"The Book of Obeah" and The Obama Presidency

As a social entrepreneur and cultural creative, I'm fascinated with the potential for healing involved with the Obama Presidency. I'm the consulting editor for the novel, The Book of Obeah, the primary message contained within being "a different perspective can change your perception of reality."

It's a fact that women have a different perspective than men, based on their life experiences; financially wealthy people have a different perspective than those with little money; people with certain challenges (physical, mental, etc.) experience the world differently than those without such challenges; and, in general, black people and other people of color have a different perspective than "white" people.

Obama's presidency (it really began with the campaign in 2008) has brought several conflicts to the surface: men vs. women, black vs. white, young vs. old, and even East vs. West (Obama's heritage). Interesting, very interesting when you look at it all in this light. From this PERSPECTIVE. What a gift we've been bestowed via President Obama to take a hard look within our society and heal from within.

There's a lot of healing to be done. Perhaps it's time for it all to rise to the surface, even if painfully, to finally be healed.

The racial healing is the beginning. That's a powerful underlying message in The Book of Obeah. There are other ancient conflicts ready to come to the surface to be healed before any true balance can be achieved on this Earth. There are indeed four pivotal conflicts throughout human history to be exposed for healing in the Obeah four-part series.

For most, daily survival has become more and more of a focus these days, as foreclosures and job loss become commonplace, so introspection is often disregarded. Yet for something to TRULY be healed, not only are truth and transparency required, we must get down to the core problem. The symptoms are often the focus in our society, but we must get to the root cause of the pain.

We can't hide from these root causes any longer; we can allow ourselves to be distracted, but it will continue to fester under the surface until it's fully exposed.

I care. And through several community-oriented philanthropic grassroots visions I'm bringing to fruition after 15 years, I am finally acting on it.

I invite you to learn more about The Book of Obeah, as well as Wishadoo! and The Piece Process (the latter two still under construction).

Fifteen Minutes a Week: An Appeal for Help

(reposted from JeffR, link below)


They are children and they are seniors.

They are minorities and they are white.

They are straight and they are gay.

They are college graduates and high school dropouts.

They are disabled or sick without insurance and they are healthy.

They are jobless without benefits and they are working one or more low-wage jobs.

They are mothers and fathers and they are sons and daughters.

They are devout believers in God and they are atheists.

They are conservatives and they are liberals.

They are recent immigrants and they are descendants of Mayflower families.

They are strangers and they are friends, relatives, neighbors.

They are invisible, yet they are hidden in plain sight.

They are the poor. They are one in eight of us nationally, but in Milwaukee, Philadelphia or Newark, the number is around one in four. In Detroit or Buffalo, the number is closer to one in three.

For middle class Americans today, a rapidly worsening economy threatens foreclosure, unemployment, lost health insurance, ambitions deferred, dreams abandoned. For over 36 million Americans, however, the crisis is already here.

The media, mainstream and alternative alike, have paid shockingly little attention to poverty in America. The same can be said of all but a few of our politicians.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development has declared January "Poverty in America Awareness Month" with these stated goals:
· Releasing a powerful public service campaign to raise awareness of poverty in America.
· Encouraging the editorial media to focus on poverty.
· Educating the public to be sensitive to the needs of those in poverty and to treat poor people with respect.
· Holding events in Catholic schools and public settings to make sure poverty is top-of-mind for all Americans.

Whatever one's religious beliefs, or even if one has no religion, it's difficult to imagine anyone committed to social justice being unsympathetic to these aims.

On behalf of a group of DU members (all of whom, I hope, will add their comments here), I'd like to urge everyone to follow the example of the CCHD and devote some time in January to help raise awareness about poverty.

What can be done in fifteen minutes a week for four weeks?

Write to your local newspaper, write or call your elected representatives and, perhaps most importantly, contact President Elect Obama to help ensure that his vision for change includes addressing poverty, hunger and affordable housing as the urgent issues they are.

Can fifteen minutes a week of our time really help? There's only one way to find out.

Please consider making this effort your resolution for a truly New Year. January marks a new beginning for the nation after eight long, terrible years. Let's do what we can to make it a new beginning for the poor as well.



Original post by JeffR

An Interlude

I still want to share my observations on one magnificent effect of Obama's win, but in the meantime I wanted to share something I found over the weekend.

I'm clearing out boxes and stumbled upon journals (I never succeeded in keeping one for more than two months, as evidenced by the lack of commitment to this blog...lol). I found a short story I had written about 14 years ago, to assure my then 2-year-old daughter that it was okay for adults to cry when they're sad. Her older brother, Joshua, was stillborn, so I was going through the intense grieving process while she was still a very small child. I didn't want to hide it, yet I didn't want it to frighten her, so I wrote Mommy, Why Are you Crying?.

I also found a poem I wrote at least 20 years ago; sadly, it still applies today, perhaps more so...and in the words of this poem lie the seeds of Wishadoo, the vision for which is to connect...person to person...and reawaken the best of humanity.

We're suspended in a culture of isolation, while drowning in a sea of souls;
like millions of pieces of an unseen puzzle, seeking to become part of a whole.

Our hearts reach out in love and compassion when we learn of the suffering of others;
yet somehow our actions and words are stifled, our feelings unknown to our sisters and brothers.

We are assaulted with a barrage of daily news, from local news to global weather;
but how many of us can say we know the names of our own next-door neighbors?

It's easy to despair and feel overwhelmed in this time of such uncertainty and chaotic growth,
but I believe we can find ourselves...by discovering others...always remembering the power of hope.

Do you know your neighbors?

This Rainy Saturday Morning...

I have a hundred things on my to-do list, but I want to actually write something about my thoughts and feeling here for the first time in months. I've encouraged my friends to start blogs recently, telling them how it's a wonderful venue to share of yourself, yet I only pop in here from time to time to "announce" something, rather than share my thoughts as I said I would. I was never successful at journaling; this is no different. Too much commitment. ;)

In the last few months I have been consumed with the elections here in the U.S. I was neutral about Barack Obama earlier this year, and in spite of his weird Stepford kind of transformation over the last few years, I tried to have an open mind that John McCain would reappear...the John McCain of 2000. When he chose Sarah Palin, well, that was it. I was pissed. And when Sarah Palin signs (no mention of McCain, mind you) started popping up all around me, I got more pissed, and I got solidly behind Barack Obama.

You see, Obama himself never bothered me; it was that "rock star" image that OTHERS were following that concerned me. I had never seen people be so enamored of a politician, so I was skeptical...it felt too crazy.

I had paid very close attention throughout the primaries, and felt confident that, especially on the Democratic side, if there is dirt to be exposed, it all came out during the primaries. Democrats eat their own. LOL. But that's good -- there wouldn't be any surprises during the general election.

As I observed the campaigns, I saw Obama staying steady - the "no drama Obama" thing was certainly lived up to; on the other hand, I think I witnessed the most chaotic, discombulated campaign ever with the McCain-Palin ticket. It was pathetic, really.

I was really becoming a "fan" of Obama (for lack of a better word). Yes, he is a magnificent speaker, but it was much more than that. In spite of the absolute assault by the right-wingers nonstop with blatant lies (oooooh, the black man is gonna ruin this country! Be afraid! ughhhhh), he stayed steady. Didn't bring race into this. Stayed focused on the people, on the country. (read www.profanepundit.blogspot.com, who shares my views on the racism and religous aspects of this election)

THAT is the difference with Barack Obama. It isn't about him. He engaged the people. I was only three months old when JFK was killed, so I had never witnessed this phenomenon before. In fact, ever since that time politics has been a nasty word, with everyone jaded and critical, assuming the words "government" and "politics" are evil, and thus becoming completely apathetic about the process, and thus handing over their power as citizens.

But Obama reignited something that has long lain dormant in America: hope, and integrity. Every time that man spoke in those last few weeks, I was brought to tears. I got involved in the campaign. This was an historical event. We all knew it. This was our chance to shift the horrible tide of corruption and destruction that built to a tidal wave in the last eight years.

I voted early and was surprised at how emotional it was for me. I expected to be relieved, and certainly proud to cast my vote, but when I walked out of there, I had a smile that I could not suppress!!! I wanted to hug everyone!!! Then I started crying about an hour later...and basically didn't stop until November 5th.

Dear God, if you heard Obama's speech in Grant Park ~ especially knowing he had just lost his beloved Grandmother ~ and if you saw the colorful sea of people joined together and you WEREN'T affected, you must be one of those who will follow Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity over a bridge and believed all the hate-filled lies.

Again, it wasn't/isn't about Obama -- it's about US! He got young people involved. He ignited passion! And, he is smart; he knows everyone is watching and will hold him accountable, not give him a free pass. In fact, he is not only going into one of the worst situations ever as president, but he will be scrutinized probably more than any other president in history. But if he runs his administration as he did the campaign...he's good, people. Really good. We CAN have hope. Finally.....

There is another element about this that I want to write about, but I must remember to keep these as short as possible. LOL. So, I will come back with that, as it is very emotional as well.

Wishing you all you wish for yourselves!