Barack Obama is speaking in Columbus, Ohio this evening. I am torn whether to go or not. I am torn whether to go in support or protest. I am torn that if I do go do I make a sign “Ohio Latinas ♥ Obama”? Or do I take a sign “Obama voted for the reauthorization of the patriot act” or “Obama believes in Separate but Equal for Gays”?
Last night, I was listening to a local call in show and a caller claimed that Obama was a socialist. When asked by one of the guest speakers, Herb Asher professor emeritus of Political Science at OSU, how it was Obama was a socialist the caller claimed three main points, 1. Obama is Pro Choice, 2. He will only allow limited drilling in Alaska 3. He wants to pull troops out of Iraq. None of these points argued Dr. Asher had anything to do with socialism. And if anything were contrary to socialist ideology that would want more government involvement in for example abortion, while Obama wants less government involvement.
This doesn’t mean I don’t stand behind Obama. This doesn’t mean that he isn’t inspiring a new and positive movement. It only means that I don’t think this movement is as radical as either side would like to believe.
Author and blogger, Ana Castillo, wrote her views on the DNCC too, post on 08/25 (this is not a permalink), and I think in some ways her views articulate how I feel too.
Rumor is that tonight, Barack Obama’s speech will include an initiative to start registering new voters, especially Latinos.
“Voting Latinos”, one could whisper this into my ear only to watch the passion start seeping out of my pores.
I’ve written before about what the Democratic Party, particularly the Ohio Democratic Party, needs to do in order to court Latino Voters. I hope someone will take note (below is a shorter version of the original post and includes six ways to reach potential voters.
I was driving down Fourth Avenue today. Fourth is a speedy one way, five lane street. Many of the streets that deposit into and exit out of Fourth Avenue are also one way. I was on the phone talking to a friend, as I started to make a left turn and was getting ready to make joke with my friend that on the corner of the street was an Asian police officer…something I’d never seen before in Columbus. It was then I realized that I couldn’t continue with my turn because the street was one way in the wrong direction.
The officer saw me and told me not to back up and continue with traffic (I was not blocking traffic) but to go ahead and continue down and then turn around…so I did. I drove a few hundred feet and turned into an abandoned lot in order to turn around. During all of this there was porch with about seven or eight black men on it, and they kept screaming something at me which I couldn’t make out. I figured they were telling me I was going the wrong way and decided to ignore it at first but then realized they were saying things like “Ohh they are gonna get you”. Almost at the same time I saw a police car pull up behind me blocking my exit. In the car were two white officers. I turned my car off and then heard the people on the porch loudly arguing that nothing was going to happen to me because I was white.
One of the officers got out of the car and came up to my window. “Do you know this is a one-way street?” Trying not to sound nervous I said “Yes, but the officer standing on the corner told me to go ahead and come down this street to turn around, rather than back up into traffic.” He smiled and answered “Well next time try to pay more attention. Have a nice day.” I said thank you and turned my car back on as the men on the porch began to holler that they were right that the police weren’t going to do anything. As I drove past the men a few yelled that I was only being let off because I was white.
Odds are really good that I wasn’t hassled because I was a woman, and because in the eyes of everyone involved, I was white. But what was I going to say?
I didn’t watch a single bit of the Olympics…had no interest to…but the Democratic National Committee Convention?! I am watching all four days of it, and as much as my schedule will permit.
Watching tonight left me so excited, and overcome with emotion. I got teary eyed with Caroline & Ted Kennedy, I got a little crush on Tom Harkin, I got animated with Michelle Obama. I can’t sleep because I feel as if I am intoxicated with vivaciousness and passion.
If you want to follow my emotions as I watch the DNCC, you can do so at my twitter.
I read an article and was subtly offended by it but I didn’t have a way to articulate why. I’ve been thinking about the article since I read it on Thursday. Then today while driving to pick-up a friend of mine who hangs out with a lot of hipsters, it hit me. What would it be like if I picked up a Spanish language newspaper written by some Latinos who wrote of hipsters moving into their neighborhood and what they were like, and how they viewed their new neighbors and asked them what they thought of racism?
The article is about a photographer Alexandra Copley (her Taqueria blog), who currently has a photography exhibit of taco trailers around Columbus, Ohio. I want to make it clear, I am not offended by Alexandra Copley’s work. It is more that I have a sense of my people being displayed as other worldly as entertainment like zoo animals.
It reminds me of a night when I was hanging out with a bunch of international students from Latin America who were attending OSU, when some sorority girls stopped and seemed entertained at watching us play dominoes, share food, and speak in Spanish. One of the girls said excitedly “I feel like it’s Culture awareness night!” She didn’t mean it as offensive and she was a sweet enough person but it made me uncomfortable. This article gives me a similar feeling, as does the idea of the exhibit. What are the true thoughts of hipsters and yuppies who go that gallery? How do they actually view people of color? What do they gain from the exhibit?
The DNCC starts tomorrow, and I recommend keeping an eye on the following bloguerros who will be in attendance:
Al Giordano: of Narco News has his blog, The Field: Al Giordano Reports the U.S. Presidential Election, where he will be covering the convention.
Edmundo Rocha (aka Xicano Power): his bog ¡Para Justicia y Libertad!: Because there are some things still worth fighting for. I like Xicano Power’s blog a bit more than some in that he’ll put more smack down while others tip-toe around what they want to say in order not to offend…and Xicano Power is not worried about offending.
Liza Sabeter (AKA Blogdiva): Bloguerra of Culture Kitchen and the Daily Gotham. Blogdiva gives a radically honest perspective on everything she covers. I tend to read Culture Kitchen a lot more than the Daily Gotham. Culture Kitchen covers many topics I am interested in (Race, Politics, Gender, Class, Pop Culture) and Daily Gotham focuses mostly on issues concerning the State of New York.
Mamita Mala: one of the first blogs I ever started reading was this one. I expect most news to be slanted by a either a male or heterosexual or white perspective, you won’t get that with Maegan’s blog, Mamita Mala - One Bad Mami: One Radical Nuyorican Mami Writer Livin’ In the Revolutionary Mami’hood.
Matt Ortega: One of my favorite bloguerros will also be at the convention. His blog is crisp and easy to read, his blog is self titled Matt Ortega.
(If there is a bloguerro you think should be added to the list, and I am sure there are, please let me know)
“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” Biden said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”
For those of you who don’t know what twitter is, I think a great summation of it and its absurdity is given in the etiquette guide:
Technically, this isn’t an article about the things Twitter does, it’s an article about the ways in which you can accidentally annoy people with Twitter. Should you choose to avoid Twitter, that’s fine. Enjoy your coffee. Ours is cold now because we were photographing the latté art to share with all our friends, but you can drink yours in solitude.
If you are interested in know what kind of “Twitter” I am, I guess I would probably say I am for the most part a “responder”.
August 30th, 2008 by 
elenamary
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