Today, I was honored and priviledged to be part of a conference call for the National Leadership Team for Women for Obama.

The Leadership Team consists of a select group of women from around the country who have demonstrated through their work in the campaign, leadership qualities in the area of organizing and getting the word out. I am humbled to have been included amongst these women early in the campaign.

The clip below includes the audio from the phone call, during which the Senator (along with Becky Carroll, National Director of Women for Obama) thanked the Leadership Team for our work, and encouraged us to stay focused as we head into the primary season and beyond:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzTnNDeUN0c]

Fired up? Ready to go?

By Patricia Wilson-Smith
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If you’re like me, you likely ask yourself the same goofy question every year – “Is it me or have the Holidays come around earlier than usual this year?”
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It’s not you, and it’s not me. The fact is, anxious retailers are surreptitiously planting seeds of holiday cheer into our psyches earlier and earlier with each year that passes. If our greedy merchant friends have their way, before long, we’ll all be decorating for the holidays the day after Memorial Day.
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But finding new ways to separate us from our money is the capitalist way; free enterprise and all that. Just like zeroing out our credit card balances only to sucker punch them again, holding lavish holiday feasts, and buying gifts for people we barely speak to all year are all part of our annual national psychosis. If you’re like me, you too have fallen victim to this mindless trap year-after-year. You’re powerless. Resistance has become futile.
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Not to say that the holidays are not a special time. Any opportunity to spread good will and eat until you’re catatonic can never be underrated. Still, for me anyway, this year is different. This year for perhaps the first time, I am feeling an overwhelming need to give to someone who doesn’t already have an extensive CD collection, or buy for someone who’s not distressed over their need for a wall-mount kit for the new 50 inch flat screen TV they just bought for themselves. This year, before I dust off the plastic and head out to the mall, I’ve decided to take a look around – and I mean a very long hard look around to see what else needs my attention.
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I could start on the continent of Africa on the western Sudan in the Darfur region.  Since 2003, the Sudanese government has been providing arms and assistance to militia groups who are committing genocidal acts in numbers that have been estimated between 50,000 to 450,000, though most experts believe the number of the murdered to be on the higher end of the range. Almost as bad, more than 2.5 million people are believed to have been displaced. Whatever the politics, whoever the aggressors, there are hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who are in need of help – people who are suffering that couldn’t give a crap about when the Macy’s one-day sale starts.
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Or I could head down to New Orleans. Or more accurately to the place that used to be the thriving multi-cultural land of music and fine cuisine. There I’d find the abandoned homes and shattered lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans, some who struggled in poverty even before Katrina, and who now, having been virtually abandoned by relief efforts, and having lost everything in the disaster, are actually being told by their insurance companies that while flood damage is covered by their home owner’s policies, the breaking of the levees that ultimately caused the devastating flooding is not. Those people don’t give a hoot about when the new Sony Play Station 3 is going on sale.
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Or maybe I could take a leisurely stroll through the streets of downtown. I could have a sit down with a few of the thousands of homeless people who live on my city’s streets. People from all ethnicities and walks of life, who are facing down the prospect of another cold winter without a roof over their heads. I could have a pointed conversation with the city leaders who in their flaccid attempts to breathe life back into some areas of the city, sweep the needy and the destitute under the proverbial rug to make the city look ‘better’. I could wait for one of these clowns to walk by me, stick my foot out, and watch them fall flat onto their over-stuffed faces. The people they step over everyday couldn’t care less about this city’s image.
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The problem with us and the ease in which we give in to our banal holiday pleasures is that it leaves us scant little time to remember those people who have suffered all year in silence, who needed for us to see them all year when we would not, and who, during this most blessed season should expect nothing less than that we will open our eyes, our hearts and our coffers if only to help make a few of their days during the season of giving a little more bright. The problem is, the holiday decorations in October, the pre-Thanksgiving-day-Christmas sales, the office parties, the half-hearted gift-giving, takes us away from the activities, rituals, and just plain simple kindnesses that should serve to help us remember why we do it all in the first place. I would submit that there is much besides the normal Yule tide distractions that need our attention.
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To make a difference this holiday season, consider making a donation to one of the many fine organizations created to aid victims of the genocide in Darfur and the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, organizations like “Help Darfur Now” at http://www.helpdarfurnow.org, or the joint initiative between former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush to benefit the Katrina relief fund, whose website can be found by going to http://www.bushclintonkatrinafund.org. You can of course also help by calling your local Red Cross and donating to the cause of your choice.

This year, let’s do something different. Before we spend one thin dime on a video game, or deck a single hall with holly (what the hell is a ‘bough’ anyway?), let’s all find someone, anyone who needs a hand, a leg up, a small kindness, and give it to them. If just for one day we all chose charity over opulence, sharing over mindless consumption, and giving to those in need before giving to those who don’t, well, it would just make having Christmas trees show up in our neighborhood drugstores in October a little more palatable. That’s all I’m saying.

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

It was a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon. The sky was brilliant blue, and the only way you knew it was December that day was because, well, you just knew.

I waited around for my assignment outside of Columbia’s Williams-Brice Stadium along with the rest of the volunteers from Atlanta that had rode on the van I had commandeered on behalf of the campaign. The truth of the matter was, it didn’t matter to us what we did to help; we were there to be part of history.

The campaign had been forced to move the event that some were calling “The Big O” from it’s original location to the huge college football stadium after tickets for the original venue were scarfed up after only three days. It was clear to most that South Carolina planned to come out in huge numbers to see a famous talk show host named ‘O’ , but that they would also be there to find out more about Senator Barack Obama and what he’s all about. 

And that was amazing enough, you see – if you know like me and a lot of other volunteers in South Carolina know, you know that not so long ago, not very many ordinary people in The Great State even knew who Senator Obama was, let alone that he was running for President.  It would take campaign offices and personnel,  stationed strategically all around the state, working side by side with volunteers from neighboring states, all tirelessly stumping to get the word out about the Senator to make the difference. And on that exhilarating day, on the 9th of December, all the work of those faithful foot soldiers had paid off.

There were thousands upon thousands of people, lined up around the block long before doors were due to open, there to witness what would turn out to be an historic event – the day that Oprah Winfrey, a cultural icon who until then had never formally endorsed a political candidate, had came to speak to South Carolinians about why she had chosen to break her self-imposed political silence for Barack Obama, and noone else.

Amazingly, since Oprah has been out on the road with Obama, some of her ‘devoted’ fans have taken to castigating her on her website. She’s suddenly being accused of ‘playing where she doesn’t belong’, and ‘forcing her political will down the throats of her fans’. Those who make these baseless accusations do so mainly because they have somehow come to believe that the only reason Oprah has chosen to back Barack Obama is because he’s black. Incredible.

Only those who refuse to see the deeper meaning in an Obama presidency would cheapen what Oprah did that day in Columbia and before in Iowa by saying that she’s only endorsing Senator Obama because he’s black; Not only does such an inference cheapen the importance of that day, but it also belittles the work that Senator Obama has done, the man that he is, and the President that he is destined to become. It also says some pretty unfair things about Oprah Winfrey herself.

The most prevailing quandry created by the Obama candidacy is the dichotomy it exposes regarding race relations in America. I’ve said many times in this forum that as a black woman, I have repeatedly been accused of supporting the Senator because he’s black; I’ve heard other blacks criticized for not supporting the Senator even though he’s black. It’s positively mind boggling - at the same time, Senator Obama has been called ‘not black enough’ to win the support of African Americans, and ‘not electable’ in the eyes of mainstream America. His bi-racial heritage has been criticized as proof that he could not possibly understand the African American condition, and held up as proof that he alone is uniquely qualified to understand the changing face of America and our place in the world.

Even our black leaders dare to rob him of his ‘blackness’ in favor of a man who is not black, was not the ‘First Black President’, could never be black, and who only garners the ridicuous comparisons to black Americans because he’s been so vilified by what most consider his unacceptable behavior in the White House. No need to say his name.

And so a man like Senator Obama who has by his ability to unify across racial and political lines in his campaign, already proven that we have made truly historic gains in race relations in this country, has also by doing so, shone a bright and blinding light on how far we have yet to go. 

So what then, of the over 30,000 mostly African Americans, who stood patiently in lines that snaked around the stadium to see the most famous black woman in history, talk about the only African American in history who has a real shot at becoming the leader of the free world?

I thought of them all as I stood a few feet from the stage and surveyed the assembled croud; they sat mesmerized as first Michelle Obama, then Oprah Winfrey, and then Senator Obama himself offered words of hope for the nation and the outcome of the election. I smiled at the sea of faces, as Senator Obama painted a vivid picture of what the future could hold for our country, if we dared to believe.  And before long, I began to realize that because of Senator Obama’s strength, because of he and Michelle’s ability to push past the naysayers, the race-baiters, and the discouragers, what I was witnessing was a true and earnest turning point for South Carolina and for America.  I was witnessing the dawn of a new era of politics that if allowed to take root, would once again respect and uphold the idea of government for the people and by the people, and that if allowed to flourish would uplift and include instead of tear down and exclude.

Just like everyone else in the stadium that day, I was there to hear the man whom I believe is truly the only one who has the vision, the strength of character, and the sound judgement to be the next President of the United States. But I also noted with pride that in some way, I had played a small part in helping to get those people to that place, with my phone calls, my endless blogging, and my crowd control skills . I had been part of an amazing team that day that through our collective belief in the audacity of hope, had helped to make that day possible. 

So as I stood mere inches from Senator Obama and Oprah Winfrey as they enthusiastically shook the hands of those in the crowd, all I could think was, “How cool is this?”.  And “God Bless America”.

By Brenda K. Johnson

As we work diligently to fulfill the responsibilities of our daily lives, we must remain committed to ensuring Barack Obama is the next President of the United States. We must visualize the image of him standing at the Capitol taking his oath of office. Utilize this image to remind yourself of the importance of your single voice. Retrieve this image when your campaigning is beginning to affect your normal routine.
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Or maybe…You already know your second pick for President. 

Perhaps you heard media reports that somehow, in less than a month, Hillary has doubled her lead over Obama.  Even though you remind yourself this is the same media who took the liberty of calling the 2004 Presidential Election before Florida voting was complete, you figure those polls MUST be accurate.
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Or maybe you saw that Hillary’s 3rd quarter fundraising surpassed Obama’s. Perhaps you choose to ignore the fact that Obama supporters represent the average American citizen, and Hillary’s represent big money interests – the same big money interests that have become the fourth branch of government in Washington.  Perhaps you choose to ignore that the Obama campaign has received a higher number of individual small amount repeated donations, signifying that the poorest and least powerful Americans find a voice in him.
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Maybe – you can see yourself supporting Hillary Clinton for President. Maybe you can get past the fact that her loyalty is to winning, and not to the American people. That the consequences of her winning often come with negative consequences to the poor and powerless.  Perhaps you can accept that she voted for a war that has exceeded $458 Billion; a war that the world asked us not to fight until there was evidence of weapons of mass destruction; a war that was ill-conceived and consistently mismanaged.  With Washington paralyzed by inaction due to politics as usual, does Hillary have the ability to unify Congress to pass any legislation at all?  Or will her Presidency be a continuance of exactly what we have now, but with a different color uniform at the helm?  Is it possible that Hillary’s big money donors might come knocking at her door once she is in the Oval office?? Maybe you can get past these issues and support Hillary Clinton. I cannot.
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Maybe – you can see yourself supporting John Edwards for President. Maybe you are a person who supports Obama because of his skin color – and at the same time you believe American is not ready for a black or female President.  Maybe you can forget those before us who committed their lives to fight for suffrage and civil rights. Maybe you forget that whites and blacks, males and females all died in support of a person being judged by their character and ability instead of their skin color or gender. So it becomes easy for you to see yourself supporting Edwards.  Well, I cannot. Not only does John Edwards’ inability to raise money speak volumes about his lack of grassroots support, but he now has decided his campaign will accept public money – a belief he rejected just months ago. I recognize the risk of a grossly underfunded Democratic Presidential campaign, and I am not willing to sign over another 4 years to a Republican President because we all concur that the white man has the best chance of success.
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If you have your second pick for President already – then stop reading this.

But, if you are like me, and you know that Barack Obama is the only candidate for President of the United States in either party who can achieve the vision for America that we believe in, then RE-ENERGIZE yourself!  Know that your single voice, is more powerful that any backdoor lobbyist with millions to contribute. Know that the Obama supporters will grow exponentially, one person at a time talking to one person at a time. Know that Obama expects US to be the agents of change because he cannot do it alone. 

We need YOU! The country needs YOU! The world needs YOU!

By Khesha Duncan 

I’m SOOOOOOOO heated right now – still, after reading an article in the Redding News Review a couple days ago, titled “Andrew Young explains why he is not supporting Obama,” forwarded to me by one of my many fellow Obama-ers.  So heated, in fact, I’ve just decided to coin a new phrase called “The Haterade Syndrome!” 

For quite awhile now, I have been trying my absolute best to ignore the comments that I’ve been reading and hearing throughout the campaign, from some members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other current black leaders with their assortment of old school reasons for why Senator Barack Obama can’t be President of the United States – yet. 

But what I read this week takes the cake, and is a sad commentary indeed, because Andrew Young has opted to join them.  Young’s ignorant remarks in this piece sound more like those of a high school dropout than a Howard University graduate, saying that Barack can’t be President now because,

“You have to have a protective network around you… Leadership requires suffering. And I would like to see Barack’s children get a little older, see, because they’re going to pick on them.” 

Is he serious?  This from a man who has a Bachelor of Divinity Degree From Hartford Seminary, in Hartford, Connecticut, and is a former Executive Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)?  One would want to believe that this combination of education and professional Christianity would give him more depth in his faith than that, but apparently not. 

Granted, I recognize that Mr. Young was one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s closest protégés and allies, and that he was there (literally) when Dr. King was tragically assassinated.  Nor can I even begin to imagine what it must have felt like, witnessing the murder of his friend, or the significance of its impact on his life from that point on.  And what I’m saying here is not intended to, nor could it, ever minimize any of that. However, to fast forward almost forty years later, and say that Barack Obama can’t be President today because they’re going to pick on his children suggests that he may be living in a time warp.  What Andrew Young seems to be forgetting is that the same concerns and apprehensions he has about Senator Obama running for President in 2007 are the same ones that leaders before him had of he and Dr. King during their civil rights endeavors.  In the 1950s and 60s when the fight was about more basic human freedoms, like being able to enter buildings through the front doors, and sitting in the front seats of city buses, and the right not to be hung from a tree just because you were black, Young and others responded with marches, boycotts, demonstrations, lunch counter sit-ins en masse, and the like – all very appropriate actions for what was happening then.  Their strategies yielded positive results that benefited the collective whole at that time and for the next generation – Barack Obama’s generation. 

But some MAJOR progress has been made since then.  The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, integration occurred, and affirmative action was implemented in the early 70s.  The game changed, and it was no longer about where you could shop, eat or use the bathroom.  The questions then became about where we could work, attend college, what neighborhood we could live in, if we could get a bank loan, or run for public office.  And as the doors opened and we walked in, over the course of the next twenty years black folks accomplished, excelled and achieved in all these areas.  Here, it appears, is where the problems with black leadership, and more importantly, the disintegration of black unity began, that we are experiencing today.   

Which brings us to Mr. Young’s next series of comments:

“Barack Obama does not have the support network yet to get to be president.  To put a brother in there by himself is to set him up for crucifixion.” 

Additionally, he said that Hillary Clinton is surrounded by quite a few black advisors while Obama has very few.  Well guess what?  He wouldn’t be by himself if Young and other so-called longtime black leaders would form the support network Young says he doesn’t have.  Here’s an idea.  Instead of droning on and on about why Senator Obama can’t win the Presidency now, why doesn’t he call him up and ask what he can do to assist with his campaign efforts to ensure that he does?  I’ll tell you why; drinkin’ too much haterade!  Sounds juvenile, I know, but I can’t think of another reason why Andrew Young, with his years of experience in the civil rights movement, having been attacked and jailed after protesting for this very right, of a black man to be able to run for President, wouldn’t want to do all he can to help Senator Obama.  After all, whether the playa haters want to acknowledge it or not, there is absolutely no denying that Barack Obama is the most viable African-American candidate this country has ever seen, perhaps with the exception of Dr. King.  But Dr. King wasn’t sent to us to run for President.  His time spent here was meant to serve a different purpose, to move us forward to the next step.  And the one thing we can deduce about history and progress of any kind is best stated in the old adage, “timing is everything.”

Without a doubt, Senator Obama’s time is now.  Barack Obama is currently the ONLY black member of the Senate.  It is important to note that he shares this honor with a very short list of only five in our history; the first, Hiram Rhodes Revels, was elected way back in 1870.  However, this is just his most recent outstanding accomplishment.  Barack Obama has been on this prestigious path since his career’s inception.  A graduate of Columbia University, he took a job in south-side Chicago as a community organizer after just one year of working in corporate America.  This public service experience compelled him to Harvard Law School.  There, in 1990, he was elected the Harvard Law Review’s first black president ever in its entire 104-year history! 

So, when the question is asked, “Is America ready for a black President?” I would contend that, given this historical accomplishment, the question has already been answered with a resounding YES!  Upon earning his law degree from an Ivy League School (magna cum laude, I might add), Barack Obama could have easily returned to corporate America to enjoy a huge salary with lots of company perks.  Instead, he chose to return to Chicago’s south-side to lead voter registration drives and practice civil rights law.  Then after three years of representing discrimination claims, community organizers, and voting rights cases, he went back into the classroom, this time as a teacher.  He was a lecturer and constitutional law scholar at the University of Chicago Law School until his decision to run for the U.S. Senate in 2003. 

Andrew Young’s candid non-support of Senator Obama is particularly ironic to me because there are several pointed similarities between them.  For example, as a civil rights activist in the early 1960s, Young played a key role in the conflicts in Birmingham, Alabama, serving as a mediator between the black and white communities.  Obama has the same talent and track record for mediating effectively between the Democratic and Republican parties as the Senator of Illinois.  In 1970, Andrew Young lost his first race for Congress, but ran again in 1972 and won that race plus two more.  Likewise, Obama had an unsuccessful first run in a House of Representatives race before being reelected to the Senate twice more. 

During Young’s three terms in Congress he was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, and was involved in several debates regarding foreign relations, including the decision to stop supporting Portuguese attempts to keep their colonies in South Africa.  His effective skills in this area were a major factor in President Jimmy Carter’s decision to appoint Young as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 1977.  His greatest contributions in this critical role were helping to end segregation in Zimbabwe, Rhodesia, and improved U.S. relations with Nigeria.  Senator Obama is also a Congressional Black Caucus Member, and serves as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, traveling extensively to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and South Africa, addressing the issues of global terrorism, genocide in Sudan, and current and post-policies regarding the war in Iraq.  

When Andrew Young was Mayor of Atlanta from 1982-1990, he gained national notoriety for the city by encouraging international investment, which improved the Atlanta economy after it was hit hard by recession.  In his book The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, Senator Obama proposes a series of initiatives similar to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Programs implemented during his Presidency after the Great Depression of the 1930s, as a strategy for how we can begin to restore America economically after the Bush Administration vacates. 

So, to hear Mr. Young make statements like that about a candidate whose plethora of qualifications mirror so many of his own, is all the more puzzling and disturbing — especially at an event held IN Atlanta, birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement.  If we can’t count on the black leadership in Atlanta, dubbed The Black Mecca, to support Barack Obama, the wrong precedent gets set, and gives the rest of us very little to hope for in the way of support for him across the rest of Black America.  

Finally, it is difficult and painful to even dignify Young’s last remark with a response:

“Bill is every bit as black as Barack,” he said. “He has probably gone out with more black women than Barack.”

First of all, what the hell does dating black women have to do with running the country effectively?!?  Aside from the notion that if, in fact, Bill did date black women that’s probably who he learned most of his leadership game from (especially how to balance a budget), pretty much absolutely nothing!  It really doesn’t matter anyway because the bottom line is, if and when Bill Clinton was done dating the sistas, he quickly returned home to one of his own when it was time to choose a wife.  That’s just what we need, a black man in Andrew Young’s position bragging about how his white homey friend has probably dated more black women than a real brotha, and issuing him a “black card” with a lifetime membership as a reward to boot!  Mr. Young stated that leadership requires suffering.  I think his comments made here have taken care of a substantial amount of that already, don’t you?  Far more importantly, though, is that Bill Clinton isn’t even Senator Obama’s opponent.  However, Hillary Clinton is; yet, Young failed to share any of his assumptions about her dating history, regarding race or gender.  

Let’s just hope, though, that with any luck — and a lot of prayer, Andrew Young’s foolish remarks won’t take root with the masses.  Let’s hope that the majority of Black Americans are more evolved than we thought, and that we’re intelligent enough to realize that the diversity and uniqueness of Senator Obama’s background and upbringing are just two of many reasons why he’s exactly the perfect candidate who can take us to the next level in 2008.

For those of us who do get it, who have had to assimilate and adapt, whether we like to think about it or not, in order to survive in our predominantly white workplaces, and still remain committed to the cause that made affirmative action necessary in the first place, we have to challenge and educate the rest.  We have to teach others that while Andrew Young was making economic breakthroughs as the Mayor of Atlanta, GA, Barack Obama was at Harvard Law School making record-breaking history as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review.  And how every action he has taken from his undergraduate college career to date has prepared him to become the next great black leader of our time. 

I am so proud to be a Barack Obama supporter.  My #1 reason for supporting him is that I sincerely believe he is the most qualified person for the job.  However, I am also fully aware of what his Presidential candidacy represents for me, black people, and every other member of an ethnic or minority group.  With respect to where we’ve been, how far we’ve come, and how very far we still have to go, Senator Obama really is the chosen one.  The fact that he’s black is a bonus, and yes, it does make me even more proud.
Some unsolicited advice for Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and all of the other black leaders who haven’t given Senator Barack Obama the respect and/or support he deserves – stop being part of the problem and become part of his solution!  By not standing together, black people continue to lose, and we have lost way too much already, of which we’re constantly reminded with overwhelming statistics about our continued spiral downward in every area of life by which success is measured.�
Because when Senator Obama becomes President Obama (and he will become President), remember whose support and approval you’re going to need to advance your next agenda.  In the meantime think about this:  when you talk to the press about the Billary duo, or the powerful Clinton machine as if they’re running a Presidential candidate team, the real message you’re sending to everyone is that it takes two Clintons to beat one Obama!  And that, my friends, deserves a tall glass of haterade! 

Peace ya’ll!

-Khesha Duncan

By Steffini Bethea 

Having spent 20 years as a wellness professional, I have come to notice some alarming disparities in the fitness and wellness habits between my own African American sisters and Caucasian women. When it comes to health concerns, our needs and even desires are just DIFFERENT. Closing the gap on this misalignment of health has been the sole focus of my service for the past 5 years. So obviously, when it comes to my candidate of choice for President, one that considers tackling the disparities in health care a priority is the one that I support. I was excited to see that Barack Obama makes his position clear in the “Issues” section of his website.

After reviewing Senator Obama’s principles on these disparities, it became even more evident to me that he was the best man for the job.

Senator Obama’s plan includes 6 key principles:
1. Quality, affordable health care for all
2. Lowering health care costs and ensuring affordable high quality care for all
3. Quality, affordable and portable health coverage for all
4. Modernizing U.S. health care system to lower cost and improve quality
5. Increase transparency in healthcare industry
And my favorite,
6. Promoting prevention and strengthening public health

That fact that Barack Obama is willing to tackle this disparity HEAD ON is great! But the question is, “Are my sisters willing to take prophylactic measures regarding our own health or are we going to rely on the government to pay for our healthcare as a result of self neglect?” also, “At what point do we take responsibility for our own health?”

We know the stats; we even know what to do. We just don’t do it.
The life expectancy of a Black woman is 75 years compared to that of a white woman, which is 80 years. Black women are twice as likely to have diabetes, at 30% higher risk of heart disease, 40% higher chance of a stroke and 69% of us are overweight. It is clear that too many of us are at risk for poor health and it is often directly related to being overweight or obese.
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Don’t shoot me, I’m just the messenger. The message is, sisters, we have to start exercising and eating better. We have to find balance between food and physical activity. In other words, we have to put out more calories than we take in. Contacting a reputable wellness professional is a good first step. A good wellness professional would advise you on what your daily calorie needs are in terms of both exercise and nutrition.

A good nutrition program will include, eating 4 servings of fruit and 5 servings of vegetables a day, limiting fats, sugars and sodium. It also includes enjoying foods rich in essential nutrients from all 5 food groups and drinking plenty of water. Beware of gimmicky programs that promote eating only “this” or none of “that”. It is better to increase exercise as opposed to drastically reducing food calories. The food guide pyramid is a good source of information. You can visit MyPyramid.gov for more specific information.

After knowing how much food you should eat you can then start on your physical activity program. It is important to be physically active most days of the week. Physical activity is considered activity above baseline or activity above and beyond your everyday activity. In other words, because you are on your feet everyday at work does not mean you can count that as your exercise. It takes about 60 minutes a day of physical activity to prevent weight gain. For sustaining weight loss, it takes at least 60 to 90 minutes a day of physical activity. Some strength training should also be included at least 2 days a week. Strength training enhances weight control, aids in body reshaping, further builds muscle and it also allows you to eat more…. eventually! 

So Sisters, let’s commit to give the combination of exercise and nutrition a chance in ’08. At present, less than 4 cents of every health care dollar is spent on prevention and public health. Even if the government doubles its efforts and puts in 8 cents, it still won’t be enough. We have to STOP putting our money where our mouth is and invest in our own health by eating more fruits and vegetables as opposed gorging on empty calories, lowering our caloric intake and increasing exercise. You are not alone. Most of us have tried every program on the market and then some to no avail. The bottom line is, “TOTAL CALORIES COUNT”. The combination of proper nutrition and exercise is the BEST way to control your weight and the best way to obtain or maintain optimum health.  

I love the fact that Senator Obama has not just taken notice of an issue that plagues our community but has a good plan of action for it. However, ultimately, it is up to us to DO OUR PART to close the gap on the disparity in health that directly affects us all.

Sources:Stats taken from US department of Health & Human Services
Senator Obama’s principles taken from the website www.BarackObama.com

Steffini Bethea is the creator and developer of “Fit In The Spirit”, the LAST weight management program you will ever need. Steffini is a fitness consultant who is available to speak at local churches and women’s groups on fitness and wellness concerns. For more information on “Fit In The Spirit”, contact Steffini Bethea at fitinthespirit@aol.com.

By Patricia Wilson-Smith

Considering what the Clintons had to endure during the eight years that Bill Clinton was in office, you would think that they would find political attack-dogging anything but “fun”, but that’s how Hillary Clinton described her reportedly stepped-up efforts to shine a negative light on Senator Obama.

If like me, you believed all along that Hillary’s status as the presumptive nominee was destined to pale, you know that the kind of crap that we’ll soon hear coming from her campaign was inevitable.  My favorite zinger-fallen-flat so far has to be the, “see – he’s ALWAYS wanted to be President, uh, uh, look at page 269, paragraph 7 of his book! He said it when he was a KINDERGARTNER! See! Senator Obama was trained to be a cunning political strategist before he barely even knew his alphabets!”

Ludicrous. What does it serve the American people to know that Senator Obama once aspired to the Presidency practically as a toddler? Hell, I’ve already announced to the world that my 10-year old, one David Isaiah Smith, will be the fourth Black President of the United States someday, but only God, the creator and finisher of his destiny knows for sure what he will become. The bottom line is, Senator Obama was called to lead, because of a passion for service, his intellect and knowledge of our government and it’s laws, and because it is his destiny. Pure and simple.

Now, of course, the campaign is attacking his Pro-Life stance. In the passage that follows, which was sent out today by Becky Carroll (the National Director of Women For Obama), it’s plain to see that some of the very people who have now united to try and tarnish the Senator’s record were the same one’s who once stood with him, and even celebrated his allegiance to the Pro-Life movement:

Dear Friends: 

The campaign is heating up, and Hillary Clinton is resorting to old-school political attacks in a last-ditch effort to slow Barack Obama’s growing momentum.

With new polls in Iowa showing Senator Obama moving into the lead — and ahead with women voters by 5 points – Senator Clinton and her campaign are shamelessly attacking Barack’s record and his character.

Just weeks after Senator Clinton promised not to attack her Democratic opponents, yesterday she announced that she would enter a new period of daily attacks on Barack, going so far as to say this is “the fun part” of campaigning for the presidency.

The problem with Hillary’s attacks is that they’re filled with false charges and desperate rhetoric. First, she falsely claims that Barack Obama doesn’t support universal health care, even though he has a detailed plan that would provide affordable health insurance for every single American and do more to cut the cost of health care than any other plan in this race.

Then her campaign attacked our youth empowerment efforts and tried to intimidate Iowa college students who plan to participate in the caucus. They even published an article on their website attacking Barack for telling his kindergarten teacher he wanted to be president when he grew up.

Now they’re trying to attack Barack Obama’s 100% pro-choice record.

Today’s attack was delivered by Ellen Malcolm, President of EMILY’s List – which has endorsed Senator Clinton and is spending millions on an Independent Expenditure campaign to try to get her elected. Malcolm called into question Barack’s commitment to protect women’s rights by pointing to old votes on a few politically motivated bills in the Illinois Senate. What Malcolm failed to point out was that Barack cast these votes as part of a strategy employed by pro-choice leaders in Illinois. That’s why so many top pro-choice leaders were outraged by the attack and immediately defended Barack’s record of leadership on this important issue.

Not only is Senator Clinton’s claim another baseless, desperate attempt on her campaign’s part to distort Barack’s record, but this tactic does nothing more than divide the pro-choice community at a time when we need to work together to elect a pro-choice candidate for president.

But don’t take our word for it. Read what leaders in the pro-choice community – who have worked side by side with Senator Obama – had to say about the latest Clinton attacks:

“I am a supporter of Hillary Clinton and an EMILY’s List donor, but this line of attack is unacceptable. While I was the president of Chicago National Organization for Women, Senator Obama worked closely with us, could not have been more supportive of a woman¹s right to choose, and there was no bigger champion in Illinois on our issues. What¹s important is that the candidates do not cannibalize each other on issues we all agree about because we need to win in November.” Lorna Brett, former president of Chicago NOW

“During his years in the state legislature, Barack Obama was a strong and consistent supporter of women’s reproductive rights. He worked hand-in-hand with Planned Parenthood in developing and executing strategies to make sure that women had access to reproductive health care. I also want to thank him for standing up with us in the effort to open the Aurora clinic and for his introduction of legislation guaranteeing access to low-cost birth control. Planned Parenthood/Chicago Area has proudly endorsed Barack throughout his entire political career.” Steve Trombley, CEO & President, Planned Parenthood/Chicago Action

“The present votes Obama took at that time, along with many other pro-choice legislators, were ‘no’ votes to bad bills being used for political gain. We asked Senator Obama and other strong supporters of choice to vote present to encourage Senators facing tough re-elections to make the right choice by voting present, instead of caving to political pressure and voting for these bad bills. In the Illinois State Senate, Obama showed leadership, compassion and a true commitment to reproductive health care. The Republican Senate President at the time constantly used anti-abortion bills to pigeon-hole Democrats so that he could target them with misleading mailers during campaign season. It was a tactic that was about politics, not policy – and Obama didn’t let them get away with it.” Pam Sutherland, President & CE O of < st1:place w:st=”on”>Illinois Planned Parenthood Council

“Senator Obama is one of America’s strongest and most loyal defenders of women’s rights on issues of reproductive health care. I’ve contributed to EMILY’s List in the past ­ but I never will again, because I¹m so disappointed in their decision to launch these unfair, false attacks on behalf of Senator Clinton¹s campaign.” Libby Slappey, a former 13-year board member of Planned Parenthood of East Central Iowa.

Even Ellen Malcolm has praised Barack as recently as last year, after Barack gave the keynote speech at the annual Emily’s List Luncheon. In a letter to Barack, Malcolm writes:

Senator Obama,

Thank you so much for helping to make the 2006 EMILY’s List Majority Council Conference such a great success. Our Majority Council members told me again and again how energized they were to hear directly from you and how much they appreciated your spending time with us.

You truly inspired our members and reminded them why they support our work to elect dynamic pro-choice Democratic women ­ especially after hearing you speak about how you’re fighting to make change happen.

I appreciate your commitment to EMILY’s List. Here’s to victory in November!

Warmest regards, Ellen R. Malcolm, President

Handwritten: “You were terrific and really lit a fire with our members!

Thanks so much!!”

These attacks are not going away any time soon. Let’s be sure to remind ourselves and our friends about what a fighter Senator Obama has been for the pro-choice community.

· Barack has a 100% pro-choice vote rating with Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America.

· He was the ONLY U.S. Senator who helped raise funds in 2006 to successfully repeal a South Dakota law that banned abortions. Senator Clinton refused to help in the effort. In fact, even EMILY’S List refused to help repeal the ban in South Dakota.

· Senator Obama is the only candidate for President who rose in support of Illinois Planned Parenthood when their new Aurora clinic faced a threatened shut-down.

· When Congress failed to pass a law to require insurance plans to cover FDA-approved contraceptives, Obama supported a successful law to provide that requirement in Illinois.

· He recently co-sponsored a bill with Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to make birth control more affordable for low-income and college age women after changes in federal law led to a skyrocketing new costs.

Please share this information with your friends and colleagues. Let’s make sure that these kinds of divisive, baseless attacks don’t go unanswered.

Becky Carroll

More politics as usual. I understand, as I’m sure every American does, that heated political discourse is a necessary discomfort in the electoral process, but when it borders on the ridiculous, like this whole Kindergarten thing, it makes us all just feel, well, less than intellectual. As a matter of fact, the more I read some of this stuff I think, the dumber I get.

Luckily, Senator Obama’s campaign has all of this covered, so the rest of us are free to do what is needed most – contribute our time and efforts towards getting out the vote, and spreading the word about the need for change in this country. So let’s push past the ridiculousness of the recent campaign rhetoric and speed the Senator from Illinois along to victory in ’08. The work is ours to do, and it will only be done if we do it.

Fired up and ready to go?

Ladies! We have been called upon to undertake an historic task!

In this election year, more than any other, the voices of black women all over the nation are being heard, and nowhere more so than in South Carolina.

The South Carolina Obama for America Team has asked the women of Black Women for Obama around the nation to assist in spreading the word about Senator Obama in South Carolina, one of the key first primary states, and one inwhich over 50% of registered Democrats are African American. More important still, over 50% of registered black voters are women.

Unless you’ve been living under a political rock, you know that this election is historic in that it pits a woman against the first viable African American candidate ever. The media would have us believe that the black female vote has all but gone to Billary, but the women of BWFO have known all along that this simply isn’t true. We also know that all we must do is reach out to those undecided, or apathetic voters and tell them from our hearts and in our own words why we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Senator Barack Obama is this nation’s best hope for a brighter future to turn undecided voters into Obama supporters!

Black Women of America, we need you. If you are interested in assisting the National Obama for America campaign with the important task of reaching out to the voters in South Carolina who need to hear from us, please let us know by joining BWFO, or giving us your information so that we can contact you about how you can play a part in getting Senator Obama into the White House.

A word about South Carolina: while all of the early primary states are important, winning South Carolina for Senator Obama will ensure that we gain precious momentum going into Super Tuesday on February 5th. That’s the day that an additional 18 states hold caucuses and primaries to select their choice for the Democratic nominee. The campaign has asked us to help them win South Carolina, so we have pledged as an organization to make this our singular focus.

If you are not currently a member of Black Women for Obama and want to help, please submit your information by clicking here, or call us at 678-768-8527 for more information. You can also email us at info@blackwomenforobama.org. We need as many volunteers as we can get, and we need them immediately!

This is it, ladies – this is why we formed Black Women for Obama. I’m counting on each and every black woman out there who knows this country needs a change, who knows that our schools are sub-standard compared to the rest of the industrialized world, who knows our healthcare system is broken, and who wants to ensure that we are never again tricked into a senseless war, to join forces with us and help us blanket South Carolina with the good news of Senator Obama’s vision for our country!

Today’s “Obama Video of the Day” is a simple montage of images of the Senator. What makes this video special is the music backdrop!

The Kanye West-produced hit single from Common called “For The People” provides the infectious, groovy beat for this little video. Take a look and see if gets you bobbin’ your head like it always does me: 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIEJpzJeGFU]

In this election year, nobody could be more accurately described as “for the people” then Senator Barack Obama. The wonderful part is, he’s not just for rich people, or poor people, Democrats or Republicans, black people or white people, skinny people or fat people (thank God) – he’s for all people, and in a world where most politicians would seek to divide us with partisan politics and divisiveness, that’s a beautiful thing.

Senator Obama doesn’t just represent change to me – he represents our greatest chance to date to unify as a nation. I’ve remarked again and again on BWFO about the events I’ve attended, and how amazing it is to see people of all ages and races truly united behind Senator Obama. Now, some of you may say, “Well heck – I’ve been to a Billary rally, and I’ve seen plenty of diversity there as well!” Not the same thing, and here’s why.

Number 1: Senator Obama’s campaign at its core promotes the idea that we are one nation, and that in order to achieve fundamental change, we have to begin to act like it.

Number 2: Senator Obama’s vision for this country is more like a philosophy – the idea of giving government back to the people. This may not be that unique an idea, but Senator Obama is uniquely qualified to lead and inspire us to that end, unlike many other politicians who have tried before.

Number 3: Senator Obama has proven that he is truly for the people – by walking away from a cushy Wall Street gig to work in the inner cities of Chicago, and I mean actually work. Working with ordinary citizens to help them help themselves. Actually rolling up his sleeves and doing the work. Can any other candidate say that?

If you believe, like I do that Senator Obama is really for the people, spread the word. Call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while and ask them who they’re supporting this election year, and then tell them why you support Senator Obama. Then send them to BWFO, and let them read more for themselves. It’s going to take all of us to ensure that the man who really is for the people becomes the next President of these United States.