Cuba

Many years ago, my dad was born in Cuba.  I myself arrived on scene in Venezuela.

Thus, with a tattered passport in hand, registering my first born daughter as a US citizen at the Consulate in Melbourne, became a real adventure!

I think we should normalize relations with Cuba, and should have done so years ago.  This is not to deny the past, but it is to engender change for the future.

I believe the United States is Cuba’s best hope for freedom, and the more freedom people are exposed to, the more they will demand.

Neither Russia or China are paragons of liberty.  We trade and travel with them.

In the cause of justice, for the people of Cuba, and those who love them here, it’s time for a change.

Cultural exchanges should be set in motion, and I believe everyone will grow and benefit.

Vaya con Dios!

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Why are we still in the Race?

Why are we still talking about Race?

Apart from the Human Race, there is no such thing as “race”.  We may as well be attempting to divide people according to hair color.

There is no such thing as an inter-racial marriage or a bi-racial child.

There is, however, such a thing as blatantly profitable stupidity.

The time is long overdue for our President, to openly state the scientific facts.  He is uniquely qualified to do so, and this would set the stage for further productive dialogue across our country.

Yes.  The White House calls for network time for President Obama to speak about race, and the coming address is adequately promoted.

The President then references biology and anthropology to reiterate the blatant fact that we are all sisters and brothers.  There is no Black or White.

Such a speech would easily mark the high-point of his, and perhaps, any Presidency in modern times.

It would obliterate simplistic categories of color, while reminding us that we are all Americans, regardless of our ethnicity.  It would celebrate the gifts that our collective and diverse ethnicity bestows, embracing the cultural depth that makes our country great.  But it would blow apart the enduring ignorance lying at the foundation of dysfunctional policy and resulting riotous protest.

My hopes are very high.

There is no valid reason why they have to be dashed.

 

Dr. Yolanda Moses:

 

 

 

 

Ferguson

“Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people…”      Luke the Evangelist

Without scrutinizing the forensics involved or analyzing a decision made by a Grand Jury, justified or not, the taking of life is a gravely sad state of affairs.  It is a heavy responsibility we place on the shoulders of mere human beings, who daily put their own lives at risk, and it is a most painful grief laid at the feet of beloved family and friends.  Sanctimonious hand-wringing won’t do, and clerical charlatans can’t help.

Because the individuals involved in the Ferguson altercation have differing skin pigmentation, this has engendered dangerously simplistic, yet eminently profitable approaches heavily couched in the spurious concept of “race”.  Indeed, a CNN commentator expressed the view that we need to have “all the races” involved in some kind of productive dialogue in order to move forward.

One wonders what “races” were being talked about.  Let’s see, are we referring to the Black race, the Yellow race, the Red race, the Brown race, the White race, the Italian race, the Indonesian race, the Icelandic race, the Israeli race?  Race?  Have we regressed so far and become that incredibly ignorant?

Ostensibly well intentioned cries that we should now have deliberations about “race” are broadly being made, and in one sense, they would be extremely healthy.  Yes, we should discuss race, so that this baseless and insolvent idea can be permanently debunked.  Dr. King understood this decades ago, which is why he spoke so eloquently about the deeper and definitive aspects of a person contained in the content of character, beyond the coloration of skin.  His dream clearly did not include continuing to define people along ridiculously contrived lines that can only result in a headlong “race” to a dead-end.

Celebrations of our ethnicity are a great thing, and they are anthropologically and socially valid.  They enable us to be informed by the traditions and experiences germane to the regions of Kenya, Tanzania, Russia, Korea, Chile, Ireland and the Philippines.  Yet, apart from that wonderful thing known as the “human race”, the term “race” itself has no informative bearing as it pertains to the characterization of people, either as individuals or in groups.  Race is a social construct first developed by racists, and it should not find easy, pandering, and, frankly, rather productive quarter in the Body of Christ.

If, as a nation, we had talked more and taught more about people as “people”, and not as “black” or “white”, we would have made much more progress in the arena of human relations than we have thus far.  Ferguson would not be largely known as a notorious hotspot for the looting of merchants whose only crime is trying to make ends meet.

Sadly, the Christian Church has not led in this endeavor, and too often falls lockstep into the bigotry that easily divides folks into dehumanizing classes related to skin tone.  We have been told that, in Christ, all distinctions disappear, but we have swept Jesus aside in the belief that embracing common misconceptions will keep us relevant in the community.  We can do better, far better.

As it happens, the season of Our Lord’s birth is a color-blind affair, including every soul ever called into consciousness.  Distinct from anticipating what we might materially receive on December 25th, the real point of the Nativity is what we might faithfully learn.  In this regard, it would appear there is much we can glean from the infant adorned in swaddling clothes.

Beyond the crude concepts that divide, the black and white truth is that Jesus is the Savior redeeming everyone, regardless of ethnicity, color or creed.