We Have Arrived.....

What can I say about today?  I don't know if I have the words to describe the thoughts racing around in my head.  Today I saw the world change.  I bore witness to the dawn of a new era.  I saw a person of color reach the highest office of the nation.

I saw a man, who not too long ago in history would have been told to get to the back of the bus, become president of the United States of America.  A man who came from humble beginings.  A man who was raised by a single mother.  A man who was the son of an immigrant.  He became President of the United States of America.

I know my daughter is only 7 years old and doesn't really quite grasp why this is such a momentus moment.  She's young and fortunate because she has not experienced some of that hate the world has to offer.

A few months ago, before the election, I talked to her about why I was voting for Obama.  I told her that he worked really hard and got into a really good school.  He worked really hard and got a law degree from one of the most prestegious universities in the world.  And I told her that instead of getting a cushy job with a fat cat salary, he used his degree to help people.  My daughter says "Well, then he should be president!"

And now he is.

And now I can turn to my daughter and say "If you work hard and never give up, you can be anything you want to be!"  And this time, I won't be lying.  And my daughter will grow up different than I did.  She won't see the limitations I did because of my race.  She will not grow up thinking that a person of color reaching the highest office in the land  as an impossibility.  I still can't believe it.

When the elections results were in on November 4th, and Barack Obama was declared the next President of the United States, I called my mom to share the news and celebrate.  She was so happy and she she said "You know what this means!  Now one of us can be next!"  I didn't give my mother's hope of seeing a Latino president much thought, I think I was too caught up in the moment.

I watched the inauguration at work.  We have a huge auditorium and it was filled beyond capacity today as about 250 of us watched the inauguration.  We cheered and many times we cried.  And we prayed that God would protect our new leader and give him all the strength, wisdom and support he could ever need to guide us into this new era.

What I will never forget was the benediction at the end which was delivered by Rev. Joseph Lower.  I was sitting with a co-worker who is Korean.  And we listened as he delivered his words. 

And he said, "Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen"

I couldn't believe it, I whispered to my friend "He's talking about us!  He's referring to us!"
I looked for some some other co-workers who were also Latino.  They were just as stunned as I was.  "He's talking about us!"

I had never heard us mentioned before.  During Barack Obama's Inauguration, we were mentioned.  We were talked about.  WE BECAME PART OF THE AMERICAN FABRIC FOR THE FIRST TIME!!  We are no longer "other" people who just happen to live in this country. And now my mother's idea of a Latino president became a definite possibility because we are now players in the game!  Barack Obama has opened the door and shown that Americans come in all colors!  Like Rev. Lower said, we're black, we're brown, we're yellow, we're white and we're red.  We're here!

AND WE HAVE AT LONG LAST ARRIVED!

Iraq for Sale...

I put my foot down today and decided that I would not spend my evening watching Sponge Bob or iCarly or whatever my daughter wanted to watch tonight.  So I was flipping through the "On Demand"cable menu and I saw "Iraq for Sale."  I remember wanting to watch that, but I don't always get to watch what I want to watch....as you can see from my opening sentence.

"Iraq for Sale" basically goes into detail about the massive profits made by companies like Halliburton/KBR, Blackwater, Titan, and CACI in Iraq.

It made me so damned mad!  These companies made BILLIONS of dollars off the backs of American troops and the American public. 

For example, in order for Paul Bremmer to feel safe, the US government hired Blackwater to protect him.  Apparently our own United Sates Marine Corp was not up to snuff, so the goverment shelled out $21 million.  During that time, Blackwater employees either died in combat (although they were not part of the US military) or killed civilians.  If they killed civilians they were fired and sent home, they did not have to stand trial for killing Iraquis because military law did not apply to them.

According to the Chicago Tribune, about 770 American civilians have been killed in Iraq.  CIVILIANS, not military.  People who were told about all the money they would make if they went to Iraq for a little while to drive trucks, or do laundry, or cook.  Now, in other wars the US has been involved in, the military took care of their own laundry and cooking and such.  But now it needed to outsource these jobs to Halliburton/KBR.  And from what I understand from the film, they did a piss poor job.  Soldiers would send their clothes to be laundered and get their clothes back as if they had never been washed.  KRB charged the US government $100 for each bag of laundry it "washed."  KBR refused to have 24 food service because it was too expensive, so soldiers had to wait over an hour to get food.  And because they would stand in these huge food lines, insurgents knew just went to attack.  Civialian truck drivers were told to just get out there and drive convoys back and forth...sometimes with empty trucks.  Just so Halliburton could add it to the bill.

And another thing that pissed me off was that Halliburton was supposed to build water purification systems so that soldiers would have safe water to cook with and bathe with.  Turns out a huge MAJORITY of the water purification systems did not work.  So soldiers were bathing in and drinking water that was tainted with things like fecal matter, malaria, and typhoid.  The US government knew this and STILL paid Halliburton!

Now CACI and Titan...they provided interrogation and interpretation services.  Many of the interpreters only had a rudimentary understanding of Arabic and Farsi...so God knows what shape any data or intel secured looked like.  Oh...and they tortured prisoners, many of which were just picked up off the street for no reason.  One of these such "insurgents" was an older woman who was told that if she didn't confess everything she knew about the insurgency, she would be gang raped.  That just makes me proud to be an American.  And if you have never heard of CACI and Titan...just google Abu Ghraib.

Now let me ask you this.....what do all these companies have in common?  These companies have major connections to the Bush administration.  They have made huge contributions to Republican causes.  And let's not forget, Dick Cheyney, the Dick as I like to call him, is the former CEO of Halliburton.

It makes me mad because there was NO need for us to go into Iraq in the first place.  There were no Weapons of Mass Destruction.  Alquaeda was not there before we invaded...athough they are there now thanks to the war.  And over 100,000 Iraqui human beings are gone. 

This war plunged us into debt and these companies got rich of off it while hurting the American Soldier, the American Public, the Iraqui Public, the American Image as a leader, and even their own employees.  All of this happened during the Bush/Cheyney administration.

Tonight is the last night this administration will be in power and I have to say, I have been celebrating this last night with my good friend Captain Morgan.  And tomorrow at noon we will start a brand new era of change...THANK GOD.

I was talking with my a friend today about the last eight years and what they have meant to this country.  And my friend asked why George Bush and Dick Cheyney weren't being charged with crimes against humanity.  I have to say...that would be a great idea!

Hope....

Tuesday is almost here and I am about to burst from excitement!  The beginning of a very long journey is over and Day One will finally be here!

We will begin the arduous journey of putting the pieces of our shattered country back together again and bringing forth a renewed America.

While watching the many retrospectives on Barack Obama's climb to the presidency, I thought about the moments that I will always remember.

I remember starting out backing Hillary Clinton, but now in hindsight, I see that what I was backing was a return to the Clinton years...oh those unprecedented eight years of peace and prosperity!  Those were good years!

I remember taking 20 minutes fill out my ballot during the primary.  I didn't know who to give my vote to, Hillary or Barack.  More than once, I was asked if I needed help understanding the ballot.  I just needed help making my choice.  I gave my precious vote to Barack Obama and hoping I made the right choice.

I remember those contentious debates!  I woke up my daughter on several occasions because I was yelling at the TV.

I remember that while money was tight, I donated to his campaign...$5 here...$5 there...$10 after getting a really good tip at a face painting gig...and of course my donation to Planned Parenthood in honor of Sarah Palin!

I remember taking my daughter to the polls so that one day she would remember that she was there when her mother...and her grandmother, a naturalized citizen....cast their votes and became a part of history.

I remember screaming when the election results were finally in!

I remember being moved to tears during Barack Obama's speech later that evening!

I was told once by an acquaintance that I was wasting my time on Barack Obama because  you can't run a country on hope.  I was told how stupid I was to believe in his message of hope.

As far as hope...I think that hope is a powerful tool.

Colonists waged war against the crown of King George because they had HOPE in starting a new country run by its citizens and not by a monarchy!

Slaves risked their lives by escaping to the North in HOPE of living as free men and women!

European Jews survived the horrors of the concentration camps because they had HOPE that they would be freed!

Immigrants from all over the world, immigrants like my mother, came to this country with the HOPE of a better life!

And we all cast our votes in HOPE that we could turn this country around.

Hope is never anything we can look down on.

 And on Tuesday, Hope will change the course of history!

You Can Take the Girl Out of Dorchester.....

Well you know the rest.

As some of you know, my mouth has been known to get me into trouble from time to time.
I wasn't always like this. There was a time in my life when I was a door mat and let myself get pushed around. Somewhere in college, I found my voice. And this is where the trouble began.

Like many people, I always come up with the perfect "come back" long after the argument is over. But not tonight.

I got home after picking up the kid and going to the market. (Friday is the best day to go to the market because its empty by the way.) Its cold, I'm tired and I want to go inside...but there's this woman walking her dog around the parking lot of my building. This bothers me because one: She does not live here! And two: whenever a dog does his buisiness on the property, my dog gets blamed for it even though I ALWAYS pick up after my dog!

So I yell out, "Hey!! You're gonna pick up after your dog right?"

"He's not doing anything to pick up!" She did not seem happy.

"Pick up after your dog! We have rules here!!" Yes, I could have left well enough alone, but technically, she was trespassing.

"Is being an asshole one of the rules?" Oh hell no! So instead of walking inside I yell out,

"No! That's a service I provide for free to inconsiderate pricks like you! If you got something else to say, maybe you should get a little closer, DOUCHEBAG!"

She left pretty quicky.

Maybe happy suburban Braintree is the wrong place for a city girl from Dorchester to call home.

black and white

Who the hell is Brody Jenner?!

A friend of mine called me last week and asked me if she was old.  She is 6 months older than me so I jokingly replied, "Yes, Julie, you are old!  Older than me at least!" 

Now, Julie is an incredibly busy person.  She is married, is raising 3 teenage stepsons, works full time and is getting an MBA.  My good friend Julie, who was Valedictorian of my high school class, graduated with honors from Boston University on a full scholarship, and is currently working on her MBA picked up a gossip magazine.  She wanted to kick back during her winter break with her favorite guilty pleasure.

She didn't recognize anyone in the magazine.

"If I don't recognize anyone in the magazine, does that mean I'm old?"

I took a look at a magazine....I didn't know who half these people are!

I had to do a google search to find out that Samantha Ronson is Linsay Lohan's lesbian life partner.  Some girl named Tila Tequila, who happens to be bi-sexual and looking to find true love with anything with a pulse, was mentioned from time to time.   Dita Von Teese is apparently turning heads in Hollywood.  Her claim to fame is that she is a Burlesque dancer (i.e. classy stripper) and was married to Marilyn Manson. 

I had to google these people and I actually felt dumber after doing my research.

Now here's the one who bother's me the most.  Brody Jenner.  His name has been around a lot lately.  He hosted some concert in Boston.  He filled in for Ryan Seacrest on the radio. He has a show on MTV apparently called Bromance...not sure what its about.

His claim to fame?  His dad is Bruce Jenner and his step sister is Kim Kardashian.

Seriously?  This is what it takes to make you a celebrity?  At least his dad won a gold medal in the Olympics!  Kim Kardashian has a big ol' behind and showed off her fun bags in Playboy.  Apparently these two facts, coupled with the fact he is pretty is enough to make him a celebrity.

I guess I am old.  Back in my day, celebrities were celebrities because they did something that was celebrated.  Maddona told the world she felt like a virgin.  George Michaels asked us to wake him up before we go-go.  Molly Ringwald was pretty in pink.  LL Kool J was going to knock you out because his mama told him to.  Flo Jo was the fastest woman alive!  Alissa Milano showed us that you don't have to have blue eyes and blond hair to be considered pretty!  The U.S. women's soccer team kicked ass at World Cup!

They were celebrated because of what they did...not because of what their dad or step siblings did.

Yes, I admit it, I'm old.  But I'm smart enough to recognize a magazine full of bullshit when I see it.