In honor of labor day, I am going to be linking to other bloggers and posts that I think are relevant to what is going on in today's world (like Gustav, the Democratic convention last week, McCain's VP bomb) and just posts I thought might be of interest to readers of this blog.
Hopefully those of you reading this in the U.S. (where Labor Day is an official holiday) are enjoying a day of lazy respite from your normal work routine. Or if you are an academic type like myself, then perhaps you have a pile of reading on your desk that you hope to get through (a re-reading of Crevecoeur, a glimpse into Deleuze & Guattari, skimming over some racial melancholia, and for pleasure, my umpteenth re-reading of Persuasion for a grad seminar).
*I often feel like Tami of What Tami Said and I are separated at birth, sisters in the blogosphere. Her post "What we deserve (A Rant, I know)" summarizes much of how I feel about PUMAs (Party United My Ass), the splinter group formed out of disaffected Hillary Clinton supporters (whose numbers, I hope dropped radically after both Hillary's speech and McCain's announcement of Sarah Palin--more on that below). She wrote this before the roll call vote, which you can see in the post she wrote following the one above.
*Tenured Radical, a wonderful writer (and fine academic) has a great post that talks about the importance of Obama's acceptance speech, and is inspiring in its analysis of Obama and what he stands for as much as the actual speech itself. And she follows this up with two posts about McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his VP, asking "Is Sarah Palin Good for Women?" (and I know you might have a knee-jerk one-word response but take the time to read this post) and another on the conservative response to McCain's pick (click here).
*Another blog I like a lot, Poplicks, also has two posts about McCain's VP pick, Sarah Palin, with more links in their comments section to other sites dissecting the (il)logic/pandering/disastrousness of this selection. Miss AK-47 and this other post with an interesting comment thread by a PUMA member weighing in, Women: Putting the "Wild" in Wild Card, gives us a glimpse into what people (esp. liberal-progressive folks) are thinking about the choice of Sarah Palin (and yes, I'll be writing my own rant later in the week).
*Poplicks also has a post about the path of Gustav and the effect that this is having on the RNC and McCain--and speculating on the political opportunism of McCain delivering his acceptance speech in New Orleans in the wake of Gustav (sentiments that are echoed by Paul Krugman's Op-Ed in The New York Times).
*The LPGA recently issued a rule (should I add asinine?) that all players must be conversant in English to play on the tour--a ruling that seems to specifically target a single ethnic-national group: South Koreans. For more, see the Constructivist's take here, as well as my own length comment(s) and thoughts by Angry Asian Man here and here.
*Finally, for something to satisfy your appetites beyond the political, Land of the Not-So-Calm has posted a recipe for chop ch'ae, a Korean noodle dish that makes me salivate (and the photo she includes will make you salivate too). Her posting made me think that I should do some kind of recipe swap with readers/bloggers where we share tried and true meals with one another (because I'm always looking to expand my cooking repertoire).
Showing posts with label DNC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DNC. Show all posts
Monday, September 1, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Symbols count
I have just finished watching the roll call at the DNC and the choreography of Illinois "passing" when it was their turn to vote, then New Mexico "yielding" their votes to Illinois, and then when it bounced back to Illinois they, in turn, yielded to New York (the state that follows, alphabetically, to New Mexico) at which point, the New York delegation, including Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, took the stage and asked the convention leadership to break with procedure, to cease the roll call and declare by acclimation that Senator Barack Obama would be the unanimous candidate representing the Democratic Party in the 2008 Presidential election.
And Nancy Pelosi took the stage to ask for a motion, and a second, and a vote, which I admit was actually not a "real" vote since Pelosi glossed over the "nay" section after an ear-splitting round of "Ayes!" to announce that Barack Obama would, indeed, be the presidential candidate.
And I found myself once again in tears, actually openly crying. Because, as I told "Southern Man" (who is here watching the DNC with me) I just never thought this day would come. I never thought that I'd see a non-white candidate, an African American candidate, win the nomination for president of a major party. Actually, I always assumed that if I were alive to see this day, it would be the Republican party who would be nominating someone like Colin Powell or Clarence Thomas. I didn't think it would be the Democratic party, my party, who would nominate someone whose platforms and values I actually respect and believe in.
And I was crying because this picture above--this could be our first family.
[Right now MSNBC is interviewing John Lewis, a major figure in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and he's talking about the monumental nature of this moment and the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement in Obama's candidacy]
I know that symbols can be too easily deconstructed and dismissed. I make my bread and butter through tearing apart language and images in literary texts. My training in the academy has been to be suspicious and cynical of easy symbols and overly sentimental narratives.
And yet here I am crying at the realization that our nation has nominated an African American man to be the presidential nominee and that WE COULD HAVE OUR FIRST NON-WHITE, AFRICAN AMERICAN PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.
And that symbolism is powerful. It sends a message of progress. It tells me that while we aren't moving as fast or as far as I would personally like, we are moving ahead. We are trying to do things better. And it sends a message to a lot of others that our idea of who counts as a leader, who counts as president of one of the most powerful nations on this planet--that this face and the symbolism of electing, specifically, an African American man--that this is powerful. This is history. This is hope.
Over a year ago I spent a weekend reading through the websites of John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama trying to decide which candidate I wanted to support in order to take back the White House and end 8 years of Republican mis-leadership. I wanted to put my vote and my faith behind a candidate I truly believed in. I chose Barack Obama in many ways because his narrative was one that resonated with me--his story, the story of race in America, was one that I understood all too well. And the symbolism of Barack Obama and his family is inspiring--of Michelle, Malia, and Sasha, but also of his grandmother, his sister, and his nieces and nephews and siblings and uncles and aunts in the U.S. and around the world: a vision of mixed race that isn't just part of America but part of a new global order. And this symbolism is so powerful. This symbolism gives me hope that this country, which I have often had a cynical and pessimistic attitude towards, and the Democratic party, which I have often lamented over the lack of leadership, that at this very moment I feel proud. Proud of my party. Proud of my country. And giddy and anxious over the possibility that THIS could be the picture of our next first family:
And Nancy Pelosi took the stage to ask for a motion, and a second, and a vote, which I admit was actually not a "real" vote since Pelosi glossed over the "nay" section after an ear-splitting round of "Ayes!" to announce that Barack Obama would, indeed, be the presidential candidate.
And I found myself once again in tears, actually openly crying. Because, as I told "Southern Man" (who is here watching the DNC with me) I just never thought this day would come. I never thought that I'd see a non-white candidate, an African American candidate, win the nomination for president of a major party. Actually, I always assumed that if I were alive to see this day, it would be the Republican party who would be nominating someone like Colin Powell or Clarence Thomas. I didn't think it would be the Democratic party, my party, who would nominate someone whose platforms and values I actually respect and believe in.
And I was crying because this picture above--this could be our first family.
[Right now MSNBC is interviewing John Lewis, a major figure in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and he's talking about the monumental nature of this moment and the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement in Obama's candidacy]
I know that symbols can be too easily deconstructed and dismissed. I make my bread and butter through tearing apart language and images in literary texts. My training in the academy has been to be suspicious and cynical of easy symbols and overly sentimental narratives.
And yet here I am crying at the realization that our nation has nominated an African American man to be the presidential nominee and that WE COULD HAVE OUR FIRST NON-WHITE, AFRICAN AMERICAN PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.
And that symbolism is powerful. It sends a message of progress. It tells me that while we aren't moving as fast or as far as I would personally like, we are moving ahead. We are trying to do things better. And it sends a message to a lot of others that our idea of who counts as a leader, who counts as president of one of the most powerful nations on this planet--that this face and the symbolism of electing, specifically, an African American man--that this is powerful. This is history. This is hope.
Over a year ago I spent a weekend reading through the websites of John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama trying to decide which candidate I wanted to support in order to take back the White House and end 8 years of Republican mis-leadership. I wanted to put my vote and my faith behind a candidate I truly believed in. I chose Barack Obama in many ways because his narrative was one that resonated with me--his story, the story of race in America, was one that I understood all too well. And the symbolism of Barack Obama and his family is inspiring--of Michelle, Malia, and Sasha, but also of his grandmother, his sister, and his nieces and nephews and siblings and uncles and aunts in the U.S. and around the world: a vision of mixed race that isn't just part of America but part of a new global order. And this symbolism is so powerful. This symbolism gives me hope that this country, which I have often had a cynical and pessimistic attitude towards, and the Democratic party, which I have often lamented over the lack of leadership, that at this very moment I feel proud. Proud of my party. Proud of my country. And giddy and anxious over the possibility that THIS could be the picture of our next first family:
Hillary Clinton: party unifier
I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect last night. I wanted to believe that she could pull it off, rally the troops, inspire her party, speak to the nation.
And she did! Last night's Hillary Clinton was the one I remembered from the time she came to UCSB to campaign for Bill Clinton in Spring 1992.
If you missed it, here it is on YouTube--it's worth taking 25 minutes to hear her unite the party and unequivocally endorse Barack Obama. And if you look at the crowd at the DNC, you can't help but feel that this is what America actually should look like--a real mixed race America.
Ps. I've always been a Chelsea Clinton fan, and she seems to have grown into a really lovely young woman.
Pps. If you haven't already guessed, I'm devoting this week to posts about the DNC--I am a political junkie at heart, but lets face it--this is HISTORIC, and it's important--for every single person on the planet because like it or hate it, the person in the White House in the next four years will have a global impact that only the leader of a world superpower can have.
And she did! Last night's Hillary Clinton was the one I remembered from the time she came to UCSB to campaign for Bill Clinton in Spring 1992.
If you missed it, here it is on YouTube--it's worth taking 25 minutes to hear her unite the party and unequivocally endorse Barack Obama. And if you look at the crowd at the DNC, you can't help but feel that this is what America actually should look like--a real mixed race America.
Ps. I've always been a Chelsea Clinton fan, and she seems to have grown into a really lovely young woman.
Pps. If you haven't already guessed, I'm devoting this week to posts about the DNC--I am a political junkie at heart, but lets face it--this is HISTORIC, and it's important--for every single person on the planet because like it or hate it, the person in the White House in the next four years will have a global impact that only the leader of a world superpower can have.
Monday, August 25, 2008
I *heart* Michelle Obama
I just finished listening to Michelle Obama deliver her speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO, and I teared up, especially at the end when her daughters joined her on stage.
[This is a photo from a campaign stop in New Hampshire with three generations of Robinson women--Marian (grandmother), Sasha, Malia, and Michelle]
I have a crush on Michelle Obama. She is an amazing speaker. She seems, from her biography and her life as described by both herself and others, to be an intelligent, charismatic, dedicated, motivated, inspiring, beautiful woman.
Michelle Obama for president in 2016...2020?
[This is a photo from a campaign stop in New Hampshire with three generations of Robinson women--Marian (grandmother), Sasha, Malia, and Michelle]
I have a crush on Michelle Obama. She is an amazing speaker. She seems, from her biography and her life as described by both herself and others, to be an intelligent, charismatic, dedicated, motivated, inspiring, beautiful woman.
Michelle Obama for president in 2016...2020?
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