A Midsummer Night's Frustration

"You're a big sack of stuff. I've tried everything, and either you don't get it or you simply take it too seriously. I swear, no one's gonna want to be around you if you keep this up." I have heard it for the umpteenth time, and for an equal sum, I briefly attempted to change and become more exciting. Someone with balls, someone who wasn't afraid to speak his mind without risking repercussions for going against the grain, just plain old different. What kind of person would that be? I mean, it would be awesome to have enough strength not to ask someone to help me with a set of ninety-five pound dumbbells in addition to having all that prestige and respect from the boss and being, well, a terrific fuck. Like a speeding anvil, it hit me: I needed the self-confidence since all of those attributes already existed within me. It was past time for them to do something drastic, like come out. And so it went:

"Dude," I called myself as I gazed through a foggy bathroom window, "you've got to realize that you're too passive and it is time to use those two shriveled-up raisins for more than late Saturday night pleasures and what have you. Get some aggression - without being an asshole!" How the hell I would accomplish this is beyond me; the last time this happened I ended up being Bubba's bitch in the county jail and that in itself is enough said. If Christi thinks that I really am dry and this is all I have aside from God Himself and my parents, would she still stay with me? I mean, I've gotten used to being private with my feelings and thoughts; unfortunately, when I do blow up, it is like those two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center several days ago.
Finally, I decided to buck traditional trends and become more fun - in Christi's eyes, anyway, but the dying desire to remain enslaved to the rote is what is preventing me from being closer to her.

I picked up my new cell phone and proceeded to speed dial her when she called my office phone. Fortunately, I was relatively near to it because I know how much she hates my voice mail to pick up and having to leave a message. 

"Hello? Tyler Jackson speaking, how may I help you?"
"Hey, what are you doing around seven-thirty tonight?"
Shocked, I could not tell her the truth and state finishing business and email the latest chapter of my compilation to Doubleday Press. Instead, I grabbed the PDA to clear my schedule for her. "Nothing much. I figured I would work on another chapter of my book, hit a couple of bars, drive about 110 down MLK, and call a few friends. But since you called, let's go for dinner down by the lake at that new restaurant and fishing. Or, there is also my new hobby: hang gliding. But we'll do it in the morning."
"That may float, but no thanks. Did Smiley put you up to this glamorous night of passion again?"
"No! I thought this up all by myself. When I woke up this morning, I said to myself, 'This is the beginning of the rest of your life. What if you die today? Then how would people remember you? For the way I died or how I lived and impacted the world? And so, I am doing the unexpected because I don't want to be remembered as dry and predictable. If I don't live life to the fullest, then I am cheating myself and those around me."

The Actual History of the Pilgrimage

            For centuries, people have made pilgrimages from one location to another in search of religious freedom; a brand new life; or to simply escape the persecution they were subjected to. Some even venture for the potential profit! This noble trip to the founding of an organized group or to the gravesite of an individual signifies the impact it has had among people for hundreds of years. For them, the trip is in the hope of an earthly or a spiritual award, or even to fulfill a promise. The Road to Saint James of Compostela is one such route; Christians from all over the world visit the magical northwestern Spanish city to pay respects to the apostle who may have preached in Spain during his lifetime.     

            More often than not, pilgrimages are the result of the following:  big dreams of being free; following feelings and intuition; a burning desire to freely practice the religion of choice without risking persecution experiencing hypocrisy; and the favorite money-making venture. In the case of St. James, he “suddenly offered the potent encouragement of his bones to sustain the courage of Christians fighting on the battle-front against Islam” (Kendrick 13). By sacrificing his physical bones – after death, he does something special to cause the early movement westward. Inquiries about his journey surfaced only in the eighth century have nothing better than his burial in northern Africa instead. In fact, St. Julian of Toledo knew nothing of the man other than he had written an epistle and preached to the Jews in Jerusalem.

            Another reason in going was to view the church where the saint’s immobile bones lay is because his two disciples were also found there…supposedly. As a result of the found bones, churches have been built upon his final resting place to not only preserve the memory, but also to advance the Christian faith. This was established in a time when pilgrimages were not safe since the roads were occupied for state use and because of the criminal element that existed. Visitors were then grounded in the most upright fashion possible and were at once sent out to go and spread the teachings of the deceased saint to all they encountered.

            However, not all motives were pure; someone had to make some money, and what better way to do it than with the relics? Even if they were only in it for some quick cash, these vendors became a part of history with their deeds. Good food and drink as well as a trinket from Compostela were some of the benefits included in going on the pilgrimage. Quite similarly, England had set up a colony in what is modern-day Virginia simply to gain a profit and run somewhat of a satellite colony. Many perils of the way to Compostela were due to the terrain itself and unfriendly nature. In the high mountains it was sometimes necessary to keep the monasteries’ and hospices’ bells ringing so the weary pilgrims had a place to stay at night, through flood and drought. The roads were for the most part rutted tracks unless a benefactor had laid foundations and provided drainage ditches.

            But the "miraculous arrival" of the corpse of the Apostle Saint James is the origin of the pilgrimage we know today. Beheaded in Palestine in the year 42 A.D., he finally arrives in Galicia. The legend says that his disciples stole their master's corpse and put it on board a ship without a crew, or better, with a crew of Angels. And seven days after their departure they landed at the mouth of the River Ulla in Galicia. Once there, the disciples had serious problems burying their Master caused by Queen Lupa and especially by King Duyo a confessed enemy of Christianity.

            In conclusion, the pilgrimages vary for one reason or another: to find a spiritual purpose for being on the earth, to make a profit from those who were traveling in that direction, and to escape persecution. Unfortunately, once the pilgrims became accustomed to their ways of life, others were subjected to even more isolation and as a result, the same pilgrims became worse than their tormentors. St. James of Compostela was among the earlier pilgrimages to spread Christianity throughout Europe and remains to this day one of the most important ones in the world today.

Works Cited

Hell, Vera and Helmut. The Great Pilgrimage of the Middle Ages. The Road to St. James of Compostela.

            New York:  Clarkson N. Potter, Inc, 1966. 13-29.

Xacobeo. http://www.xacobeo.es

Rod Mayer. http://www.rodmayer.com

How Job and Oedipus Handled Suffering

Imagine having over a billion dollars, thousands of people at the beckoning call, a perfect spouse and family, hundreds of HIV-negative love slaves, more cars than General Motors, and even getting along with the in-laws! When a person has this much going in his favor, he or she tends to forget about who allowed him or her to enjoy the joys of good fruit and instead begins to take life for granted. Unfortunately, none of the material gains made on this earth can be taken into eternity with him or her – not even the prized Corvette. On the contrary, if nothing went as expected and someone spends his or her life moaning and groaning about every situation as a result of misdeed and a total lack of remorse, then nothing good would seem to come out of life. The most common misconception is that destiny is the source of human suffering:  in other words, how we live and treat others determines how we die. Death has no escape no matter the individual’s piety, particularly if the individual is considered to be good or heroic. With the cases of Job and Oedipus, people can often make bad decisions thereby allowing adversity to enter and/or fail to understand the occurrence.

Human suffering indeed is not caused by any one condition; it is the result of several ailments in conjunction with lifestyle, location, or sometimes being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Its source cannot be defined as one such instance, such as coronary heart disease. The Bible attributes suffering to Adam and Eve as a result of that first sin in Eden, of which Adam is forced to till the earth for food. Not getting off scotch-free, Eve is commanded to not only become submissive to Adam, but also she has to carry the load and experience pain by bearing children (Genesis 3:14-23).  Throughout the remainder of the Old Testament, other examples of suffering include Moses not being permitted to enter the Promised Land after leading a new generation of Israelites to it; Joseph’s disposal into a dry pit by his eleven brothers and left for dead; and the upright Job, whom has been tormented beyond that of any man not named Jesus Christ and rises from the ashes a more prosperous man than ever before.

To the naked eye, Job was the best man God had to offer because of his pious ways and to the person looking at him, this was the guy who they all knew was going to heaven from how he lived. The man treated everyone equally, took care of home, and more importantly, thanked Him for giving him all of his prosperity and success. One day Satan proposed to God that if Job had everything taken from him – home, cattle, children, and alas, his health – then he would curse God and want to die. As a result of the troubles, Job is urged by his wife to “curse God and die” (The Book of Job 412). If his life had not become bad enough, the statements his friends Zophar, Eliphaz, and Bildad have made further appall him. They foolishly accused him of committing a terrible sin, causing him to sit around in sackcloth and repent for all.

“Then Job answered the Lord, and said, I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak:  I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear:  but now mine eyes seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 91).

 In spite of it all, Job still kept the faith; he even suggests that in order to reap benefits, mankind must endure some trials and leave all faith in the Supreme Being.

On the contrary, Oedipus is generally a good guy except for one tragic flaw:  his hotheadedness. Here is a genius that can crack age-old riddles yet his country goes AWOL; it seems that he cannot be told anything. Even when he does seem to follow sound advice, it backfires at him. For example, he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother in addition to leaving the city as an outcast as opposed to entering as a ruler. He is suffering since he cannot fully understand his fate and is attempting to escape the future. Oedipus, in turn, is revealed as “a brother and father to his children in his house, husband and son to her who gave him birth; wife-sharer and the killer of his father.”(line 457). Because of his ill-tempered ways, he eventually kills his father Laios and marries his mother Jocasta. "Oedipus knew the famous riddles. He was a mighty king, he was the envy of everyone who say how lucky he'd been. Now he's struck a wave of terrible ruin. While you're alive, you must keep looking to your final day, and don't be happy till you pass life's boundary without suffering grief.”(line 1524)

As Oedipus should have learned, running from an issue simply causes more confusion and additional problems when it is finally encountered. Fate can be changed; however, if the spoken words are powerful enough for the hearer to accept at face value and he or she takes heed to them, then he or she deserves what is coming. In his case, all he had to do was a little bit of family history by retracing his lineage and he likely would have known Jocasta was his mother. Unfortunately, it took the death of Laios and the city of Thebes to turn against him to realize the transgression. Therefore the criminal prosecuted in this instance happens to be the king himself; he still would have refused to believe the townspeople.

Suffering is a natural part of human life:  we live; are pampered from birth until we are supposedly mature enough to enter the “real world” without being thrown in the midst like a pack of hounds; we get older and wiser; our bodies and minds fail during the twilight of life; and the inevitable death. Job shows how to endure the pain and is lauded as a hero, while Oedipus is labeled a wimp for running from his obstacles. Both men share an uncanny knack of listening to a wiser being and turning away from him at one point or another in the stories; therefore their true suffering is not a direct result of destinies, but instead from having the audacity to question or rebel. All of us will die one day, so being afraid of death should not be part of the equation; the drawn-out screaming and yelling we only see at the funeral home and the cemetery is primarily for show. Understanding that God allows bad things to happen to good people will free up a lot of the conflicts associated with suffering, including the stereotype of being alone.

Works Cited

The Bible. “Job”. World Masterpieces, Vol. 1. Ed. Maynard Mack. New York:  W.W. Norton & Company, 1973. 72-91.

Sophocles. Oedipus the King. http://www.legacyarchives.com/books/Sophocles.html

Behrens, Laurence and Leonard J.Rosen. “The Book of Job.” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. New York: Longman, 2000.

           

How God Handles Hypocrites

Hint:  He does it in His time and without our help.

At some point we all renege on our word. Does that make us bad people? Of course not – only someone who has made a mistake. However, this is the very definition of hypocrite:  a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings. When we pass our own flawed judgment as the only right way, then we fall into the trap of hypocrisy and separate ourselves not only from each other but also the God we serve and worship daily.

Below is a passage from Romans 2:1-16:

1Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.

2But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

3And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

4Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

5But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

6Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

7To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

8But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,

9Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

10But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

11For there is no respect of persons with God.

12For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

13(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

14For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

15Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

16In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

What else are hypocrites? We (I am including myself) are experts at blaming others and cowards at facing an equal fate. We are also quick to point at the wooden sliver in someone else’s eye as a log sits blindly to us a quarter of a mile from our eye for all to see. Call it whatever you want, but hypocrisy is still a sin in the Holy Bible:  It was when Jesus walked everywhere and still is to this day. A more modern example comes from the Game of Thrones series when Cersei Lannister was forced out of town naked for all to see once her treacherous empire was overtaken during Season 5.

They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. - Titus 1:16

Remember Nicodemus, the Pharisee who asked Jesus what it took to be born again?

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. - John 3:3

To compare him of someone in our day, one may look to the ivory towers to Tavis Smiley, Cornel West, Henry Louis Gates or Michael Eric Dyson, all of whom are top intellectuals whose opinions are sought by the mainstream for sound bites and extended interviews alike pertaining to the condition of black America. Nicodemus may have been a master of Jewish law and an adherent to all of its commandments, but he was clueless when it came to the spiritual transformation necessary for embarking on the journey due to looking at things from a purely secular angle. For him, being born again meant a physical re-entering his earthly mother’s womb and going through the birth process.

Dude just didn’t get it – and that is not entirely a bad thing. Not all of us understand the gravitas of becoming a new man or woman. Does it mean we are instantly perfect? Goodness, no! The new life we lead allows us to acknowledge our own flawed existence as we strive to draw closer to what thus saith the Lord every day.

When we have supremacy of our own religion yet deny the power of the relationship thanks to our ritualistic tendencies, then we become hypocrites.

When we are more concerned about what our brother or sister looks like than looking at his character, then we become hypocrites.

When we become so comfortable in our being that we are oblivious to the world’s problems, then we become hypocrites.

When we jest at the man or woman walking into the liquor or tobacco stores while we use the drive-through windows to obtain our bottles of Crown Royal or gorge ourselves at the local all-you-can-eat buffets, then we become hypocrites.

When we visit our houses of worship at 11 am on Sunday morning to feel good and come noon or 2 pm, we are back to raising more hell than those we supposedly are not like, then we are hypocrites.

I’m also going to hit some of the so-called religious folks:  $2 is not a tithe for adults:  It’s an offering for children. God explicitly spells out the principle of giving our first fruits of our labor, not the last $5 after a riotous Friday and Saturday nights on the town.

When we choose to leave restaurant servers paltry tips and snide notes about them as individuals, then we are also hypocrites because we are forsaking the least of us. Dear Arkansans:  15 percent is not that great of a tip. Do better or stay at home.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, nearly every remaining candidate will pause to honor the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in blanket statements for self-gratification, to pretend they give a darn about black lives only to return to the trails the very next day to spew divisive rhetoric to burgeoning sectors of America’s population about their fellow citizens. These fake leaders have stymied progress at every corner – from chipping away at the Voting Rights Act, gerrymandering congressional districts to maintain a specific status quo, loudly criticize the decision makers only to continue identical policies, and establishing laws meant to further disenfranchise minorities and the poor alike.

If it’s good for the goose, then it is good for the gander. After all, what happens in the dark will eventually come to light.

Want to know how to combat hypocrisy? Keep reading – I’ll tell you.

We do it too. Don’t be too quick to judge someone as there will be times when you do change our minds on something you once said. Life is a long journey and we should allow ourselves the opportunities for our views to evolve from black-and-white to varying shades of gray. However, we must be steadfast in sticking to our moral code.

For example, my wife has a cousin who habitually comments “I would’ve done this…” not as a learning tool for the next time around, but to make herself feel better about the current situation. Recognize it and if at all possible, redirect the conversation.

If I’m slipping, call me out. I’ll reciprocate the favor – and thank you later. No one likes being called a hypocrite, so be 100 percent certain your ducks are in a row regarding why someone else’s actions upset. There is a possibility that the offender just doesn’t know how foolish it looks until a different set of eyes makes him or her aware of the deed.

Show compassion when someone is giving you the third degree. Remind them that labelling someone a hypocrite really does no favors. In addition, why relive the annoyance of other people’s actions?

Ice them out. It’s probably not the best solution, but we have to take care of our health. Some people intentionally get under our skin because they have discovered our triggers and have a sadistic sense of humor that thrives on our miseries, and for those instances, it is best to remove ourselves from that ilk. In other words, we need to stay in our lanes the best we can. To handle internet trolls, a simple “may God bless you” typically silences them.

Forgive them. Jesus forgave the Pharisees, Sadducees, the Sanhedrin, and a host of others. Why can we not do the same?

If people want to be hypocritical, that is their business. Leave them be.

#NP Korn - Hypocrites

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) January 23, 2016

God is the final judge.  Not you, me, or NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell – the Creator of our world carries out an eternal verdict for the secret sins we have committed intentionally or accidentally as well as the ones we thought about but chose not to speak or act upon. 

Some of My Best Friends Are...

“Some of my best friends are ______________.”

People, right? Because anything else shows just a tinge of bias. In a world of staggering diversifying perspectives, it baffles me as to why some people still use this sentence as a crutch to defend their prejudices. Perhaps this is to make racists and homophobes feel good about having that one (or two – three is too many) friend of a different race, faith, sexual orientation or whatever fits in the blank space above the underline.

Someone find me a Shutterstock photo of hands together in an attempt at diversity, and this is what you'll typically see. 

I’ve heard that sentence for years – and I can name several folks who have thrown my name in the mix as if I were the only black person they know or ever befriended. While it is generally known that I am an affable man of above-average intelligence and an accommodating nature, I still hear the dog whistle every time those words come out symbolizing someone is about to say some really racist shit and do not want me to be offended. Well, just don’t say it. Lose the bigotry from your lexicon; it isn’t that hard. Moreover, being placed in that neat little box where “my emergency Negro” is kept when things hit the fan simply confirms this post.

Sidebar:  My best friend is white – he was also my college roommate at Henderson – well, Whispering Oaks anyway. Heath and his family are a major reason why I had no problem moving to Saline County way back in 2009; cheaper rent to live outside of Little Rock was definitely a bonus and that morning commute from Conway is a nightmare regardless of how many lanes are added to Interstate 40. However, we are brothers from different mothers as I am nine weeks older and have more in common than most people within black Arkansas. Can you not tell the family resemblance?

From left to right:  Audri, Heath, Melody, Caeli

Why have I started blogging so much about race lately?

Look, man, I’m in it to kick down doors and with the demonizing of my people by the politicians, talking heads, and judgmental social media reporters, someone has to bust out of the comfort zone that we have spent so much time cultivating and live life on his terms. Contrary to what a certain presidential candidate said recently, being black is the toughest job in America hands-down. I say this because if it false then why do people get in a tizzy over rectifying hundreds of years of sins such as theft, pillaging, murders, rapes, and the like? When we come to take advantage of opportunities, we have to work twice as hard for half the respect and a fraction of the monetary rewards in the face of covert opposition and a rising tide toward outright hatred. 

Other sayings by goodhearted racists that bother me are below. Their logic is simply tragic particularly those who ate up black culture in their teens and early twenties:

“You’re not like those people.”

Tell me, what do you mean by those people? Do you mean my brothers and sisters? Is it something that explicitly spells my differences with some of the images you see on TV or the few black people you have ever known by name?

“I don’t see color, only you as a person.”

It sounds noble and I appreciate your attempt at humblebragging, but if you cannot see a black man with a baritone voice and medium-sized afro, then you’re simply dismissing me. You may also need some stronger eyeglasses because I’m pretty freakin’ far from Casper the Friendly Ghost. Even when my crew from high school jokingly labeled me as the “whitest black man they know,” the reality is still I am black – and back home, the skin matters a LOT more than it should at this point.

“We cannot be proud of our heritage! The rebel flag is my heritage, not hate!”

I call BS all day long. Do the research on the man who designed the Stars and Bars and his own words promote white supremacy during the Civil War and thereafter. Also, the proliferation of said flags was in response to school integration throughout the South during the Civil Rights Movement. You may still harbor love for a symbol (most conservative people gravitate to these gods than not), but to me, this still construes intimidation.

“They don’t want to work for anything, they are lazy, they shouldn’t get anything for free.”

This has been said about black people since the end of slavery when we were no longer forced to work for free [prison labor is a different story and the continued evolution of slavery in addition to the felony mark placed up on ex-inmates when they return to the free world limiting their opportunities to prove they are fully rehabilitated. More on that in the future]. If we are so lazy, explain how we were denied the opportunities to own our patented inventions post-Reconstruction as they made landowners and industrialists obscene profits that built the United States of America or being stolen from our ancestral homeland to a strange location stripped our any vestiges of home with our religions replaced by Christianity as a method of control. Who limited our mobility through redlining, structural and institutional racism alike, and sundown towns as if we were a pox destroying property values and families at will? In addition, who had to delay schooling to work in the fields for the landowning farmers for pennies on the dollar and live in a perpetual cycle of debt, hopelessness, and death threats for taking a moral stand?

I’m waiting.

I’ve not even brought up reparations.

“Life was so much better for you people during segregation. They had jobs and were able to build homes. Ask them!”

First of all, you people would get you a black eye if not worse. Older black people – my parents, living grandparents, etc. had endured through Jim Crow, and if it had not been for their sacrifices, then we would still live in a blatant discriminatory climate. It is agreed that they had jobs and in most cases were able to establish homes, yet those relatively paltry jobs paid peanuts and were subject to the whims of management. Even if we were able to build and purchase homes, they were often across the tracks in a less desirable area and subject to higher interest rates. Wealth building was made more difficult due to the racist manner of how property was valued. If you don’t believe me, check out Zillow or the appraisal maps from the county collector’s office one day.

By invoking “some of my best friends are ________________”, we limit the people in our world to just one thing or another subconsciously perpetuating any privileges inherited real or perceived. 

Thanks, President Obama

As I sit back in my desk and reflect on the past eight years, it has hit me that about this time next year, we will have another white President of the United States. 

What have the past eight years meant personally to me? More than you think.

Brother Barack (as you’ve seen in so many of my tweets) may not be the greatest President in American history as that honor goes to President Eisenhower with Clinton not too far behind, but he is the most consequential POTUS in recent memory. For one, he is truly the first President to use social media the way we do today. I know President Bush ran the show when Facebook and Twitter were in their infancies, but most of us have become quite adept at employing it for good or harm since 2008.

In less than 300 days, @POTUS is out! pic.twitter.com/qeCucs1miu

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) April 16, 2016

Come January 20, 2017, we’ll see what a post-Obama nation looks like.

Eight years ago, I showed up at Jacksonville High School wearing the Obama Family t-shirt the day after he defeated Arizona Senator John McCain for President to handshakes, daps, and a few questions. Feel free to ask my friend/mentor Ed when you see him about what those questions may have been because I don’t remember any of them; I was overjoyed that days before my thirtieth birthday, the United States of America selected an African-American as the next leader of the free world. To think that I would have envisioned that day is beyond my wildest dreams – which is to say my parents and grandmothers have lived to see this day as well was amazing.

#NP Jay Z f. Young Jeezy - My President Is Black #SOTU

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) January 13, 2016

What do I have President Barack Hussein Obama to thank?

The reality of what happens when dreams come true – and the ability to dream. Now that the kids have seen a black POTUS with a beautiful family, it is no longer a fantasy limited to Hollywood movies and Paris (Ark.) native Rudy Ray Moore’s comedic routines from those Blaxploitation films in the 1970s as he reprised the Dolomite role time and time again. Although Obama didn’t paint the White House black, that ‘cool as the other side of the pillow’ demeanor in the face of raw opposition is what stands out for many of us. I thank him for being levelheaded even as Joe ‘You Lie!’ Wilson interrupted a SOTU and calmly reminding a billionaire candidate who plays on the fears of white people that bluster does not make an effective leader.

What else do I have President Obama to thank him for?

The Patient Provider Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. While it would’ve been more expensive to add my family to the rolls than my company’s health insurance plan, I do appreciate the competition forcing Blue Cross Blue Shield into working a more palatable plan. It seems like my more conservative friends have an issue with free market only when it benefits the masses instead of only a few at the top, so reading their misspelled comments is not only an exercise in laughter but also they fail to understand that when the tide rises, so do all of the boats in the ocean. While the law is imperfect and we have not seen an alternative, future Congresses must find a way to make it work for the majority of people even if it means sacrificing short-term glory.

Yes, there are more things I have to thanks President Obama for, even if I was unable to take advantage of them.

Remember HARP, the homeowners’ credit for purchasing a home in the early part of 2009-10? I do too. Unfortunately, we weren’t in the position to buy our house then but so many people were able to receive the $8,000 tax credit. Cash for Clunkers was another one:  trade your gas guzzler for a more fuel efficient vehicle and you got the credit for the following year’s taxes. It also was a catalyst in turning around the economy and forcing automakers to get their houses in order. You see that the economy is doing better even if we’re not full participants in the consumption and profiteering.  Everybody likes fiscal stimulus, especially when it goes into his or her pockets.

Even in his failures, there are things I do have to thank President Obama for.

As we all can tell, foreign policy has been his biggest weakness. It’s not been the in-your-face style as seen in Russia and Israel (Yes, I went there. Wanna make something of it?); despite that, it has been moderately successful. Fox News viewers will forever hang Benghazi around his shoulders along with Fast and Furious, but they were quick to dismiss the tragedy in Nairobi. It is under his watch that Osama bin Laden was executed as well as al-Qaeda leadership perishing although ISIS is becoming the new threat. In an ever-changing world, the United States no longer has to be the world’s policeman yet American forces are streamlined to lead in a more productive manner.

On the domestic front, the role law enforcement plays has been under a microscope – some rightfully. More attention is paid now to the ways our police interact with the communities nationwide even with the proliferation of unions using the tired tactic of deny, hide, and obstruct to sweep away the truth. If you need examples, see what has transpired in Cambridge with Dr. Gates; Chicago; Cleveland; Ferguson; McKinney; New York; Saratoga Springs; Sanford; and so forth. While I am appreciative of law enforcement in general, it does not excuse the fact that I am still a black man in a nation that sees me as a threat and in some cases, a criminal solely on appearance.

I thank President Obama for his other initiatives even if I do not agree with them – and this includes Common Core. However, I’ve also found the loudest critics of reformed education are 1) the most ignorant; and 2) deeply vested in maintaining the status quo. I wish he had found a way to end the schools-to-prison pipeline but for many in Congress, that would be a nonstarter due to the fact they benefit from private prisons as their take of being tough on crime. We’ll see what happens when this new generation of addicts gets the book thrown at them – and I’m talking about the upper middle-class suburban kids from the homogenous communities who are doing blow as the media shows multiple drug busts in the ‘hood and on the interstates identifying the suspects and all.

Me. #ThanksKobe #thanksobama pic.twitter.com/01sOxIGpe3

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) April 15, 2016

Most of all, I thank President Obama for redefining what it means to be black in America and the hell we endure daily EVEN if some of you don't care.

Those low gas prices ($1.53 for 87 octane today) are helpful to the cause as fracking for oil has really established our place as one of the world’s great players in the oil-producing industry. Keep in mind it was just three years ago gas prices averaged $3.35 per gallon but many of you have short memories and rush to trade your Priuses and Escape Hybrids for F-150s, Ram trucks, and Escalades as if these prices are permanent.

You better bring $10 to the carpool. pic.twitter.com/b6ZsxJOjXu

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) January 11, 2016

Are there things that need to be done? Yeah, like close Guantanamo Bay, erase Citizens United from our lexicon, and strengthen affirmative action policies. Time will tell where President Barack Obama will stand in the end and I think he’ll be looked more favorably as the years and decades pass by. As I sit here in front of my computer and reread the final State of the Union transcript, I cannot help to think we have come from a dark place back to the light in the eight years. January 20, 2017 will mark a new beginning in history yet you cannot help to appreciate what a different perspective to the nation’s highest office has brought to all of us.

#Respek pic.twitter.com/cAlW0fabQA

— A. Cedric Armstrong (@cedteaches) April 24, 2016

Embrace the King

Many of you recall reading The Third Monday in January last year or just a few weeks ago, and this post is a sort of a continuation of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I am fully aware of the date celebrated in America is the third Monday in January as a national holiday. We also know that Brother Martin was more than a dreamer – as a complex figure that mainstream media with the help of our schools has reduced to a caricature of a sound bite because our nation is a place of smug albeit incomplete endings. While King kicked down one door after another, what gets forgotten in the grand scheme of things is even the most peaceful among us indeed have forced the issue to be acknowledged, heard, and create an impact for waiting only stirs complacency within those in power. 

We must embrace the King and his legacy beyond a few sentences to appreciate his life’s work.

It is one thing to remember the hopefulness of the “Dream”, yet another to actually live out the legacy by embracing the body of his work – and that body, battered, bruised, and critiqued more than not – gets pushed aside since it does not fall in that neat hero narrative Americans are so accustomed to. If you disagree, check your social media posts from your friends and followers on this day and see for yourselves how shallow people can be in the name of narcissism. We (and I’m equally complicit in this as well) use the third Monday of January as a day of outward service; preparing a parade float; or just a chill day at the house and mall for the sheet sale at Dillards or JC Penney. By that token, embracing the King should mean breaking from comfortable zones to ruffle more than a few feathers in our quest to live on a higher plane. 

Why does it matter? 

 History dictates that the victors get to write the tales that are passed down from one generation to the next even if they are wholly inaccurate. You may recall George Washington chopping down the cherry tree or “Honest Abe” Abraham Lincoln never telling a lie as examples of historians being able to present the terms of how the past is shaped and promoted. In this instance, we have primarily associated King with one speech he gave on a hot August afternoon without studying the complexities of his day – as difficult it is being a black man in this nation today, imagine his plight when he demanded equal rights for African-Americans sixty years ago! Men were lynched for far less if not run out of town by the moonlight for defending what was theirs and Lord knows the brutal insensitivities black women experienced in the Fifties working six days a week for what little more than spare change. Until recently, we have not had the luxury to tell our stories beyond a select few; hero (or heroine) worship is a First World concept promoted by those who can tell them best with ill regard for whitewashing or limiting the truth to only the parts that satisfy us. 

One key matter in embracing the King is acknowledging that the Dream has been deferred if not delayed. If we think for a second that everything is hunky dory, clearly we have spent our lives living under rocks and drinking from the bitter cup that pleases us for a short season only to suffer through an epic hangover for years to come. In 2016, how is it our presidential candidates engage in such divisive demagoguery that seemed to be a relic of 1964? With the attacks on voting rights nationwide and the extensive practice of victim shaming, today is more critical than ever to embrace the man and his ideals. Not silencing the microphone or egging on expulsion and assaults is equal to the snarling dogs and fire hydrant hoses aimed at children during King’s day; watch how people grovel (sometimes even grudgingly) to follow the political crowd saying they how much they loved the man and his ideals when neither their policies nor rhetoric indicate how they embrace King. 

The axolotl (ACK-suh-LAH-tuhl) is a biological enigma. Instead of maturing into adult form, this endangered Mexican salamander retains tadpole-like characteristics throughout its life. This animal is used by writers and philosophers alike as a symbol of someone who fears growth. 

Don’t be like the axolotl. Anticipate, grow, and adapt like normal salamanders. 

When we embrace the King, we truly love all people - not just those who look or sound like us, live in the same subdivisions, work for the same employers, attend the same churches, or share likeminded world views on Facebook and Twitter. For at least one day, let’s try it; surely loving our fellow man and woman is not that hard. 

Do I have dreams? You’re damn skippy I do. 

I have a dream that my daughter is able to grow up in a safe environment where she is loved, appreciated, and respected for her expansive world view, vocabulary, future opportunities, and privileges that her parents did not have that long ago without hearing nasty slurs or being relegated to the back of the classroom by virtue of her chocolate skin God blessed her with. That dream also is a two-way street:  I can learn from you but you can also learn from me. It is also how we come to respect and love one another. Besides, children know nothing about racism until their parents introduce it covertly or blatantly to them. As her father, I am embracing King for the complex man he was:  practicing a dangerous kind of selflessness to serve God through all of you daily even if or when I must go it alone. That dangerous selflessness means putting the work above individual accolades, material rewards, and ego.

 Even with the advantages we have, we must never forget the basics of life must be for all people. In conclusion, embracing King means that those less fortunate, speak a thicker dialect of English, love differently or are not as educated and bougie as us are not deserving losers unworthy of our time and attention. You love them equally as your own. Period. 

This is America:  while we are an imperfect people pursuing a perfect idea, let’s make a compassionate effort to embody true love and service not to those we are near but also the man panhandling at the busy intersections of town or the woman who needs a safe space to raise and protect her children from an abusive environment.