I'm feeling rather opinionated right now, so witness as I unleash another set of random thoughts on the world. Enjoy.
- A miracle has happen. A generation removed from the civil rights
movement (got that from a newspaper article), Barack Obama is the next
President of the United States. President Obama...it sounds right and
it is right. Now the real work begins.
- I know I've talked
about dropping out of participating in this particular election cycle,
but I want to revisit it one last time. I have stated that I wasn't
feeling particularly useful when I did participate in the presidential
cycle. Note that it was a feeling...whether I actually made a
difference big or small, I'm not sure. Unlike past cycles where I may
have felt I was more involved that I actually was, I decided this time
to take a step back and look at what I was really doing and
accomplishing. From what I could tell, even though my hopes about this
election were realized, I did not and could not participate as much as I
potentially could have. A lot of changes happened between the last
political cycle I was involved in (2006) and this one. One, I became a
Christian, which was big for me. It changed how I saw certain people in
the political world (and confirmed others) and I am still reconciling
my religious and political views. Two, like in past election cycles it
seemed that many of my friends did not want to be involved outside of
simple voting. I guess I naively believed that with some of the
rhetoric being said by some of them and with many of us affected
strongly by decisions made by those we elect, they would want to be more
involved than they were. Don't get me wrong, I know a lot of them (and
a lot of you) had other things to deal with. I just thought there
would be more than just lip service especially from those who could have
given more but decided not to. That may offend some of you, but as
many of us know, facts are facts and we cannot hide from them if they
are this obvious. I learned that the hard way (and suffered at times
because of it). Three, in regard to the "other things" statement, I
also had other things to deal with such as my work situation, potential
conflicts of time with my other activities, and more recently my sinuses
going haywire at inopportune times. I hate having these conflicts, but
such is life.
- You may think after all that I may be
disillusioned about participating in politics and civic stuff. Far from
it...I want to do more. I have had some amazing experiences because of
my involvement. Tabling and meeting potential voters and fellow
Columbus citizens. Meeting and talking to people like Paul Newman and
Jerry Springer. Seeing and being a part of huge crowds who want the
same things we do. Shaking hands with President-elect Barack Obama,
Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Jay-Z and Diddy (I'll talk about these
two in the next blurb). Being a part of the bigger picture...I want
even more of that. However, one thing has dawned on me about all
this...I don't want to do this stuff alone anymore. I've done a lot of
this stuff on my own and got a lot out of it, but especially for those
of you I talked about in the last blurb, I want you all to be a part of
these things and participate in them too. In other words, I'm calling
you out! I am offering all of you the chances and opportunities that
were afforded me. I don't want to make this seem like I'm not looking
at this realistically. Seizing these opportunities will take work,
sacrifice, and determination. Shoot, I worked a phone bank telling
voters where they needed to go vote, and phone stuff is definitely not
my strongest suit. There may be some disappointment if things don't go
exactly right. We may have to adjust on the fly. We may have to deal
with the cynicism of others and ourselves. There will be challenges.
It will take planning when necessary. However, I can tell you from
personal experience that unless we seize these opportunities and
actually try to do these things, lip service means nothing. Talk is
nothing. Barack Obama just proved that with support and hard work, "Yes
We Can" do amazing things. I want you all along with me. For those of
you with families, it is especially important to bring them in too. I
believe your children and other family members should have the
opportunity to learn how we seize these opportunities so that they can
do it themselves when the time comes. I'm not sure if it is worth
"formalizing" this, but it might not hurt if we ever get to that point.
I don't want to leave you behind when these opportunities come up. I
know it may seem easier to stay out of things, not do anything, and hope
that everything turns out alright. As a result, I've seen many of you
(and myself) frustrated, angry, and upset when things don't go the way
you want when we don't get involved first. In a civic and political
world, I've learned that if you're not involved, then things will happen
despite you and you will not have the right to bitch and complain
(pardon my French) when it does because you didn't do a darn thing about
it beforehand. I don't want that for myself or any of you. So far
I've got one person on board, now as Uncle Sam would say, I want you!
- The last blurb/epiphany came about from something that happened Monday
night. After I got out of a work meeting, I decided to go to an Obama
event happening at the King Arts Complex on Mt. Vernon Ave. Diddy,
Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige were scheduled to be there and I decided to go
early in an effort to get in front. That paid off because I was right
next to the stage when the event opened up. I called my mother excited
about getting that close and texted my friends that I was there in the
hope that they might want to show up. It was last minute so they
couldn't make it. I got to see Kevin Lyles, Mary J., Diddy, and Jay-Z
who brought his wife Beyonce Knowles with him. I got to shake hands
with Diddy and Jay-Z after it was over and that was a thrill. Most of
the time I was thinking my friends were missing out on this, but I had a
great time nonetheless despite my haywire sinuses.
- I'm finally starting to feel a little better today. I am relaxing as I blog.
- Chant with me now...Yes We Can...Yes We Can...Yes We Can...
- I'm just in awe about Obama winning, and it's obvious I'm not the only
one. Just watch MSNBC or Oprah or read a newspaper to see this.
- John McCain made a great concession speech, pledging to work with our new president. I hope he follows through.
- The Browns play tomorrow night (Thursday) against Denver and Brady
Quinn starts at QB for Cleveland. I hope this goes well. If you don't
get NFL Network, you can watch with me and the Westerville Browns
Backers at GameWorks in Easton.
- Don't forget to check out my church Crossroads World Christian Center at www.crossroadswcc.org.
Before
I go, I just want to invite you to come to the O.C. in Gahanna this
weekend (on Hamilton Rd. between Morse Rd. and Dublin-Granville Rd.) and
have some fun. No real reason I'm asking this...I just want to invite
you all to have some fun this weekend and we do have something to
celebrate...a new president. Before I go, I want to thank all of you
who voted yesterday and did your civic duty. Don't forget my offer as
well. Like I said, I don't want to do this alone anymore. Just
remember that selling political stuff on QVC does not qualify as civic
duty...at least as far as I know. Take care and God Bless.
DJ
