about the story of  A young Marine from Michigan, who lost his life in the Anbar province of Iraq.   His name was Nicholas Manoukian, and he was 22 years old when he died.

Since then, I have posted about this dedicated young man several times, particularly on Veteran's Day.  You see, I promised this young man's mother that I wouldn't forget her son, and that I wouldn't allow others to forget him, either.

Nicholas Manoukian is one of over four thousand Americans and untold hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have been killed in Iraq since the U.S. invasion, of that country, and now that President Obama has said that all American troops should be out of that shattered country by the end of this year, I want to say something that I think is important.

You see, we Americans have short memories.  Seriously short, if you can recall our last Presidential election we were concerned about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now all we do is quietly shake our heads about them.  Those on the left have moved on to Occupy Wall Street and other things, and those on the right are up in arms about gay people and wrecking the ability of our goevernment to govern.  Now, not too many people talk about these wars.  I guess it isn't popular for anyone these days.  Well guess what, kids?  These wars aren't over, and Americans are still dying. You probably already know how I feel about the wars, but this isn't about that.  I want to talk to you today about a particular young American.  A young person who is probably fairly typical of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who have lost their lives doing the bidding of our government.

 

This is Nick Manoukian.  A husband and father from Lathrup Village, Michigan.  He lost his life during his second combat tour in Iraq, in 2006.

Look hard, folks.... look and ramember that this young fellow died for his country.  Look and remember that no matter what your politics are, this country, for the sake of it's own soul, has to remember that the actions of our government have consequences that mean more than political rhetoric.

By all accounts (I have been in touch with Nick's mother, Mary, and several of his Marine  Corps comrades for a few years now), Nick was a great son, and a first class Marine.  He was also a good friend to those who knew him.  The loss of this young man is a loss to all of us.

I didn't post this on Veteran's Day this year, because I didn't want it to get lost in the general flag-waving and fist pumping that generally happens then.   I want people to remember Nick Manoukian on days that aren't so special.  I want you to remember this young man who left a grieving, heartbroken mother and wife & child.  I want you to remember him for all of those who won't come back from those places.

 

Corporal Nicholas Manoukian, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, 1984-2006

The Healthcare Bill: Where I stand (1)

So we have a healthcare bill. Finally. We finally have the leadership in place to make this a reality. We finally can join the ranks of civilized nations who actually give a damn (or at least sort of) about our citizens.

It's about bloody time, I say.

Now, I'm not running around pretending that this bill is going to fix everything that is wrong with our healthcare system. It won't. Not by a long shot, but it's a start. Personally I think that this bill really needed a strong public option which would have best served not the people living in poverty, but the working poor that frequently have to make the choice between going to the doctor or paying the rent. I think that this country really needs a two-track healthcare system. Not like the system in Britain, but more like the Australian model. As I say, this bill isn't perfect, but it was something that could get signed by the majority of our lawmakers. It's a start.

Most of you who read this already know where I stand on this issue because I have written about it in the past, both on my own blog and at DC Metro Moms, when I was the resident dad over there. What I would like to do now, is talk to the folks I know that were against this bill. I would really like to have a cogent discussion with them/you about your opposition.

My point is that in the press, "mainstream", "Liberal", and "Conservative" (and isn't it a shame that we can even say those things about the press?), what we hear most are the voices of extremity. I would like to ask the anti-healthcare people why they hate the notion of making sure that all Americans have access to medical care. I know that there are those who object to the expense. I know that there are those that are fiscal hawks who want to keep spending reigned in. I understand those things, and I can, in part, agree that we must be very, VERY careful about how things like this get paid for. Having said that, I must tell you that the tenor of the debate on this bill has had very little to do with expense, or the means of paying for it.

My concerns with the debate are those we see in it's forefront… the Teabaggers who scream about abuses of "liberty". The people that are beginning to advocate anti-government violence (sedition anyone?), the thinly veiled racism that is so common at the demonstrations, the cries of "Socialism", "Stalinism", "Nazism", and the like. Why is your side all about these things? Can you tell me in a way that doesn't make you seem like dangerous lunatics?

Come on, I know that you are out there. Talk to me (Goose). I promise that we can still be buddies after our argument. If you are local, I'll even buy you a beer when we're done.

 

An Angry Black Man

I wrote this post on July 20th, 2008, and I never posted it to my blog.  I don't remember what sparked the tirade, but reading, I have to admit that I still feel the same way about what I wrote, so here it is... Straight, with no chaser.  (If you are sensitive, close your ears)

 

I’m a little pissed off today my friends. 

I’m going to talk about something a little different today.  

You see, I have spent a large amount of my adult life being considered a “sellout” by a large segment of my own community.  Since many of you who read this are white… and many from outside the United States, and may not be familiar with that term, I'll explain it.

In the black American community, to be considered a sellout is the same as being called a race-traitor.  Yeah, stupid, I know, but it’s true. 

Here’s the deal.  Many black Americans consider someone a sellout for the following reasons (taken either together or separately):  Maybe she talks “white”.  He might listen to “white” music, some of her friends are white, he is married a white person, she has a “white” job, he dresses “white”, she doesn’t like basketball… You get the picture, right?  Anyway, I have dealt with this most of my life, but have never let it bother me too deeply (at least not outwardly), but today I am not going to try to justify myself to anyone.  I like my life, and the only people I have to answer to about the way I live it are my family and my creator when I face the judgment (and I don’t think that almighty God gives a rat’s ass about the fact that I still play a rockin’ air guitar to “My Sharona”, or that I am listening to The Proclaimers as I type this). 

No, today, I am going to call bullshit on the true race traitors that abound in our land:  Black men and women that are part of the problems in our homes and our schools and throughout or community.  Those buffoons and minstrels that continue to foment the stereotypes that my people labor under are the target of my wrath today.

Here is the list… be advised, if your name appears here, you will be liquidated after the revolution that leaves me as the supreme dictator of the North American Union:

Jimmie “JJ” Walker

Jay Z

Flava Flav

DMX

Bobbie Brown

Fifty Cent

Kanye West

Snoop Dogg

Any rapper whoever used the words bitch or "ho" in their “music”

Diddy, P Diddy, Puffy, Puff Daddy, or whatever that f***ing douchebag is calling himself these days.

Any black man who has worn his jeans pulled down over his ass.

Any black man that has children whom he does not support financially, emotionally, educationally, or morally (you bastards are FIRST!)

Any educated black person that consciously tries to talk “black” when around other black people.

Any black person that wears that stupid-ass “buckwheat” clothing (you know what I’m talking about).  This applies doubly if that black person owns or lives in a six hundred thousand dollar house.

Any black woman who has made a career of shaking her scantily clad ass in a music video.  (What kind of message are you sending our daughters?  How can you live with yourselves?)

Any black person that thinks that it’s alright to get angry when a white person says nigger, but walks down the street calling his own people nigger.

***Note*** the word is nigger, not “N-word”  What are we… nine years old?

You see, my friends, the people that are truly selling out their people, are the ones that spend their time engaged in counterproductive or destructive behaviors.  Criminals, drug dealers, pimps, thieves, hustlers (including race hustlers, do you hear me Al? Jesse?) of all sorts are the causes of so many ills in our communities.  We, the responsible, have to be on guard against them, and provide a counterweight to their influences.  The reason that I listed so many so-called celebrities is because many of the people that I listed have aided and abetted those who perpetrate these social crimes… they have made obscene amounts of money by glorifying these destructive behaviors and the people who engage in them.

It’s time that we as a people stop listening to this filth.  It’s time to stop listening to radio stations that play this garbage.  It’s time to stop dressing like you are a dressed up sharecropper or prison inmate. 

It’s time to stop impregnating anyone you can without regard to the consequences, it’s time to stop shagging guys who won’t wear condoms, it’s time to stop glorifying crime and immoral sexual activity, it’s time to stop being our own worst enemies.

It’s also time to speak standard American English. 

It’s time to take education seriously.

It’s time to be good parents.

It’ time to set an example.

Look, friends, you who have been reading me for a while, know that I go on about this stuff from time to time, but some things are worth saying and worth repeating.  I won’t ever turn my back on this fight, and I won’t. Give. One. Inch.  Look at the tag line of this blog.  I have been a warrior for my entire adult life… I have been continuously trained in the ways of battle from the time I was a teenager.  I don’t quit.  Ever. 

I am calling all of you to do battle with me now.  Join me, won’t you?  It doesn’t matter if you aren’t black.  It doesn’t matter what country you come from.  It’s a safe bet that no matter what your ethnicity or nation, you have people that influence your children and their future with destructive behaviors.  Join me.  Fight them.  Use all of the tools at your disposal.  Use the power of your writing talents.  Use your words.  Use your art.  Use your wallets. 

Look, there are fights that are difficult to win, there are fights that you may never win, but that doesn’t mean that those fights shouldn’t be fought.  The right thing to do is to fight them because fighting them is right and worthy.

Again… I’m calling you out.  You.  Yes, YOU.  If you are reading this, you have to do something.  Whatever you do, don’t sit quietly.  If you do, you are complicit.

You know what to do, now, go get on with it.

Dear President Obama

Dear President Obama,

 

This isn’t the first time I have written to a sitting President via my blog, and I suspect that it won’t be the last, but since it is my first time writing to you, I think that I should tell you a few things.

 

First, I would like to tell you that not quite a year into your tenure, I think that you are doing a good job leading the country at a very precarious time, considering the financial crisis, which seems to be in the early stages of recovery.  I also think that you deserve the Nobel Peace Prize that you have been awarded if for no other reason than the fact that you have toned down the bellicose rhetoric that has come from the White House since you became President.  Frankly, I think that the world can’t afford a rogue elephant in the White House, and your elevation to the Presidency has certainly eliminated a rogue from the world stage.

 

The main reason that I am writing to you today, Mr. President is to urge you to not send an additional 40,000 American soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan.  My reasoning is as follows:  Islamic radicals in Pakistan are the author of our troubles in Afghanistan.  The Pakistani government is either unable or unwilling to control them, despite the billions of dollars that we annually spend to assist them militarily.  The sad truth is that the Pakistani police, armed forces, and intelligence services are rife with fundamentalist radicals, or their sympathizers.  This situation makes any efforts in Afghanistan, beyond humanitarian help, a complete waste of resources.

 

We cannot democratize Afghanistan, sir.  We cannot even assist in the democratization of  ANY nation without a thriving, educated, middle class or one with such societal divisions as Afghanistan has.  Since we cannot democratize Afghanistan, the best we can hope to do is to pacify that nation… pacification is the BEST we can hope for, and frankly, sir, pacification is something that A) won’t happen even with an addition 40,000 troops, and B) won’t happen without conducting a war in Pakistan, which I am certain that we won’t/shouldn’t do.

 

Where does this leave us?  Well, from where I sit (currently about 10 miles from the White House), it leaves us in an exceptionally bad place on nearly every level.

 

 Militarily, we will continue to waste the lives of our Soldiers and Marines.  Further, continued combat usage of our equipment will have far reaching consequences, considering that nearly every rifle, machine gun, tank, helicopter, and truck that we use in that country (as well as Iraq) will have to either be completely replaced or have depot-level maintenance to remain in service.  

 

Economically, we can’t keep this up forever.  Wars must be paid for sir… you don’t need ME to tell you that.  Additionally, the current strains on our Veterans care apparatus are staggering, and have generational ramifications. 

 

Lastly, Mr. President, there are other, more important threats that the threats posed by the Taliban/Al Qaeda.  Damage that can be done to our nation by terrorists is minimal as long as we are vigilant, but trying to use conventional military force to fight small terror cells is like trying to swat a butterfly with an ax… we’ll cause lot’s of damage, and at the end of the day, the butterfly will continue on it’s way.

 

I know that you were handed a mess when you came into power Mr. President, but it’s your show, now.  You have to be the adult and say when enough is enough, just like I do with my children.  Fortunately, I can sit here and advise you without the myriad other things that you have going on, hanging over my head, and I am sure that there are a great many things going on that demand your time and attention, but I have confidence in you, Mr. President… you are a good man, and I am counting on you to do what’s right.  We need to make an exit from Afghanistan.  We need to do it right now.

 

Respectfully,

 

Gunfighter

The Best. Song. Ever. (EVER!)

This is the best song ever recorded.  If you don't know it, go find it.  You can find it easily on Itunes or on the Bob Marley: Legend CD.

Old pirates, yes, they rob I;
Sold I to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit.
But my hand was made strong
By the 'and of the Almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly.

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look? Ooh!
Some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfil de book.

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our mind.
Wo! Have no fear for atomic energy,
'Cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Yes, some say it's just a part of it:
We've got to fulfil the book.

Won't you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
'Cause all I ever had:
Redemption songs -
All I ever had:
Redemption songs:
These songs of freedom,
Songs of freedom.

United States Armed Forces Sex Blog

There, that title ought to tickle the search engines.

Today, I'm writing about SEX.  That's right.  SEX.  Close your eyes if you aren't over 18.

Specifically, I want to talk about sex in the United States Armed forces. 

While nearly everyone in America is nearly killing themselves to be the loudest in extolling the virtues of the men and women of United States Armed forces, we haven't been paying attention to a serious issue that has been true of armies since time immemorial, and remains true today, even in the nearly-perfectly-virtuous US armed forces.  That issue is the quasi-sponsorship of prostitution and human trafficking that is funded and fueled by American servicemen stationed in various parts of the world.

Ask any man that has spent time in the armed forces... especially any man that has spent time stationed in Okinawa, Japan; South Korea; Thailand; or Vietnam.  Let's not forget Germany; Britain; Holland; Italy; Greece; Portugal, and many other countries.  Go ahead and ask.  If you do, you'll find out that our service men (with their naturally high libidos) have been boinking with the best of them, creating a flourishing sex trade, wherever they put down stakes.

For many years this behavior was not only tolerated but winked at by high-ranking officers as well as senior Non-commissioned officers.  During my time in the service (1981-1989), it was common to hear things like "what happens in Okinawa stays in Okinawa".

It is common for people to respond to this situation by saying: "Oh, its just young, fit, horny men acting the way young men do... what's the problem?"  Well, for starters, the problem is the fact that prostitution, in most of the places that I mentioned, is illegal.  Another problem is  that incredible increase in human trafficking (for the sex trade) from eastern europe.  Another problem is the exploitation of desperately poor women.  Another problem is the spread of disease.  Another problem is the toll taken on marriages & families.  I could go on, but you get my drift, right?

Well, guess what?  Your Generals and Admirals don't care.  Your national leaders don't care.  The American people, in large part, don't care.

What do they care about?  Gay people serving in the military.

Yes... prostitution is ok.  The moral turpitude of our soldiers in ok.  Male and female service members swapping partners more than they change their skivvies is ok.  The rampant swinging or "wife swapping" that happens in married quarters on base is ok (not making that up, I know, first hand)... but for the love of God, if a soldier is gay, that is going to wreck the morale of the armed forces and damage good order and discipline to the point of making our Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps, unable to wage war.

As comrade Shakespeare would have said:  "That would be scanned"

There are reports that say that the number of women that contract venereal diseases in the United States Marine Corps is something near 40 percent higher than the national average... Using the logic of the homophobes, I guess that Marines infecting one another is alright, as long as these ladies aren't infecting each other.

All of this leads me, rather erratically, I know, to a discussion of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that has been failing since it's inception. I won't parse the policy here, because you probably already know what it is... if you don't, follow the link and find out. 

I think that this is a stupid and discriminatory policy that not only prevents patriotic people of different sexual orientation from serving openly in the armed forces, but hurts the readiness of the American armed forces in general by removing a significant segment of the young, available pool of warfighters.

Unfortunately, as wrong as this policy is, it is still policy, which brings me to the case of Lt. Colonel Victor Fehrenbach, late of the United States Air Force, and Lt. Dan Choi, late of the United States Army.  These two officers recently came out (and in Fehrenbach's case, was outed) and have become the poster people for the gay community's efforts against "Don't Ask", Don't Tell".

The gay community is in an uproar, as they should be, about this policy, but have taken to attacking President Obama for not getting this policy overturned quickly enough.  I'm sure that if I were gay, I would want this done immediately.  Having said that, I understand that things like DADT are best handled later in an administration rather that the very beginning.

Sure, you can say that my attitude towards all of this is poor, or that I am unsympathetic because I'm not gay, and I suppose, depending on your own personal perspective, you might be right, but hear me out on this.  Politics isn't about ruling by decree.  It's about trying your best to do what you CANdo, as best you can.  Most Americans want President Obama to succeed.  Most want him to do the best that he can do to lead this country, and I think that with a fairly thin majority in the Senate, the President has to be careful that he doesn't spend all of his political capital repealing DADT.

Since the repeal of DADT would give the GOP a hefty stick to beat him with in the 2012 election, you can expect that there won't be a huge amount of movement on the issue until he wins re-election.

Which brings us back to Lt. Colonel Fehrenbach and Lieutenant Choi.

These worthy gentlemen, whom I believe to be Patriots, and good officers who are both committed to service, should have known what they were getting into.  In Choi's case, he had to have known, smart guy that he is, that coming out would be his military undoing.  There is no way that he didn't know that he wasn't going to get the boot, and that going public with his dismissal wasn't going to save his army  career.  Bad policy or not, the policy is current and firmly in place for the time being. 

It isn't the place of a junior officer to try to change policy by grandstanding.  Good luck in the civilian Mr. Choi, I wish you all the best in your future, which, no doubt, will be bright.

In the case of Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, things change a bit.  From what I understand, he was outed by someone.  That's a shame.  A shame because Fehrenbach was compliant with the policy, and his career, which has been stellar, from what I understand, has been destroyed two years short of his eligibility to retire.

For all of the trauma to gays in the armed forces that the examples of these men typify we cannot... or at least certainly should not be shocked that the DADT policy was not the first thing on the President's agenda.

This doesn't make Barack Obama a back-stabber.  It doesn't mean that he has no intention to deal with this issue, but timing, as is frequently said, is everything.

So there you have it friends... our soldiers are cavorting with prostitutes, giving each other the clap, screwing each other's spouses, and even prostituting themselves on our ships and in the barracks... but as long as these liasons are hetero (and still technically illegal), nobody cares... as long as they aren't gay.

 

 

All The Lonely People...

...Where do they all come from?

In 1966, The Beatles recorded the famous song that asked this question.  The song, as you all know, was about a fictitious person named Eleanor Rigby.  The poor soul... but it could be about any number of people... some of whom you might even know.

Last night, my family attended the Good Friday Tenebrae service at our church, and after the service, as the congregation silently exited the darkened church, I noticed that one of the parishioners, who is also in the small group that I lead, was still seated, and staring forward.  When I put my hand on her shoulder and smiled at her in a silent greeting, she smiled at me with the biggest smile I had ever seen from her, and she reached up and squeezed my hand as hard as I can ever remember anyone squeezing it.  I kept the smile on my face while we had our brief moment, even though I wanted to scream blue murder, because I have some sort of really ugly tendonitis going on.

As she let go of my hand, looking relieved for some reason, I started thinking.  I took stock of what I know of her, and it came to me (and of course, I could be totally wrong here) the she probably hasn't felt the welcome touch of a human being since she visited her children and grand children a month or so ago.  This lady lives alone, and like so many of us in this area, commutes to and from Washington, DC every day to  work long hours on behalf of of the American people.  She attends services alone and socializes little.  I had/have the feeling that she is lonely.

The thing is, that there are lots of lonely people, some of them are folks you probably wouldn't suspect.  Some of the loneliest people in our society are the elderly.  Many of whom are in nursing homes, or are living alone with limited mobility, and no family nearby to help or visit them.  Is it any wonder that pet therapy is so popular and useful in America's nursing homes?

You may know lonely people who aren't elderly.  A single friend, who is hard-working, fun to be around, successful, and behind her/his own four walls, in a terrible state because they have no one of their own to share themselves with... who have no one to give them a hug or give them a reassuring touch.  The lonely person might be married... because, well... you know... Ozzie and Harriet were fictional characters.

Let's not pretend, my friends, that we don't need those things.  We do.  All of us.

I want you all to do me a favor.  Think of someone that you know that might be in this situation, and the next time you see them, give them a handshake.... put your hand on their shoulder... give them a hug.  Look them in the eye and let then know that you care about them.  Let them know they aren't alone.

I'm sure that we will see this lady at church tomorrow... I think that we'll invite her to dinner. 

"You're a Good Ol' Boy!"

Chad:  “You know somethin’ Bill?,  I like you.  The next time you’re in town, you need to come out to the house and set on the porch and have somethin’ cold to drink.  Hell, we can get out the shotguns and shoot some of the wild pigs on my property.  Yessir, we’ll have us a good time!”

Gunfighter:  “Geez Chad, I’d like that, next time I get down here, I’ll give you a buzz”

Chad:  “Hell yeah!  Man, you’re a good ol’ boy, Bill!”

 

This isn’t a brief snippet of conversation from a bad television script.  This is a brief part of a long conversation that I had with a classmate while I was doing an advanced course at the F*eder*al Law E*nfor*cement Tr*aini*ng Center (in Glynn County, Georgia), in 2006.

So, why I am I writing about it now?  Because even then, I knew that this little exchange had a profound meaning as to what this country is on it’s way to becoming.  See, unless you are reading this via Google Reader or some other reader, without ever having seen my blog, you already know that my skin is a deep chestnut brown.  This is relevant because the person that was talking to me was a white guy… a former Georgia State Trooper, who now works for a Federal agency.

The reason this little exchange was important is that this guy looked me in the face and called me a good ol’ boy.  There were centuries of history and race relations locked up in that little conversation.  Not because neither of us had friends who weren’t the same skin color or ethnicity.  Far from it.  Not because our world’s were so terribly different, because Chuck and I have similar backgrounds… we’re veterans, didn’t go to college, senior instructors in our particular field, etc…, but this guy, this self-described redneck, called me a good ol’ boy!

I’ll tell you right now, that I laughed loud and long when he said it.  I did… I laughed right in his face.  But, not for long.  Chuck asked me why that was funny, and I told him that being called a good ol’ boy was something that most black men never expect to hear from anyone… especially a white Georgia Trooper.  We talked for a long time, and Chuck’s position became quite clear from the outset:  He believed that a good ol’ boy was someone who could be counted on; a kindred spirit, a friend.  In his world, being counted as a good ol’ boy, meant something.  Most importantly, in his world, being a good ol’ boy had absolutely nothing to do with the color of a person’s skin.

This conversation took place three years ago, before Barack Obama announced his candidacy for the Presidency.  My friend Chuck wasn’t trying to make some sort of political statement.  He wasn’t trying to befriend me to show how progressive he is.  Chuck made an observation about what he saw in me as a friend; a colleague; a person… and classified me in the “Good” column.

 

So.  What’s this mean?  What is the big deal?  Why is this profound?  Well, to you, depending on who you are this might mean nothing.  To some, it might mean that America has turned some sort of corner.  To some, it might mean that we are becoming our better selves.  To me, it means that great social problems are generational in nature.  Social concerns, whether they are matters of race/ethnicity, matters of sexuality, or matters of gender.

Nope.  We aren’t done with race issues.  We aren’t done with gender or sexuality issues, either.  Having said that, I still believe in the people that make up this weird, mad, moral/immoral, imperfect place we call America.

 

One thing that you can say for us is that, dude, we’re never a dull place.

Barack Obama & The End of "Acting White"

"Who do you think you are?"

"You talk like a white boy!"

"Bookworm!"

"Professor!"

"Honky-lover!"

"You think you're better than us!"

"OREO!"

I am 45 years old.  It's been at least 28 years since the things that I wrote above were last said to me... to my face, anyway.  It still smarts when I bother to think about it, which I seldom do... but it's been there, all these years, a very personal source of pain.  A lifetime of barbs and insults, all because of the way I talk.

For generations, it has always been desirable in the black community, as it has all over America, to get all the education that you can.  Education has always been seen as the way to improve not only your economic condition, but your social position as well.  Since emancipation, this had been seen as a great thing in the black community.  The thought had always been, that if your children got an education and learned to speak English correctly, perhaps they could enter a trade or one of the professions.  It was certainly so for my mother's parent's (a professor and a Nurse)... it was so for my parents.

Then something changed.

In the 1960's, it became popular for black people to remind each other to "stay black"... to not "sell out" to the white man.  Apparently, not talking like you are from the ghetto counts as selling out.  In my opinion, this thinking has done massive, lasting damage to the black community. 

It has now become fashionable in the black middle class to ape urban behaviors as a means of "staying black".  Children of families that live in 800,000 dollar homes, who go to schools that aren't struggling, walking around in super-baggy prison clothes, and despite their middle-American accents, trying as hard as they can to sound like they are refugees from a Snoop Dogg cd.

I was born into a military family, at Hamilton Air Force Base, California, where we lived until my parents were divorced, and we moved to New Jersey to be near my maternal Grandmother.  The neighborhood that we moved into was mostly black (this was 1969, the height of "white flight"), even the first generation Portuguese immigrants were moving as fast as they could.   The place I grew up in was solidly working class.  Most of the people were second or third generation children of the post-emancipation diaspora.  Most spoke with a common accent: southern share-cropper... what has morphed into, and has become accepted as "Black English", "Ebonics", "Ghetto English" and what have you. 

The problem is that I didn't speak the local language.  Oh, sure, I could mimic it, if I wanted to, but, why should I?  I don't do things just to fit in, I never have, and don't plan on starting now.

This is all old news to many of you who know me.  I've covered this ground before, but there is something different about it today.  You see, tomorrow, Barack Hussein Obama is going to be inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States... and he talks like me.

I had planned to give a long discussion about who the "black community" will or won't embrace for different reasons.. I had planned to talk about how, when Obama's campaign first started, many black "leaders" were concerned that Obama wasn't black enough.  I had planned to vent about all sorts of things associated with the accusation of "acting white".  But, as I sit here, taking a break from getting ready for tomorrow's event, I find that I no longer have the energy to put into it.

I simply want to say that Barack Obama's accomplishment in winning the Presidency  has highlighted the fact that  no matter what community you were raised in, or live in, achievement speaks for itself.  Reading, learning, being well-spoken, scholarship, and integrity, are the paths to success... no matter what color your skin is.

I'll close by giving a special shout-out to those family members, fellow students, colleagues, black pundits and civil rights leaders, journalists, and others who have ever tormented or criticized any black person about speaking standard English.  You need to hear this, from me, to you.

Go **** yourselves. 

We aren't "acting white", we are acting like Americans who have as much a stake in this country as anyone else does.  We are acting like Americans who have an inherent right to the blessings that accrue from our citizenship.  We are acting like this is our country... because it is. 

This is OUR time.

Happy Kwanzaa!

An African-American scholar and social activist, Ron Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 as the first African-American holiday.  Karenga said his goal was to "...give Blacks an alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society,"  The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza", meaning "first fruits". The choice of Swahili, an East African language, reflects its status as a symbol of Pan-Africanism. (wikipedia)

Happy Kwanzaa to all those who celebrate it!