(The audio of this original work is temporarily unavailable.)
Dear white America,
Let me assure you white America -- you have nothing
absolutely nothing to fear from Barak Obama.
He is not -- I repeat he is not -- of the Bob Marley mixed parentage stock.
Mr. Barak Obama is proudly and loudly of the Haile Berry variety.
Hence you can rest assured that he will look to you white America
with envy and deference to make him feel good --
even as you continue to exploit incarcerate and execute
black men and women and people of color at home and abroad.
When Mr. Obama mentions “change”
it is not change that will actually cause a change
or measurable shift in power dynamics or control of resources differential
between racial groups in America or in the world at large.
Mr. Obama means change like before there were a half dozen
and now things are different because there are six.
He means change like you’ve already experienced white America.
Change that benefits you white America and placates the disempowered
like the change from segregation
where currency and resources were being recycled and accumulated
to integration
where currency leaves the disempowered group quicker than before and
accumulation of resources is more difficult for the oppressed.
Mr. Oboma means change like “the first black” flim-flam
or change like affirmative action that assures employment and resources
for white women and their families.
Mr. Obama means change like you know well in the form of a
Condoleeza Rice, Thurgood Marshall, Colin Powell or Clarence Thomas
black faces masking white power and serving to maintain and perpetuate
your interest white America.
Yes white American you can sleep well.
Just please make us feel good and let Mr. Obama be Presient.
Sleep well white America after you cast your vote for Mr. Obama because
he is for diversity and multiculturalism.
Which means any Caucasian with 1/64th claim of native American
ancestry will be part of his cabinet along with white gays and lesbians.
Latinos of mainly European descent and friendly light-skinned asians
will hold key positions in his administration.
Of course a white male will hold one of the most coveted positions and
in case of emergency Mr. Oboma will have a black administrative
assistant should you need to Hazel Moore or Lewinsky him.
I repeat Mr. Barak Obama will carry out your agenda white America
so please do not bring any harm to Mr. Obama his wife or children.
We know you white America are capable of great and gruesome violence.
For any reason or no reason at all
but it is simply is not necessary to be hateful to Mr. Obama or his family.
Mr. Obama has undying love for his white Grandparents and white
mother and he has demonstrated that he is willing to and capable of
ignoring killings and attacks of Africans and even Africans that are his
distant relatives in Kenya for political reasons.
So let us feel good white America by voting for Mr. Obama.
Mr. Obama will take all necessary steps to make sure that America’s
financial markets are stable and the dollar is strong – unless you elite
corporate white America want them unstable with a weak dollar
Just please vote for Mr. Obama and make us feel good.
Yes white America under Mr. Obama’s presidency unemployment
will continue to hit Americas (who just happen to be black)
first and hardest
and employment will come to them last and at the lowest amount.
Rest assured disease will strike Americans (who just happen to be black)
first and hardest
and healthcare will come to them last and cost the most
throughout the entirety of Mr. Obama’s administration.
We guarantee that Mr. Obama’s candidacy will not shrink the wealth
income health or education gap you currently enjoy and will be able to
pass on to your sweet white grandchildren.
Just please vote for Mr. Obama all we ask is that you let us feel good
Did I mention Mr. Obama will denounce Farrakhan?
and then he will denounce and reject Farrakan? And then
he will denounce and reject and “nanny nanny poo poo” Farrakan.
Moreover, in the strongest possible language Mr. Obama condemns the
the words of Reverend Jerimiah Wright and he will condemn every word
of Jerimiah Wright going back and forward for a 20-year period
all for you white America.
Although he cannot disown his white Grandmother or Jerimiah Wright
Mr. Obama has instructed Mr. Wright to shut the hell up
and just cringes quietly around his white Grandmother.
So please make us feel good white America and let Mr. Obama be
President.
When Mr. Oboma says “yes we can”
he means “we” firmly and deeply routed in the American way
as in “how are you today sir, are weez sick today sir?”
Mr. Obama has and will continue to espouse to black Americans
the standard illusory hype
like that oldie but goodie “progress” song and dance
as well as the standard “do unto others” shuck and jive
mixed in with some classic “one united people/we are all the same”
rig-a-ma-roll.
All of which serves to maintain the status quo
a status quo which is favorable to you white America.
So just let Mr. Obama be President so that Black America can feel good.
Let me make three things perfectly and unmistakably clear
One Mr. Barak Obama has and will continue to promote
identity confusion ethnic neutrality and cultural surrender
among black Americans.
Two Mr. Barak Obama is the type of mixed parentage person that
would have been an overseer in South Carolina in the 1600s
run a plantation in Louisiana in the 1700s
been a preacher converting Africans to christianity in the 1800s
and been an U.S. Army solidier
fighting in Germany Japan Korea and Vietnam in the 1900s.
There is no question of his patriotism
-- he shares linage with Bratt Pitt and George Bush --
your interest white America is safe!
You have heard Mr. Obama characterize your 500+ years of constant
oppression of Black people as a “stalemate”.
And Three white America Mr. Obama has never heard of
cannot spell and does not know what NCobra is or means
and Mr. Obama will not under any circumstances even mention
or have a thought of you giving back a single penny of the money or
privileges you have inherited from your original sins of genocide
theft of the highest order and enslavement.
He will not do anything that could remotely be characterized as pan-
african, afrocentric, or African-centered – and nothing to spark any link
with blacks in America to a cultural tradition other than slavery or
white culture.
And he will absolutely never under any circumstance
mention a good word or shed a positive light on or grant employment to
the despicable and annoying Cynthia McKinney.
So please make us feel good white America.
In conclusion, let me speak to the wise Super Delegates and
members of the Electoral College and say
that you great men (and women) represent the best of this great nation
just like our founding fathers whom Mr. Obama adores and admires.
White America we beseech you, we implore you, we beg of you,
elect Mr. Barak Obama as President of this great country
it will cost you absolutely nothing
and all that we humbly ask is that you elect him as President
so that black America can feel good
about having a black man as President
that is all that we are asking for – nothing more.
Please white America make us feel so good.
With deepest admiration and respect unendingly yours sincerely,
The NAACP, Black Congressional Caucus and National Urban League
on behalf of Americans that happen to be Black everywhere.
**(funding for this letter was generously provided by the Ford Foundation, Brookings Institute, Microsoft Corporation, Debeers, Coca-Cola, Exxon Mobile, McDonalds, Anglo-American Mining Corporation, Anti-Defamation League, Viacom, Inc. and Eli Lily)
By Kemit Mawakana (aka The Seven-Foot Poet)
Peace (when appropriate) War (when necessary)
Copyright 2008.
Kemet Mawakana (aka “The Seven-Foot Poet”) is a highly acclaimed spoken-word artist, and has published two books A . . . Z . . . Infinity and Crucifixion of My Soul. The collective body of his works presented weekly in BAR are in tribute to Listervelt Middleton, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, and “For The People”. Currently, he is a facilitator at AYA Educational Institute (www.ayaed.com) and can be reached at [email protected].
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