This article is being posted on the BGMLC website to show the diversity in thought and opinion of Black gays and lesbians regarding politics, culture & community. The views in this artilcle do not necessarily reflect the views and thoughts of the BGMLC, but rather we provide a medium for others to express their views to provoke thoughtful community discussions.

By: Prentice Bush

Why would we even dignify this “shock tactic” meant to undermine our candidate by passing it through the email channels from email-to-email to be read and then subliminally digested? This is an attempt to destroy something that is bigger than Obama and bigger than any of us as people, primarily men of color (especially African Americans).

It will be a proud and victorious day when we as a people realize that the success of our community lies in unity! It doesn’t lie in small financial gain or in the rise and/or fall of the individual. This country is run on POWER…. and political power when matched with money and a unified front is the strongest power there is.

Take a lesson from the Jewish community. The needs of the many out weigh the desires of the individual. Obama should have our unwavering support because he looks like you and though that may sound simplistic and even naive to some, it is more naive to believe that there aren’t hundreds of thousands who will not support him for the very reason that he does not look like them.

As a people we have been conditioned to save ourselves at the cost of our community. We believe in the preservation of me and mine and we revel in the idea of standing apart from the rest and we are still waiting for the approval of a Caucasian society that does not value us and therein lies the fist that holds us down and keeps us back. Look around, open your eyes, READ SOMETHING OF SUBSTANCE (learn history and pay attention to the news), things are not getting better for us, they are getting worse and we are our own worst enemy! “The Man” hardly needs to lift a finger when we are killing each other, when we destroy our own neighborhoods, don’t support our children and quit on our own educations. WAKE UP!!! WAKE UP PLEASE!!!

Take the extra five blocks to support a Black owned business. And yeah that may come with a side of attitude, but I’d rather get attitude from my own than slowly have money sucked from my community by outsiders. Let’s be realistic, how many smiles do you get and how great is costumer service anywhere these days???? There is always an excuse and always a “logical reason” why we don’t support our own, always a way to justify our self-hatred and unraveling families and community. The time for justification is over! The time for finger pointing is long passed. If you can’t see that we are re-enslaving ourselves, if you can’t see that we are being fooled and fooling ourselves, if you can’t see that we are slowly, NO not-so-slowly walking backwards as a community, then I feel we may truly be lost.

He is a Black man and as such deserves our consideration at very least and at our best, he deserves our full support. Understand that we are the only people in the world that questions our own in the support of others or that do not seem to value US as much as we value outside influences and trappings.

There is an old lawyers trick that plays on the subconscious mind. What you hear or read or see is digested into the mind and all the “objections” and all the efforts to disprove a “shock tactic” are never quite as poignant as the “shock tactic” itself. You still heard it, read it or saw it and it becomes a part of you subconscious and thus a part of you. We are stronger than that, better than that and braver than that and we, for the first time in a long time have the opportunity to send the message to the world, we are one and we do have value and our political and economic power speaks to more than just the consumption of products that make us look successful.

The strength of a leader comes from the faith and support of those that follow him. Martin Luther King was a great man because he had a great following. Understand that I take nothing away from the dynamic way he spoke and the ability he had to rally the community…but as his support grew so did his power to be dynamic!!!! GET BEHIND A MAN AND HE CAN RULE THE WORLD!!!

Understand that it is time to again take ownership of our community, our children and our destiny. It is time to again feel proud, not as individuals, but as a people. Know that the struggle ain’t over…don’t ever be fooled. Now you can take the blue pill and wake up comfortably in your bed believing the world and our community is OK…or you can take the red pill and see what’s on the other side of the rabbit hole. WE ARE BEING FOOLED AND WE ARE BECOMING CONTENT WITH SCRAPS AGAIN…We are a part of the first generations to do worse than their parents. A few successes mean nothing if we fall and fail as a people! TRASH THIS SHIT AND REMEMBER WHAT THE REAL ISSUES ARE…Remember what happened the last time we took our responsibility lightly…remember the last twenty years, especially the last 10 and ask yourself…WHO DO I WANT TO SEE REFLECTED IN MY COUNTRY’S LEADERSHIP?…WHAT DO I WANT THE FACE OF MY COUNTRY TO BE?…WHAT WOULD THEY DO TO STOP ME (AND IN TURN WHAT MUST I DO TO STOP THEM)?…

The time for foolishness is over…WE HAVE ENJOYED THE FRUITS OF THIRTY AND FORTY YEAR OLD VICTORIES FOR TOO LONG…We still have work to do. To rebuild our churches and our families and our politics and our community and only when basking in the victory of the success of all these things, only then have we truly made it!!!! I love my people, even when I forget the struggle, even when I devalue myself and my community…but it is time for us all, especially our men, gay and straight, to put away childish things…MEN STAND UP, JOIN EACH OTHER, EMPOWER EACH OTHER and empower this brother who has a chance to shake up the world…WHO WOULD MARTIN HAVE VOTED FOR? WHO WOULD MALCOLM HAVE VOTED FOR???? WHO WOULD MOHAMMAD HAVE VOTED FOR? WHO WOULD YOUR GRAND FATHER HAVE VOTED FOR? WHO WOULD THE SLAVES HAVE SEEN AS THEIR SAVIOR RIGHT NOW AND REGARDLESS???? You better choose a side, because it’s coming to that and anyone who thinks “I’m on my side” is the winning side is in for a rude awakening…let’s stand together and move mountains people.