Look Harder.

Simplicity kills me sometimes.

While the inauguration festivities have come and gone-- the division created by the election has not. I cannot stress how disappointed I am in people's simplicity. "My president is black... his house is white"... or how bout the text I received on inauguration day, "You know why it's so cold today? Because they said it'd be a cold day in hell before a black man was president"... sentiments like these are killing me. I, along with many other Americans (black, white, latino, asian), have celebrated the fact that our country has come far enough to elect a man who is different from the previous 43-- someone who is bi-racial, someone who is African-American. This is a big deal-- I see the pride in people's faces... my Dad smiles from ear to ear everytime he mentions something about President Obama. The man represents so much to so many people.

I take no issue with an appreciation of history being made--with the acknowledgment that a beautiful change has come. My issue is with the divisiveness that the election of President Obama has already created--the same divisiveness that I wrote about around election time. We have got to stop celebrating President Obama for just being a black man. When I hear President Obama speak-- one thing is clear. He is not satisfied with just being black-- his blackness is not what defines him. He strives to be a good husband, a loving father, a man of the people, and an agent of change. I think one of the tragedies of Obama's campaign is that he felt the need to identify himself as being a black man. Clearly he's bi-racial. He noted on a few occasions that he sees himself as everyone will always see him... as a black man. Our own perceptions have contributed to a man's understanding or lack of understanding of himself. That speaks to our inability (as a nation) to give up the small stuff. We're still seeing a black president before we see a loving and talented leader who is capable of bringing unity and change to our nation. I'm sure that some will criticize me for not "understanding" what this means for "us" and that I'm failing to see the historical and cultural importance of such an event-- please understand that this time... we're really at the mountaintop. The only difference is that we're on the mountaintop with fellow brothers and sisters--black, white, asian, latino, gay, straight, old, young, wealthy and poor.

My apologies for the rant.....

BIG NEWS... I applied for this community grant through the Brown Rudnick public interest group before our winter break. The other day I received word that they would be giving my class 1,650$ for a reading intervention program and some ALPHA smarts! God is good--all the time. It is truly amazing to have someone put faith in you. I love how I can apply for a grant via a brief application online and a group of people can deem my cause to be worthy of their financial backing (and a significant backing at that). That's beautiful to me. I have faith in our humanity because of examples like these.

The girls lost a tough game last night. We fought back and forth all game before losing to Friendship Jr. Academy by 2. Man, it's hard to motivate the girls sometimes. For the first three and a half quarters, it seemed like they were content to just be losing by 5-10 points. It wasn't until they pulled within two that they seemed to be invested in the rest of the game! We're still trying to find ways to keep the motivation consistent, and I think that will come with some more success. Regardless, we're 6-2 with two big games coming up. Your support would be greatly appreciated!

A question to consider-- how are our children? Are they fed, do they have shelter? Do we provide them with enough affection? Are we telling our children that we love them enough? Are we telling them that we love them at all?

Sometimes I wonder whether or not we're aware of our responsibility in dealing with children. We'd like to assume the best-- to assume that they're being loved at home, that someone is there to listen to their problems, that they're not exposed to violence, hatred, or abuse. We assume that our children have been given the tools to survive and live in a world that most of us are struggling in. Do we take the necessary precautions to ensure that our children are getting what they might not be getting otherwise? Are we taking care of our children as if they were our own? Sometimes it just kills me to think about how we bring the defenseless in to this world without providing them with the necessary defenses they need. I suppose the thought ultimately came after holding my four month-old cousin. Everyone was telling her how cute she was (very true), and giving her lots of love and attention. Kind words poured ouf of their mouths and smiles were abundant. I just wondered what her life would be like if she never received any of that. Then I thought about some of our kids.... and realized that was their reality.