Black Thought Nails Supreme Court Prediction

I am obviously not back on a regular basis, but I will engage in a little self-celebration at getting the first Supreme Court nominee prediction pick head on.

On November 22, 2008, I predicted Sotomayor would be the first Supreme Court nominee . . . and . . . well . . . she is:

Alright folks, I really have no idea how it will go down, but these are my predictions of the order of the nominations selected from the top ten prospects as listed by Salon.
I have no real additional insight into the picks and order aside from my gut feeling.

Nonetheless, here are my picks in order of their future nomination.

Nomination Pick #1

Sonia Sotomayor, 54 — After growing up in a Bronx housing project, Sotomayor has risen to become a judge on one of the most powerful courts in the land: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. As a Hispanic woman, Sotomayor would make an attractive candidate if Obama is looking to diversify the court. There has never been a Hispanic on the Supreme Court, and there is only one woman currently on the bench, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Sotomayor might also have bipartisan appeal. She is politically moderate, and President George H.W. Bush appointed her to her first judgeship.

Obama’s first appointment should rightly be a woman, seeing as they are more than 50% of the population and have one representative on the bench. I believe she will be the first appointment because she is an uncontroversial slightly liberal woman, and would be the first latino to boot. (link)

My prediction was that the second nominee would be Cass Sunstein. We’ll see how how I do in round #2.

Rosa Parks Quote

All I was doing was trying to get home from work.

Could Obama Have Won If He Were Black . . . I Mean “Really Black”?

The rise of Obama into the White House is an amazing image to behold. A black man is now going to be President. It has an emotional effect on so many people of color, particularly black people.

And yet, it is worth thinking about whether America’s acceptance of blackness is really as complete as the election of Barack Obama suggests.

Part of Obama’s success and rise is rooted in the fact that he is not “really black,” but biracial. By biracial I mean that his parents were not both black.

Throughout the campaign you would often see images of his white mother and white grandparents. There were not really that many photos put forward by the campaign of his African father and relatives. In fairness to Obama, the white side of his family is the one that stayed around to raise him, but my point is still worth considering.

The real question is whether or not a black man or woman could become President without half of their family being white.

I feel that when white people look at biracial people, they say to themselves, well they’re half like me. Another cruder way of seeing it is “I was always potentially a wild night out on the town by my Mom from being born biracial myself.”

I guess my point, and call me pessimistic, is that a black person without white people as a major part of their family background, could not have won the Presidency in 2008.

Hopefully, I’m wrong though.

In any event, we’ve still come a long way with the Obamas.

For me, the most amazing transformational part of the Obamas in the White House, is Michelle Obama, as I’ll discuss in a future post.

Harriet Tubman On Freedom

“I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.”

– Harriet Tubman

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

It really won’t.

Martin Luther King, Jr. On Malcolm X

As an aside, and I hesitate to make the comparison, but the beginning of this response/question remindsme of the discussion of Obama’s message of hope, i.e the attack that it is hogwash to invoke.

Malcolm X: Stop Hatin – Who Taught You To Hate Yourself?

Food for thought . . . self-hatin is a problem in need of attention.

Folks . . . stop hatin.

Malcolm also gives the love to black women.

Food for thought from history – whether you generally agree with the man or not.

James Baldwin: On The Civil Rights Movement & Race In America

Anybody who gives any thought to race in America and what it means, should give Baldwin your ear for a few minutes. Brilliant mind, brilliant stuff.

I’m still thinking about the words.

If you’re too busy to watch the entire thing, you should listen to Baldwin’s last question (beginning at 5:23).

It’s still unanswered.

Bobby Seale: Black Panther Party Ten Point Program

The plan sounds like a pretty fair list of demands (well almost all of them) . . . don’t you think? Interesting thought experiment. How many of the ten points of the plan have been achieved as of 2008?

Malcolm X Speaks After Mecca

For those curious about Malcolm X, but who felt he was too radical or “racist,” please watch Malcolm X speak after his transformative trip to Mecca after his break from the nationalist black muslim movement.

As I’ve noted before, whether you agree with is views or not, Malcolm is a master of framing.