Holla if You Hear Me

Through President-Elect Obama's victory, Black people were able to release years of being disenfranchised and feeling "the man's" foot on their necks. Up until now, we have had mostly our marches, protests, songs, poems and tears. Our celebrations have been reserved to a team winning a championship or an entertainer winning an award. Obama was not the first Black man to attend a Ivy League school. He was not the first Black man to receive a law degree. He was not even the first man to run for the highest national office. Yet, he was the first Black man that believed that he could combine his preparation, leadership skills and yes, his Blackness to become the leader of the free world. So, now that he did his job. It is time for us to do our job. Despite the fact that our brother is the president, he was elevated to office without any of the issues that face us being elevated. We have been committing ourselves through our votes and support to party platforms that do not fully address our values and our needs. There are hundreds of thousands of Black men incarcerated at this moment and hundreds of thousands of Black people with criminal records. Yet, we have ignored the plight of these brothers. We voted Democratic but where really does our community stand on the issues of abortion and gay rights. Our stance is probably not extreme as the Republican Party, but it is certainly not as liberal as the Democratic Party. Our views are not monolithic so we should not give totally allow one party to ignore us or another party to take our votes for granite. What good is it to have a Black president if we allow his entire time in office to be spent on the issues of other communities. Yes, he will be a leader for all Americans, but issues are elevated to the Oval Office from Congress and the Senate. Therefore, Republican and Democratic Senators and Congressmen should be feeling the need to respond to our issues as they have felt the need to respond to Evangelicals, gays, immigrants, feminists, unions and other groups. So, from now until the inauguration let us celebrate history. Then let us get down to business.