Monthly Archives: January 2009

Shawn Williams on the Inauguration of President Barack H. Obama

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So much has changed in this world since I started Dallas South (Blog).

In 2007, I -along with dozens of other black bloggers- found out that there were other folks out there who were mad as Hell about what was going on with our communities and with our children.  We rallied around the cause of  a teen aged girl in Paris, Texas, protesting her excessive sentence and placement in a corrupt juvenile prison system.

A month later, we told Don Imus that you can’t talk about our daughters any kind of way and expect to get away with it.  We went on to write about injustice in a small Louisiana town before gathering to rally on behalf of the Jena 6.  We demanded that the media give this story the coverage that it deserved.

And while all of those events were still fresh in our memories, we watched our televisions on a Thursday night in January as an African-American candidate made us believe that he could actually be President of the United States.

So much has changed, since he lost that primary contest in New Hampshire. I thought that those five days would be the most hopeful moments the descendants of slaves would ever see.

So much has happened, since the son of a man from Kenya and a woman from Kansas, challenged us to confront race relations in ways that we never had before.  Since he made one of the most pivotal speeches in our nation’s history, in the place where it all began.

Even since the nominee accepted his party’s call, 45 years after the preacher cried “I Have a Dream”, much has changed.  So many things have brought us to this day, where we are able to celebrate President Barack Hussein Obama.

What has not changed is the idea of America.  Even though her citizens have tried their best to , America showed today that she is more that what she had become.

As a high school senior I believed in America.  I believed in her enough to look in the camera during a high school project and proclaim that the Bill of Rights is but one reason that  “I’m proud to be an American.”

But then things changed for me.  I went to college and saw the Confederate Flag displayed outside dorm room windows as I walked to class.  I was called “nigger” in the parking lot of Albertson when I just wanted to go in and buy groceries.  I saw white frat guys dressed in blackface and grass skirts at a “jungle party” they held on campus.

At the age of nineteen, I was no longer proud to be an American.

But now sixteen years later I can say that I’ve changed.  I am willing to look upon America again with he hopeful possibilities of my youth.  To accept the images I saw from our nations capital as a sign that together we can make our nation and this world a better place.

Electing a Black President does not somehow wash away the stain of slavery, or absolve or country of its racist past .  But because our nation has taken an unexpected step towards reconciliations, I am will to take one in return.

If I were a football player, maybe this would be a good time to call it quits.  Maybe I could wrap it up today and say “it can’t get any better than this.”  I could log off of my computer one last time riding down the information superhighway and off into the digital sunset.

But to do that, would be to disregard everything that our President is calling upon us to do.  As he has said, this is not about any one man, it’s about our children, our brothers, our neighbors, our country.  It’s about making this nation better by each one doing his or her part.

So I’m going to keep on blogging.  I’m going to keep fighting the good fight -even if that fight is to make sure that I’m better today than I was on yesterday.  Our President has inspired me and I am heeding his call.

All I ask is that you continue to meet me at DallasSouthBlog.com to offer your opinion, your views, and your encouragement.  You can expect nothing less than my best in return.

God Bless You, God Bless Our President, and may God Bless the United States of America.

The First Post from White House.gov

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This is the first post from the new and improved WhiteHouse.gov .

Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov

obama-service

Welcome to the new WhiteHouse.gov. I’m Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House and one of the people who will be contributing to the blog.

A short time ago, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States and his new administration officially came to life. One of the first changes is the White House’s new website, which will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.

Millions of Americans have powered President Obama’s journey to the White House, many taking advantage of the internet to play a role in shaping our country’s future. WhiteHouse.gov is just the beginning of the new administration’s efforts to expand and deepen this online engagement.

Just like your new government, WhiteHouse.gov and the rest of the Administration’s online programs will put citizens first. Our initial new media efforts will center around three priorities:

Communication — Americans are eager for information about the state of the economy, national security and a host of other issues. This site will feature timely and in-depth content meant to keep everyone up-to-date and educated. Check out the briefing room, keep tabs on the blog (RSS feed) and take a moment to sign up for e-mail updates from the President and his administration so you can be sure to know about major announcements and decisions.

Transparency – President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history, and WhiteHouse.gov will play a major role in delivering on that promise. The President’s executive orders and proclamations will be published for everyone to review, and that’s just the beginning of our efforts to provide a window for all Americans into the business of the government. You can also learn about some of the senior leadership in the new administration and about the President’s policy priorities.

Participation — President Obama started his career as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, where he saw firsthand what people can do when they come together for a common cause. Citizen participation will be a priority for the Administration, and the internet will play an important role in that. One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.

We’d also like to hear from you — what sort of things would you find valuable from WhiteHouse.gov? If you have an idea, use this form to let us know. Like the transition website and the campaign’s before that, this online community will continue to be a work in progress as we develop new features and content for you. So thanks in advance for your patience and for your feedback.

Later today, we’ll put up the video and the full text of President Obama’s Inaugural Address. There will also be slideshows of the Inaugural events, the Obamas’ move into the White House, and President Obama’s first days in office.

Linda Williams: Reflections

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My mom makes her first contribution to Dallas South, reflecting her thoughts on the inauguration of Barack Obama.   Thanks Mom!!!!

As I anticipate the inauguration of Barack Obama, I reflect upon growing up attending all-black schools. While gathering for assemblies everyday, we heard words from our principal telling students to study hard in order to achieve, because the day would come when choping/picking cotton would go away. “There will be machines to do this job,” Professor Givens would tell us, ” so you must come to school and get your education.” I often wondered how did he have that type of insight into the future.  What does he know?

With those words in mind, I told my son as he was growing up that in order to achieve it, he must first perceive it and believe it.   The sky is the limit and what you are is God’s gift to you, what you become is your gift to Him. What you learn no one can take away.  So what if others think it’s not cool to study.  You be in the minority and do it anyway?

President Obama had never seen a president that looked like him, but he studied, prepared himself and now his inauguration brings it full circle. I am so thankful that God has allowed me to live to be able to experience this monumental time in history.

Our boys and girls no longer have to imagine what it would be like to achieve this goal because the example has been laid out before them. Barack Obama took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.

Liz Cedillo-Pereira: The Inauguration Means We All Must Participate

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Liz Cedillo-Pereira is a friend that I met while in Denver covering the Democratic National Convention.  Her feelings on why she chose not to go to D.C. are similar to why I decided to stay in Dallas.

While it was very nice to receive an invitation to attend the Inauguration of President Barack Obama, I will not be among the multitudes of North Texans in D.C. for this historic moment. In fact, a few months ago, I promised any windfall such as an invitation to one of my best buddies Kenneth Martin, who did not have the opportunity to attend the Democratic National Convention in Denver like I did.

liz

Arriving early in the morning to get a good seat at Invesco, Liz Cedillo-Pereira waves from the Texas Delegation area at the Democratic National Convention.. Photographer: Janet Morrison.

My inauguration moment occurred in August at Invesco Field in Denver, Colorado as Barack Obama accepted the presidential nomination of his party. This moment which I shared with about 80,000 others was indeed a rare opportunity.  I sprinted home to tell my friends and family all about it. That moment at Invesco provided one of those rare feelings of “knowingness.”

Instead of waiting to board the Texas Delegation charter bus, I arrived very early with my friend and blogger, Janet Morrison. As I sat patiently waiting, I enjoyed a “private” concert as Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow and Michael McDonald rehearsed.

I witnessed all the special security forces, planners, journalists, take their places and prepare for the monumental occasion. And I prayed, mostly giving thanks for those who fought for the progress we’ve made since Dr. King’s speech that he delivered in Washington D.C. exactly 45 years prior.

I knew that day in my heart and soul that Barack Obama would be our next President. I did not need to wait until November to know, at that moment, I knew. It did not matter that the world could not relish the in the moment with me, for the next day’s news of Sarah Palin drew global attention to Wasilla, Alaska.

I did not necessarily derive my “knowingness” from Obama’s acceptance speech but from the disposition of the crowd who witnessed it. As I sat between an elected official from Dallas, Rafael Anchia, and a retired gentleman from Florida who served as precinct chair near where my mother-in-law lives, I knew Obama was meant to bring disparate voices together even if they did not agree with all of his viewpoints…which brings me to where I will be commemorating the Inauguration.

I will be attending my mother’s own swearing in of sorts as she puts her boxing gloves back on and attends her first chemotherapy session since finding out her multiple myeloma has relapsed. While I won’t be among the cheering crowds, I will have one of the best seats in the house – seated beside the woman who gave me life and inspired me to believe in my own capacity to contribute to the greater good.

When the inauguration is over, we are all responsible for helping President Obama. He has a lot on his plate – a conflict in Gaza, a monsterous economic crisis, closing Guantanamo, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, formulation of his legislative agenda to create jobs, passage of universal health care coverage, prioritization of education, passage of smart immigration reform, and much more. He cannot do it alone. He needs all of us to take part in the democratic process…whether we are in Dallas, Texas or in Washington, D.C.

Liz Cedillo-Pereira is a partner with Cedillo-Pereira & Cedillo, PLLC who recently helped form the Texas DREAM Act Coalition. She can be reached at mecp@cedillolaw.com

Antoinette Brooks: The 1st African American as President Means…..

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The following is a reflection of a member of the Dallas South Family who tells what the inauguration of the first Black President means to her.

By Antionette Brooks

The 1st African-American as President of the United States means the nation has had a rude awakening by finding out the African-American determination can no longer be underestimated or discounted. For this is the day that ALL Americans can sing out-loud with true conviction, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.”

A thunderstorm is a storm that generates lightning and thunder followed by heavy precipitation. These storms occur when high levels of condensation form in a volume of unstable air that generates deep, rapid, upward motion in the atmosphere.

Our economy is currently in a state of un-stability and we are in deep debt trying to bail out the auto industry. But, we can now hold our head in an upward motion because we know the American people hasvespoken and our voices have been heard throughout the atmosphere.

President-elect Barack Obama came as a thunder storm and like a lightning bolt, he shook the foundations of our nation by becoming this coutry’s 1st African American President. And now we the people can look outside our windows of despair at the heavy precipitation of “Change” that is on the way.

Though we face historically difficult days ahead, Obama’s incredible journey to the White House continues to rejuvenate people, not only in this country but around the globe. The presidential inauguration is an event that is about as close to a royal celebration as the American people can get.

How amazing will it be to hear the band play “Hail to the Chief” and the infantry guard give a 21-gun salute as we witness the nation’s forty-fourth president end his long road to historic victory at the Inaugural swearing-in ceremony.

Now that will be worthy of a legendary fist bump.

Howard Witt/Chicago Tribune: Big moment but ‘small step’

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Here are a few excerpts from an article from Howard Witt of the Chicago Tribune regarding the inauguration of Barack Obama. The view the entire article click here.

  • On Tuesday, Hannah Jane Hurdle-Toomey, one of the last living children of an African-American slave, will be watching intently on TV as an African-American family takes up residence in the White House, a national monument built by slaves.

“At last, the time has come,” said the 76-year-old retired Oregon pastor whose father, Andrew Jackson Hurdle, was born into slavery in North Carolina in 1845. “This at least will give our young African-American children hope that they, too, can achieve. We had just about collectively given up.”

  • “We have done our level best. We have scratched our heads to find out how we could eliminate the last one of them, and we would have done it if we could,” declared Benjamin Tillman, a South Carolina governor and senator, speaking of black Americans on the floor of the U.S. Senate in 1900.

“We stuffed ballot boxes. We shot them. We are not ashamed of it. We of the South have never recognized the right of the Negro to govern white men, and we never will.

  • The nation’s 44th president will scarcely resemble all the Establishment white men who came before him. In fact, even as the Obamas finally integrate 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. after more than 200 years, outgoing President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, will be heading back to Texas to a newly-purchased home in an exclusive, 82-percent-white Dallas neighborhood where, until just a few years ago, home sellers routinely attached “racial covenants” to their property deeds to prevent blacks from buying in.
  • “The reality is that, for African-Americans, we have lost all the progress we had made since the 1960s,” said Gary Orfield, co-director of the Civil Rights Project at the University of California at Los Angeles and a leading expert on school desegregation. “For whites, it is a lost opportunity to prepare” for the nation’s multiethnic future. Contrary to the fondest hopes of liberal Americans—and the insistent declarations of conservatives—America is decidedly not yet “post-racial.”
  • “I don’t think we are going to be walking up to him and saying ‘Brother President,’ ” Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, told a forum at Williams College in November. “He’s not the Black Caucus president. He is the president of America. He’s the leader of all Americans.”

Real Men Cook Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Father’s Day Tradition

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 12, 2009

PRESS CONTACT Rael Jackson

773-651-8008 ext 2

RaelJackson@gmail.com

Real Men Cook Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Father’s Day Tradition

Leadership Team includes Roland Martin, Kwame Jackson and Chef Jeff Henderson

Chicago, Illinois – Real Men Cook® For Charity has announced its leadership team for their 20th Anniversary campaign. Real Men Cook is a national brand and Father’s Day family celebration event where men from leading cities serve their specialty dishes for attendees. It is also inspiring a new Father’s Day tradition of family celebrations around food.

“In many ways we have already changed the way Father’s Day is celebrated,” said Yvette Moyo, who co-founded Real Men Cook. She added, “We turn the spotlight on involved fathers and father figures, uncles, grandfathers, coaches, teachers, and other men who contribute to their families and communities. These men volunteer their time to help and are the valued examples of men often overlooked serving silently as role models and mentors.”

Past Real Men Cook events have featured amateur volunteer cooks and celebrities, including President-Elect Barack Obama, who also penned the forward of the company’s Simon & Schuster published book titled Real Men Cook. This year’s Executive Committee is led by an accomplished group of men who are each outstanding in their various fields of endeavor.

Although 2008 was a breakout year for journalist Roland S. Martin, with turns as CNN Contributor, and Senior Analyst on The Tom Joyner Morning Show, he is no stranger to Real Men Cook. Martin is a veteran cook from events in Dallas, Houston and Chicago and will now be part of the Real Men Cook leadership team.

Also serving on the leadership team is serial entrepreneur and professional speaker Kwame Jackson. Jackson is CEO & Founder of www.krimsonbykwame.com, an executive neckwear collection and luxury apparel brand. Jackson gained international fame after finishing runner-up in the first season of NBC’s “The Apprentice.”

The Executive Committee is headed by former Nabisco Brands Director Ron LeGrand. LeGrand is a dynamic executive with an uncommon blend of expertise in Strategic Leadership, Business Development, Community & Government Relations, and Diversity & Inclusion.

“My objective is to spread the Million Man March like spirit of Real Men Cook so that it empowers more men,” said LeGrand. He adds, “We are changing things thanks to an amazing amount of media attention received annually in leading cities – including Atlanta, Benton Harbor (MI), Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Miami, Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C.”

To learn more about Real Men Cook, and to view cook registrations and videos and photos of the event -including President-Elect Obama- visit www.realmencook.com

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Press Release by Dallas South New Media, specializing in politics, community groups, and non-profits.

Dallas South spending Presidential Inauguration at Southside on Lamar event

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My family and I will be wathching the swearing in of the 44th President of the United States at the Southside on Lamar this Tuesday. This free event is hosted by Jan Gore, owner and operator Texas Caribbean Foods.

Anyone who wants to share in this wonderful experience can call Ms. Gore at 214.485.7040. Seating is limited, so you have to RSVP in order to ensure that you have a seat. Tell her that Dallas South sent you and I’m sure she’ll treat you right. Doors open at 10 AM.

Southside on Lamar Blue Room

1409 S. Lamar

Dallas TX 75215

214.485.7040

Hennessy is also sponsoring an Inauguration Watch Celebration at the Studio Movie Grill in Addison. The cost of this event is $15 for general seating and $30 for VIP seating.

THE 2009 INAUGURAL
WATCH CELEBRATION
January 20, 2009

11am-2pm

@
Studio Movie Grill Addison
5405 Belt line Rd. Dallas, TX 75248

For more info call 214-915-9936 or 214-676-6690

Proceeds will go towards Paul Quinn College

NOTORIOUS: Dallas South Movie Review

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They were the days when things were best, they were the days when things were worst.

1992-1997

The years when the Nortorious B.I.G. was on top, the years that I matriculated through college.

Two weeks ago I didn’t even know that there was a Christopher Wallace biopic on the horizon.  I have to say that the initial previews didn’t give me a lot of reason to think that the movie would be that great.

But I’m a huge fan of Biggie, and “One More Chance” is my all time favorite jam.  So I felt I owed it to Mr. Smalls to check out the flick on opening day.

NOTORIOUS is a B.I.G. movie.

I think that’s where a lot of the skepticism is coming from.  The trailers had a made for TV feel, as the only familiar faces were Angela Bassett and Derek Luke.  But this is a big Hollywood film by all accounts.

The casting in this movie is spot on, the acting is flawless, and the direction is near perfect.  For those who lived these years, NOTORIOUS will take you back to that place:

Riding around the yard bumping “Juicy”.

Going crazy at the party when the D.J. spun “One More Chance.”

The treat of a Biggie Smalls guest spot i.e. “Get Money”

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It’s amazing to me how Jamal Woolard was able to carry this movie.  The character that he played, Christopher Wallace, was like no one else.  No one talked like Biggie, no one walked like biggie, no one flowed like Biggie.

Yet every second that Woolard was on the screen I felt like I was watching the Notorious B.I.G.  Whether it was Wallace’s labored breathing, or limp in his later years, Woolard had it down pat.

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Derek Luke was good too.  He captured ‘Puffy’ in every way physically, though he wasn’t able to recreate his voice -which seems like it would have been easier.

Angela Bassett was solid (of course) as Voletta Wallace.  Antonique Smith and Anthony Mackie had nice turns as Faith Evans and Tupac Shakur respectively.  And Naturi Naughton did an excellent job as Lil’ Kim.  And I’m not just saying that because of wardrobe selection.  Kim is not happy about the portrayal which is more a function of the script than Naughton’s work.

My wife and I checked out NOTORIOUS at a noon showing and we were surprised to see that the theater was three fourths full.  I could feel the audience holding on for every word and every scene. I hadn’t had that feeling in a theater since viewing Pulp Fiction.  And there was even sobbing at the end of the film.

A friend predicted NOTORIOUS would be number one at the box office yesterday and I doubted him.  Today, I see no reason why NOTORIOUS won’t be America’s number one film on Monday.

Anyone who wants to look a little deeper into the movie will also see that NOTORIOUS, and those days portrayed in the streets of Brooklyn, represent many of the problems faced by Black males across the nation: ack of fathers in the home, drugs killing off young people, and too many kids making grownup decisions.

The take away for me was just how young everyone was while all of these enormous events were going on around them.  Tupac was 25 when he was struck down in Vegas, and Biggie was 24 when he was killed in L.A.  The problems that they were dealing with were real and serious, and seemed so to me at the time.  But at 35 looking back much of it was trivial bravado -if not serious delusion in Shakur’s case.

Either way, none of it was as bad as they thought.  The saddest part is that the film ends like the biographies of too many other great black men.  Whether it’s Malcolm X or Martin Luther King, Marvin Gaye or Christopher Wallace, they all end the same way: with gunshots and a funeral.  It shouldn’t have to be like that.