(NAME-MCE) Barack Obama - The Symbol

[Teja Arboleda]

Agreed that Mr. Obama is faced with deep issues and unprecedented challenges
- the economy, healthcare, the war...but the symbol to me is also the
uncanny timeliness with respect to what we as NAME members have been so
diligently been involved in - educating people on issues of race and
culture. Obama being America's first bi-racial/multiracial president is more
than just symbolic - he TRULY is a diplomat between 'races' and culture (his
personal experiences living in Asia) and ethnicity (his father being from
Africa). What more could we want in a president, but someone who bridges
divides in his mind, his intentions and in his heart. I'm proud of all of us
for helping to make this come true, and to continue our work. Let's go
forward knowing that as he is purely human, and he will undoubtedly make
mistakes -- but at least he has all of us to help guide him and this country
in the right direction. Maybe in the end, we will see significant reduction
in racial, ethnic and cultural conflict in our lifetime. Teja

on 11/18/08 12:00 PM, name-mce-request at nameorg.org at
name-mce-request at nameorg.org wrote:

> Send Name-mce mailing list submissions to
> name-mce at nameorg.org
> 
> To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
> http://mail.nameorg.org/mailman/listinfo/name-mce_nameorg.org
> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
> name-mce-request at nameorg.org
> 
> You can reach the person managing the list at
> name-mce-owner at nameorg.org
> 
> When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
> than "Re: Contents of Name-mce digest..."
> 
> 
> Today's Topics:
> 
>    1.  Barack Obama: The symbol (Bill Howe)
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:21:40 -0500
> From: "Bill Howe" <bill at billhowe.org>
> Subject: (NAME-MCE) Barack Obama: The symbol
> To: "***NAME-MCE" <Name-mce at nameorg.org>
> Message-ID: <D17324D16EF84EDDBE4A1497EE802D0B at multicul6c1705>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> 
> 
> http://voices.kansascity.com/node/2835
> 
> 
> Barack Obama: The symbol
> 
> By Lewis Diuguid, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
> Every time a speaker mentioned Barack Obama's name the crowd of educators
> applauded at the National Association for Multicultural Education convention
> last week in New Orleans.
> Their cheers embodied the great expectations people have for Obama's
> presidency. But my "show-me" Missouri roots cause me to be more cautious.
> Speakers at the post-election Trotter Group of black columnists conference
> last week added to my concerns for the next four years.
> Daryl Scott, chair of the Howard University History Department, told the
> gathering of journalists from throughout the country that Obama like recent
> Democratic presidential candidates did not run on helping the poor.
> Obama's was a centrist theme of a rising tide lifting all boats. So
> government efforts to help the poor are off the table.
> Edna Greene Medford, associate professor of history at Howard, said that for
> black people Obama "is a symbol." People voted for him knowing that. "While
> he's there he gives me hope," she said.
> The question is whether hope alone is enough.
> Greg Carr, assistant professor of African American studies at Howard, said,
> "What we are facing now is something we don't have a blueprint for."
> The challenges include the United States being embroiled in two wars, a
> deteriorating economy, a collapsing infrastructure, growing unemployment,
> mounting poverty, global warming, a housing crisis, rising segregation and
> failing schools.
> Medford compared Obama to President Abraham Lincoln, saying that to be an
> effective president, Obama will have to exhibit "extraordinary boldness."
> Obama like Lincoln must prepare the public for what is to occur, and he
> cannot be afraid to take the lead.
> Give Obama back his BlackBerry. For Obama, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's
> "Fireside Chats" will have to become daily "Barack Blasts" in e-mail and
> text messages to all on what he will be doing to fix the mess that President
> Bush dropped the nation into.
> Submitted by LewisDiuguid
>  
>  
> Bill Howe
> http://www.billhowe.org <http://www.billhowe.org/>
> http://www.multiculturaldimensions.org
> <http://www.multiculturaldimensions.org/>
> http://apaact.com/
> http://www.necme.org <http://www.necme.org/>
>  
>  
> 
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> _______________________________________________
> This is a mailing of the National Association for Multicultural Education -
> (NAME) Listserv. The materials included reflect diverse perspectives of NAME
> Listserv participants and do not necessarily reflect a position of the
> National Association for Multicultural Education. If you would like to
> subscribe (or unsubscribe) to this listserv go to
> http://mail.nameorg.org/mailman/listinfo/name-mce_nameorg.org. You can read
> all past postings in the archives at
> http://mail.nameorg.org/pipermail/name-mce_nameorg.org/
> 
> 
> Name-mce mailing list
> Name-mce at nameorg.org
> http://mail.nameorg.org/mailman/listinfo/name-mce_nameorg.org
> 
> 
> End of Name-mce Digest, Vol 964, Issue 1
> ****************************************


--
There is no box.
 
Teja Arboleda, M.Ed.
Entertaining Diversity, Inc.
PO Box 126, Dedham, MA 02027
(781) 329-7040

Member: National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME)
Member: National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE)
Member: Filmmakers Collaborative