We the people, in order to form a more perfect union...

"Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.

The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least 20 more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.

Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution -- a Constitution that had at its very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.

And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States.

What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part -- through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk -- to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.

This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign -- to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America."

The President's Black So Stop Dealing Drugs and Get a Job

Dear Black Men * ,

For the past 300 years, we (black women) have been forced to listen to excuses for why you still have an Xbox at 30 years old but can't find a job. Why the tattoos just on your right arm are worth more than you've ever had in savings and why you can't afford to pay your 3 baby's mothers child support but you've somehow got the money for that porsche and for the gas it takes for you to drive to the club let-outs and "holla at bitches". "You don't know nothin' about being a black man in America", you say. "We're seen as a threat, everyone is afraid of us, we can't get a job because no one will give us a chance". "Well I know I'm a felon too but those drugs I sold were only to pay my bills cause I didn't have any other options". "Well, yeah your right, I had a job and got fired 'cause my urine wasn't clean, but I was only smokin' weed cause I'm tired of dealin' with this racist shit every day" "they're out to get me".
Before, when I responded to this utter foolishness by rolling my eyes and saying "Bullshit", I got called a bougie republican who just didn't understand the plights of black men. Now though, that our president Barack HUSSEIN Obama - a BLACK MAN is the president of the United States of America, I can say it confidently and proudly without the slightest bit of remorse. As I purse my lips up and pop out that BUL, let the SHHH seep out like a cool summer's breeze and finish off with a profoundly pronounced IT, I can't help but to smile knowing that my adamant disapproval of black men's excuses is, in the end, helping my race to flourish.

"How can you say that?! Barack ain't no nigga - He's bi-racial and he from Hawaii". Okay, angry excuse maker. Sure you can point out the fact that President Elect Barack Obama has a white parent. But to contest his blackness totally neglects to acknowledge his daddy, who was African. According to a friend of mine who happens to have a similar ethnic make-up, his blackness is a simple matter of math. White parent - zero blackness, African parent - 2 black points, Offspring - 2+0 divided by 2. That equals one full black person folks. Furthermore, not only is Barack black, but his name is Barack HUSSEIN Obama. (a Picture of Barack and Saddam next to each other) When you go talking about racial profiling - he doesn't look white, he doesn't claim to be white, and CERTAINLY, his name doesn't sound white. There is absolutely no mistaking this man for white. It would be like Seal going to a klan rally and trying to "blend in".
"So what" you bitter and lazy men say, "He ain't have it hard like us, Hawaii ain't hood".
Have you been to Indonesia? Do you even know where that is? If you have running water - (even if its not hot) then please sit down. Apart from that though, no one is saying success is easy. Of course its going to be hard. That's not an excuse though. If you 're honestly still looking for reparations, you don't deserve to live. Do us a favor and go jump off a bridge. You're holding our race back dude. There are no hand-outs, if you want it you must go out and take it. (no! Not by holding up 7-11, by going to school, creating a sucessful business, etc.)
Its sad that you were born in the ghetto and your mom was a single parent. I'm sorry if you're father was addicted to crack and that your brother was a victim of homicide. I truly am. But the fact of the matter is - sitting at home being bitter about it is not the way to go. Neither is destroying other people's lives by selling drugs, killing other people's sons and daughters, and wasting my tax dollars sitting in jail. There are programs now to help you overcome all that which were created specifically with you in mind. Take advantage of them.

Finally you say, "Barack Obama is one man, he's the exception - him being president doesn't magically erase all the inequalities of America."

And that's fine - I'd totally agree that Barack being president doesn't erase anything magically. His ability to be elected president by an overwhelming majority - not only in typically democratic states, but in states like Nevada and Ohio is PROOF though that racism in America can be overcome with intelligence, tenacity, strategy, effort and Yes, Hope. It is certainly not impossible. There is certainly no truth behind the statement, "I can't ____ because I'm black". There never was but there certainly is not now.

So black men, throw away your video games, get off the basketball courts, toss out the microphones unless its a hobby that suppliments your application to Harvard Law. Education is not for everyone but it can be for you if you really want to work for it. And if you don't want to, that's fine. But don't say its because the "Man's Got You Down" or "The System's Not For You". Its because you chose not to put in the effort and the work necessary to do it.

Have the audacity of hope, and say it with me, "YES WE CAN!"

Love,

M. Walbridge

* To those who this applies - I meant everything I said. But to those who it does not apply, Thank you for stepping up to your responsibilities as a person/black man, citizens of the United States/world. I love you and and truly appreciate your addition to the world.