Day: July 16, 2009

Lately, because Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been sidelined due to her broken elbow caused by an accident,  the rumor mills have been spreading propaganda that she was losing her influence over foreign policy in the Obama Administration.

Any such belief was quickly dispensed with by Secretary Clinton herself when she spoke before the Council on Foreign Relations today, showing complete command of all the issues of the day in foreign affairs.  She declared that she had broken her elbow, not her larynx  LOL  :)  

Clinton is going on a week long trip to India and Thailand, and it seems clear to me that she has not been "elbowed" out of her role as Secretary of State!  LOL   🙂

In his speech to the NAACP tonight, Barack Obama has reminded us of what he has said during the Presidential campaign and ever since he was inaugurated President—that the way to social progress and change and accomplishment is to promote good parenting and family responsibility.  Children must be given limits and goals, and must know that their family structure is there for them.

Just like WEB DuBois stated one hundred years ago,  Obama declared that African Americans must set the sky as the limits–that there are no controls on what the future generation can achieve.  Hard work and dedication is essential, and one cannot expect handouts to accomplish change.  Young people cannot all expect to be entertainers, basketball players,  and rappers.  They have to work to become surgeons, lawyers, professors, journalists,  authors,  engineers,  corporate leaders and every other occupation.  Race cannot be allowed to be a limit.

Obama is the perfect leader to promote this necessary attitudinal change, just as the comedian and actor Bill Cosby has done in the past decade.  While we can all expect a lot more work by government at all levels to achieve the end of discrimination,  it is also necessary to promote self help and willingness to deal with the issues of the black community internally.

President Obama spoke today to the Centennial gathering of the NAACP, founded in 1909 by WEB DuBois and other black and white reformers, who saw a need for a national civil rights organization to deal with the reality of prejudice and discrimination.

It was founded on the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth, and now celebrates its centennial on the bicentennial of Lincoln.   While much progress has been made, and Obama’s election is a great moment in racial reconciliation,  there is still plenty to do, as Obama pointed out.

Obama emphasized the importance of national health care,  and also education reform.  He particularly re-emphasized what he has been saying lately–that we need more college graduates, and that the nation’s community colleges play a major role in the promotion of educational attainment.  Excellence is essential, and new approaches to education are required at all levels from preschool to graduate school. 

As usual, Obama was inspirational with his message, and there is no doubt that he has set high standards in all of his speeches dealing with both domestic and foreign policy.  If only we can attain the goals that he has set for the nation this year and in future years!