I am ecstatic that the American public has finally woken up to the tricks of the mainstream media and with each primary are defying the political pundits and analysts. At the same time I am very disappointed that there exist deep divisions which are making people very disrespectful, overly aggressive and emotional in their support of their favorite candidate. It hurts to think that millions of my fellow African Americans have become so emotionally tied to Obama that if he doesn’t win they  will abandon the whole political process. To walk away from the political process is to abandon our rights to vote, something which our elders have fought hard for us to obtain.   

If you don’t support Hillary Clinton there is no need to sit at home in November, you can always become an independent or republican if you choose. I remember watching the Rosa Parks movie and a scene in which Rosa was trying to register to vote and the city clerk kept rejecting her and making her answer all of these questions about the constitution and such. Sadly, this was not fiction but the truth and many of our elders had to go through all kinds of hoops and loops just to be able to vote. In Lowndes County Alabama people were kicked off their land because they tried to register to vote but the spirit of the people which included all races working together prevailed and the battle for our voting rights in that county was won. I look at the documentaries about how our right to vote was won depicting pregnant women being hosed down with fire hoses and attacked by dogs, women and men being beaten by police and how people stood together and faced hundreds of armed law enforcement officers who tried to intimidate and stop them from asserting their rights. Yet, in this year of 2008 we are willing to throw it all away. How soon we forget the blood that was spilled, the lives that were lost so that we could be able to have our voice heard in the American political processes.  

I realize people are tired and frustrated with the biases of the mainstream media, sick of the continued battle of Obama and Clinton and the non-action of the Democratic Party leadership and repulsed by the blatant in your face George W. Bush stances that McCain is using. After George Bush stole the election in 2004, and if the same were to happen this time with the democratic nomination, I certainly would understand the urge to just abandon it all. Yet, we cannot afford to walk away from the political process and endure another 4-8 years of continued oppression. I maintain that hope and change rest in the hearts, minds and actions of the people not with any particular candidate’s platform. It’s not the presidential hopefuls who will bring change to this nation but the people. The only thing the candidates contribute to change is how the people will bring it on, whether through revolution or the ballot.   

One thing is for sure, regardless of who wins in November they will inherit a split and divided nation which is teetering on the edge of financial collapse, natural disasters and civil unrest. You don’t need a crystal ball to see the coming uncertain times. If Obama loses this race there will be factions of unhappy people who open the path for a viable third party. If Clinton looses this race there will still be factions of unhappy people who will open the door for a viable third party. If McCain should get in office a flood gate will be unleashed for a powerful third party. Either way the race goes a third party will be established in this nation within the next four years which will be a force to be reckoned with. Those who sit this one out will miss the opportunity to be the foundation for real change in our political process.