I mean, you just have to wonder how Mitt Romney must feel right about now. Once the stage lights are off and the last interview for the day is through, the last campaign stop completed, what must it feel like?

And you know where I’m going with this. Here’s a man whose father,George Romney, was a governor (Michigan’s 43rd governor, 1963-1969), Republican Party powerhouse (U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 1969-1973, candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 1968), and a bigtime businessman  (CEO of General Motors 1954-1962). Then along comes Junior, who goes on to essentially follow in his father’s career footsteps; in addition to being 70th Governor of Massachusetts (2003-2007), Romney Junior also  became successful in the business world when he eventually rose through the ranks to become CEO of Bain & Company, a company which he is said to have rescued from fiscal crisis. He later co-founded Bain Capital.

So Romney comes from lots of money. He himself has lots and lots (and still lots more) money. His dad had government experience. Junior has government experience. Junior is good-looking. Junior is clean-cut. Junior’s wife is an attractive blonde, and together they have five great-looking kids. Junior has a strong campaign organization. Junior has a fat campaign chest. Junior has a Colgate smile. I don’t know if the family has a dog, but if they do I’m sure the little feller can perform countless amusing tricks on queue and is faithful, obedient, and can recite the pledge of allegiance in six languages.

How can this guy not be running away with the Republican nomination? Even worse, how in the hell can he be losing to a black former pizza chain owner with no government experience and a three-digit laughable excuse for a campaign platform? I think it’s pretty safe to say that the Republican Party as it stands right now is essentially the rich white man’s party. This party is tailor-made for fat white cats with fat bank accounts. Even many of the hundreds of thousands of Republicans who don’t match that description at all still seem to be okay with that. Let’s just call it guilt by association.

So then why is the black guy still at the top of the polls? The black guy with hardly any money in his campaign war chest, with no real campaign organization to speak of, and who most definitely is not a rich white man? How did this happen?

At the end of the day, sure, everybody pretty much knows Herman Cain will not be allowed to pass ‘Go’ on the campaign game board. The rug will eventually be pulled out from underneath his feet and the Republican troops, such as they are, will grumblingly accept the pathetic inevitability that is Mitt. That’s why Cain is spending so much time selling his book and being entertaining is because he knows those entertainment fees are what is going to butter his bread once this charade is over. But even given that eventuality, how must it feel to be Mitt and to be running neck and neck with Engine Number 999 -after the almost-but-not-quite savior Texas Governor Rick Perry fell on his face and after the almost-but-not-quite-savior-who-never-was Gov. Chris Christie refused to be begged into the race. And both of these men were targeted by the Republican multitudes who wanted anybody but Mitt.

This may not last much longer, but it has already lasted more than long enough to make Mitt wonder this one simple question; when was being a wealthy white man in America with connections and family pedigree not enough to stave off a challenge from somebody like Herman Cain?

And then? Once Romney does get the nomination (assuming Ranger Rick doesn’t mount a 4th quarter game changer),  he’s got to go up against another brother. And this one got skillz kid!

Just what kind of an America is this, anyway?

The monument dedicated to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a beautiful piece of work, and I don’t think you will find many people who will disagree with that assessment. It is powerful, artistic, and long, long overdue. It was difficult for many of those in attendance not to become emotional during Sunday’s dedication ceremony.

But.

Here’s the thing, at least for me. As beautiful as the monument is, and as glad as I am that it is finally completed and has arrived at its rightful place in history as well as location, a monument has a hard time competing against a movement. And right now the month-old Occupy Wall Street movement, which has gone global (and has now landed full force in my own Detroit), is perhaps the best active reflection of Dr. King’s extended philosophy and principles that has been seen since his murder in 1968. Because although King is best known as a civil rights crusader who successfully challenged and defeated the immorality and brutality of legalized segregation, those who know the full 360 degrees of King know that his commitment to peace and justice was much, much broader than that. His vocal opposition to the Vietnam War and his planned participation in a Poor People’s March were just two examples of Dr. King’s developing belief and growing awareness in his latter years that the entire American system was polluted and corrupt and had to be reformed. It wasn’t just black folks who had to be set free, it was the entire country that was being held hostage to an unjust – and government-sanctioned – system of oppression.

Not surprisingly, a number of those who supported King in his fight against segregation balked at his audacity to challenge the American War Machine – or anything that extended beyond the boundaries of what was supposed to be of acceptable concern to black folk. President Lyndon Johnson, whose presidency was ultimately destroyed because of his mishandling of the Vietnam War, was one of those who simply could not fathom why King could not be grateful for all the president had done for black folk. Indeed he was said to be outraged – and considered it a personal affront – that King would openly challenge and oppose him on the war after Johnson had moved legislative mountains to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964and then the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as well.

But as someone who considered himself to be a citizen of the world, not just of Georgia or the United States, King refused to accept the perverse concept that justice should only exist within certain government-prescribed boundaries. Because justice in a cage is not justice at all, but only a diversionary sideshow. And it is that revolutionary spirit of justice unbound which I believe energizes the Occupy Wall Street movement. The people know what is going on, they are fed up, and they simply refuse to lie down and take it anymore. By their sheer numbers and determination they are forcing the world to take notice, and if this momentum keeps up then, well,  a change is gonna come.

This is being cross-posted at Black Liberal Boomer and Detroit Life

Now that the Detroit Lions are 5-0, the rest of the country is watching my adopted hometown with renewed fascination and, for once, not because something else went wrong. Some are even wondering if this remarkable transformation of a perpetual underdog team could herald a new day on the horizon for the entire city. Because, hey, if the Detroit Lions are winning? The Detroit Lions? Well, then apparently anything – and everything – can happen.

Keep in mind we’re talking about a team that couldn’t even manage to win not one damned game for the entire 2008 season. Think about that for a sec, man. I mean, there’s bad, and then there’s God-awful. Not managing to win even one game in a season ranks somewhere well below God-awful. Can you imagine what would happen to the city of Dallas – hell, the entire state of Texas - if the Cowboys wrapped up a season with no wins at all? Remember what Gov. Rick Perry said they do in Texas to folks who commit certain types of crimes in his state? How he said, essentially, that if you do these things then Texans won’t lose an ounce of sleep after erasing those folks from the roster of life? Yeah, well one of those crimes is losing too many football games. Because you’d best believe if the Cowboys tried to pull that stunt of a no-win season then they would wake up one morning to find themselves bundled and strapped to a stake out in the middle of some wide open prairie, being barbequed over an open pit. Texas style.

But here in Detroit? No one ever expected the Lions to win. Ever. The only ones who held out any hope of a winning Lions season were the delusional. I would never characterize myself as a football aficionado – or an aficionado of any sport – but you didn’t have to be any kind of expert to figure out that waiting for a Lions win was like waiting for sunshine at the bottom of the ocean. Inside a cave.

But then here comes 2011 and the Lions actually started out the season with a win. And then another. And then another. And then another. And then another. And now we gotta see if they can keep the train running through this Sunday when they play the San Francisco 49ers. And what exactly are we supposed to do if they actually take this all the way to becoming…Division champs…?

Damn, dawg.

Right about now I’m anticipating it will be 85 degrees on New Year’s Eve, 2012, and I’m expecting we just might see snow next July. Because if the Lions are winning?

Don’t ever bet against Detroit.

Golly. That was close wasn’t it?

There he was, Ranger Rick, stepping into the El Presidente Coral, all granite-jawed and Texas cool, one hand on the trigger of Buck, the name of his pearl-handled six-shooter, the other caressing a bible. And the bible was caressing him back!

What was a Mittens to do? There he was, like a well-groomed deer frozen forever in the headlights, trying to decide which direction to leap towards salvation. Which policy should he abandon? Which Brand New Mittens suit should he wear? What to do? What to do? What chance did Bambi have against Ranger Rick?

Mittens. Stranded at the Crossroads of Life.

But then, just as the crowds were all prepared to cheer the blessed arrival of He Who Shall Deliver Us From the Interminable Boredom That Is Mittens, a problem arose. The first hint of this problem came when, just before he was about to deliver a major speech, Ranger Rick heard Buck frantically whispering to him. Can’t this wait? asked Ranger Rick. Buck fired off a round in angry protest and Ranger Rick quickly excused himself from the podium to be counseled by his most trusted advisor.

When Ranger Rick returned to the stage, crowds screaming and yelling in gleeful anticipation to receive their blessing from The One, his assistant noticed a slight green tinge around Ranger Rick’s gills.

“What’s the problem, boss?” he asked.

“Buck’s empty,” said Ranger Rick.

“Huh?”

“Dammit, I said BUCK’S EMPTY! THERE AIN’T NOTHIN’ IN THE CHAMBER! WHAT KINDA ROOTIN’ TOOTIN’ TEXAS COWBOY SHOOTS BLANKS?”

“Well maybe it’s not as bad as…”

“BOY DON’T YOU HEAR GOOD? MY HARD COLD STEEL DONE GONE LIMP. My cold hard stell done gone limp…”

Well the crowd went so quiet you could have heard a cotton ball landing on a cotton floor. No, no, nooooooooooo!

And Mittens? Well he just smiled and smiled…

This is being cross-posted on Black Liberal Boomer

Prior to President Obama’s presentation of his jobs plan for the nation, Rep. Hansen Clarke came up with his own piece of  legislation designed specifically to help the City of Detroit get back on its feet. Clarke, who is currently serving his first term in office after his defeat of longtime Congresswoman Carolyn Cheek Kilpatrick, has long been recognized by those who know him and have worked with him as someone who cares deeply about the city of Detroit. Granted, he can be a bit quirky sometimes, but his commitment to his community is something no one would ever argue against, and this new legislation he plans on putting forward is proof of that.

In a nutshell, what Hansen proposes is an extremely creative approach that would capture all of the federal taxes paid by Detroit residents and businesses during a five-year period and then re-invest those millions of dollars into the City of Detroit. During that 5-year timespan  Detroit would not be able to collect local income taxes, but we would be getting an estimated  $378 million per year for five years from the federal taxes, which would more than compensate for the loss.

From MLive.com

“It’s not going to cost other taxpayers anything at all,” Clarke explained. “It’s a targeted investment right here in the city, and we need jobs right now.”

The Jobs Trust would be administered by the U.S. Treasury, and any spending would require approval from both the Detroit City Council and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Before hiring new police officers or teachers, the legislation mandates that the city eliminate all outstanding deficits within the municipal government and public school system, both of which are struggling under the weight of debt and interest payments. Detroit entered the fiscal year with a $155 million deficit and DPS’ is north of $325 million.

“We realize that the strongest incentive to attract business to Detroit and keep employers here is to have safe streets and good schools,” Clarke said. “And then by lowering the cost of living we’ll attract residents and businesses because the property taxes will be lower when the city doesn’t have a debt to finance.”

Hansen has already had the chance to present his plan to the President, and based on what I’ve seen of the proposal it sounds like something I sincerely hope Obama can get behind. No doubt Obama’s first major hurdle- and primary focus- must be on promoting his jobs plan for the entire nation, but hopefully Hansen’s plan can somehow become an integral part of the jobs creation strategy. As the poorest big city in the nation, facing more economic challenges than just about anyone else, the rebuilding of Detroit could go a long way toward the rebuilding of this Southeaster Michigan region and this entire state. And a stronger Michigan has got to mean a stronger economy for the midwest as well as the rest of the country. As for those who might still argue that this plan still isn’t black enough and doesn’t specifically target the issues and concerns facing Black America, perhaps the fact that the nation’s poorest big city in America  is more than 85 percent black might help to alleviate those concerns.

So as we celebrate Labor Day? Yeah, well I thought this recent piece by MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnellchronicling the obscene profit levels and salaries being enjoyed by corporate CEOs might help put things into perspective down here on the ground. You can click on the following link to view the entire piece, which would be well worth your time. It’s short, but powerful.

Lawrence O\’Donnell

As a Detroiter, particularly a Detroiter who, like most Detroiters, was thrilled to see the Big Three auto companies rehiring workers, I confess I almost swallowed my tongue when Lawrence got to the part about how much loot Ford CEO Alan Mulally is pulling down for an annual salary. Mulally is pocketing $26 million PER YEAR as head man for Ford Motor Company. And not only that, but Ford didn’t pay any taxes last year. Matter of fact, they got a damned refund.

I know Ford didn’t take the bailout, and hooray for them, I suppose, that they were able to navigate a way through their financial mess without having to climb aboard the government life raft. And sure it’s much better for the local, regional, even national economy that they managed to survive rather than slip over the edge. But is any singular human being really worth a $26 million annual salary? Especially when the rest of the country is struggling on life support? I mean, what the hell can any one individual do that makes him/her worth that kind of salary? Exactly how do they calculate that?

No, I’m not suggesting that Mulally give all his money to the poor and renounce all his worldly possessions. What I am saying, however, is simply that now might be a good time for Ford to acknowledge that they are at least vaguely aware of the economic conditions being faced by the rest of us in Michigan. Once again, I am not ignoring the fact that they are rehiring, nor am I ignoring whatever other positive contributions they may be making to the community. But all that being said, there is no way around the fact that for Ford to be paying their top dog $26 million in this economy while getting a tax refund just doesn’t quite send the message to your ordinary Michigan resident that they ‘get it’.

The real message? Imagine a towering, extended middle finger. Now imagine that middle finger cast in solid gold with a diamond ring encircling the extended digit. Now ain’t dat lovin’ you?

This is being cross-posted at Black Liberal Boomer and Detroit Life.

Way back in February there was a local story that ran announcing Mayor Dave Bing’s plan to offer incentives for Detroit police officers to be able to buy homes in Detroit neighborhoods. In addition to helping repopulate the city, the plan was also part of a broader effort to bring some stability to the neighborhoods, which are desperately in need of that stability. The plan was targeted to specific neighborhoods, which meant it was automatically going to attract criticism from those claiming that it was allowing certain less desirable neighborhoods to be flushed down the toilet while granting other  neighborhoods perceived to be more ‘upscale’ a very special anointing permitting them to flourish.

Several weeks ago there was another story highlighting a particular Detroit police officer who had chosen to participate in Mayor Bing’s program. The picture showed her smiling, standing outside her newly purchased home. That newly purchased home is located about three houses down from my home. Suffice it to say that my wife and I were thrilled. Unfortunately, another recent story pointed out that, so far, only 10 police officers have taken Mayor Bing up on his offer to move back into Detroit neighborhoods. Bing’s target number was 200. Still, it’s a start.

I say all this in the interest of full disclosure; yes, I do live in one of the neighborhoods targeted for revitalization. Yes, I’m glad about it. Yes I think it’s a great program. No, I wouldn’t characterize where I live as upscale, and neither would you if you lived here. House across the street sold for a little over $2,000 two years ago, then was just sold again a few months ago for a little over $3,000. It’s a huge two-story brick. The house two doors down is slated for demolition and is a wreck. Not sure how many homes are boarded up on our block, but it’s more than a few.

But still, with all that, we’ve got great neighbors on either side of us and there is still a sense of cohesiveness here that’s reassuring. Boston Edison used to be one of the city’s premiere neighborhoods, and it still has some great and beautiful homes, but the hard times of Detroit have not skipped on by and left us untouched. Believe me when I tell you. However, there is still enough to build on here that, if the rebuilding is successful, could possibly cast Boston Edison as one of several anchor neighborhoods throughout the city that can be made strong enough to hold it down while follow-up work is done to do for the other neighborhoods what is being done here.

Certainly I understand those who would criticize as too preferential Bing’s program of giving homeowner breaks to police officers and city employees, and there’s no way for me to sound impartial on this because I’m benefiting directly from the program. But I will say that I don’t believe there’s a better approach to revitalizing the neighborhoods on the table that I’m aware of. There’s simply no way for a broke city to rescue each and every neighborhood all at once. As it is, the money to rescue the few is coming from JP Morgan Chase, not the depleted city coffers:

From the Detroit Free Press, Aug. 18, 2011

“For the first time since Bing announced the Detroit Works Project two years ago, all city employees are eligible for cash to help them makedown payments on vacant houses in various neighborhoods: North End, Boston Edison, Virginia Park, Hubbard Farms, Palmer Woods, Sherwood Forest, the University District, East English Village, North Rosedale and Green Acres.

“The plan calls for $25,000 down payments for each of the first 10 police officers who qualify for a mortgage. An additional 60 city employees will receive up to $15,000 on each down payment.”

Like I said, it’s a start. Consider Detroit’s rebirth a work in progress, Emphasis on the word ‘work’.

California Rep. Maxine Waters has every right to be frustrated with President Barack Obama if that’s the way she feels, and she obviously has every right to voice that frustration as loudly and as publicly as she wants. Same goes for Tavis Smiley and Dr. Cornel West, who recently launched their poverty tour to highlight poverty in the U.S. which, apparently, Obama either knows or cares nothing about. Especially when it comes to black people. If Smiley and West honestly believe that launching these attacks on Obama during his re-election campaign is the smartest way to chart a course towards a better Black America, and if they actually believe what they’re saying, then fine. Do it. Whatever makes you feel like you’re contributing to the common good.

I may disagree with them violently – and believe me I do – but I would never take issue with their right to make their point in whatever way they think will get that point across.

But here’s the thing that does bother me about all this; it’s the underlying (or maybe not so underlying) assumption that Obama just isn’t taking black suffering seriously. In a very real sense, it’s going back to one of the earliest criticisms Obama faced during his 2008 campaign, namely that he just wasn’t ‘black enough’. He hadn’t lived or experienced life as most American blacks had, largely because he had grown up in these ‘weird’ places like Hawaii and Indonesia. Plus he had a white mother and and African – not African American – father. So how could Obama really be in touch with the brothers and sisters in the street? Of course, when it came out that he had been a member of the church of Rev. Jeremiah ‘God damn America’ Wright, then overnight Obama went from being an Oreo cookie to a black bag full of charcoal. So black that even his shadow destroyed all evidence of light.

But moving right along, Waters was here in Detroit a few days ago as part of a forum sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus. The only article I could find on the visit was from Fox News, so I’m taking this with a grain of salt, but still it is worth paying attention to what Waters said at this meeting, where she essentially asked permission of black folk to go after Obama with a blowtorch. Realizing that Obama still has a high rating of approval among most black voters, and that black voters are a key element of his base, Waters figured she was being smart to make sure black folks said it was OK for her and other members of the Black Caucus to go after a brother who happens to be president. Because she doesn’t want them chastising her and the CBC once they launch their attack.

From Fox News:

U.S. House Rep. Maxine Waters is asking black voters who are struggling with an unemployment ratenearly twice the national average to “unleash” her and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus on President Obama.

The California Democrat, speaking at a raucous town hall in Detroit hosted by the CBC on Tuesday, said she doesn’t want to attack the president from his base unless the base gives her the go-ahead.

“If we go after the president too hard, you’re going after us,” Waters said. “When you tell us it’s all right and you unleash us and you’re ready to have this conversation, we’re ready to have the conversation.”

The article goes on to say:

Waters said the Congressional Black Caucus “loves” the president, but it is frustrated.

“We’re getting tired y’all,” she said. “We want to give him every opportunity. But our people are hurting. The unemployment is unconscionable. … When you let us know it is time to let go, we’ll let go.”

The public outcry came amid several efforts to amp up minority voters. The CBC is on a five-city “For the People Jobs Initiative” this month.

And then…

Obama is at the end of his three-day bus tour through the Midwest in which he emphasized his prescription for the nation’s economic woes. He announced on the tour that after Labor Day he will deliver what is being billed as a major speech on job creation and deficit reduction.

At her town hall meeting, Waters questioned why Obama hasn’t gone to any black neighborhoods during his bus tour.

“We don’t know what the strategy is. We don’t know why on this trip that he’s in the United States now, he’s not in any black communities,” she said.

And finally, there was this piece from Time magazine where Waters got into more detail in her own words about why she, and other members of the CBC, feel it is important to start going after the president at this point in time:

Your jobs tour came about the same time as President Obama’s tour of three Midwestern states. What’s the takeaway from his trip?

Ours had been planned for weeks. We didn’t know anything about theirs. The president has a style of doing these town hall meetings and talking with people about their concerns, and responding. He went to several states where the unemployment rate was better than the rest of the nation – 6% in Iowa, for instance. He took resources. Take a look at the rural initiative. He committed about $510 million to the production of bio-fuels. Now, we like that kind of approach, and we think it should be used in urban areas.

In what way? What are some specific things the president can do for urban communities?

He was able to connect things they produce and invest in it in some way. We’d love to have concentrated investment for the manufacturing of solar panels, or some of the green jobs we talk about, in cities. We’d love to have investment in small- and minority-owned banks to help expand and create jobs. One thing we could do that would create jobs is find a way to help groups to buy up all the properties that are boarded up. Fix those properties and put them back on the market. It would serve a lot of purposes, providing jobs and housing. There’s a need for infrastructure development, whether it’s your roads and bridges and water systems. Our schools need to be invested in. These classes these kids are going to school in, they’re in awful shape.

There are folks who’ll argue there are limits to what a black president from Chicago’s South Side can do for certain parts of his base. What do you say to that?

He targeted rural communities. Why not urban? What I’ve learned in this political scenario is that somehow, ‘agriculture’ and ‘rural’ is more honorable than ‘urban.’ I don’t know how that kind of feeling and attitude developed.

How concerned are you that issues of particular importance to blacks – short- and long-term solutions to the employment and education crises, for example, are being left out of the conversation?

A lot of this publicity I’m getting around what I said in Detroit has to do with putting us–blacks–back in the conversation. It’s asking African Americans, ‘Do you want to be in the conversation?’ It seems to me, based on some of the reaction, that you don’t want to be in the conversation. You tell the Congressional Black Caucus, ‘Why don’t you get the president to do this, or that?’ You want us to do something about the conditions in the neighborhood. Black Caucus members determined some time ago that any criticism of the president caused a backlash. In Detroit, that’s what I pointed out – the contradiction. That’s when I said, ‘when are you going to unleash us to get into the conversation?’ It was a new way of dealing with a political reality, which doesn’t get dealt with publicly often enough.

I will  honestly say that Waters is not being wild-eyed Tea Party crazy when she makes these accusations, and there is some definite basis for her concern. Same for Tavis and Dr. West.  There is no way around the fact that the black unemployment rate is so much higher than the national average, and that black people – as always – are confronting far more severe circumstances on the whole than whites or just about any other group except maybe Native Americans. It is not out of line when looking at statistics like these to demand special attention be given to address these very special emergency circumstances. And Black America is, by any definition, in a state of extreme emergency. Also, strategically speaking,  it is hardly shocking that they would choose to target Obama during his re-election campaign because, well, when else would be a better time to get his attention? And finally, I will grant Waters the point that Obama definitely should include some inner city areas on his tour, if they haven’t  already been inserted into the schedule. It’s pretty hard to defend why he would show up in a cornfield but not at a housing project. Or even at a rural area that is largely black and poor.

So I get it.

But here’s the thing I think  Waters, West, and Smiley are still missing: a close look at Obama’s accomplishments and policy initiatives will show that he has already done a lot to address some of the major concerns of Black America. Sure, he didn’t label any of those accomplishments as ‘This One’s For You, Brothers and Sisters’, but they still got the job done. For example, we can start with the health care initiative. We can debate the pluses and minuses of the plan for however long, including what its prospects are longterm, but the fact remains that he is the first president to push the ball this far down the road. And I would challenge anybody to say that improving healthcare in America will not in any way benefit African Americans, because given the health issues our community is dealing with, I’d say health care is rather critical. Then we can go to Obama’s rescue of the Big Three auto companies, which are now rehiring. Quite a few black folks working in those auto factories. And then there was the expansion of the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children. I don’t believe all those children were white. For a very long and comprehensive list of other Obama accomplishments – or of policy issues he is at least working hard to address – click here.

In other words, just because the man doesn’t create race-specific legislation designed specifically for African Americans doesn’t mean he has forgotten all about us. Is there more that could be done? Sure. Probably so. But the same could be said for the rest of the country. Because he is, after all, as comedian Steve Harvey pointed out, the President of the United States of America, “He ain’t the president of the ‘hood.” And furthermore, given the volatile nature of the current political climate, and Obama being the first African American president, he would damned near get lynched if he even breathed any intent of trying to do something special for black folks. Believe it. Is that fair? Of course not. But this is America, and we’ve been here for awhile, so we should kinda know the way the game is played by now.

And it’s not like this hasn’t been pointed out before, as if this is some sort of new ground to say that Obama has to be careful how he plays his hand. But sometimes I think certain folks need to be reminded of that, and also of what he has already done and is still trying to do against near impossible odds. You wanna call me an Obama apologist? Swell. Have at it. Whatever makes you feel good. But I would rather go to my grave knowing I did everything I could to support the brother, acknowledging that he does not walk on water and needs correction and admonishment just like all other humans, than to leave this world knowing that when we finally got a black president I was one of the first to volunteer and help the Tea Party tighten the rope around his neck. And I don’t want to look back in retrospect 30 years from now and say, “Damn, you know, he really was a pretty damn good president after all.” And yes, I do believe history will judge him well. But I want Obama to get his props now, not after he’s dead. I’ll leave it to others to take pride in being righteous critics.

No, I am not saying never, ever criticize the president. Absolutely not. Everybody needs and deserves criticism, and he is no different. Obama needs to hear from us when he’s doing good and when he’s not doing so good. But there is a difference between criticizing someone and shoving them over a cliff.

So I lost my job a couple weeks ago. Yep. Sure did. Walked into work on a Monday morning, got the call that the boss wants to see me, and that’s when he says to take a seat. After the formal apology that he wishes he didn’t have to do this, the phrase budget cuts comes out, accompanied by the fact that I was an appointee. In other words, money was tight and, well, I was expendable. Sorry about that.

A quick primer on the level of black unemployment in Detroit:

From Brookings, Jan 20, 2011:

Just after the Labor Department announced that the national unemployment rate had fallen from 9.8 percent in November to 9.4 percent in December, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently toldthe Senate Budget Committee that “[i]t could take four to five more years for the job market to normalize fully.”

For the nation as a whole, that seems reasonable. Suppose the labor force grows at the same rate it has over the last decade, an average of 0.07 percent per month. Suppose that the number of employed people (as measured in the Labor Department’s household survey, which is what’s used to figure the unemployment rate) increases by 297,000 every month, as it did in December. Then the nation’s unemployment rate will be just below 4 percent—a rate last achieved in 2000 and one that federal law sets as a target for full employment—in September 2014. Of course, if employment grows more slowly, then it will take longer for the nation to reach full employment.

But what will happen in metropolitan areas with unemployment rates far above the national average? Metropolitan Detroit, for example, had an unemployment rate of 13.5 percent in November (the most recent month for which metro unemployment rates are available). To many people in Detroit, full employment seems like a distant, perhaps unattainable dream. Even if Detroit’s unemployment rate falls as rapidly as the national rate, it will take until at least mid-2016 for its unemployment rate to reach 4 percent.

Surprisingly, though, Detroit’s unemployment rate will probably fall faster than that. The reason is that, faced with continued poor job prospects, many people will leave. That will reduce the size of Detroit’s labor force and lower its unemployment rate, even if job creation remains sluggish. In contrast, relatively few people leave the United States even during the worst economic times, and not very many drop out of the labor force because they can’t find work. (Since the beginning of the Great Recession in December 2007, the U.S. labor force fell by an average of only 0.008 percent per month.)

And then thre’s this cheerful piece that ran a couple years ago in the Detroit News, reprinted in the Huffington Post:

Officially, Detroit’s unemployment rate is just under 30 percent. But the city’s mayor and local leaders are suggesting a far more disturbing figure — the actual jobless rate, they say, is closer to 50 percent.

As many have noted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which culls federal unemployment data, does not account for all of the jobless in its widely-quotednational unemployment figures. Among those omitted: part-time workers who are looking for full-time jobs and frustrated job seekers who abandon their job search altogether.

(For some context, the official national unemployment rate is 10 percent, but the“underemployment rate”is 17.2 percent.)

Detroit city officials argue that, when workers who are underemployed are added to the calculation, the number of city residents who are out of work is close to one in every two.

The Detroit News reports:

“The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that for the year that ended in September, Michigan’s official unemployment rate was 12.6 percent. Using the broadest definition of unemployment, the state unemployment rate was 20.9 percent, or 66 percent higher than the official rate. Since Detroit’s official rate for October was 27 percent, that broader rate pushes the city’s rate to as high as 44.8 percent.”

So, naturally, when faced with these rather sobering statistics, I had to sober up a bit myself.

Day 1: Hit me like a bomb. Got out of the cab in the driveway and, as luck and timing would have it, my wife was pulling into the driveway and wondering OMG what just happened. So that was the worst part. Three hours later she cooks me a chocolate cake and we sit at the kitchen table to devour a slice of our favorite dessert accompanied by a wine glass full of milk. My wife has a good sense of humor, which helps. Later that night pretty much all I could was sit in my office and stare at my computer screen while listening to music, feeling numb. My wife cracks the door open to check on me, then quietly walks away to go to bed. I remain staring at the screen.

Day 2: I go to work, which is why this will not be a post of yours truly crying and moaning about what oh what shall I do. First of all, I’ve been here before. Second of all, I’m just another one.  Thirdly, being a black male facing challenging circumstances is pretty much like being a bear in the woods; it’s pretty much the way things are for most bears. So I wake up, shower, get dressed, then start to call everyone I know to let them know I’m casting out the wide net. You hear something? You know about something? You even suspect something may be opening up? Call a brother. Then I check on the health care situation because my boss of course informed me that both salary and benefits are history by the end of this month. Nothing personal, just business. Protocol and what have you. But of course I do now have access to my retirement funds, so I can at least have something with which to pay bills until I set this ship right, because I checked on the unemployment thing and it’s about enough to pay the mortgage and that’s it.

Evening of Day 2: My wife, who operates her own writing business from home, has had a revelation. Why don’t youconsider being self-employed? Doesn’t that sound better – and feel better – than being unemployed? Besides, you haven’t exactly been thrilled to go to work every day. You did your job, and you did it well, but it was never what you wanted, dear. It was always what you had to do to pay bills and that was it. Maybe this is the start of another chapter in life. Maybe this isn’t the end of life as we know it, maybe this is the beginning. At least consider that this may be a more healthy way to look at it.

You know, there’s reason why God made wives. If you’ve got a good one, you deserve to be shot if you let that woman go. And from that point forward to right now as I write this I began to feel lighter, and even somewhat liberated. A bit scared too, but in the kind of way that motivates you to put in 12 -14 hour workdays seven days a week because it’s so much easier to work your ass off when you’re working for a boss you actually respect. Already some doors have started to open, and although it may just be a crack, it’s enough to make me think that just maybe I’m going to come out of this thing all right. Because I have to. Because when the weather changes, you adapt. It’s just what you do.

Who knows what I’ll be feeling like next week, but for now I, like so many others out there, am determined not to let this bring me under.

A quick primer on the level of black unemployment in Detroit:

From Brookings, Jan 20, 2011:

Just after the Labor Department announced that the national unemployment rate had fallen from 9.8 percent in November to 9.4 percent in December, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently toldthe Senate Budget Committee that “[i]t could take four to five more years for the job market to normalize fully.”
For the nation as a whole, that seems reasonable. Suppose the labor force grows at the same rate it has over the last decade, an average of 0.07 percent per month. Suppose that the number of employed people (as measured in the Labor Department’s household survey, which is what’s used to figure the unemployment rate) increases by 297,000 every month, as it did in December. Then the nation’s unemployment rate will be just below 4 percent—a rate last achieved in 2000 and one that federal law sets as a target for full employment—in September 2014. Of course, if employment grows more slowly, then it will take longer for the nation to reach full employment.

But what will happen in metropolitan areas with unemployment rates far above the national average? Metropolitan Detroit, for example, had an unemployment rate of 13.5 percent in November (the most recent month for which metro unemployment rates are available). To many people in Detroit, full employment seems like a distant, perhaps unattainable dream. Even if Detroit’s unemployment rate falls as rapidly as the national rate, it will take until at least mid-2016 for its unemployment rate to reach 4 percent.

Surprisingly, though, Detroit’s unemployment rate will probably fall faster than that. The reason is that, faced with continued poor job prospects, many people will leave. That will reduce the size of Detroit’s labor force and lower its unemployment rate, even if job creation remains sluggish. In contrast, relatively few people leave the United States even during the worst economic times, and not very many drop out of the labor force because they can’t find work. (Since the beginning of the Great Recession in December 2007, the U.S. labor force fell by an average of only 0.008 percent per month.)

And then thre’s this cheerful piece that ran a couple years ago in the Detroit News, reprinted in the Huffington Post:

Officially, Detroit’s unemployment rate is just under 30 percent. But the city’s mayor and local leaders are suggesting a far more disturbing figure — the actual jobless rate, they say, is closer to 50 percent.

As many have noted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which culls federal unemployment data, does not account for all of the jobless in its widely-quotednational unemployment figures. Among those omitted: part-time workers who are looking for full-time jobs and frustrated job seekers who abandon their job search altogether.

(For some context, the official national unemployment rate is 10 percent, but the”underemployment rate” is 17.2 percent.)

Detroit city officials argue that, when workers who are underemployed are added to the calculation, the number of city residents who are out of work is close to one in every two.

The Detroit News reports:

“The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that for the year that ended in September, Michigan’s official unemployment rate was 12.6 percent. Using the broadest definition of unemployment, the state unemployment rate was 20.9 percent, or 66 percent higher than the official rate. Since Detroit’s official rate for October was 27 percent, that broader rate pushes the city’s rate to as high as 44.8 percent.”

So, naturally, when faced with these rather sobering statistics, I had to sober up a bit myself.

Day 1: Hit me like a bomb. Got out of the cab in the driveway and, as luck and timing would have it, my wife was pulling into the driveway and wondering OMG what just happened. So that was the worst part. Three hours later she cooks me a chocolate cake and we sit at the kitchen table to devour a slice of our favorite dessert accompanied by a wine glass full of milk. My wife has a good sense of humor, which helps. Later that night pretty much all I could was sit in my office and stare at my computer screen while listening to music, feeling numb. My wife cracks the door open to check on me, then quietly walks away to go to bed. I remain staring at the screen.

Day 2: I go to work, which is why this will not be a post of yours truly crying and moaning about what oh what shall I do. First of all, I’ve been here before. Second of all, I’m just another one. Thirdly, being a black male facing challenging circumstances is pretty much like being a bear in the woods; it’s pretty much the way things are for most bears. So I wake up, shower, get dressed, then start to call everyone I know to let them know I’m casting out the wide net. You hear something? You know about something? You even suspect something may be opening up? Call a brother. Then I check on the health care situation because my boss of course informed me that both salary and benefits are history by the end of this month. Nothing personal, just business. Protocol and what have you. But of course I do now have access to my retirement funds, so I can at least have something with which to pay bills until I set this ship right, because I checked on the unemployment thing and it’s about enough to pay the mortgage and that’s it.

Evening of Day 2: My wife, who operates her own writing business from home, has had a revelation. Why don’t you consider being self-employed? Doesn’t that sound better – and feel better – than being unemployed? Besides, you haven’t exactly been thrilled to go to work every day. You did your job, and you did it well, but it was never what you wanted, dear. It was always what you had to do to pay bills and that was it. Maybe this is the start of another chapter in life. Maybe this isn’t the end of life as we know it, maybe this is the beginning. At least consider that this may be a more healthy way to look at it.

You know, there’s reason why God made wives. If you’ve got a good one, you deserve to be shot if you let that woman go. And from that point forward to right now as I write this I began to feel lighter, and even somewhat liberated. A bit scared too, but in the kind of way that motivates you to put in 12 -14 hour workdays seven days a week because it’s so much easier to work your ass off when you’re working for a boss you actually respect. Already some doors have started to open, and although it may just be a crack, it’s enough to make me think that just maybe I’m going to come out of this thing all right. Because I have to. Because when the weather changes, you adapt. It’s just what you do.

Who knows what I’ll be feeling like next week, but for now I, like so many others out there, am determined not to let this bring me under.