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  • Politics Is Like Hiring A Hitman
    by Scott Woods inPolitical on2020-08-13

    For me, politics is like hiring a hitman. I have values and things I care about. I care enough about them to at least bother voting for 5 minutes every year for one issue or another. And because I care at least that much, I vote for people who align with the ability to realize the things I care about.

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  • Punching Above Our Weight
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-07-24

    I believe our vote is the punctuation of our voice. Without that resounding exclamation mark, I believe our voices are just incoherent noise.

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  • BLACK PROGRESS AMIDST SOCIAL CHAOS
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-06-16

    Recent events have raised the profile of historical injustice and inequities here in the USA. The entire world has taken note of the fact that BLACK LIVES MATTER.   We invite all of our friends to engage in actions that result in the greatest movement for change in our history. It is imperative that we take advantage of this opportunity to affect a positive change by ACTING IN OUR SELF-INTERESTS.

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  • Living in a Black No-Man's Land
    by Roger Madison Jr. inOur Community on2019-10-28

    There are many narratives that define the Black experience in America in this 2nd decade of the 21st century. Our striving over the centuries of our sojourn in this nation is a tapestry of every human experience -- oppression, enslavement, forced assimilation, dehumanization, exclusion, segregation, isolation, struggle, perseverance, achievement, excellence, celebration, mourning, despair, progress, setbacks, lynching, assassination, genocide, terror, self-hatred, low esteem, pride,...

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  • Fighting Racism
    by Scott Woods inOur Community on2018-10-25

    I had a boss who was racist. Not an outright bigot, of course; her toolbox was more subtle than most. We bumped heads a lot over inconsequential things. She frequently couldn’t keep my name out her mouth. Lot of gaslighting. You know…2018 style. I tried a lot of ways to combat or navigate her issues. None of them worked, and that’s saying a lot because I’m really good at fighting racism. But at the end of the day – every day – she was my boss, I had to deal with her, and that was that. Finally I...

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Obama vs. McCain -- 29 days to go. "What more could we have done?"

My wife and I have been engaged in the Obama Campaign since early in the Primaries.  We have canvassed out neighborhood, we have made phone calls, we have hosted parties, we have volunteered at rallies.  One of the things that has characterized the effort of supporters of this movement is a single-minded commitment to leave no stone unturned, because no one wants to ask tomorrow, the day after the election --  "What more could we have done?"

Without this fully committed effort, there is no way a young, first term Senator from llinois could achieve the improbable -- to win the Democratc Party nomination.  Without the small donations from millions of supporters, there is no way he could have raised more money than any Presidential candidate in history.  While that seems like more of the same political influence-buying, it is something different.  It is the essential resource needed to win this most improbable victory.  Each small contributor and volunteer can see the effect of the total effort, and doesn't need to ask, "What more could we have done?"

Today, I spent the afternoon transporting senior citizens to vote early.  My wife was volunteering at a rally.  Interestingly, we called every member of our church aged 60 and over, and every single one of them was registered. Many of them had already mailed in their absentee votes.  They know about past efforts when we haven't done enough.  They already know the value of their vote, and they know the disappointment of asking, "What more could we have done?"

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we contacted every person we know -- every young person, every high school dropout over 18, every person who is out of work, everybody hanging out on the corner, or kicking it in the club -- and received the same result?  If there is someone you know who is not registered to vote, make just one more phone call.  After October 6th, it will be too late.

Let us not wake up on November 5th, and look in the mirror afterward and ask, "What more could we have done?"