I don't even know where to start it has been so long. I started this blog a year ago when it was the trendy thing to do and although it started off kind of fresh you can see from my lack of entries that the experience grew a little stale.

The past year has been an interesting one to say the least. As seems to always be the case, it was a year full of life lessons I would rather have read about than have experienced, but we must all bow to the will of the Higher Powers. Too much has happened to change me and reshape me in the last year for me to capture it all in one entry, so I wont try. Instead, I think I will take some time over the next few days to go over the biggest moments. For now, I think I will step off the stage to give Mahlik a moment to share his thoughts on civic engagement in the new millennium.

For now peace.

- I.M.

As I was doing my daily scan of the latest issus making their rounds through the blogsphere something struck a cord. That something was the wise words from my girl Shark-Fu over at AngryBlackBitch. Now don't let the name fool ya into underestimating this one, she is on point and her latest two cents was on the new health care reform bil and more importantly the bullshit circus that has cropped up around it.

First off, let us a take a moment to reflect on the fact that the US has only now decided it might be in the best interest of the American people to invest in the creation of some sort of nationalized health care system.

,,,really?

I mean don't we want to hang on to or proud status as the only liberal democracy in the WORLD without some form of a national health care program.

Now my main issue here is not to talk shit about how long it has taken our lawmakers to conclude that maybe we should find a way to provide better and more coverage for our citizens. Nor do I wish to talk shit about those people who have legitimate concerns about how the policy with take shape, be funded, and be regulated. These areall valid concerns. What the real problem as Shark-fu identified is that the, the people with legitiimate concerns are being drowned out by the angry and often irrational crowds that have flocked to protest at the Town HALL meetings being held around the country. I find that the peope with concerns who are not trying to get involved in the issue to be far more offensive than the misguided souls who are angry without a real understanding of what is at stake.

Now you might want to suggest I am being an uppity Negro, but the point is that the last decade we have had an opportunity to exercise our collective power to demonstrate our deep desire for better conduct from our elected officials and have done jack shit outside of electing ourselves a Black Man as president and patting ourselves on the back for demonstrating how post racial we all are...excuse me.

Fuck all that noise and let's have real talk. As a citizen you have not only the option but the duty to do more than vote. Our access points to the political landscape are not confined to the ballot box. Go to meetings. Write/call your representatives. We need to use the system instead of letting the system fuck us and saying thank you for the molestation of our rights. Whether you agree with reform or not, stop sitting on your ass and lets have a national debate about this shit instead of trying to find ways to gain political points and demonizr the "socialist lefties" for trying to find a way to provide care for the thousands of uninsured people living in America today.

Fuck that false sense of accoplishment. Here is an aidea, how about we stop pretending everything is fine and acually find away to make this shit happen.

- Mahlik