Down for the Hood.

Barack Obama has been President for 2 1/2 months now so how has this changed things for the hood.
I have to admit I always thought that Life under a black President would be different. I had hope that once a black man took that oath of office that things would change. I had hopes that the hood would somehow heal itself.
We are still seen as thugs and gang bangers. People think its ok that we were stranded on roofs of buildings in New Orleans. People think we are unemployed welfare recipients and therefore bums. Then we are violent gang banger thugs. Thugs who don't deserve respect. I don't think that is about race anymore. Middle class people of both race are similar. Whites tend to feel guilty and African Americans are embarrassed neither emotion is fair to the people who live in these neighborhoods.
I had hope that one change was people caring about what is going on in the hood. Do Americans know the truth about what is going on in the hood? Do they know or do they care about the people who live in these neighborhoods.
Everyday people in my neighborhood hear gunshots. It is so common here that we can tell you the make of the weapon. Yet in the outside world people ignore what is happening in the hood either out of embarrassment or out of fear of being called racist. No one speaks up about this. The media ignores this and tends to blame the victims. I live in a war zone complete with houses destroyed in this war yet we are not an issue for Americans never mind the rest of the World.
The only media that is talking about what is going on in the hood is rap music. Everyone talks about the sexism in rap and I agree but to just dismiss rappers although there are a lot of rappers who are NOT anti woman like Nas.
During the PA Primary between Hillary and Barack a man from the hood was walking down the street and was killed. He fell on the Obama sign and died. The sign was full of bullet holes and was streaked with blood. There was a chalk outline right by the sign and a police yellow line had the sign blocked off.
The next day the Obama campaign was canvassing my neighborhood and this middle class well dressed African American woman saw the sign and was upset. She had the nerve to ask me what happened to the Obama sign? I got ghetto and said "Forget the sign what about the brother that was killed." I know she could see the chalk outline and the blood and the yellow tape but she didn't care about the man who died she worried about the Obama sign. This kind of disrespectful behavior happens all the time with both races.
No one pays any attention to the fact that there is only one hood and it doesn't matter what state you go to there is a hood. The hood is not black its not white its not Asian, its not Muslim, its not Christian, its not Jewish, the hood includes everyone. We are "the hood" USA. We have a high rate of violence here yet no one acknowledges us. It bothers me when we talk about violence anywhere on the planet yet no one speaks up for the hood. I guess that one day we will all be dead and no one will ever know we existed.
I am a person who is honest, outspoken, proud of being an African American, proud of being a female, proud to be from Pittsburgh, I am proud of who I am and I am proud of where I am from. I represent the hood USA because it is more then where I am from its who I am.
African American middle class people stop being embarrassed about us. We are who we are and just because we are ghetto doesn't mean you are.
White Americans talking about violence in the hood doesn't make you racist. Everyone in the hood is not African American. Emimen is ghetto and white he grew up in the hood and in poverty.
I think Hillary Clinton cares about what is going on. I hope Barack Obama cares because 95% of people in my neighborhood voted for him. I voted for the other guy. He picked up a lot of Hillary supporters here. I don't think he will care anymore about the hood then anyone else.
Michelle Obama is a horse of a different color. I hope she will pick up the cause of working with inner city children. She gave that interview about kids telling her that she "talks White" when she was in school. She really hit the nail on the head. She is the first African American First Lady and perhaps she can convince the kids that "acting white" or "talking white" or education are not for white people. I think she can make a difference. I hope she chooses to do to do that
I am down for the hood today because I wonder if we can hold out to much longer.
I am just like most other people. I am funny and witty. I also agree with Republicans half the time and Democrats the other half. I can testify about Mental Retardation and the Positive Approaches technique in front of the PA House and Senate. I have never been to college I attended an inner city school with no books are equipment but I learned a lot because of the teachers who didn't need books because they could teach without these things. These teachers most of whom were white installed in us a sense of pride in who we were.
Some day people will care about what is going on in the hood.