The perils of judging a magazine by its cover.

The easy thing to do is to talk about how HORRRRRIBULL the New Yorker cover was.

I don’t blog to do the easy thing.

I’ll bet when Barry Blitt penned this lil ditty, he probably thought to himself…”yeah, I nailed that shit. This is off the chain.  I didn’t miss a thing. Look how complete the analysis is, down to the flag in the fireplace.  Ain’t no one seein this.  Pullitzer, here I come.”

While I am far too cheap to subscribe to the New Yorker, I read it regularly online.  It is classic Northeast Corridor insular intellectualism.  They do what they do well.  And yeah, the Cover is well done.

In a vacuum.

Out here in the real world…Blitt fucked up.

He should have talked to Spike Lee about the what happens (or what doesn’t happen) when you trot out heavy duty satire around Black folk.

Of course most folk at the New Yorker are so busy waxing geo-political and post-racial about Obama they seem to have forgotten that Barack Obama is Black man #1 right now.  What you say or do to Barack Obama, Michelle Obama or the WeeMichelles (Shouts to WAOD)

Black folk who wouldn’t know the New Yorker from a brochure for the Chrysler New Yorker have seen this cover and are…uh…Let’s just say they aren’t pleased.

On the heels of The Etherization of the Former First Black President and his Wife in the eyes of Black folk, Nuts-Gate,  and the still smoldering ashes of Tavis Smiley’s status as the King of the Black Pundits, it is becoming abundantly clear that in the eyes of many Black folk, anything that takes away from Barack Obama’s presidential aspirations is taken VERY personally.

Black folk were late to the party, remember, This time last year, Hillary Clinton was 25 points up on Obama in the polls, even amongst Black folk.  I am pretty sure that this over-protective impulse amongst Black folk is a subconscious reaction to being so late to the party.

Combine this default nuclear response to anything percieved as disrespectful of the Obama Family with the universally unmentioned fact that Obama (like Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice before him) isn’t alloted a certain regal status afforded other National level Politicians.

Barack Obama carries around issues that don’t actually exist, while John McCain gets a pass on Upgrading from his disabled wife who sat by and waited for him to come home from Vietnam to a sugar daughter who could afford McCain with the economic infrastructure to parlay his admirable Military history into a national career in Politics.

That is an everyday situation for Black folk and white folk just don’t get it.

Satire doesn’t play when people actually think what’s so over-the-top satirical is true.

Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.

and the WORST part of all this is…

The Obama article INSIDE the magazine is a a revealing insight into what makes Obama tick.

But who cares about all those words when there is a pretty picture on the front.

Jesse Jackson is smarter than ALL Y’ALL

Sorry Rev,  I am going to have to put you in the street on this one.

I spent the better part of Wednesday Night waxing nostalgic over the decline and fall of the pride of Greenville, SC, pondering the impact his campaigns in 1984 and 1988 had in nurturing my political junkieism.

I couldn’t finish it because something I had this nagging sensation in the part of my brain that insists that the entire story isn’t being told.

It took me until the middle of my first shift tomorrow to finally connect all the dots.

Jesse did this on purpose.

You can’t tell me that Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr., who has been rocking the microphone since I was a twinkle in my daddy’s eye, has fallen off to the point that he would lean over to some random brotha and whisper something so incriminating.

This wasn’t the green room.

This wasn’t overheard in a restaurant.

This wasn’t a taped phone call.

This was RIGHT before a talking head segment.  Mics already attached.  On FOX EFFING NEWS.

COME ON, PEOPLE! (Cosby, W.)

What amazes me is that more folk haven’t come arrived at this conclusion.  The math doesn’t work any other way.

You doubt?

I give you the evidence.

1. Jesse was apologizing before we even knew what was said - I have a hard time believing that Jesse would have gotten as far out in front of something like this as he did unless he knew it was coming.  And the only way to REALLY know it’s coming is if you did it on purpose.
2. There are no fence sitters at it applies to Rev. Jackson.  Whatever people feel about Rev. Jackson is only intensified by whatever fuckery he does.  White folk who just can’t get over the idea of Barack Obama appointing Jesse, Al, and Louis to his cabinet (because you know the first thing Black folk do in positions of power is multiply and deprive white folk of any kind of power).  And Jesse gets to “speak truth to power”  (cue the quirky quote thing with your fingers) to his base (yes, boys and girls, Jesse STILL has a base)  He also gets to give voice to the urban (Black) wing of the Democratic Party.
3. Whatever Jealousy Jesse harbors, (and trust…there is a fair amount) he does support Obama and would not have pulled this stunt unless he thought Obama would have a net benefit.  That starts with the fact that no one in the punditocracy thinks enough of Jesse that he would dare try and outsmart them.
4. Listen to the actual words.   “Barack is talking down to Black People” (when has Jesse ever been this cut and dry?)”I wanna cut his nuts off”(kick his ass?  cuss his ass out?  nope…not strong enough. Gotta get good and gutter with it) Barack is talking down to Black People (just in case the first time didn’t come across clearly enough.)  Add to that that he was on Fox News, which would have sole possession of  the footage, never to be aired in complete context (Can’t run the risk of broadening the conversation beyond Jesse threatening castration [no way a 67 year old Baptist minister could be speaking metaphorically] on everyone’s favorite Negro while accusing him of  (being elitist and “white” (those damn finger quotes again))
5. Jesse is on your mind and on your TV/Monitor. Just because you didn’t miss him doesn’t mean he didn’t miss you.

Introducing: APT

After taking a long weekend for the Fourth, I wanted to drop this little nugget of genius (not MY genius)

This was put out 2 weeks ago (shouts to  The Audacity of Dope)

He got more good ish.

Stop. Look. Listen.

In the midst of my personal soul searching and self-evaluation, something has completely irritated me about the Coverage of Barack Obama.

While there is an overall buzzphrase that pervades all mainstream coverage of any campaign, The Obama campaign seem to be caught in a heavily watered down narrative that usually focuses on one phrase that usually connotes a certain skepticism on the part of those alleged to be in the know.

Surely you remember such hits as

Is America Ready for a Black President?

How Black is Barack Obama?

Can a man with the middle name Hussein get elected?

Will Blacks Fall in love with Barack Obama?

Will Whites vote for Obama (this one was before Iowa)

Will Poor Whites vote for Obama?

Will Hispanics vote for Obama?

Can a man married to one of those angry Black women be president?

Can Obama sway the SuperDelegates?

Can Obama win in the South?

Can he win in the West?

Can he win without Clinton

Can he sway her voters?

Why Can’t he close the deal?

Why cant Obama go to the nice Black Churches we see Bill Clinton going to all the time?

Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

Well…for the past three weeks the latest buzzphrase has revolved around whether or not Barack Obama has moved to the Center.

Ignore all the blather.  It isn’t about moving to the center.  It is about broadening the conversation.

Barack Obama has made a habit of speaking in broad and general terms about what he wishes to accomplish, sometimes ruffling the feathers of people who usually agree with him.

To THOSE people it sounds like pandering.  It isn’t.  It is leadership.

Since Monday, Obama has delivered thoughtful and provocative speeches on Patriotism, Faith, and National Service, all topics Democrats traditionally struggle with but topics that Obama clearly has passionate ideas and principles about.

These three also are issues that Obama is uniquely qualified to address as opposed to his opponent.

Patriotism from a non-jingoistic perspective

Faith as a tool for upliftment

Choosing service over self

Name a politician better suited to address these topics.

Instead of bitching and whining because the preacher won’t preach from your momma’s favorite scripture, why don’t you LISTEN TO WHAT HE IS SAYING…you MIGHT learn something.

Go ahead, I’ll Wait (Williams, K)

John McCain and High Gas Prices

Submitted with no comment necessary:

1.75 - the Next Movement

Mrs. Ink is in her hometown of New York celebrating the end of school by taking in (Black) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway with her mom and some friends of her family.

Me?

I am taking this time off to get some work done and act like I got some damn sense, a task I have a tendency to fail at occasionally.

Yes, If you haven’t noticed, InkogNegro is now at stage 1.75.

You may ask yourself: Self? What does that mean exactly?

I will tell you that it’s just a sign of a shift in the narrative of this blog.

I have been blogging off and on since being asked to contribute to an anonymous group blog back in the fall of 2000.

In case you forgot how long ago 2000 was, let me help you.

In 2000, I was a 30 year old Capitol Hill Staffer with a Mets/Giants loving native of the Bronx for a wife, a beautiful young son who bore a striking resemblance to his father and shared a love for music and a name with both my father and me. I was just starting to embrace my burn to write and was looking to the internet with curiosity as a place I could work my new found craft. With my father’s death in March of 2000, I was entrusted with the task of writing my father’s

The nation was emerging from the Clinton Years with a budget surplus, and just beginning to come to grips with the amazing technological leap that had been provided by the tech-boom. Bush and Gore got their late night thriller on and when all the dust had settled…America had spoken clearly and said:

We would rather have the other guy, but rules are rules…how bad could he be?

If you thought you had an idea it would go down like THIS, kindly leave this post and take your ass somewhere with that 20/.05 Hindsight. NO ONE could have seen this ish coming in 2000.

Fast forward four years and it is 2004.

I had managed to add a son, break a family, slip into an emotional tailspin and circle the drain of my life for about 2 years before slipping completely into the toilet and emerging on the other side of sanity in Fort Worth, TX miles from ANYONE I knew.

The change of scenery and some fervrent prayers on my part along with my family, nudged me closer and closer to being a productive black man.

Four MORE years later, here I am. homeowner, happy husband, devoted, if long-distance, father. Still grinding away at this blogging thing.

I have really grown up in the past 8 years, especially in regards to who I am and what I am about. Even though I no longer Blog under my given name, my life is a story that begs telling. The next movement is about bringing my life back into my blogging.

What does this mean for YOU?

You might actually get to know me, if you stick around.

Watching the media (THEM, if you will) twist themselves into knots about the overwhelming otherness of Barack and Michelle Obama tells me all I need to know about how important it is that Black Folk be allowed to just BE and not have to slide into some easily digestible porridge for the Culturally picky. In this spirit I call upon all of us to be more engaging, not just in our opinions and facts, but in ourselves.

Today’s Number of the day… .62

Point Six Two.

Sixty-Two Hundreths.

Sixty-Two Percent.

That is the percentage of the Hispanic vote that Obama is getting against John McCain, according to a Gallup Poll from May, 2008.

Quoting:

Obama did not fare well against Hillary Clinton among Hispanics in the 2008 primaries, but the early indications are that he will do well among this increasingly Democratic group in the general election. The May data show Obama with a 62% to 29% advantage over McCain among Hispanics.

And hes been the nominee for 2 days.

Si, Se Puede.

and THIS…is who you want on the ticket? SERIOUSLY???

I.Just.Don’t.Get.Y’all.Sometimes.

Barack Obama is too gracious to gloat…I, however, am not.

Posted to a Blog that died on January 16, 2007 <–note the year.

Now, let us marinate on what this truly means.

Here we have a black man man with a white mother and a Kenyan father, born in Hawaii, with a somewhat checkered past who rose through Columbia College and Harvard University Law School and the Illinois State Assembly to the United States Senate and now stands on the brink of history.

Blah blah blah.  but what does it MEAN, REALLY?

Well it means this:

For the first time in history, A man of color is positioned as a front runner for the office of president of the United States.  And he has formed a committee to explore that possibility.

More Blah Blah Blah…You aint sayin nothing to me….Give me something.  You go through all these changes to “Free” yourself and now you give me spin…..CTB….What does this MEAN?

OK.

This means everyone out of the pool…the shark is coming.  I am sure you have heard the following:

“we don’t know anything about him”

“He doesn’t have the experience”

“He can’t win because he is Black”

“He Can’t Beat Hillary”

“His middle name is Hussein”

“They won’t let him win”

Let me address these in turn.

We don’t know anything about him -  If you don’t know about Barack Obama, you don’t WANNA know about him.  He has TWO books that have been NY Times best sellers.  One is a fairly in-depth memoir that covers his background.   One is a wonkish sort that alludes to building a better America.  The man has a microphone constantly stuck in his face and is pretty much the go-to man for thoughtful progressive (liberal, for those of you who get off on such terms).  Trust and believe, if the man wasn’t the real deal, he wouldn’t be getting this kind of push.  Today, Chris Matthews said that, as a writer, he believes that if you cannot express your thoughts on paper, you cannot think.  He went on to say that Barack Obama is one of the most formidable writers of this political generation.  What Senator Obama says, comes from HIS pen.  That speaks volumes, to me.

“He doesn’t have the experience” - Experience is overrated.  Nor does Experience get you elected.  This isn’t carpentry.  This is government.  To be honest, the more you govern, the more inept you become.

Government tends to be a vacuum.  The longer you are in government, the more detached from reality you become. You lose your edge.   You lose touch with reality.  You end up doing less leading and representing of people and more…governing.  You have hearings, you hold press conferences, you go on TV, you compromise, you cease to be a representative and go to playing one on TV.

Barack Obama has been in the US Senate for 3 years. Before that he taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago. That is long enough to get a decent grasp on the practice of Government to go along with the formidable academic understanding of Government he already has.

“He can’t win because he is Black” - People will say that until it happens.  They said that about Mayor of Chicago, and Mayor of Philadelphia, and Mayor of New York, and Governor of Massachusetts. That isn’t really an explanation.  It just hasn’t happened, YET.

“He Can’t Beat Hillary” - This is a more useful argument than he cannot win because he is Black.  Hillary is the front runner because she is viewed as inevitable and unbeatable.  She is neither.  Hillary is polarizing in ways that confound the imagination, even in her OWN party.  Additionally there is a certain sense of fear that Hillary, because of her polarizing nature, can’t win the general election on her own terms anyway.  In terms of qualifications, even with the additional 3 years in the Senate and 8 years as first lady, I view them as equally qualified, exchanging the whole real life thing for the 20+ years of government life that she has been living. 

His middle name is Hussein - Stop.  Just Stop.  If you really think that is an issue, all the rest of this is pretty much irrelevant

“They won’t let him win” - who is this THEY?  If the PEOPLE want him, they will have him.  Will the fight from the GOP be any different than if Hillary wins?  Any different than last time with Kerry?  I didn’t think so.

One thing nags at me.  If Senator Obama is truly about change, the Secret Service better get on it’s game.

And that is NOT a joke.

Toldya.

But…I’m STILL mad. Why is that?

I should be estatic.

I am not.

The speech was magnificent and all, but I almost seem to see more self-congratulatory (look how far we have come) bullshit than anything.

I reckon I was just blindsided, so caught up in my own happiness that I forgot everyone else was just as obtuse and myopic about the REAL issues of race and class that the actual lessons of this campaign have yet to be discovered.

But the fist bump is still the greatest example of Black Love in Action to grace Prime time television in a MINUTE