Obamamania Angst

Below you will find my first video blog post. I chose Vimeo as an option, because Youtube said my clip was too long. So if you have seventeen minutes to watch me ramble on about why I can’t decided whether to be hopeful or cautious about our new president elect, I suggest you sit back and watch. Note there is a weird static that comes in at about 2:48. I tried to fix it but iMovie was being uncooperative. I suggest you fast forward to the 4:02, the scene with Cornell West.


Obamamania Angst from Jabiz Raisdana on Vimeo.


I mentioned a few link in the video:

W 4 by Dead Prez. This video is obviously not an offical video, I am not sure what is going on with the Scarface clips, but it is lines like this that make Dead Prez so great:

In between jobs in the past? How you get cash?
I done worked over hot ass stoves
I done picked up trash off roads
Winter time in the streets and the cold
Many times had to sleep in my clothes on the flo'
What you know bout bein' po' seein' most of yo kinfolk be on dope?
Ain't nobody in the hood got no hope in this fucked up system and that's why we don't vote
Still payin niggaz 4.25 - How the fuck we supposed to survive?
I'm close to the edge, government takin most of my bread
taxes might as well have a toast to my head
Make a nigga wanna wild out

Police State by Dead Prez. Again this video is not the greatest, but the lyrics are what count:

I want to be free to live, able to have what I need to live
Bring the power back to the street, where the people live
We sick of workin for crumbs and fillin up the prisons
Dyin over money and relyin on religion for help
We do for self like ants in a colony
Organize the wealth into a socialist economy
A way of life based off the common need
And all my comrades is ready, we just spreadin the seed

Here is the compete lecture by Chairman Omali.

I still have not reconciled my thoughts, and I am sure many more blog post will come, but last night I was reading The Art of Power by Thich Nhat Hanh and he said that the Buddha once said:

If at some point in your life you adopt an idea or a perception as the absolute truth, you close the door to your mind. This is the end of seeking the truth. And not only do you no longer seek the truth, but even if the truth comes in person and knocks on your door, you refuse to open it. Attachment to views, attachment to ideas, attachment to perceptions are the biggest obstacles to the truth.

Ideas and perceptions should be abandoned all the time, to make room for better ideas and perceptions.

I hope to work more towards a constructive criticism of Obama and try to feed off the hope, rather than dwell in my suspicions. I don't want to cling to any ideas of absolute truth. Maybe this man can help America wake up. Even if he can't, I hope that people will become radicalized through his failures and broken promises.

Forget about Obama and the DNC, let’s see how we can use this moment in history to move people toward a better world on our terms! It feels like we are on the edge of something new, let's see how far we can go.