LIVING HISTORY

In a world where one dream was an impossibility:

Another more world-altering dream came true....

CONGRATULATIONS

PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA,

MAY YOU BE BLESSED AS YOU HAVE BLESSED US.

Will YOU Be The One??

Sometimes, when it is really late at night and I am snuggled all warm in my bed and cocooned in the deepest sleep one could ever possibly hope to have, I suddenly bolt upright and find myself dripping in sweat as I try to shake off the following dream where the undefined one is ME:



Play Video by pushing right arrow.

PLEASE DON'T LET THIS BE YOUR REALITY...

VOTE....before it's too late!

I Heart Colin Powell and Yes, One Day A Muslim Can Be President Of The United States Of America....I Hope....

Need anyone say more?....

In a word....HILARIOUS!!!!

Sorry for the long periods of incognito-ism, but I'm traveling a lot and I've been a little under the weather....hopefully I'll be back in the saddle again soon.

In the meantime, peep this....if you haven't already seen it, I'm betting it will tickle your funny bone....it certainly tickled mine ;)

GRACE by definition is....

Have a great Labor Day Weekend Michelle,

Your Work Is Done and a Beautiful Job You Did!!!

Now Y'all Know I Ain't No Hillary Fan But...

I gotta give the sister her props; she DID THE DAYUM THANG!

I'm not gonna rehash the entire speech, but a few things resonated with THIS OBAMA SUPPORTER. Wanna know what they were? Here they go....

First of all, I for one have never seen Hillary deliver a speech as smoothly and as brilliantly as her delivery was tonight. She looked relaxed, she looked composed, and most surprising of all for me, she looked AND sounded SINCERE! Well I'll be dayumed....who woulda expected that?!

The speech writer deserves a huge bonus because he/she helped Hillary redeem herself and her political viability in my eyes. Never one who supported Hillary as a potential VP, I found myself wondering "Why didn't Obama choose her again?" [Of course the answer to that is that Obama likes living!] Anyway, the speech had several classic lines which I will paraphrase (as I don't want to pretend to have them down verbatim):

- My mother was born before women received the right to vote and my daughter got to vote for her mother for President....that is the story of America! (see YouTube #3)

That line gave a family woman / history student like me goose bumps.

- No way, No how, No McCain! (see YouTube #1)

Of course this battle cry will become part of the campaign from here on out.

- ....we don't need four more years of the last eight years... (see YouTube #3)

Love it, love it, love it! Give that speech writer a big bonus check

- Next week George Bush and McCain will be in the Twin Cities which is good because its awfully hard to tell the two apart. (see YouTube #3)

The networks love this one and I am sure will slice and dice it so thinly that we will all wish it never existed.

- The ENTIRE "Keep going!" segment. (see YouTube #3)

Come on now, y'all know she had y'all as soon as she started quoting Sistah Harriet Tubman!

Yeah, as much as I hate to admit it, I gotta cut old gurl some slack and give her some props for delivering for my candidate in a big way. Of course the pundits [particularly those of the Republican persuasion] are picking the speech apart and trying to put forward the notion that she still did not address Obama's lack of experience or readiness to deal with the 3am phone call. Whatevah! She said the only thing she really needed to say when she asked her supporters if they were in this for her or if they were in this for all of the people (the mother with cancer who adopted 2 autistic children and has no insurance, the marine, etc.) who need a change in the White House. She then followed up with the statement that her supporters should re-think their positions before voting and ended by announces that SHE WAS VOTING FOR BARACK OBAMA! (see YouTube #2)







The last thing I wanted to mention before I'm out, was the sister who was a staunch Hillary supporter who was interviewed by a CNN correspondent following Hill's speech. I tried to find a video clip of the interview, because this sistah had most certainly lost her natural born mind! She was on the verge of a mental breakdown because Hillary lost the bid for the White House. Girlfriend was all crying over the spilled milk and I for one wanted to reach out and touch her....not in a good way! She irked me from the start, but when she got to talking about how she didn't know if she would be able to vote for Obama [though she would NOT be voting for McCain, she might just have to "not vote". She claimed to understand the sacrifices made to deliver the right to vote to folks like her and me but she was still entertaining the notion of NOT VOTING. I could barely take it, and was so happy to see her interview end. I don't care who a person decides to vote for but once the candidate you support is out of the running, either research the remaining candidates and choose the one who's policies are more closely aligned with your perspective or write in a candidate; whatever you do, please don't give up your right by default!

I'm not a declared Democrat though I will be voting for Mr. Obama in November. However, in the words of James Carville who I love AND love to hate, this was a very good night for Democrats. It was also a very good night for me!

Hillary Gives The Phrase "BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY..." A Whole New Meaning!

Somewhere she completely missed the concept of TEAM. I'm guessing no one ever told her there is no "I" in "TEAM", and that even if there were, there is a way to promote one's self even while playing as a member of the team. Perhaps she doesn't realize that being a member of the Democratic Party makes her an assumed member of the same team on which Mr. Obama plays even as he promotes himself as a standout star of said team. When winning is so important one is willing to elevate one's ultimate opponent (read: JOHN MCCAIN) above one's team mate (read: BARACK OBAMA) and intermediate opponent (and if her rhetoric holds any water, her possible future "running mate"), in my humble opinion, ONE IS LOST and winning or losing for that matter doesn't much matter because they become the same thing.

Still don't believe that for Mrs. Clinton the program is WIN AT ALL/ANY COST? Click this link:

http://news.aol.com/newsbloggers/2008/03/11/ill-go-to-democratic-convention-with-a-pitchfork-if-hillary-ste/ where you can find the article that goes along with this clip:

Through it all, Mr. Obama continues to forge his path ahead without sacrificing the class and grace that are without question among the many qualities that first endeared him to me as a candidate. The take-away here is that just because the pitcher pitches low balls to you, YOU don't necessarily have to stoop to HER level in order to hit them. YOU can hit the low ball pitched to you without lowering the standard YOU bring to the game. Don't believe me...WATCH AND LEARN:

OH, and by the way, I knew Mr. Obama had won TEXAS!

http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/03/11/its-official-clinton-lost-texas/

BE EVER VIGILANT FOLKS...We've seen this before, so let's not stand by and take it this time! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!!!

(I'm sorry for a second political rant in a row, but I get soooooooooo upset by folk who don't play fair. A huge believer in the thought process that says we all learned "EVERYTHING WE NEEDED TO KNOW IN KINDERGARTEN", I find all of this to be a bit difficult to swallow. However, all of that notwithstanding, I promise no more politics for at least a week, maybe even two ;)

This Black Woman Supports Mr. Barack Obama...and she ain't afraid to say it!!!

Can anyone tell me where these political pundits get off with this assumption that because I am a black woman who supports Mr. Barack Obama's candidacy for president, I am simply delivering my support to him because of the fact that we both happen to be black?

• I have never, ever voted for Jesse Jackson for any reason...I wouldn't vote him dogcatcher; oh and btw, he's black too.
• Before this election, I have never voted for any black candidate for the Presidency of the United States and I was black in all the previous elections in which I voted too.
• I have voted for many white candidates for any number of offices even in some instances when there was a black candidate running as the opponent; but I guess they probably assumed I punched the wrong chad.
  

If you are able to answer that question, let's try another one. Please explain to me (slowly as you must realize that as a black woman my ability to comprehend is limited at best and you may lose me if you go too fast **smh**) why it is that the converse is not the case; meaning that when a white male or female votes for Billary or McCain or any other of the multitudes of available caucasian candidates the same assumption is not made?

• I suppose white folks vote the issues because...why again?
• It reminds me of an incident that occurred on my last job where this brother (i.e. African-American colleague) would not join me and the 3 other black co-workers in our division for lunch in the corporate lunch room for fear he would be seen as "only cavorting with blacks". First of all, I don't cavort; however, if I choose to start, why I ask you must we be concerned about such things when white folks find that they can sit with/vote for whomever without racial assumptions being drawn. I say, "I'll sit wherever and vote for whomever I damned well please and anyone who has a problem with that can kiss my....!"

Now that you're all warmed up, I'm sure you will be able to knock this one out of the park for me! Why is it that the fact that I CHOOSE to support the candidacy of Mr. Barack Obama MUST BE all about race when the fact that some caucasians CHOOSE not to support him MUST BE about anything else BUT race?

• Because the fact of the matter is that it is NOT POSSIBLE that white folks in American would choose not to support for president the perfect man to take the reigns of this country based on one reason, BECAUSE HE IS A BLACK MAN...
  

Tired yet? You should be, 'cause believe me when I say, "I most definitely am!" I AM TIRED! Tired of having my intelligence be considered suspect because I have chosen to support the candidate I BELIEVE best aligns with what I consider to be the most urgent needs of this country: GETTING THE HELL OUT OF IRAQ YESTERDAY and ELECTING A PRESIDENT WHO ACTUALLY REMEMBERS THAT THOSE WHO WORK THE HARDEST DAY IN AND DAY OUT TO MAKE THIS COUNTRY THE AMAZING PLACE IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE (yeah I said it dammit, **POTENTIAL** 'cause we damned sure ain't there yet! So bring it on, I can take it just like Michelle!) DESERVE A PRESIDENT WHO WILL WORK ON THEIR BEHALF TOO!

I'm tired of folk who don't even know me and who can't begin to relate to what my experience has been trying to tell me what MY ISSUES are. All this talk about Obama supporters being conned by his eloquent speeches makes me wonder if these so called "political analysts" have ever listened to a word Mr. Obama has spoken. Please someone tell me what part of "I plan to withdraw our troops from Iraq within a year and a half" isn't about the issues facing this country. What part of "I have a plan for Universal Healthcare that does not involve garnishing an individual's payroll or blocking his/her ability to secure gainful employment" is not about the issues facing this country? At what point does "Instead of giving no-bid contracts to companies headed by the President's former campaign manager, we will make sure that rebuilding benefits the local economy. I have worked across the aisle in the Senate to crack down on no-bid contracts, and to make sure that emergency contracting is only done immediately after an emergency. When I am President, if there is a job that can be done by a New Orleans resident, the contract will go to a resident of New Orleans. And we'll provide tax incentives to businesses that choose to set up shop in the hardest hit areas. " fail to address one of the major issues facing New Orleans and the the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina which even now, more than two years later is still virtually a devastated wasteland. In this world of political pundits dictating for us what our votes mean and/or say we believe I ask you why does this perspective "Each year, as we watch the State of the Union, we see half the chamber rise to applaud the President and half the chamber stay in their seats. We see half the country tune in to watch, but know that much of the country has stopped even listening. Imagine if next year was different. Imagine if next year, the entire nation had a president they could believe in. A president who rallied all Americans around a common purpose. That's the kind of President we need in this country. And with your help in the coming days and weeks, that's the kind of President I will be." not receive more airtime? I don't know about you, but I have not had many phone calls or pieces of literature mailed to me by the republican candidates appealing to me to forget party alignment and work with them to realize this country's promise. Does the fact that Mr. Obama spoke out very specifically against the accepted politics of getting things done in Washington D.C. in this passage, "It's a game where lobbyists write check after check and Exxon turns record profits, while you pay the price at the pump, and our planet is put at risk. That's what happens when lobbyists set the agenda, and that's why they won't drown out your voices anymore when I am President of the United States of America." fail in some way to elucidate his stand on the issue of the power of Washington lobbyists and large corporations?

Most of all, I need it to be known that I resent with every single cell in my body when I am beat over the head and ridiculed for what most draws me to this particular candidate...our (his and my) shared belief in this:

"Now when I start talking like this, some folks tell me that I've got my head in the clouds. That I need a reality check. That we're still offering false hope. But my own story tells me that in the United States of America, there has never been anything false about hope."

and this:

"But we always knew that hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it. "

See, the truth of the matter is that I was raised on hope! I was fed it at least 3 times a day and then my feedings were supplemented with more hope for snack times. It is my belief that in a world full of folks who want to believe that they have all the answers, the only smart thing to do is to find the one who offers hope along with his/her answers as nothing else much matters once they find out that their answers were not necessarily the solution to what ails us. When that point is reached, once the answers have run dry, the only thing left to fall back on is a good dose of hope; it enables one to brush oneself off and try again. Lack of hope results in stagnation as one becomes stuck wherever one is...sounds like the State of Our Union today doesn't it? We have no hope under the current administration and are all just trying to "tread water" until someone/something comes to rescue us. This one thing I know for sure, we are our own rescue squad and by voting to bring hope back into the politics of America, we can not only rescue ourselves, we can rescue our country. One of these days, those candidates who ridicule the hope offered as a primary platform in the Obama campaign will find that their answers (like the answers of so many before them and maybe even the answers of Mr. Obama) are NOT the solutions to the problems we face that they were expecting them to be. When that day comes, I hope their address is not 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue; because if indeed that is the case, we as a country will be faced once again with the perpetuation of all the issues that currently plague this nation and at the same time, find that we are doomed yet again to another long, painful season devoid of hope. I can't promise you that Mr. Obama has the right answers, but what I can promise is that if he finds that he doesn't, he will have the one key ingredient necessary for staying the course and trying again. How many of the other candidates in this electoral process offer anything similar to that?

This IS THE ONLY TIME YOU WILL EVER HEAR ME SAY THIS...but please, I beg of you, take Bill Clinton's advice...

(obviously said while campaigning for Kerry...still no less true today!)

Time Is Not A Straight Line...

The week that has passed since my last post here has been an amazing one in my life. It has been a week of solidifying new relationships with bloggers across the country with whom I hope my associations will be long, and which have already begun to bear fruit. It has been a week of great introspection which has led to wonderful discoveries and new insight into the blogger that is me. It has been a week of re-connections with friends and loved ones throughout the country with whom I had not been in touch for some time. Finally, it has been another one of those weeks that leaves one's mind swirling and twirling as the effects of the Earth's frantic rotation on its axis seems somehow able to be physically detectable by this mere mortal. With so many influences received in a single week, I thought I'd share some of those things that for whatever reason still remain prominent in my mind.

A few weeks ago, I posted a poem here that was inspired by another of my many "Teachers" titled "LEARNING". The poem was an ode to the exhileration I get from learning new things and the side dish of fear that comes with that same learning. Several people have asked me what is the basis of the "fear" I spoke of in the poem, to which I reply "The fear is the natural response to the necessity of changing myself, my views, and/or my actions to accommodate what I have learned." In the spirit of this particular learning, I would like to encourage black people worldwide to open their/our collective minds to this simple idea and be more willing to change ourselves, our views, our actions, as well as our minds about the expectations we set for those like us.

It is fear of change I believe that most seems to hinder the progress and advancement of the black race. In my opinion, we are one of the most passionate races to be found on the planet, and that being so, there is no stronger ally one can have in their corner than a person of African-American descent...at least initially. The problem however seems to be that there always seems to come a point, just when whatever it is we are striving for is within our reach, that "fear" is allowed to derail us from our original course. When this happens, we as a people seem to lose sight of the BIG PICTURE possibly because of a fear of the change we are required to undergo within ourselves simply to believe that what we have worked so diligently for is something we might actually obtain.

This Saturday, February 23rd is the scheduled date for the 2008 STATE OF BLACK AMERICA Forum. A critically important event in my opinion based on previous years, this event will receive even more notariety this year as it figures prominently into the race for the Democratic Presidential Nomination. In recent weeks, there have been some mild rumblings about whether or not Mr. Obama has to be (as in "He's obligated to prove his solidarity with black folks as a black candidate trying to win their votes) in attendance. I personally take issue with the concept of Mr. Obama or anyone else for that matter being boxed in such that he "has" to do anything. My opinions notwithstanding, it appears that factions of Black America (read: Tavis Smiley and I'm not hatin' here as I assure you that I love me some Tavis) are upset with the Illinois Senator's decision not to attend the event but to campaign in Texas and Ohio instead. Even offering his brilliant wife Mrs. Michelle Obama to attend in his stead (a completely acceptable alternative in my estimation) was not received as an acceptable compromise. Thus, began the criticisms again of whether or not Mr. Obama was attempting to "separate" himself from being associated with anything black in orientation. I find myself thinking, "Let it go people...just let it go! Why must black folks constantly be held to a standard by which they are required to "prove" their blackness while white folks are given the designation of "blackness" for something as stereotypical as being able to play the saxophone or loving fried chicken? Why was it acceptable for Mrs. Clinton to send the former president to South Carolina on her behalf while she campaigned elswhere with no resulting talk of her underlying reason being an attempt to 'avoid being viewed as "the black candidate" by avoiding spending significant amounts of time campaigning in largely Black South Carolina' . But to the contrary, now when Mr. Obama is faced with pretty much the same scenario due to other priorities of his own, his decision results in questions about his loyalty to black voters?". There is definitely a double standard being applied here people.

With the event taking place this weekend, and Mrs. Clinton currently scheduled to attend and Mr. Obama not, my expectation is that those mild rumblings from recent weeks will shortly turn into full-fledged volcanoes. Here you can find a blog post by Roland Martin in which he gives what I believe to be a well thought out analysis of the candidates' current needs as it relates to securing the Democratic Nomination and a subsequent rationale for what their priorities should be for this upcoming weekend based on that analysis. The bottom line is that Mr. Obama is running for president of the entire United States of America same as Mrs. Clinton, and in my opinion he should be allowed to do that based on what he needs to do to accomplish that goal, same as Mrs. Clinton. Currently, Mrs. Clinton could benefit by positively impacting the number of Black Americans willing to endorse her as a candidate the same as positively impacting the Hispanic communities can benefit Mr. Obama's campaign. Thus, it makes absolute sense for Mrs. Clinton to attend this event, but for Mr. Obama who already has significant Black support, not so much. In order for Mr. Obama to live up to his promise of trying to improve things for any Americans, black, white, male, female or otherwise, he must first become the president. I personally would love it if Mr. Smiley, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Civil Rights Old Guard and all the other so-called keeper's of Dr. King's Dream would get the hell outta the way and let him do that! So please my fellow black folks, regardless of what you hear or who you personally endorse, please, please, please look at the BIG PICTURE and decide for yourself where you believe Mr. Obama, Mrs. Clinton, and any other candidate you might support should be on Saturday.

In the last week, I have discovered yet another "Teacher" in the person of one of my new favorite bloggers, a person who already has become a lifelong friend I'm sure, Xavier of Ali's Zay blog fame. In less than a week, Zay has taught Ms. Just Write Now as much as she has learned in the last six months from her own efforts, and the greatest of these learnings is his teachings regarding the nature of TIME, thus the title of this post. My new friend has revolutionized my thinking about time and this new learning is reflected throughout my approach to my life and has been a liberating factor in my recent writing. "Thanks again Zay!"

This post itself is a perfect illustration of the fact that time is not linear as I have jumped back and forth between the past, present, and future many times already and here I go back to the future again....

Saturday is also MY BIRTHDAY....YEAAAAAAAAAA MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Always a huge appreciator of my birthday, I am sooooooooooo looking forward to this one. Those fine bloggers who were contributors to the wonderful compilation titled

"Bloggers'

Delight

Volume One" will be having their very first book release party right here in my fair city THE LOU and on my very own BEARTHDAY...once again I find myself saying "YEAAAAAAAAAAAA MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! I am gonna meet Ms. CapCity, Mizrepresent, Mega-rich, Saadia, and who knows who else alive and in person right here on my turf. Talk about looking forward to your birthday ***so damned giddy she needs drugs to come down to earth***. In addition, many of my friends and loved ones have confirmed they will be in attendance at this amazing event as well to help me and those delightful bloggers celebrate! Isn't it wonderful when your presents come early...you don't even have to wonder if you will be getting anything ;-)

Okay, time being what it is, let's take a step back into the past to tomorrow, Friday, February 22nd (see what Zay means...gotcha with that one didn't I? I betcha you had to go back and think about that one...YEAAAAAAAAA ZAAAAAAAAAAAY!). Tomorrow, my son Ryan and I will be driving over to Kansas to check out one of the colleges he is considering. Now y'all already know that I couldn't possibly love this child/man more than I do, but let me tell you all how truly amazing he is. This person that started life inside my body has truly got a life of his own! He is a senior this year and will be graduating in May. To date, he has been accepted to three colleges, and two of the three so far have offered him scholarships for both his academic and athletic prowess! So tomorrow we will be evaluating in person one of the two colleges so far to offer him significant scholarship assistance as we narrow the field of choices to the one lucky enough to ultimately claim my brilliant man-child as one of its future alums! Now you tell me, what is there not to love about this kid?!

Okay, this is getting much longer than I planned so I'm gonna end my time travels here in the present by saying to each of you reading this: "You are the very definition of love so thank you so much for stopping in ;-)" !!!

**
Black and White photography stolen shamelessly from Zay's blog; all other photos taken or stolen from the www by Ms. Just Write Now ;-)

Uncharacteristic Second Post In A 24 Hour Period...

If this is a regular stop on your Blog Reading Express then you know that I don't typically post multiple times in any given 24 hour period. Today, I stumbled across the videos you will find embedded in this post on the VOX of RPM as I travelled my own Blog Reading Express. I was so moved by the intimate knowledge of pertinent issues demonstrated by the discussion in the first video and the passionately raw emotion and conviction evidenced in the second that I simply had to provide all of you the opportunity to experience what I did.

As this election year unfurls and with the advent of Black History Month I've wondered often about what the sacrifices of those who fought to gain the right to vote for all Americans means to those of my son's generation . The further we move away from that period in time, I find that I worry more and more that the significance of what has been secured for us might be lost. The videos you will find here provided some assurance that for reasons uniquely specific to the issues they face this generation like those before it will continue to fan the flame.

My previous entry, posted last night was about another experience I recently had revolving around the Democratic process. That experience meant a lot to me as well, so much so that I wanted to share it with you all so I hope you will take the time to check it out too. However, of the two, this one or that one, I feel compelled to give my endorsement to THIS ONE!

With so very much at stake, please I beg of you

DON'T SLEEP.

What the hell is a caucus anyway??

Living as I do in the "Show Me State" (that would be Missouri for those of you who flunked your gubment classes), I had the privilege of casting my vote in the Democratic Primary held in my fine state on what has come to be known as Super Tuesday. I am not ashamed to let it be known that my choice for president of these United States over the next EIGHT years (that's right I said eight!) is Mr. Barack Obama. I won't get into all of the nuances of why he is in my opinion the best person for the job except to say that when the platforms of the various candidates basically mirror each other, that only leaves the intangibles that each possess that connect with those feelings that come from your gut or instinct; and in my case, Mr. Obama's intangibles (i.e. VISION, LEADERSHIP, HEART, etc.) in combination with his tangibles (i.e. platform, integrity, HEART, etc.) have a stronger connection with my instincts and gut than do Mrs. Clinton's.

However, none of that is the point of this post. As a consequence of having to go to picturesque Omaha, Nebraska on bizness this week, I had the added pleasure of spending the weekend in the midwest resort Mecca known as Kearney, Nebraska. Okay, okay, so it is NOT a resort Mecca, but my best friend and her family live there so it is almost like a vacation escape for me so there! Anyway, because I spent the weekend in Kearney and my friend and her husband are Democrats as well, I got to witness Nebraska's first Democratic Caucus first hand.

Now most of you who read this blog are in my opinion pretty damned smart and thereby, you all probably already know what a caucus is exactly. Me, on the other hand, I'm just gettin' by with a little help from my friends which means that I had not a clue of how exactly a caucus differs from a regular old primary such as the one in which I participated on Super Tuesday. Well, now I know and based on what I know now, I'd say that those who support candidates through the caucus system (particularly those who caucused in Kearney, Nebraska last Saturday), are a much hardier and loyal bunch than those like me who simply cast a vote in a primary. From the conditions under which they might have to caucus to the amount of time investment required, all I have to say is that I applaud those who caucus!!! Read on to learn what I witnessed.

Let me set the stage for the Kearney, Nebraska caucus.

Held on a blustery Saturday morning (February 9th, 2008), at the Alumni House on the campus of the University of Nebraska at Kearney, the caucus began by having those who are registered Democrats in the state of Nebraska and who support Obama sign in on the front porch while those who had decided to support Clinton signed in at the back door. Once signed in, each voter was given a sticker with the name of the candidate they supported to wear on their chest. Then Obama supporters were allowed to enter the front rooms of the Alumni House while Clinton supporters occupied a large multi-purpose room at the rear. Those who either had not decided or like me were simply there to observe, were given red stickers marked "O" for observer and sent to the back wall of the "Hillary" room to watch the proceedings.

Separated from my friends who were in the "Obama" section of the house I leaned up against the back wall of the "Hillary" room where I subsequently had several interesting interactions. Of note, is the fact that Kearney, Nebraska is an overwhelmingly caucasian town with a black population I imagine of less than 1%. Thus regardless of which candidate you supported, if like me you are a black American attending this particular caucus, you found yourself one of less than ten black folk dispersed throughout the entire house. So don't be fooled for a minute by those who wish to put forth the notion that this Democratic nomination process is simply about races aligning with their own.

The first person I met was a white woman who was in her fifties who explained to me that she was a disgruntled Republican who felt that "anything was better than what we have now" and that was why she was there. The next was an 88 year old white man who was a Republican who had already officially switched parties a few weeks ago and had come to the Democratic Caucus to vote for Hillary. The third was a white female college student whose family had been Republican from "the beginning of time" (as described by her); she didn't know what she was doing but felt that if she didn't vote for someone she would be ashamed of herself.

At this point, the workings of this first Nebraska caucus were explained to the group as follows:

All of those who were registered Democrats would be asked to line up and be counted based on which of the two Democratic candidates they were supporting. At this point, the request was made that anyone in the room who was NOT supporting Hillary go to the front "Obama" section of the house and vice versa. Undecideds were asked to remain against the back wall with observers unless they had come to a decision and then if they had, to go to the appropriate section of the Alumni House to be counted for their chosen candidate.

At this point, it is important to note that the number of Obama supporters had surged such that they all could not fit in the front section of the Alumni House. Thus, the overflow crowd spilled out onto the front lawn where they had to remain for about one and a half hours of the approximately two and a half hour process. The explanation of events continued as follows:

Following the first count, representatives from each candidates's "camp" would be allowed to go and speak to the other camp for five minutes in an attempt to change minds, sway undecideds in their chosen candidate's favor, and convince stalwarts that they were backing the wrong horse so to speak. Once these representatives were done speaking, a half hour for contemplation and discussion was allowed after which a second and final count was taken which would determine which candidate won the caucus.

After the first count was taken, Obama had a commanding lead over Clinton. At this point, the representatives crossed over to the competitor's camps to try to change minds and sway attitudes. Now began the thirty minute contemplation period and yours truly, Ms. Just Write Now swung into action.

Being sent to hold up the wall in the "Hillary" room was a matter of available space. However, it wasn't fair to Hillary as Ms. Just Write Now had the opportunity to put a lil' somethin somethin on the minds of those disgruntled former Republicans and undecided voters who surrounded her. The woman who was changing parties shared that she was thinking of supporting Hillary because she has more "experience" than Obama. So the following conversation ensued:

Me: So you feel that seven years in the Senate plus her experience as First Lady can be counted as experienced to become President of the United States?

Her: Yes.

Me: I know a lot of people feel the same as you, but I don't b/c I believe that there is no other job in the world like being President of the United States except maybe being the head of state of another country.

Her: I never thought about it that way before.

Me: Are you happy with the way that things are currently done in Washington D.C.? Do you think the system works well?

Her: No, I think it sucks! That's why I switched parties!

Me: Would you agree that with 7 years of experience working in the existing system, Hillary probably knows her way around in it and works well within it?

Her: Yup! That's exactly why she gets my vote.

Me: Let me ask you one more thing....if you think the current system of government in D.C. sucks then why would you want to vote for someone who is apparently content to work in the system as it is? Of the two candidates, which would you think would work harder to change the current system; the one with so much experience they are used to it and have figured out how to work in it or the candidate with less experience and time to get used to it who is all fired up to change the system? My answer to these questions is that Obama is the one who would actively try to change what in my opinion and yours from what you said before, is a bad system and that is just one more reason he gets my vote.

Her: I'll talk to you later, I'm going to the front to vote for Obama in the second count.

After similar conversations with the 88 year old Republican and the female college student, Ms. Just Write Now ended up moving 2 for 3 into the Barack column. The 88 year old Republican actually had some food for thought for Ms. Just Write Now which once she has had the time to research it might get blogged about here in one of what I promise you will be a limited number of posts about politics.

Now I know some of you Hillary supporters are probably thinking that was not fair. Maybe it wasn't fair that I was in a room full of her supporters, but that is what caucuses are supposed to be about as it was explained to me on Saturday; trying to change minds and find a consensus. It is also important to note that the minds I "changed" were undecided to begin with; so actually, I truly did Hillary no harm (lol). Additionally, keep in mind that almost 100 of Obama's supporters were forced to stand outside in 32 degree weather due to lack of space inside in the Obama section while the Hillary section had plenty of room to house her supporters, the undecideds, observers, and if they had been of a mind to, the Obama supporter overflow as well. However, no move was made to move those hardy individuals inside.

For that reason alone I say, those of you who caucus are a stronger, more loyal lot than those of us who primary. On Super Tuesday, it rained cats and dogs in the Show Me State and I procrastinated and vacillated the entire day about whether or not I would brave the elements to cast my primary vote. Ultimately, the only thing that got me out the door to vote was the potential nightmare of waking up Wednesday morning to find that Hillary had won by one vote. I suspect the same was true for many of my fellow Democrats here in Missouri. Were I in the situation many of Obama's supporters in Kearney, Nebraska's Caucus found themselves -- standing in the cold waiting for more than an hour to be twice counted -- I can't be absolutely sure I would have been counted at all.

So at the end of the event, the final talley ended up:

• BARACK OBAMA: 301


• HILLARY CLINTON: 173

These same results were mirrored in caucuses all across the state leading to Mr. Obama winning the poplar vote as well as the delegate appropriation for the great state of Nebraska as he has in so many other states that have held caucuses and primaries to date. Like so many others before them, on Saturday last, members of Kearney, Nebraska's Democratic Party embraced the vision of the man I hope will be this country's next president proving it once again to be true,

YES WE CAN!!!

(and now as an added bonus, I know first hand what exactly a caucus is to boot!)