President-Elect Barack Obama, USA 11.04.08
repost from http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/106107/
Barack Obama is the next President of the United States. Here's his historic speech.
President-Elect Barack Obama:
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled ... Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation's next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House. And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to it belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.
I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends,though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world ... our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down ... we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of America ... that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing ... Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons ... because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America, the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.
AlterNet is a nonprofit organization and does not make political endorsements. The opinions expressed by its writers are their own.
Posted by Barack Obama, AlterNet at 10:17 PM on November 4, 2008.
Barack Obama is the next President of the United States. Here's his historic speech.
President-Elect Barack Obama:
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled ... Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation's next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House. And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to it belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give five dollars and ten dollars and twenty dollars to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth. This is your victory.
I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as President, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends,though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world ... our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down ... we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of America ... that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing ... Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons ... because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America, the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:
Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.
AlterNet is a nonprofit organization and does not make political endorsements. The opinions expressed by its writers are their own.
Posted by Barack Obama, AlterNet at 10:17 PM on November 4, 2008.
Carol City Dreamer
Confession of A Carol City Dreamer
I want to be in zip code 33056 on THAT NIGHT!
And it don't matter if it's the City of Opa Locka incorporated in 1926 or The City Of Miami Gardens incorporated in 2003, A NEED to be there.
A’s BLESSED to Live in both, still BLESSED to have FAMLEE in both and consider both, MA HOME.
When A first became eligible to vote, my polling station was at North Dade Elementary School, just a few blocks from Ma house. Upon approach what drew me to the polls was not the original intent that Ma Young Ass had left the house with. It was the site of A PURRTY MENZ. Am talking VINTAGE PURRTY. Like only Georgia can make ‘em.
If this Elder was A Cah, He would be one of those Big Body 1950s Chevys parked on Ocean Drive, the only street in South Beach, in front of one of the last remaining Hotels built during the heyday of The Magic City.
(get a copy of Tony Roma with Frank Sinatra starring if you wanna see what South Beach was and used to look like. Then watch 2live crew’s Do-Wa-Diddy-Diddy-Dumb-Diddy-Do video and you can see the crane behind Uncle Luke DAH MAN!’s head tearing down The Art Deco Hotel next to the one he is seated in front of while filming. All them other buildings that get they names dropped by male and female celebutantes, ain’t got no choice wid they new asses but to look as Beautiful as they do. For the entire Southern Portion of The City of Miami Beach is now A Historical preservation site. But anybody, and A do mean me, can stay in one them fucks there. The BIG BODY 1950 CHEVY markers however, is to let all pretenders know, what An Ashanti King said, ‘money don’t make you REGAL.’ So You could answer with your bank balance whenever someone asks your name, all you want, that ain’t gone get you one minute’s stay in An Authentic, Original Art Deco Hotel on Ocean Drive.)
But back to me, checking ma Swatch® watch and seeing its only the middle of the day, the polls gone be open ‘til evening, lemme set awhile and get cozy with SugarPlum. (A call e’ry man, SugarPlum; that way A ‘ont ne’er say the wrong name at the wrong time)
So A lauched into Ma not-ready-for-daycare MACK and let the honey drip out Ma Lips as A said, Good Day Fine Sir and how is You d doing? (excuse me, while A go count a blessing)
POTnah hit me wid, ‘Young Lady, is only right A warn yah, A bin all ‘round Da Dirty. So if You really wanna learn how tah flirt wid A Ole man, A could teach ‘cha.
A got comfortable.
The Essence of Our Elders is The Wisdom of Their Ages that They carry with Them from Their Living which They most generously bequeath unto us, who would but self-respectfully, set down, shut up and listen. Each is A Walking Library Of Congress who operates off a business paradigm called ‘FUCK-A-WILL,’ gifting You Their Wealth while They are still above ground. I do not recall when I made the executive decision to saying thank you to them, for all of them have told me, that there ain’t necessary, why You think God put me here?
So in between Ma MACKOLOGY 101 lesson, VINTAGE DUNK, told me ‘bout his chi’ren. For He only seventy sum’mn and they won’t stop talking ‘bout He need to retire. How he ain;t ne’er took no days off since He first started sharecropping when he could crawl. And as if it wasn’t clear to them, that retirement is for OLD PEOPLE, they gone move Him from Georgia to Dade County.
Nah He Gullah, but since moving to Dade, he done gone Geechie wid it. And happier than all get out, ‘cause he see even da little chi’rens in the street with they football helmets grinding as they sell candy to buy uniforms. So He still Living His Life like regular. And he ‘ont know what them Chi’ren a His talking ‘bout, ‘cause he ain’t ne’er worked on election day since His People got Him, His Full Rights as An American when They walked the longest country mile on earth, from Salem to Montgomery and got Him The Right To VOTE!
So if is even for dog-catcher, he take da day off, come lineup ‘fore da polls open, vote early, then spend the rest of the day greeting all The Other Americans enjoying being American.
Where We was right then, in the place so many of Us shall always refer to by it’s Cute Pet Name, Carol City, was OFFICIALLY in ACCORDANCE with UNITED STATES LAW a locale designated “UNINCORPORATED NORTH DADE COUNTY.”
And even though We had a post office in Carol City on 37th Ave, depending on which employee from the private corporation United States Postal Service brought the mail to your house, if they left you two notices warning you to put OPA LOCKA and not CAROL CITY as your address, if you got a letter so labeled again, they would leave a note in your mailbox telling you, you gotta go all the way down to Ali Baba in Opa Locka to collect your mail from the general delivery window at that post office.
Also, the allotment of education funding dictated locale designated like ours required only 1 public high school per 100,000 residents.
But that day, none of that, or the City of Miami false-god-complex-self-infected over-lords with their jackboots on the necks of most then Dade (Now Miami-Dade) County residents, choosing to squander Americans’ taxpayer transportation funds by building a Metrorail that would take them from their homes near the Dadeland Mall straight to their racetrack in Hialeah, mattered.
Even dough, He had told me that He was gone be there ‘til da poles closed, A still made Him pinky swear that He’d be right there when A came back out, when he said Young Lady, go VOTE. (I am that trifling. A mean here is An Elder, He don’t owe me no money, so he ain’t got no reason to lie to me, but Am making Him put His “X” by bloody-thumb-print on a notarized form.
The main polling station is now The North Dade Regional Library located on 183rd St just off 27th Ave NW. And day before yesterday, Ma Baby Sister, Janelle, who had gone to the flea market, right ‘round there to get some gear for her Husband and Sons called Me on her cell phone to tell me the line had done come out the library, headed west on 183rd street (MIAMI GARDENS DRIVE) and then big swang north going pass the Fire Station and brand new Police Headquarters heading for the Wall market across from Dolphin Stadium. And A’s like, dayum, that shit all the way up on 199.
A reside in a locale named Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. County. And on the left side of the address of county documents like the envelope I got my absentee ballot in is a portrait of Lady Coretta’s SugarPlum.
And like that joyous day when VINTAGE DUNK bequeathed unto me, The Wisdom of His Mack Ages, I am as first registered an independent voter. This is the first election that I have ever voted for a Democran/Republicrat ticket.
Lady Coretta and He SugarPlum are two of them Folks there who walked that long-ass country mile for me and VINTAGE DUNK. So A got a picture of Ma envelope positioned on my ballot showing my first vote for candidates from the ruling political party.
And here is where, the trifling in me done gone exponential. Seattle ain’t done nuttin but be FAMLEE since A got here. Yet after ten years, A still function on Dade County time. Maybe it’s ‘cause of The Cocoon of Wealth A was born and raised in by Elders like VINTAGE DUNK in The Caribbean and then Dade County during ma formative years added to Ma Artiste’ Soul and relish being pampered Cuteness, why I stubbornly, unconsciously refuse to acclimate Ma Self to another time zone.
So today, 10/31/2008 2:30:24 PM, finds me in the middle of inconsolable melancholy ‘cause A cannot afford a ticket to be in The City of Miami Gardens on November 4th, 2008, to set across from The Library and watch Americans be Beautiful.
On the real, ma self invited troubles spring from Ma spoiled ass acting as if ain’t none a that thurr going on here in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. County.
I want to be in zip code 33056 on THAT NIGHT!
And it don't matter if it's the City of Opa Locka incorporated in 1926 or The City Of Miami Gardens incorporated in 2003, A NEED to be there.
A’s BLESSED to Live in both, still BLESSED to have FAMLEE in both and consider both, MA HOME.
When A first became eligible to vote, my polling station was at North Dade Elementary School, just a few blocks from Ma house. Upon approach what drew me to the polls was not the original intent that Ma Young Ass had left the house with. It was the site of A PURRTY MENZ. Am talking VINTAGE PURRTY. Like only Georgia can make ‘em.
If this Elder was A Cah, He would be one of those Big Body 1950s Chevys parked on Ocean Drive, the only street in South Beach, in front of one of the last remaining Hotels built during the heyday of The Magic City.
(get a copy of Tony Roma with Frank Sinatra starring if you wanna see what South Beach was and used to look like. Then watch 2live crew’s Do-Wa-Diddy-Diddy-Dumb-Diddy-Do video and you can see the crane behind Uncle Luke DAH MAN!’s head tearing down The Art Deco Hotel next to the one he is seated in front of while filming. All them other buildings that get they names dropped by male and female celebutantes, ain’t got no choice wid they new asses but to look as Beautiful as they do. For the entire Southern Portion of The City of Miami Beach is now A Historical preservation site. But anybody, and A do mean me, can stay in one them fucks there. The BIG BODY 1950 CHEVY markers however, is to let all pretenders know, what An Ashanti King said, ‘money don’t make you REGAL.’ So You could answer with your bank balance whenever someone asks your name, all you want, that ain’t gone get you one minute’s stay in An Authentic, Original Art Deco Hotel on Ocean Drive.)
But back to me, checking ma Swatch® watch and seeing its only the middle of the day, the polls gone be open ‘til evening, lemme set awhile and get cozy with SugarPlum. (A call e’ry man, SugarPlum; that way A ‘ont ne’er say the wrong name at the wrong time)
So A lauched into Ma not-ready-for-daycare MACK and let the honey drip out Ma Lips as A said, Good Day Fine Sir and how is You d doing? (excuse me, while A go count a blessing)
POTnah hit me wid, ‘Young Lady, is only right A warn yah, A bin all ‘round Da Dirty. So if You really wanna learn how tah flirt wid A Ole man, A could teach ‘cha.
A got comfortable.
The Essence of Our Elders is The Wisdom of Their Ages that They carry with Them from Their Living which They most generously bequeath unto us, who would but self-respectfully, set down, shut up and listen. Each is A Walking Library Of Congress who operates off a business paradigm called ‘FUCK-A-WILL,’ gifting You Their Wealth while They are still above ground. I do not recall when I made the executive decision to saying thank you to them, for all of them have told me, that there ain’t necessary, why You think God put me here?
So in between Ma MACKOLOGY 101 lesson, VINTAGE DUNK, told me ‘bout his chi’ren. For He only seventy sum’mn and they won’t stop talking ‘bout He need to retire. How he ain;t ne’er took no days off since He first started sharecropping when he could crawl. And as if it wasn’t clear to them, that retirement is for OLD PEOPLE, they gone move Him from Georgia to Dade County.
Nah He Gullah, but since moving to Dade, he done gone Geechie wid it. And happier than all get out, ‘cause he see even da little chi’rens in the street with they football helmets grinding as they sell candy to buy uniforms. So He still Living His Life like regular. And he ‘ont know what them Chi’ren a His talking ‘bout, ‘cause he ain’t ne’er worked on election day since His People got Him, His Full Rights as An American when They walked the longest country mile on earth, from Salem to Montgomery and got Him The Right To VOTE!
So if is even for dog-catcher, he take da day off, come lineup ‘fore da polls open, vote early, then spend the rest of the day greeting all The Other Americans enjoying being American.
Where We was right then, in the place so many of Us shall always refer to by it’s Cute Pet Name, Carol City, was OFFICIALLY in ACCORDANCE with UNITED STATES LAW a locale designated “UNINCORPORATED NORTH DADE COUNTY.”
And even though We had a post office in Carol City on 37th Ave, depending on which employee from the private corporation United States Postal Service brought the mail to your house, if they left you two notices warning you to put OPA LOCKA and not CAROL CITY as your address, if you got a letter so labeled again, they would leave a note in your mailbox telling you, you gotta go all the way down to Ali Baba in Opa Locka to collect your mail from the general delivery window at that post office.
Also, the allotment of education funding dictated locale designated like ours required only 1 public high school per 100,000 residents.
But that day, none of that, or the City of Miami false-god-complex-self-infected over-lords with their jackboots on the necks of most then Dade (Now Miami-Dade) County residents, choosing to squander Americans’ taxpayer transportation funds by building a Metrorail that would take them from their homes near the Dadeland Mall straight to their racetrack in Hialeah, mattered.
Even dough, He had told me that He was gone be there ‘til da poles closed, A still made Him pinky swear that He’d be right there when A came back out, when he said Young Lady, go VOTE. (I am that trifling. A mean here is An Elder, He don’t owe me no money, so he ain’t got no reason to lie to me, but Am making Him put His “X” by bloody-thumb-print on a notarized form.
The main polling station is now The North Dade Regional Library located on 183rd St just off 27th Ave NW. And day before yesterday, Ma Baby Sister, Janelle, who had gone to the flea market, right ‘round there to get some gear for her Husband and Sons called Me on her cell phone to tell me the line had done come out the library, headed west on 183rd street (MIAMI GARDENS DRIVE) and then big swang north going pass the Fire Station and brand new Police Headquarters heading for the Wall market across from Dolphin Stadium. And A’s like, dayum, that shit all the way up on 199.
A reside in a locale named Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. County. And on the left side of the address of county documents like the envelope I got my absentee ballot in is a portrait of Lady Coretta’s SugarPlum.
And like that joyous day when VINTAGE DUNK bequeathed unto me, The Wisdom of His Mack Ages, I am as first registered an independent voter. This is the first election that I have ever voted for a Democran/Republicrat ticket.
Lady Coretta and He SugarPlum are two of them Folks there who walked that long-ass country mile for me and VINTAGE DUNK. So A got a picture of Ma envelope positioned on my ballot showing my first vote for candidates from the ruling political party.
And here is where, the trifling in me done gone exponential. Seattle ain’t done nuttin but be FAMLEE since A got here. Yet after ten years, A still function on Dade County time. Maybe it’s ‘cause of The Cocoon of Wealth A was born and raised in by Elders like VINTAGE DUNK in The Caribbean and then Dade County during ma formative years added to Ma Artiste’ Soul and relish being pampered Cuteness, why I stubbornly, unconsciously refuse to acclimate Ma Self to another time zone.
So today, 10/31/2008 2:30:24 PM, finds me in the middle of inconsolable melancholy ‘cause A cannot afford a ticket to be in The City of Miami Gardens on November 4th, 2008, to set across from The Library and watch Americans be Beautiful.
On the real, ma self invited troubles spring from Ma spoiled ass acting as if ain’t none a that thurr going on here in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. County.
LIQUOR ON LAYAWAY
Liquor On Layaway
Walking down the
Street looking so
Walking down the
Street looking so
SWEET
REAL SWEET
Just you walking
Just you looking
is
SWEET
SO SWEET
A hint of your smile
Just for a brief while
Makes me A Beautiful Chile
‘cause you are that
SWEET
Elders Twinkle
for your walking and looking
Is like Gold dust sprinkles
You that
SWEET
Even mutts know
not just a bone if They follow
They’ll also
have a home
SWEET
The Grind ceases being A Burden Tired
When You Holla
Go ‘head wid ‘cha hustle,
Dis da last 40 inches of Yo Weary Miles
SWEET
YOU SO SWEET
Walking down the
Street looking so
Walking down the
Street looking so
SWEET
(dis flow out Ma Drunk Soul after one shot a SAMPLE ANT) 10/29/2008 1:00:35 PM©cindyadriennequashie (as A write A got The SWEETest hangover)
Walking down the
Street looking so
Walking down the
Street looking so
SWEET
REAL SWEET
Just you walking
Just you looking
is
SWEET
SO SWEET
A hint of your smile
Just for a brief while
Makes me A Beautiful Chile
‘cause you are that
SWEET
Elders Twinkle
for your walking and looking
Is like Gold dust sprinkles
You that
SWEET
Even mutts know
not just a bone if They follow
They’ll also
have a home
SWEET
The Grind ceases being A Burden Tired
When You Holla
Go ‘head wid ‘cha hustle,
Dis da last 40 inches of Yo Weary Miles
SWEET
YOU SO SWEET
Walking down the
Street looking so
Walking down the
Street looking so
SWEET
(dis flow out Ma Drunk Soul after one shot a SAMPLE ANT) 10/29/2008 1:00:35 PM©cindyadriennequashie (as A write A got The SWEETest hangover)
finally
so a opened ma mailbox and wondered who da fuck that email address belong tah and a almost clicked spam. but me bad eye that's good caught the subject line and it looked like a response to sum'mn a mighta wrote somebody, the way Brother was spelled..
then a couldn't get it to download from yahoo, kept jamming after 90 sum'mn percent complete. didn't pay no attention then but ma totem pole was still on ma pinky love rang, at the time it dawned on me, marked it unread then download ma unread emails to ma phone then forward it to ma gmail and do dah same. on the pc the gmail d/l didn't work neither. this lead me to spend most the day fiddling with ma laptop. getting drivers, clean the registry and shit like that.
It wouldn't play in windows and that itunes interface thingy wouldn't load it. so a went hunting for a freeware player, but that one in testing only played the first 2 or 3 secs of the songs a tried.
meanwhile real life going on. and two things a cant deal with personally get to fucking with me, 'cause ma soul just is the kinda where e'rythang pass thru, and sometimes its painful like a mo'phhhhh-kah.
but then Alex with his i am 1 and run this clan self come tell me bye on the phone when am talking to ma sister, and that joy went thru ma soul to.
A'd lost one ma mj rangs, the pinky one the other day. after a told ma sister, am so waiting to come home to dade county right nah and we hung up, a felt this sharp tuck in ma right little toe, and went a look down it was ma mj rang, and that's when a noticed ma totem pole was missing.
it be falling off a love for it wasn't make to hang on the rang. but a took it off the leather necklace a got it on up in bc and opened the brass circle thingy and put it through the o in love.
figured a'd just set and wait 'til it showed up like ma mj rang, but at the same time, a was worried it could fell in the garbage can. so after a non resolution to a part of the first part of real time that was today, a got up and walked around ma apartment and found it on the flow of BROKE PIMP $TYLE$™ STUDIO (ma bathroom).
when a reattached it, it dawned on me again to try with the download one mo' time from gmail. A'd also deleted the player a'd downloaded and another a found in ma control panel list. then when a d'led it, a went to windows to open it, and it gave me some warning message about it format, but a choice to play anyway and a ran with that thurr, and the music hit me out ma laptop speakers.
what a day.
a can hear the instruments talking, so that's what a replied to the composer, what a heard them say. but a 'ont think that's what was called for. Personally, that don't faze me, but Ma SOul is different, specially when it come to art.
so amma just have to live
with
how the beat hit me like
then a couldn't get it to download from yahoo, kept jamming after 90 sum'mn percent complete. didn't pay no attention then but ma totem pole was still on ma pinky love rang, at the time it dawned on me, marked it unread then download ma unread emails to ma phone then forward it to ma gmail and do dah same. on the pc the gmail d/l didn't work neither. this lead me to spend most the day fiddling with ma laptop. getting drivers, clean the registry and shit like that.
It wouldn't play in windows and that itunes interface thingy wouldn't load it. so a went hunting for a freeware player, but that one in testing only played the first 2 or 3 secs of the songs a tried.
meanwhile real life going on. and two things a cant deal with personally get to fucking with me, 'cause ma soul just is the kinda where e'rythang pass thru, and sometimes its painful like a mo'phhhhh-kah.
but then Alex with his i am 1 and run this clan self come tell me bye on the phone when am talking to ma sister, and that joy went thru ma soul to.
A'd lost one ma mj rangs, the pinky one the other day. after a told ma sister, am so waiting to come home to dade county right nah and we hung up, a felt this sharp tuck in ma right little toe, and went a look down it was ma mj rang, and that's when a noticed ma totem pole was missing.
it be falling off a love for it wasn't make to hang on the rang. but a took it off the leather necklace a got it on up in bc and opened the brass circle thingy and put it through the o in love.
figured a'd just set and wait 'til it showed up like ma mj rang, but at the same time, a was worried it could fell in the garbage can. so after a non resolution to a part of the first part of real time that was today, a got up and walked around ma apartment and found it on the flow of BROKE PIMP $TYLE$™ STUDIO (ma bathroom).
when a reattached it, it dawned on me again to try with the download one mo' time from gmail. A'd also deleted the player a'd downloaded and another a found in ma control panel list. then when a d'led it, a went to windows to open it, and it gave me some warning message about it format, but a choice to play anyway and a ran with that thurr, and the music hit me out ma laptop speakers.
what a day.
a can hear the instruments talking, so that's what a replied to the composer, what a heard them say. but a 'ont think that's what was called for. Personally, that don't faze me, but Ma SOul is different, specially when it come to art.
so amma just have to live
with
how the beat hit me like
the beat hit me like...
A Composer sent me a wonderfully orchestrated piece, to listen to and see what i could do with it. The joy of the honor is so enrapturing to Ma Soul that so far A've only been able to download it on my cellphone. I am Blessed, Eternally Honored and privileged by this affirmation by an another Artiste who can feel my passion.
but enough a dat thurr,
the beat nit me like
shopping for seashells at Haulover like
a wink across the room from one you clocking like
getting all wishes granting in a field of clovers like
dunk top dropped lower than da bass boom got ma head bopping like
the beat that hit me like
a wanna go all night 'til morning like
come dawning and meet me still flowing like
the creek down the road where we fish like
dem bwois on da ave be delicious dishes like
how a got hit by the beat like
supper and meringue with yah baby all night like
even before we get to swinging, am cheesing like
it's the first date, but we done put in silver as one like
them grannybabies we got that bring us giggly delights like
GOD MAKE THE STOP HITTING AND REALLY WHUP ME LIKE
the pleasure in the pain when you birth a child like
the sweet tears when you know your Homie playing bones with Gabriel like
me and ma brother suck seed or salt but ain't ne'er dropped each other like
ice cream money from ELDERS who pinch your cheeks 'cause they so plumb like
the beat hitting me
awakening places deep within
that i long thought lost
10.28.08 07:29PM, PDT©cindyadriennequashie
but enough a dat thurr,
the beat nit me like
shopping for seashells at Haulover like
a wink across the room from one you clocking like
getting all wishes granting in a field of clovers like
dunk top dropped lower than da bass boom got ma head bopping like
the beat that hit me like
a wanna go all night 'til morning like
come dawning and meet me still flowing like
the creek down the road where we fish like
dem bwois on da ave be delicious dishes like
how a got hit by the beat like
supper and meringue with yah baby all night like
even before we get to swinging, am cheesing like
it's the first date, but we done put in silver as one like
them grannybabies we got that bring us giggly delights like
GOD MAKE THE STOP HITTING AND REALLY WHUP ME LIKE
the pleasure in the pain when you birth a child like
the sweet tears when you know your Homie playing bones with Gabriel like
me and ma brother suck seed or salt but ain't ne'er dropped each other like
ice cream money from ELDERS who pinch your cheeks 'cause they so plumb like
the beat hitting me
awakening places deep within
that i long thought lost
10.28.08 07:29PM, PDT©cindyadriennequashie
FUCK U & UR BULL$HIT
there are days of joy, from which you can live forever, just by closing your eyes to the pain you're seeing, and remember, it is on those days, that along come demons and infect your system, so that somewhere in the joy, you beginning to feel the stab in your heart, your soul falling apart, and you're left helpless to do nothing but cry 10.24.08 09:12pm, pdt ©cindyadrienne quashie (government name, but not for much longer)
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