Faith in Action

Yesterday I was on assignment to cover the Pennsylvania Primary for My Urban Report.com. I have to tell you that I am an Obama supporter, but I had our team out getting un-biased coverage of all candidates—we even reached out to the Republicans and interviewed a McCain supporter.

Our reporter, Adrienne Hall asked four questions:
1. Who do you support and why?

2. What issues are important to you in your decision to support the candidate?

3. Do you think the (mainstream)media has been doing a good (fair) job in covering the candidates and the issues?

4. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I thought these questions were fair and gave each side to present their case. The interesting thing that came across is that a majority of Hillary Clinton supporters wanted to know the questions in advance and where was this going to air and why where we there? Of course, you know where I am going—the race card. Yes, our crew was all black and one of our workers had a Barack shirt on at first, but I intentionally asked him to wear another one so people wouldn’t feel the bias. Does every African-America support Obama? No—we have evidence here when we interviewed Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones of Ohio. (see photo)

The interesting part was that most of the Obama supporters both white and black didn’t ask for the details of questions at all. Is there really a racial divide in our Democratic party and we are just too scared to talk about it—that is another blog post in itself, so I digress.

For those of you who are skeptical, I am looking to partner with a another production company out of Charlotte, North Carolina (who happens to have an all white crew) and they will ask the same questions and represent myurbanreport.com during the May 6 primary in North Carolina.

Chip Dizárd is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of Absolute Presence, a web site development firm that began in 2002. He has worked on many diverse projects and clients which include church and ministry web sites, political campaign, business and most recently in May of 2007 his firm designed and implemented the official web site of the City of Baltimore. Visit Absolute Presence today! (He’s also a blogger.)

My Vote’s for Obama (if I could vote) …
by Michael Moore

April 21st, 2008

Friends,

I don’t get to vote for President this primary season. I live in Michigan. The party leaders (both here and in D.C.) couldn’t get their act together, and thus our votes will not be counted.

So, if you live in Pennsylvania, can you do me a favor? Will you please cast my vote — and yours — on Tuesday for Senator Barack Obama?

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I don’t have time to fully unpack this, but suffice to say when Tim Russert asked Barack Obama about whether he rejected the support of the Hon. Min. Louis Farrakhan and Obama “denounced and rejected” the Minister, a little air left my Barack Obama balloon.

I am fully aware of the particular nature of national politics and that it is a game, at times, of compromise, however, it does not sit well with me that Obama obliged mainstream thought and separated himself from a man that many in the African American community respect and hold in high esteem. He allowed mainstream thought to decide for him who the villains and heroes of our society are. He put the Minister at arms length and, I think, by extension showed that he is willing to put his people at arms length if it is politically expedient to do so.

Again - I understand that this is part and parcel of the game that seemingly must be played to get to the White House, but this morning and last night - that move by the Senator from Illinois does not sit well with me. Who’s to say that he won’t have to continue this behavior of rejecting those African Americans that mainstream america doesn’t like - Nat Turner, Malcolm X, Assata Shakur, John Brown, Jeremiah Wright, etc.??

Then again I asked myself how would I have responded on live television to that question. After having the luxury to think it out a bit more; I decided that I would have said something to the effect of welcoming votes from all quarters of America and that the name of the game in national politics is to get more votes. Then I might have gone on to say that the support given by the Minister is evidence of the BIG TENT - the American tent that “my” campaign makes room for. It doesn’t mean that everyone under the tent of voting for me will agree on everything, but it means that the majority of Americans feel like the established system is ignoring them and that people are setting aside their differences to find common ground in an effort to move this country forward in a positive direction. (Barack - feel free to take this line for the next time you’re asked about this…yes, I give you permission.)

Watch the video for yourself and let me know what you think.

In my continuous involvement in social issues from a clergy/activist standpoint; I tend to, from time to time, receive requests from White people about partnering on community projects or initiatives. That’s fine. I’m open for true partnership with most anybody who is serious about social change. However, it’s been my experience that the soils of the souls of White people need to be tilled so that a true foundation for cooperation can be established. Frankly, I’ve wasted a lot of precious time in conversation with some White people who weren’t prepared to engage the world from another’s perspective. This inability or unwillingness hampered any efforts to sincerely seek solutions. Once that was realized, I would walk away choosing to devote my energy to those people/organizations/causes that were primed for engagement. Perhaps that’s why I can count on one hand the number of White people that I’m in budding partnership with. I’ve learned my lesson. I can’t waste time with people - in this case White people who seem to mean well, but who aren’t comfortable surrendering the illusion of their superior positioning in the world…who aren’t willing to peer through the lenses of “minority existence” in the world…who aren’t courageous enough to look in the mirror and see how their people group has oppressed other people groups for generations. So as not to waste anybody’s time, I cut right to the chase. I tell White people where I am, what I believe, and what I think about them. If they get offended and walk away - no harm no foul…no ones time is wasted. If they engage in productive dialogue with me and take actions to show that they are serious about LEARNING and DOING - then I explore the possibility of next steps. For those who are interested, Bro. Malcolm X presents his position on this issue as well.

Where’d this come from? Good question. I had lunch today with two people who are looking to establish partnerships with members of the Black Community. I thought it was a pretty good initial conversation. They emailed me after lunch and I responded a few moments ago. I share this edited version of the email because I believe it provides insight on how I feel about the prospect of interracial partnerships.

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