I know everyone wants this election to be over already – you’ve seen every debate, every news clip, every “shocking revelation”; been inundated in your social media feeds for what seems like an eternity with everyone’s thoughts, opinions, screeds, salvos and takes on who is or isn’t a worthy presidential candidate and why. So here, in these last days, I’ll weigh in with what my choice ultimately boiled down to for me: When the final results are in, what do I want to be able to say to my 9 year-old and my 7 year-old about who their next president is?
In 2008, this moment was revelatory: I was bathing my then almost 2 year-old son Xavier (who since birth has been negotiating the challenges of cerebral palsy and epilepsy) when Barack Obama was officially proclaimed the future 44th President of the United States. I looked at Xavier… he smiled. I teared up, my heart swelled and I told him it was just proven without a doubt that the impossible IS possible, that his own potential was limitless and he could be whatever he wanted to be when he grew up.
In 2012, more of the same – but now I got to say it to my then 3 year-old daughter Phoebe too, who in her lifetime has never known a president OTHER than Barack Obama. Wow. And now in 2016 she has the potential to see a woman rise to the top post of our nation for the first time in U.S. history – which will also be a truly awesome milestone of possibility to celebrate.
But even more than that, I want to be able to tell my children whether or not I or their father agree with the politics of our next president, that our next president is worthy of our respect and support. That our president at her or his core is a decent human being who is doing her or his best to make our country stronger and create more opportunity for the majority of Americans. That our president values and respects women, the LBGTQ community, people with disabilities, people of color and people with varied religious beliefs.
For me, it is glaringly obvious that there is only one candidate in true contention for the Presidency who fits that description: Hillary Clinton. Which is why my sister and our Lifestyle Editor Lesa Lakin produced the ad below and why I agreed to have me and my children take part in the political ad below (we are at the :12 mark). I wanted Xavier and Phoebe to know who I supported, and why it was worth putting ourselves out there to do so.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn59ke-__8w
As difficult and divisive as our current times can be, as I do here on Good Black News, in everyday life I work hard to stay focussed on the positive (and some days, as we all know, that is REALLY REALLY hard). I always want my children to live in a welcoming atmosphere of possibility, encouragement and hope. Of civility and decency. Of responsibility, fairness, and a willingness to admit one’s mistakes and do better. I want the same values they are learning to live by at home and school – to listen, be polite, not name call, take turns, share – to be values I can say our nation’s leader lives by as well. Come Wednesday morning, if Hillary Clinton has won, I can say that to them.
But if she doesn’t win… frankly, I don’t know what I’m going to say.
Posts tagged as “Election”
Major news outlets have reported that President Barack Obama has won Florida, topping Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the final electoral vote tally 332 to 206.
The Florida Secretary of State’s Office said that with almost 100 percent of the vote counted, Obama led Romney 50 percent to 49.1 percent, a difference of about 74,000 votes. That was over the half-percent margin where a computer recount would have been automatically ordered unless Romney had waived it, NBC News reported.
Obama had already clinched re-election, leading earlier in the Electoral College vote 303 to 206.
A win in Florida gives Obama victories in eight of the nine swing states, losing only North Carolina. He won Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Virginia, Colorado and Nevada.
article via defendernetwork.com
The Augusta Chronicle reports in the state of Georgia, Lt. Richard Roundtree beat out Republican Freddie Sanders Tuesday night to become the first African-American Sheriff Elect in Augusta, Georgia, including Richmond County and surrounding counties.
Roundtree’s appointment to top lawman in the county will be a first in the county’s 230-year history. The lieutenant will be sworn into office in January.
article via newsone.com
(Via Pasadena Star News) – Jackie Lacey made history Tuesday night, becoming the first African-American and first female chief prosecutor of Los Angeles County.
Lacey, the chief deputy district attorney, won with a substantial lead over Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson Tuesday in the race to succeed Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley. By midnight, Lacey had all but officially declared victory and packed up her election night party at Union Station downtown. As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, with 95 percent of precincts reporting, Lacey had 55 percent of the vote, to Jackson’s 45 percent.
Last night was an extraordinary election for the black community. President Barack Obama was able to reaffirm his success as a leader for the majority of voting Americans, and now blacks have a stronger foot-hold in congress.
Yesterday five new African Americans were sworn into Congress. Some of these new members beat out Republican candidates in key states, while others are occupying new seats in states like Nevada. This election keeps the number of black members of congress at 44.
politic365.com lists the 5 new Black members as follows:
1. Joyce Beatty – Former Democratic state representative Joyce Beatty has been elected to a new Ohio congressional district in Columbus. She beat Republican Chris Long.
2. Steve Horsford – Horsford, Nevada’s first Black Senate majority leader, won a new seat created in Nevada.
3. Marc Veasey – Texas State Rep. Marc Veasey will serve in a new House district in North Texas after defeating Republican Chuck Bradley.
4. Hakeem Jeffries – Jeffries, a New York State Assemblyman, was easily victorious in Brooklyn’s 8th congressional district. Rep. Ed Towns held the seat for 29 years before announcing his retirement this year.
5. Donald Payne, Jr. – Payne will serve in New Jersey’s 10th congressional district after the death of his father in March.
article via yourblackworld.net
President Barack Obama has been re-elected to the Presidency of the United States tonight, defeating opponent Mitt Romney, 275 electoral votes to 203. The final tally on the popular vote still hasn’t been verified, but with 60% of the ballots counted, Mitt Romney leads 50% to 49% in that measure. More on this momentous victory as it comes.
Following Trayvon Martin’s death, people across the country wore hoodies to protest the 17-year-old’s death and to show support for his family. Nine months later, and in the midst of election season, a non-partisan organization has been building on that energy to bring the hoodies back – this time to the polls. Hoodie Vote‘s mission is to get one million people to wear hoodies while casting their vote in an effort to combat the stereotype that young people of color are apathetic.
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign rally at Doolittle Park on October 24, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Obama is on a 48-hour campaign tour of battleground states, including Colorado, Florida and Iowa. (Photo by John Gurzinski/Getty Images)
(AP) – President Barack Obama on Thursday threw his support behind ballot measures in Maine, Maryland and Washington state that would legalize same-sex marriage. Though the president first voiced his general approval for gay marriage in May, he had not previously offered specific endorsements of the three measures. In each case, the endorsements were issued through the state branches of Obama’s re-election campaign.
Joanna Jenkins, a 108-year-old woman from Beaufort, South Carolina, is about to vote for the first time in her life. After passing up her right for decades, she was finally compelled to cast her ballot after following this year’s presidential election and debates. Not only does she suddenly want to vote, but Jenkins’ cousin Shirley Lee says she’s excited about doing so and sharing the good news with everyone who visits.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell on CBS This Morning earlier today.
Saying that “I think we ought to keep on the track that we are on” and that fellow Republican Mitt Romney has not “thought through these issues as thoroughly as he should have,” former secretary of state and retired Gen. Colin Powell this morning endorsed President Obama’s re-election bid. Powell made the announcement on CBS This Morning. The show has been tweeting his comments and has posted video here. Then-Sen. Barack Obama also got Powell’s endorsement in 2008. Powell also told CBS that “I’m a Republican of a more moderate mold … dying breed.”
article by Mark Memmott via npr.org