Flap over Obama's birth is rooted in racism

President Barack Hussein Obama, our all-American president

In case you have been asleep for the last couple of years, a whole bunch of right wing wing-nuts keep working hard to spread a lie: That our president, Barack Hussein Obama, was not born here and is Muslim*. Conspiracy theories about the alleged cover-up of this so called "truth" abound. Just do a little Google search and see for yourself. There is even a name for them: "birthers."


It's nothing but a bunch of racist crap.


It's because he's African American, his father is Kenyan, and his name is not Tom, Dick, or even Hillary. Right wing conservatives and racist people of every stripe are terrified of a Black man in power, a Black man as President of the United States. 


Today the White House released President Obama's official birth certificate to try to put an end to this nonsense. It's the "long form" that is not released when anyone in Hawaii asks for an official copy. It's the sealed one, kept in a vault. The official copy Obama already released, the kind that all Hawaiians get was apparently not enough to stop the "birthers" and their lunatic idiocy. 

The "long form" birth certificate, just released

The normal official birth certificate that all Hawaiians get.

My guess is that even releasing the sealed birth certificate and the briefing Obama plans to hold on the topic today won't stop the conspiracy theories, the fear, the paranoia, anti-Muslim hatred, the racism. 


And that makes me sick.

*And what if he was Muslim? There are no restrictions on religion and eligibility to be president.


The amazing Baratunde Thurston speaks with rage and sadness about this issue:


Goldie Taylor, in a guest op-ed on Rachel Maddow breaks it down in a big way. "...This was constructed to de-legitimize the presidency of a black man..."



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Update: President Obama speaks to this issue with class and grace in his briefing on this matter. I love my president. I wonder what he does with his rage...



March 30: President Obama skews Trump, releases birth video and more at White House Correspondence Dinner. Take that, crazies. Bam! I love my President.

All American Family

Recently I was thinking about the composition of my extended family and it goes something like this:

European American, African American, Mexican American, Moroccan/Arab American, French, Costa Rican American, Paraguayan American and Puerto Rican; 

Christian, Muslim, Mormon, Buddhist, Agnostic; 

Straight, queer; 

Differently abled; 

Birthed, adopted, step; 

Married, divorced, partnered, blended, single; 

Born in U.S., immigrant; 

Professionals, trades, artists, laborers, students, unemployed; 

Veterans, currently serving, pacifist; 

Democrat, Republican, Independent; 

One years old to 81 years old.

Like I said, an all American family. Don’t even try to define us in any other way.

Image: The Flag Story Quilt, Faith Ringgold, 1985

Image: The Flag is Bleeding, by Faith Ringgold, 1967

Double Nickels!

I turn 55 in a couple of days. Double nickels! I like to make playlists each year on my birthday that reflect both songs in current heavy rotation and the atmosphere of my life at that point in time. This year's playlist celebrates continuing to live life fully and bravely, having good fun always, and the eclectic musical universe that is my ever-changing soundtrack.

Double Nickels

by DJ Dancing Diva

1. Golden, Jill Scott

2. Wade In the Water, Eva Cassidy

3. Rolling In the Deep, Adele

4. (Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay, Otis Redding

5. Salala, Angélique Kidjo Feat. Peter Gabriel

6. Homeless, Paul Simon

7. Beautiful Boy, John Lennon

8. Closer To The Sky, Michael Franti

9. A Song for You, Leon Russell

10. As, Stevie Wonder

11. I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston

12. Love Shack, The B-52's

13. Boogie Oogie Oogie, A Taste of Honey

14. Bop Gun (One Nation), Ice Cube

15. Sexy M.F., Prince

16. It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp, Djay and Shug (this one kind of throws you, right?!)

17. Papa Was a Rollin' Stone, (DJ Jazzy Jeff and Pete Kuzma Solefull Mix) The Temptations

18. Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen

On iTunes? You can find this playlist on Ping, here.

From random tweet to headline news

Twitterville is my favorite social media hood. Anything goes on Twitter - from the conversational to politics to breaking news to tumbling governments. And it's awake and lively 24/7. A happening kind of place.

I probably send out 5-10 tweets a day into the Twitterverse from @dancingdiva. Most of my tweets are a bit inane, sometimes funny, bits of "news" from a day in my life, or idle chit-chat with my tweeps. Nothing newsworthy, or so I thought.

Never once did I imagine that one of those little random tweets would translate into a story about reactions to rising gas prices featured "A1-above-the-fold" in the April 12 Star Tribune (and on the home page of its online edition). And that the story lede would jump off with, well, me:

Ann Freeman was filling up her Pontiac Vibe, watching the numbers on the pump spin so fast they blurred, when she noticed something she'd never seen before.

"I had never broken 40 bucks on gas before," she said, muttering to herself: "This is ridiculous."

She went home, got out her bicycle and took it in for a tuneup.

"My knees aren't what they used to be," Freeman, 54, said Monday afternoon. "But thanks to higher gas prices, I am motivated to drive less, ride more, save money and consume less..."

The rest of the story can be found here. (My favorite part is the guy who changed his match.com radius from 50 to 25 miles. What if his yet-to-be-found soul mate lives 35 miles away?!)  

Here's the Twitter-tale:

The original tweet (from my phone, in my car, at the gas station)

 

The re-tweet or RT

 

The "ask" by a reporter looking for angles for his story

 

The result: From tweet to headline news

So what's your guess? Will today's random tweet become tomorrow's news?

Loving Marvin Gaye

 The original 1974 "Anthology" album cover

Twenty-seven years ago today we lost the late, great Marvin Gaye on the eve of his 45th birthday. I fell in love with the man and the music as a teenager in the 70s. I remember sitting in my bedroom, door shut, playing "Marvin Gaye's Anthology" over and over on my record player, arm open for continuous repeat, reading the liner notes on the album cover, looking at his handsome face, and dreaming of the future. Today, all these years later, his music is always in heavy rotation - in my mind, on my iPod, and yes, even on vinyl - those old original albums still scratching the magic out. 

An amazing recording of him performing his classics live.The messages are as relevant today as they were then.