March 2, 2013 · 3:53 pm

Lift Every Voice and Sing,by Louise Annarino,3-2-2013

Lift Every Voice and Sing,By Louise Annarino,3-02-2013

“Our minds fasten on that single moment on the bus — Mrs. Parks alone in that seat, clutching her purse, staring out a window, waiting to be arrested. That moment tells us something about how change happens, or doesn’t happen . . . We so often spend our lives as if in a fog, accepting injustice, rationalizing inequity, tolerating the intolerable. Like the bus driver, but also like the passengers on the bus, we see the way things are — children hungry in a land of plenty, entire neighborhoods ravaged by violence, families hobbled by job loss or illness — and we make excuses for inaction, and we say to ourselves, that’s not my responsibility, there’s nothing I can do. Rosa Parks tells us there’s always something we can do. She tells us that we all have responsibilities, to ourselves and to one another. She reminds us that this is how change happens — not mainly through the exploits of the famous and the powerful, but through the countless acts of often anonymous courage and kindness and fellow feeling and responsibility that continually, stubbornly, expand our conception of justice — our conception of what is possible.” – President Barack Obama,February 27,2013

On February 27,2013 in Statuary Hall at the nations Capitol,President Obama in the presence of the family of Ms. Rosa Parks, unveiled a full-body bronze statue memorializing that moment when she brought racism to its knees as she refused to stand, give up her seat to a white rider, and move to the back of a bus. It was not the first time someone had protested a move to the back of the bus, but it was the first time a nation came to her defense through the organizing efforts of the local NAACP chapter, and soon other civil rights organizations. While it is true a single act can change a nation, it can only do so when it galvanizes others to join in that change.

Rosa Parks’ quiet dignity galvanized a nation bent upon change. This is what President Obama has been doing as he charts a future course for our country with the same quiet dignity. This is why we see so much of, and hear so often from, our activist president. It is one reason liberal change agents love him, and conservative change blockers hate him. It is the quiet dignity of an African-American man which they fear, recognizing its ability to galvanize and organize a nation bent on changing the old boys’ club which has benefited heterosexual white men for so much a part of our nation’s history. No one begrudges the right of white heterosexual men to achieve whatever their talents allow them, so long as their doing so is not at the expense of, nor upon the backs of, the rest of the nation’s citizens. It has only become a class war because they used their accumulated wealth to create an upper class in control of  the generation of all wealth.

Facing decades of civil rights demands,this upper class has been breached by a few formerly excluded from the opportunity to join their ranks. Too few of these men and women are willing to rock the boat that keeps them afloat,unfortunately. To their amazement and even horror, one of those allowed in, President Barack Obama, was daring enough to take the oars and chart a new course for the ship of state the upper class had sailed for so many years.

This is why they block his efforts to rebuild America, to create a more a perfect union, to overcome old divisions which separate us not only by race,sex,and sexual preference, but by class. Their efforts to take back the oars failed in 2012 despite a constant stream of racial and class denigration of both President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama. The stronger their fear that they have lost control of the ship of state, the more willing they have become to sink the ship itself.

The latest Senate filibuster which prevented the Senate from voting out a bill to stop sequestration and offer the balanced bill proposed by President Obama to: close tax loopholes of the upper class,make targeted cuts which would do the least harm to personal and national economies,invest in job creation and infrastructure,improve and expand educational opportunities,strengthen our national defense efficiently,create green alternatives to an oil-based/war-ensuring future meant the House could not even consider the president’s proposals-could not even consider the new course correction for the ship of state to a safer and a more productive course. Instead, in ensuring sequestration was signed into law, they poked holes in the hull of the ship of state, forcing the country to bail water instead of sailing forward.

As if this is not enough. Rep. Eric Cantor(R-VA) made another shot across the bow yesterday,discussing the republican decision to battle for more cuts when the debt limit maxes out in early March, and government spending for this fiscal year expires at the end of March. His goal is to stop President Obama’s balanced approach and protect the upper class from any affront to the wealthy donors his party now protects at all costs to the detriment of nation as a whole. “I think it is possible that we would shut down the government to make sure President Obama understands that we’re serious,” explained Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, (R-Wash), the fourth ranking Republican in the House. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-34222_162-57563805-10391739/republicans-contemplating-government-shutdown-over-debt-fight/

The self-satisfied smirks of Eric Cantor, Mitch McConnell,John Boehner,and Cathy McMorris Rodgers match that of Justice Antonin Scalia whom I mentioned in an earlier post https://annarinowrites.wordpress.com/2013/02/28/basketball-and-voting-rightsby-louise-annarino2-28-2013/. In each case they smirk with gleeful expression when colleagues in the House and Senate and on the court, and governors from their states question their destructive lack of governmental integrity. I know that smirk. In children it is usally acompanied by finger wagging from the ears and the sing-song phrase “na,na…na,na,na.”  it is the behavior of bullies, bullies who would destroy the country so long as it destroyed its first African-American president and his challenge to the captains of the upper class. Who would sink the ship of state when it dared cross into the shipping lanes of the ocean liners and yachts of the upper class? No one with something to lose.

“Why?” we ask, are republicans so willing to ignore the will of the people,to ignore the polls showing the people’s opposition to republican governance and support for the president’s governance proposals ? Why are they sinking the ship of state? Because they are doing so from the presumed safety of the ocean liner’s deck. They have abandoned the ship of state and called a recess. They should recall the Titanic, a ship considered too big to fail. They should recall that ocean liners rely on tugboats to bring them safely into port. But, those on the ocean liners call the world their home now. No longer is America their only port. They no longer curry favor from American tug boats. And so long as they can stay afloat amassing even more wealth in international ports, they feel safe from those of us on land whom they view as inferior because of our race,color,national origin,sex,or sexual preference. These named classses are protected legal classes because they are the classes most under attack.

Persons within these legally-protected classes are most under attack becasue the upper class fears them the most, and has the power and funds to stage an attack against them. A republican has told me that my writing about race as a motivation for the attacks against the president and his positions is my fall-back  position. He is wrong. It is my frontal assault position. It may appear to some as a fall-back since I try to do it with grace and dignity. But we both know refusing to go to the back of the bus is not a fall-back position. And republicans repeatedly tell us that is where our president must sit.

It has ever been my world view that racism is the biggest threat to the  idea of America,and our biggest political threat. If this were not the case, politicians would not so readily use it to attack our president and undermine his leaderhip at home and abroad. Class domination is also a dangerous political tool. Anger at our president is not only based upon racial animus. It also based upon a view of him as threat to the upper class of mostly white men who have bought poltical parties lock,stock and barrel. 

So, what do we do? Lock hands and arms and sing “We Shall Overcome”? Yes, if that strengthens us to organize,speak out publicly in blogs and letters to the editor, speak privately with our neighbors and friends,register and educate voters,call our representatives/senators/governors,donate to causes and poltical efforts which reform the processes which allow the upper class to go to sea and distance themselves from our problems ashore. We must protect voter rights,redistrict gerrymandered states,stop environmental degradation,assure safe food and drugs,improve and cut costs of medical and dental care for every American,protect American workers and create more sustainable jobs paying a living wage,and strengthen and defend public schools. These are actions we can take on a local level. As President Obama said, “Rosa Parks tells us there’s always something we can do… She reminds us that this is how change happens — not mainly through the exploits of the famous and the powerful, but through the countless acts of often anonymous courage and kindness and fellow feeling and responsibility that continually, stubbornly, expand our conception of justice — our conception of what is possible.”

Republicans are currently more fearful than democrats of the power and wealth-making efforts sought by classes previously denied full particpation in the American dream. Their tent is not so diverse as the democratic tent,becasue their policies continue to poke holes in any boat which welcomes diverse passengers aboard ship. Justice Scalia recently explained their position to us: calling others aboard ship creates an expectation of racial entitlement. The more diverse the ship of state becomes, the more willing republicans are to watch it sink with all of us on board.The more willing a man who opposed activist judges his whole life is to become one himself,throwing his integrity overboard. We are not entitled it seems to stay afloat on their seas. So, by our activism, we must remind ourselves and them that “We Shall Overcome.” Let us “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

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February 28, 2013 · 10:27 pm

Basketball and Voting Rights,By Louise Annarino,2-28-2013

Basketball and Voting Rights,By Louise Annarino,2-28-2013

My dad’s high school basketball team won the all-state championship in high school. I don’t recall a time we were not shooting baskets, both indoors and outdoors.If one opened my parent’s bedroom door outward it fell across a corner of the dining room creating a “basket”. Despite the fact that errant balls and exhuberant blocks broke several of Mom’s Heisey pieces displayed on the buffet,she allowed us to to shoot hoops there every day,inevitably joining in to make a few baskets herself. We also shot hoops into the basket positioned over the door frame between the kitchen and my brothers’ bedroom,being careful to keep the ball from bouncing into the suga and meatballs simmering on the stove.

Outdoors we played on a small poured concrete patio, the basket affixed to the garage roof edge. When we removed the cement block four-bay garage alongside our house Dad installed a full court with hoops at each end where the entire neighborhood gathered to play. Mom added an additional rule to the NCAA rules we followed,“no cussing”, which resulted in a technical foul for both teams and ended the game for the day. Mom did not allow rule-breaking and discourtesy among us. She understood how quickly relationships deteriorate,and a game can be ruined when common civility and rules breakdown. She inserted herself as the referee. Did the neighborhood boys appreciate Mom’s interference? Surely not, if one is to judge by their griping and whining,bowed heads and limp waves good-bye as they were thrown off the court and out of the yard. But, if they wanted to play the game,she insisted it be played fairly. What would have happened had we a Mother less astute, and less available to jump in when unfairness and manipulation of rules reared their ugly heads as they inevitably do?

Justice Antonin Scalia may have had an Italian mother, but she did not teach him the manners and sense of fairness my mother taught her kids and the kids in my neighborhood. The 1965 Voting Rights Act sets up the rules of the game for fair and non-discriminatory elections. Section 5 puts in place someone like Mom, the U.S. Departmenet of Justice,to assure the rules are followed. When Mom sensed a player needed more supervision because of prior violations of her house rules,that player had to seek her approval before re-entering the yard. She would never end the game her own children had a right to play in their own yard. However,she would assure the game was fairly and decently played,and did not hesitate to close down the game to the neighborhood kids,when her kids were threatened.

The yard was our yard;the court,our court. Neighborhood kids did not have a “right” to play there without Mom’s permission and our invitation. Justice Antonin Scalia seems to apply this same outlook to a citizen’s “right” to vote. Like Mom, he recognizes the voting rights of his kids. But, he sees African-Americans and other minorities as merely neighborhood kids, rather than family members. During oral arguments,he referred to Congress’s renewal of the Voting Rights Act as the “perpetuation of racial entitlement,” ensuring rights above and beyond those others are entitled to enjoy. But, African-Americans and other minorities are not simply neighborhood kids. They are entitled to the same rights of citizenship as the rest of us. Guaranteeing their right to vote doe not grant a right to which they are otherwise not entitlted.

In those states which continue to practice racial discrimination,which  continue to restrict or deny equal access to the polls, or which continue to deny full and equal import of those votes, Section 5 of the 1965 Voting rights Act rightfully acts as referee and ensures the rules of racial equality enshrined in our Constitution must be followed. Section 5 does not stop the game,nor send anyone home depriving them of their right to vote.It simply assures the game is fair. When Congress,with unanimous Senate approval, extended the Act in 2006, it did so after consdiering 13,000 pages of documented instances of racial discrimination. “Consider the simplistic suggestion from the chief justice that because “the citizens in the South are [no] more racist than citizens in the North” we can safely ignore evidence that Southern states still systematically discriminate against minorities”(http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2013/02/voting-rights-act). Indeed, one could argue that Section 5 should be expanded to northern states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio. In Franklin County (Columbus),Ohio GOP Chair Doug Preisse gave a surprisingly blunt answer to the Columbus Dispatch : “I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban—read African-American—voter-turnout machine,”  adding, a la Justice Scalia, in an email to the Dispatch “let’s be fair and reasonable.”

Yes,let’s be fair and reasonable,to every player in the game. Justice Sonia Sotomayor fairly and reasonably pointed out to the attorney arguing on behalf of plaintiff Shelby County,Alabama who alleged racial discrimination was no longer evident in his county, “You may be the wrong party bringing this suit,”calling Shelby County the “epitome” of the reason for keeping Section 5 in place. She cited 240 discriminatory voting measures recently blocked by Section 5 and Section 2 challenges. She said she accepted that some portions of the South had changed, “but your county hasn’t.”(http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/12-96.pdf)

Yes,let’s be fair and reasonable. College basketball was integrated in 1947 when Coach Wooden played an African-American for Indiana University,violating the gentleman’s agreement barring African-Americans from the Big Ten Conference. In 1961, Loyola broke the gentleman’s agreement  not to play more than three African-American players when it played four at one time. Loyola also became the first team in NCAA history to play an all-Black lineup in 1962. In 1963 Loyola started four African-American playes in the NCAA Tournament and Championship game. The NIT and NCAA had integrated ten years earlier,relying on those gentleman’s agreements to limit and restrict African-American participation.It seems they agreed as gentleman to allow African-American participation,so long as such participation was miniscule.

Yes,let’s be fair and reasonable. in the 1949-50 season,following the merger of the Black Fives (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Fives)with white professional basketball leagues, led by the National Basketball League/NBL, they joined to form the National Basketbll Association/NBA. African-Americans were finally signed to play professional basketball on formerly all-white teams,but relegated solely to the roles of rebounding and defense. It wasn’t until the 1960‘s that Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain were the first African-American pros allowed to fully display their skills.http://en.wikipedia.org/wikiBlack_participation_in_college_basketball

Once we recognized the excellence and success of African-American players, rule-changes were inevitable to contain them. Gentleman’s agreements were no longer sufficient restraints.In the 1964-65 season lanes were widened from 12-16 feet to contain the great Wilt Chamberlain.(http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_history.html). Later,the dunk shot was prohibited,for similar reasons.  Equally inevitable once African-American Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, was the effort to change election rules to restrain the African-American vote. Republican Governors and Secretaries of State elected in 2010 off-year election expected to derail Obama’s re-election. However,his excellence and skills were sufficient to assure an incredulous (to Grover Norquist among others) second term despite the billions of  private donor and SUPERPAC dollars,political,and overtly racist attacks on the President and First Lady. A determined and strong response by the Justice Department using Section 5 of the Civil Rights Act, public sentiment fueling an ever-increasingly strong ground game, and the sheer determination of African-Americans to stand in voting lines for long hours to cast a vote no matter what shocked Shelby County and those who believe the election game is theirs alone.Efforts to treat African-American voters as merely neighborhood kids failed. Not every African-American is a Wilt Chamberlain nor Barack Obama;but,white reaction to full participation in basketball or politics would make one think so. Are we still so blinded by our racism? Yes.

Regardless of how the U.S. Supreme Court rules in the Shelby County,Alabama case it is clear we are entering a new era of civil rights activism, led by those too young to remember or to have participated in the marches, sit-ins and protest demonstrations of old. This case will reinvigorate the effort to organize,register and get to the polls all citizens who believe in a fair game, and a fair poltical process. Whether one is African-American, Asian,East-Asian,Latino,LGBT,or female the game is now much clearer. We must elect those at every level, city-county-state-federal, who will protect and defend the rights of all citizens. Unfortunately, we have to wait out the far-right conservatives on the Supreme Court blocking  until more fair and reasonable justices can be appointed; but, we can put in place a president who will appoint judges and justices willing to uphold equal rights for all, and a Congress eager to approve such appointments. Elections matter. It is time to organize now for 2014 when we can elect fair and reasonable candidates to the House and Senate, and to state and local offices. The Shelby County’s suit reminds us, as did Thomas Jefferson, that the “price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” Be vigilant and vote. That is how we protect our civil rights. No one can stop us from voting unless we allow it.

ADDENDUM:

It has been brought to my attention that it was grossly unfair of me to  speak of Mrs. Scalia, Justice Antonin Scalia’s mother, when she cannot defend herself. This is very true. I could have discussed the poor behavior of Justice Scalia with no mention of his Mother and should have done so. I fell into my own writer’s trap when I compared someone I do not know and have never met, whose opinions I have never heard, and who is not a public figure as a counterpoint to balance my own mother. I was completely wrong to have done so. I sincerely and abashedly apologize to Mrs. Scalia,her family,her illustrious son and my readers.

 

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February 26, 2013 · 3:40 pm

Sequestration,By Louise Annarino,2-26-2013

Sequestration,By Louise Annarino,2-26-2013

 

Universities are cities within themselves,with their own president and provost CEO,treasurer CFO,board of directors, and department heads of academic and administrative agencies. Their purpose is to serve the public by educating students,conducting research to advance economic productivity through discovery and innovation,and to engage in service to the university and world community.My first university job was as a resident assistant in co-ed hi-rise residence hall Lincoln Tower within the Department of Student Affairs,then as summer guide for parent orientation. While studying for a masters degree, Student Personnel in Higher Education awarded 1972 by The Ohio State University, I interned in the offices of admissions,financial aid,and Greek life. After a stint as a social worker at a maximum security prison for women,I became a resident counselor and moved to University of Cincinnati, joining three others as Resident Counselors of Sander Hall,overseeeing the student residence life,maintenace and housekeeping,and food service staffs. Sander, a 27 story coed hi-rise, was a small town within the U.C. community, housing 1300 students.During law school at U.C. I developed an off-campus housing office within the Housing Department. Following 5 years as a Legal Aid Attorney I returned to university work as Associate Director of Legal Affairs for Ohio University,Athens and Assistant Attorney General,State of Ohio. My university experience was invaluable in understanding the structure and governance of institutions dedicated to a public purpose. I love the cities called “university”. I love the core mission of teaching,research and servive. I especially love public universities such as those I served, whose focus is on the public good, and which use tax dollars to better the lives of our citizens, and strengthen our larger communities.

Across-the-board budget cuts are common occurrences within universities. Some handle budget cuts better than others. OU had a brilliant strategy allowing departments to keep any surpluses which they could accrue through efficiencies rather than returning  unused funds to the general fund at the end of the budget cycle. This encouraged savings and allowed departments to creatively use those saved monies as they saw fit. Such savings did not reduce the amount budgeted for the new cycle. They were not considered. In universities where unspent funds must be returned to  the general funds, departments notoriousy spend those funds on items of uncertain value rather than appear to have been granted more funds than they need,possibly resulting in cuts to later budget cycles. There is much more to sound fiscal budget management than numbers alone. The psychology of human nature must be taken into consideration as well.

During my time at Sander Hall one resident Counselor or RC left,not to be replaced. A second RC took maternity leave. A third was reassigned to replace the director of the alumni affairs office. I was left alone to perform the tasks of four RCs, part of a budget-cutting process. My staff of 28 undergraduate and graduate assistants offered to pick up RC tasks to assist me. I insisted they not do so. To have done so successfully would have undermined their own responsibilities to advise and counsel students,adversely affected their primary goal regarding their own educational experience, and belittled the positions of RCs making it likely there would be no budget increase for new personnel in the coming years. Instead we reconfigured the tasks to cover only those matters of essential or emergency nature. We had to let many tasks remain undone,those of least consequence to health and safety. Even so, a time study conducted by an independent company clocked my work week as requiring 96 hours of direct student conduct. This did not cover other duties related to managing the  residence hall, nor contact with staff. I was burned out; but neither my residence staff,maintenance and housekeeping staff, nor food service staff suffered burn-out. And the students’ needs were met. The only persons unhappy with the manner in which I handled the budget cuts were those responsible for the cuts.I refused all assignments for additional duties,did not have time to return their calls nor complete the reams of their required reports. I held fast to completing the core mission of teaching, counseling,housing and feeding students in a safe and secure environment. I left the following year,replaced by four RCs.

I imagine directors of programs facing sequestration cuts would appreciate flexibility in designing those cuts. I know I did. Regardless,our public employees who see their responsibilities increase while their salaries are frozen are now being asked to carry the burdens of a mission under attack by those who swore to support that mission when they took their oath of office as U.S.Senators or U.S.Representatives. Retirement figures for government employees are at an all-time high;the best and most experienced workers are leaving government employ.

One significant difference from the current sequestration cuts scheduled to occur March 1st. and those across-the board cuts of universities, is that university department heads had discretion to cut what and where they saw the best opportunity for saving without disturbing the core mission of the university. They were not required to cut every “activity” or “item” equally,or even at all. This allowed the mission to continue. Clearly, the Republican refusal to stop sequestration is not an effort to cut “fat” from government or even to reduce the cost of government; but, it is an effort to deride the core missions of the government. When they state that their purpose is to create smaller government  they mean reducing its mission. We all agree with President Obama that we can and must reduce the “fat” but Mitch McConnel and John Boehner want to kill the patient. This is why the Republican position is so repugnant. We are a government of the people,by the people and for the people. Self-destruction is not pretty.

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February 22, 2013 · 1:51 pm

Will Tribalism Trump Citizenship?

Will Tribalism Trump Citizenship? By Louise Annarino,2-22-2013

 

My Mother’s side of the family is planning our first ever family reunion. That this is happening during a time when I am wrestling with the differences between being part of a tribe or being a citizen of a nation indicates the synchronicity which operates throughout the multiverse. What does it mean to be part of a tribe? What does it mean to be a citizen?

 

My first struggle for identity was between two tribes: my Father’s and my Mother’s. Was I Sicilian like Dad; or,Napolitan like Mom? “Half and half” Mom explained. In our house we referrred to two other larger tribes: our paisans (which included Siciliani,Calabrese, and Napolitani etc.) or “the Americans”.

 

The American tribe seemed stranger to me than the paisan tribe, and trying to fit into that tribe was quite confusing. For example, when visiting Americani one had to wait one’s turn to speak,slowing down conversation, but creating time for reflection. Portion sizes were miniscule at meals. I once had dinner at the home of a school chum and each person was allotted 1/2 a pork chop. I was starving when I got home and dug out the cold lasagna,because of course we always had left-overs in our over-stuffed fridge. But, my friend’s family had money to attend the symphony,go to the art museum and attend ballet. Mom could sing an aria as well as Maria Callas, or a pop ballad as well as Frank,and we danced around the kitchen together every day. She had won a jitterbug contest at radio City Music Hall at age 16 and music and dance filled our home. Each tribe had a lot to offer and I understood adhering to tribal dictates would have been a mistake.

 

I did not like the sound of English.Italian was much more musical and passionate in its delivery,using hand movements to extend and deepen meaning.English seemed drab. When I asked my Mother to teach me Italian and speak it more often so I could understand the adult conversations of my older extended family better she offered my first instruction in the difference between tribalism and citizenship when she stated, “You are an American now. You will speak English and learn to be an American. I will not teach you Italian.It will not help you become an American;it will only hold you back.”

 

When I responded that maybe I did not want to be an American she strongly set me straight. “It is America which protects us and gives us a chance to have a decent life, and to live in peace and prosperity.” As a woman particularly, she warned me that I should be greatful to be an American. “It is not so easy to be an Italian woman,” she explained. We are lucky to be Americans and living in the best country on earth. Italy was the “old country”;America is our country now. At Thanksgiving, Mom cooked turkey with all the trimmings, plus antipasto, lasagna and garlic bread. At Christmas and Easter we ate ham plus ravioli. Tribally, we were both Sicilian and Napolitan,both Italian and American. As citizens we were all-American.

 

When I listen to fundamentalist,tea-party,NRA furor I hear tribalism trumping citizenship. When I read about the Taliban, AlQuaeda in the Magreb and other such groups I see tribalism trumping citizenship.Tribalism is a threat to peace, and must be kept in check. The Soviet Union was an horrific and failed effort to reduce tribalism. The United States of America is the wondrous and best example of a successful effort to reduce tribalism. How do we do so? Through our Bill of Rights which covers every single citizen,even though we are still trying to make that a reality in fact.

 

We end tribalism through citizenship. The nation becomes larger and more meaningful to a citizen whose rights and freedoms are protected and preserved, than his allegiance to a tribe, especially one which tramples upon human rights and fails to protect the human rights of every member of the tribe. This is why the Soviet-Union failed, why Al Quaeda will fail, why any tribe seeking to assert its authority over a nation instead of under a nation is doomed to fail.

 

Which brings me to immigration reform. We must never approve an immigration policy which focuses on controlling tribes and creating an underclass through work visas, or one which allows women to be denied full freedom. The centerpiece of any sound immigration policy must be a path to citizenship. Do we really want to allow various tribes to live within our borders without citizenship? Do we understand that this would endanger our democracy?

 

This is a real danger. Tribalism is a threat to those outside the tribe,and often to those within the tribe. The only reason America has been able to peaceably self-govern and overcome the tidal wave of tribes,with all their differences, is through offering full citizenship to those willing to pledge allegiance to our constitution and to our Bill of Rights, which often flies in the face of the tribe’s belief system. For example,The Violence Against Women Act is being opposed by Republicans in part because it affords protection against violence for immigrant women. Do we understand the tribalism which perpetrates such violence, under a veil or not? Do we understand the tribalism among some Republicans which would deny a human right to a woman outside the American tribe? Tribalism is a threat both from tribal Americans and from tribal immigrants.

 

Citizenship carries rights and privileges, but it also demands allegiance to an enlightened set of principles laid out in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. We can’t have one without the other.Those who would zealously guard such principles, must also demand such allegiance.However, if they do not offer the rights of citizenship, they cannot demand allegiance to America. For over 200 years we have not invited tribes to settle here;we have invited citizens to settle here. That has kept us safe.That has kept us free.

 

We cannot understand the importance of immigration policy unless we understand the difference between tribalism and citizenship.

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January 30, 2013 · 4:39 pm

States’ Rights and Immigration Reform,By Louise Annarino,1-30-2013

States’ Rights and Immigration,by Louise Annarino,1-30-2013

Political pundits have ceased describing bi-partisan discussion of Immigration reform as an attitude of cooperation, thank goodness. They have moved beyond that wishful thinking to a more realistic view that Republicans understand they must change their legislative approach to remain more competitivewith Democrats for the Latino vote. This is true, but does not go far enough, to understand why the Republican party is not your father’s Republican party.

Democratic House minority leader Nancy Pelosi(D-CA) recently opined that House Republicans are anti-big government. This is why they will always vote no on any legislation requiring federal government rules,regulation or oversight. However, it is not that Republicans are anti-big government;nor even always anti-federal government. They are anti-federal(big) government only when it does not serve their purposes. They only oppose big government they do not like. And their purpose, following the civil rights gains of the ‘60‘s and 70‘s and demographic changes coloring America since the ‘80’s, is to preserve white-Anglo male dominance and power. Once again, as so often in our history,ethnocentrism and racism tied to money is the underlying force behind our politics.

Republicans have no problem with a federal government which rewards the top 1% and corporations with tax breaks,tax loopholes,and government contracts. Republicans have no problem with federal emergency relief which protects their voting base.This base of Republican support is predominantly white. On the other hand, they oppose such considertion for urban residents,unions-especially government employeee unions, the middle class,and the working poor. The one thing these groups have in common is their diversity. In opposing early voting in the 2012 election,Franklin County,Ohio Republican Party Chairman Doug Preisse,was quoted in The Columbus Dispatch newspaper as saying, “I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban — read African-American — voter turnout machine.” it clear that race is an underlying factor in maintaining Republican power and control. Even Senate Republicans’ renewed interest in immigration reform illustrates this.

Indeed, the Senate Gang of Eight proposes A Bipartisan Framework for Immigration Reform which includes a provision that the governor’s of border states,their attorneys general, and community leaders would staff a commission to monitor and enforce new immigration measures. This is an example of using the power and purse of a strong federal government while claiming control through states’ rights strategy to deflect any outcomes which they disapprove.

Who are the governors of our border states? Rick Perry(R-Texas),Jan Brewer(R-Arizona),Susana Martinez(R-NewMexico),and Jerry Brown(D-California). While their input is certainly of value;they are not currently empowered to direct nor control immigration prolicy and procedures. Who would be the community leaders appointed to the commission? The Southern Poverty Law Center has identified some community leaders incvolved in border security as members of “hate groups”. How would such  leaders  be denied membership? Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson wrote in an op-ed for CNN on Jan.30,2013, the “Supreme Court ruled emphatically that immigration is the responsibility of the federal government, not the states.”http://www.billrichardson.com/news/bill-richardson-oped-cnn-stars-align-last-immigration-plan.

As we watch immigration reform enacted into law,we must assure that neither hate groups,nor hateful politicians,nor persons pushing a racist and ethnocentric agenda usurp what must be a fair and just resolution. We must not forget that Republican opposition will not be due to anti-big government sentiment, but something far more difficult to eradicate. We can support those Republicans who are willing to confront the real issues facing their party. But, we must never consent to the demands of the hate-mongers who hide behind states’ rights.

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January 30, 2013 · 2:50 pm

Teenage Signals,by Louise Annarino,1-30-2013

Teenage Signals,Louise Annarino,January 30,2013

 

We take street lights for granted.

Green,yellow,red

syncronized swimmers

against the traffic tide

bringing order from confusion,

organizing patterns

of construction,

avoiding accidental

destruction

of our pride.

You are not mine.

Independence fuels

your journey,but you

are never alone.

You have me,

a streetlight,

one of many,

often unnoticed

and many unknown,

at every intersection,

seeing you safely

on your way

from youth

to adulthood

and beyond.

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January 26, 2013 · 3:55 pm

Rockslide,Louise Annarino,1-26-2013

Rockslide,Louise Annarino,1-26-2013

 

Another day started late

beyond the time to contemplate

justification for the time spent

writing a poem

few will read.

Nerves on edge

of a precipice built

with loose gravel,

not a sturdy life,

but shortened breaths

encased in gossamer

wings no longer

able to fly.

And, again

I ask “why?”

Why energy fled

before the keep was taken,before

the soul was shaken

like a tambourine’s

tinny sound,

uneven like my steps

placed in fear

of falling down

on my own,

or in the rockslide

my life is built upon.

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January 23, 2013 · 11:21 pm

Visions,Dreams and History:Barack Obama’s Second Inauguration,Louise Annarino,1-23-2013

Visions, Dreams and History: Barack Obama’s Second Inauguration,Louise Annarino,1-23-2013

We each use different words to describe singular events.Like the optical illusion in which some see an old woman with a large nose,and others see a young woman,we see more than a single meaning in President Barack Obama’s second inauguration.This one matters most to me.

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When I read DREAMS OF MY FATHER, just written by someone unknown to me named Barack Obama,my first thought was that this man could be our first African-American president, and a great American leader. From that moment I have watched him grow into both roles.

He is someone future generations of Americans will appreciate far beyond what we do today. As I listened to his second inaugural address I heard our history transformed into one closer to the truth. His words cut closer to the bone than anyone had expected. It was thrilling to watch him weave a tapestry of the development of our greatest ideals of “life,liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” from our Declaration of Independence,through a civil war, and into a civil rights movement which continues to create a more perfect union. He joins a clear line from George Washington and John Adams to Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt to Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Martin Luther King,Jr. There is a greatness and a challenge in President Barack Obama’s words which transform the American story, and opens our eyes to its great truths.

Liberals and conservatives alike are dissatisfied when they cannot construe Barack Obama’s efforts in a manner which serves their world view. Visionaries, like prophets of old, are often unwelcome in their own lands. To appreciate who they are we must stand outside the mundane boxes of our own making, and peer at them from afar. Only then, from the distance of time, do we fully appreciate the transformative process such leaders of men put in place.Those unwilling to make such a journey of the mind and heart will find my view an overblown adulation of a flawed man. I see the flaws but greatness makes them fade from view,allowing us to focus on what is truly important; i.e. we are a nation of the people,by the people, and for the people. Generations to come always deify those we vilified while visionaries challenged the status quo..

The British government put a price on the head of traitor to the king George Washington, and other founding patriots. He could have been hung. Attorney and patriot John Adams, who believed every person is entitled to a legal defense, was vilified and threatened for defending eight of the kings soldiers, six successfully, who shot to defend themselves against a mob in an event called the Boston Massacre. Abraham Lincoln was one of the most hated men in the nation by many in slave and non-slave states alike,who disapproved of his political maneuvering around the issue of slavery. Teddy Roosevelt was vilified for the obscene “dinner that shocked a nation” in which ex-slave Booker T. Washington ate with the president and his family at the White House. http://historynotebook.blogspot.com/2008/11/booker-t-washingtons-white-house-dinner.html He was no less hated by westerners for developing a national park system and protecting huge swaths of land against private development. Despite pulling the nation free of an economic depression,and successfully prosecuting a war, destroying the threat to human lives by fascism and anti-Semitism,and forging a peace which made friends of our former enemies Franklin D. Roosevelt was vilified and attacked.  Peaceful civil disobedience proponent and civil rights leader Martin Luther King,Jr. was hounded by the F.B.I. as a socialist/communist provocateur. He found his life threatened at every turn by white fear and loathing. Creation of a holiday in his honor brought renewed political opposition to his legacy.

Today, we forget the vilification of those we now call heroes,patriots,icons of American democracy;those who fought inch by perilous inch through a sea of hate and disdain, to create a more perfect union of the United States of America. Obama’s second inaugural speech will be remembered long after the snide comments of political pundits, and the short-sighted praise of his friends. It established a true rendering of the issues and events marking the era in which he served as the nation’s president. Our gret-grandchildren will know him,and us, by this speech.  For myself and for generations to come, I now thank him.

You can view the entire text and video of  President Obama’s speech at this link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/obama_inauguration/7840646.stm

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January 20, 2013 · 7:05 pm

Second Inauguration of United States President Barack Obama,Louise Annarino,1-20-2013

Second Inauguration of United States  President Barack Obama, Louise Annarino,1-20-2013

I routinely ran out of gas in 1972,the year I finished graduate school and became a prison social worker 35 miles from my home. Back then,cars did  not have warning lights when fuel was low, nor meters expressly keyed to gas tanks to tell one how far she had driven since the last fill-up;at least,not on any car I could afford.

Driving was always an ordeal to make it to my destination before the tank was empty. I rode on fumes the last few days before pay-day. One Christmas, friends gave be a bank made out of a gas can with a $20 bill inside.They told me to keep it in the trunk, and not to use the cash, until the next time I ran of gas.This was to be my new alternative to calling them for help as I sat on the berm.It worked the first time.After that, I had no money to put in the can. I was back to square one.

I learned a lot sitting by the highway watching cars speed by. Enough to understand the larger world’s frustrations, fears and even animosity toward the global power of the United States. Even those who are our friends often look on in amazement and incredulity at our narrow,short-term focus. Even fellow Americans find it difficult to understand.

I wondered about the driver of a car with a full tank as he drove by my disabled car -hood up and flashers flashing- without a glance my way. Does he not see me? Does he have no time to stop? Is where he is going so important he cannot stop to help? Does he expect other help will arrive? Does he fear me? Even more disconcerting were those drivers who glanced my way and smiled as they sped by. Did they think their smiles showed empathy? Did they think it was a joke to run out of gas? I hoped for a thumbs up, help is on the way gesture. Instead, I too often got the finger, the one that conveys disdain,dislike and blame.

I was to blame. It was my decision to not refill the tank when it got below 1/4 tank. But, that decision was made by the fact I had no cash. The little I made as a state social worker paid for rent,utilities,car payment,car insurance,and school loans. I packed my lunch,never ate out,nor ever saw a movie. I did all I could with what little I had. Some countries are like that. Not every country has a GDP equal to that of the United States;nor every citizen a job paying enough to always drive with a full tank. People and countries do the best they can with what they have to work with. Yet, we speed  by them when they are forced to sit on the berm.we ignore them,smile at them,give them  advice,even give them $20 once in a while. And some of us give them the finger. None of these efforts solve the underlying problems.

So, as I sat there on the berm I could feel my resentment build over time. No amount of prayer,smiling,or waving my arms stopped a car. Only the good-heartedness, fearlessness, and generosity of a particular driver did that. For which I was inordinately grateful. As I matured, improved my personal economy, and could afford a car with warning lights I stopped running out of gas. Countries are like that,too. Too many have little chance of doing what I was able to do here in the United States.

WW II created many new countries,dividing tribes and cultural groups with artificial lines. The imperialism of the West,so ingrained and institutionalized abroad, continues today. Multi-national corporations  harvest and sell the young countries’ natural resources, influence the non-development of new enterprises which would compete for their profits,and drive toward these countries toward their futures with blinders on. They do not see those standing by the side of the road. Or, if they do, too few stop to help. And helping one-by-one without solving the underlying problems does not create a lasting solution.

Thus,resentments build, even within the hearts of those who appreciate the corporations which bring  jobs, have made friends across national boundaries, seek a common goal,and are people of peace. When the few who do not seek peace,who share no common goal come among them with a can of desperately needed gas, they cannot easily turn them down. Who knows when the world’s drivers will take notice of them waiting on the berm? Who knows when the world will begin to work on solutions which last? This was the hope which President Obama brought to the world. This is why  those waiting on the berm rejoice at his election and re-election. President Obama knows the world’s byways,sees far and wide as he drives the ship of state, plans for a lasting solutions,with a long view over time. Those of us on the berm understand and appreciate him for this.

I think of Libya,Chad and Algeria. These are not surprises to anyone who has traveled the world’s byways with eyes wide-open,scanning the berms on each side for other travelers in need. Unfortunately, those who think stopping to help those on the berm delays their own progress oppose our president. Those who prefer to drive among winners and not the losers standing on the berm,oppose our president. And, there are too many of us who fear those waiting on the berm; too afraid to chance stopping to help a fellow traveler. They actually fear our president, or try to make us afraid. If we want a lasting peace with the world, and an end to terrorism and war, we need to be better drivers and better friends to  our fellow travelers on this globe. That is President Obama.That is the President the world knows and loves.That is my president! I hope you enjoy the second inauguration of President Barack Obama. I know I shall.

 

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January 18, 2013 · 7:45 pm

My Grandma Louisa Abbruzzi,By Louise Annarino,1-18-2013

My Grandma Louisa Abbruzzi,by Louise Annarino,1-18-2013

 

She brought me warm peaches

juicy pinks and yellow

from the fruit man’s cart –

just because I loved peaches.

 

She called me in from play

when my cousin tormented me

with threats of abandonment –

just because I needed acceptance.

 

She shared a nap with me

when no one would answer my questions

so she could tell me her stories –

just because I wanted to know.

 

She sang Neapolitan love songs

as I danced about the kitchen

on rainy days –

just because I needed to move.

 

She stroked my face

with hard, callused hands

worn rough tending ten children –

just because I needed soothing.

 

She grabbed my “rosie cheeks a la la”

and kissed me soundly,

painfully and laughingly –

just to make me giggle.

 

She dried my tears

with the hem

of her threadbare dress –

just because I treasured her comfort.

 

She spoke little English, but

she spoke the language of love.

I knew her only 8  short years.

I shall love her forever.

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