The Official Melafela Weblog

It's official melafela.com is now using wordpress . You can simply find me at www.melafela.com

Many have asked me... why do you ever use this inflexible blogging platform known as serendipity. I can only answer... "it was the first one available". I was spoiled because the control panal is awesome.

I recently switched to word press and I love it. It is an awesome platform and I can see why New York Times , CNN , Tiger Direct and so many others use it . It is flexible and everything works with it. Sorta like a P.C. or Blackberry. (just got one of those too.. .. and don't you know I should have waited on the Blackberry Storm but oh well ).

Serendipity served its purpose. It got me blogging. I feel quite comfortable now just jumping right into the thick of things and letting the rants fly as they may.

That being said. It is time to move one over to new and better things .. so check my new blog out at www.melafela.com

Now its really on..... and poppin'

Mela out

"What I saw was a powerful demonstration of an
impulse and need for African-American men to come together to recognize
each other and affirm our rightful place in the society," he said.
"There was a profound sense that African-American men were ready to
make a commitment to bring about change in our communities and lives.

"But
what was lacking among march organizers was a positive agenda, a
coherent agenda for change. Without this agenda a lot of this energy is
going to dissipate. Just as holding hands and singing 'We shall
overcome' is not going to do it, exhorting youth to have pride in their
race, give up drugs and crime, is not going to do it if we can't find
jobs and futures for the 50 percent of black youth who are unemployed,
underemployed, and full of bitterness and rage.

When the rolls of the United States presidential history is read there will no doubt be a pause at number 44 . All prior names will all share one thing in common they are of European extraction.. the 44th will not be, nor will it ever be unless there is a future African conquest of Europe and subsequent subjugation, humiliation of that continent with the renaming of its people. Under such a cenario maybe that would be possible .

If the rolls were to eventually stretch to 1000 at number 44 there will be a glaring difference and no picture will be needed in order to understand that that name didn not belong to anyone of European decent.

Malcolm X was once ask what his name was and he replied "Malcolm X" he was asked to clarify it on the legal basis to which he replied that it was not under legal means that the previous name assigned to him (Little) was given. When asked what his father's name was he replied .. my father didn't know his real name, this was a name passed down to him by his father who didn't quite know his name either. In fact The name of his furthest reaching anscestor in this hemisphere ( he had parents of both African American and African Caribbeaen extraction ) would have gone back to a man whos African name, which dated back many centuries or more, was taken from.

The beauty wonderful beauty of Barack Obama being the first United States President of African Descent is that there is no legacy of wearing a  name derived from slave masters attached to it. It's symbolic power will eventually stand the test of time.

Michelle Obama, who was subsequently Robinson will be mother to children who will forever have the Obama name attached to them. It would be good for them to at least hyphenate their name if they were to remarry and have (likely given the reality of this country another European surname attached to theirs in the future)

George Washington, Samuel Adams and John Adam's , Thomas Jefferson and others whos anscestor live today can not only look back at the direct line to these prominent men in history but beyond to even a time before America. 

When John McCain stated " I come from a long line of Mccains who served this country" he said it with a pride knowing that his anscestry , dutifully preserved, traced back to "the old country" and royalty , no doubt.

The name Obama, leaves America's shores immediately and reaches clear across the Atlantic to the region of the world, scientist now will say is the cradle of civilization... the Leaky's did .

Barack's name is the name of his father, and his father before that and his father before that. It tells of his cultural and even the spiritual legacy of his family. The first president would not be a Sharpton or a Jackson.. not related to Andrew Jackson..

with 4 or 5 generations would be cut short at the point where some anscester like Barack's father, upon arriving on the shores of North America was forceably stripped of that name and the legacy attached to it. The name would end at a sharp point , denoting an event where his anscester for cut off , permanently from his own heritage and past at the feet of a slave owner who now denoted him property.

Many will miss the point and answer that they want to hang on to the European name because it reminds them of their family... their unique family history based on the region in which they were born. I would suppose if two black people with the name Brown or Washington met up they could readily therefore assume that they came from the same place, or the same family maybe...Unlikely.

I am not saying that there aren't good pragmatic reasons to hold unto the name of at least your American anscestors. I am saying look at the difference.

The most poinient scene in Roots by Alex Haley had to be when Kunta Kente of Gambia had to give up his name of his people, his father , his family , his culture and all that goes with it.. it's spiritual ties to be named for ever Toby.

His children would have no sense of their place , relative to anything but that name. The Kente line would be forever severed, their birthright forfieted by one simple act.

Not so with Obama, somewhere when the roll are read and his answered, even if their names are again europeanized will be able to trace their roots back to one continent... Africa. It is befitting theirfore that history will record the African intervention in the affairs of the west without question.

That is what is in a name

source: USA today

It may seem hard to imagine but the whole world isn't celebrating Barack Obamas win. There are plenty of people out there who had their hopes and dreams pinned on their candidate John McCain winning. They would seemlingly be in the minority .... by a releatively slim margin here but most definiteiy world wide. That in itself will have to give those with even an inclination towards introspection a need to pause.

The questions may be "Does it mean  I am wrong if I voted or supported McCain rather than Obama ?" .. " does it mean I am, god forbid , a racist ?" ... "why does it seem that the world world seems to be so happy" ? 

It may feel to some like being in a room where everyone but them are laughing at a joke. It is that feeling of unexpected isolation that may be the underlying danger in this country. A quick view of the electoral map from the election should show that the country, though demonstrating some important shifts is likely quite polarized. With John McCain had 55 percent of all white voters and 58 percent among so called working class white voters.  In fact with less than 5% of the black vote, less than 20% of hispanic vote, Mccain was the ticket representing the majority white population.

This makes it one of the most polarized races in decades. Minorities tend to vote a block throughout the world because it is the natural inclination of the minority to try to achieve solidarity to gain socio-policital and economic strength.

What is disturbing is when the majority population begin consolidating.

The encouraging part of it is that 45% of the white vote did choose to side with the opinon at on average 4 to 1 of at least 22 other nations polled and vote for the African American to be the leader, as they say , of the free world.

It is a time for reflection then and not blame.. because what does it mean. I think Obama as he alluded to in his philadelphia speech, knows. This country has a history and now , unexpectedly , when everyone was willing to say that race and racism was an illusion it is the spector that looms most prominent..... yes in 2008.

No one wants to really look at it... but guess what ? it will be looking right back at us for the next four years, barring any ridiculous, unforseen event. The image of this African American , this Black.... this African couple with both european and african anscestory, American as apply pie.. with the graham cracker crust, instead, will be the mirror for the nation.

The reflection will be personal. The response will be , like in reconstruction, visceral for some. It means confronting demons hidden deep within our collective and individual psyche.

Blacks who are elated today , may find that , the incredible, dauntingly high expectations placed on Barack Obama are now being placed on them. Living Vicariously through Barack wont be an option. Barack is Barack...

He has seized on the promise he discovered in the American ideal and ran with it. A clear template has been left for those who wish to follow. The key will be if Black people in America , like white Americans realize what has in fact occurred for both of them.

Both sides may in fact retreat , at least in the short term, into a complacency that will be detrimental to progress. It will be easier for most to just let the Barack Obama presidency stand for all the reconcilation that will still have to be done.

It is not likely that the calm even tempered black man from Chicago will make everyone spontaneously of kindred heart and mind.

Those who voted for McCain and feared they are racist... should not feel alone. The fact is it is not the conscious racism that needs to be expelled it is the underlying thread that is intimately interwoven into our collective psyche that it blends so seemlessly we hardly can acknowlege it..

Obama therefore is the not the solution , it is the focus point allow us to actually reflect.

President elect Obama, needs to continue to live his exemplary HUMAN life and challenge the nation to determine who much longer this will matter. The hard work has only just begun.