Monday, December 12, 2016

The Potential of McKeesport

I've been paying attention to a lot of politics as of this past couple years. I have watched what has been said in the traditional media. I've also have been listening to what has been said on social media amongst many friends. No matter how you feel about certain politician, you have to be able to look away from screens and into the world around you.
For me, that has always seemed difficult. Sometimes, it's a matter of family. Sometimes, it's a matter of skin color. Sometimes, it's a matter of community. With all the difficulties, it is often hard to see the good. That could be how crazy your family is, how often the image of you as a black male takes a hit for the foolishness of another, or how downtrodden your neighborhood has become.
Lately, I find myself trying to think about positives. I'm thinking about the positives of my family, skin color, and community. I'm not going to get into details about family or skin color for a variety of reasons.
 I think people always take pride in their communities( I'm no exception in that sense). For me, that is McKeesport; hence the title. Right now, my hometown is struggling. My grandmother's house sits on a block with four families on it. That's a block, I'm going by address numbers, with 20 plots of land. When I was growing up, there was a solid dozen families on the block.
 I don't mean for it to be negative, because I'm not thinking about it that way( not trying to think that way). Instead, I'm thinking about how those houses can be turned into beautiful home for beautiful families. I'm thinking about how the massive plot of land next to the Rite Aid in Christy Park can be a big entertainment studio with the potential for two shopping centers being within walking distance. I'm thinking about how the former Corner Pocket can be turned a soul food restaurant.
I haven't even begun to think about actually downtown McKeesport. Downtown has such potential for businesses and industry, which would include all the different types of jobs and people to fill those roles. I think McKeesport has people with the potential. Being one of those people, I don't know that we believe in ourselves or each other.
I don't know. I'm just at the point where I don't think it's going to come from any government. We as the people have start putting our heads together to build these communities like McKeesport. That also means that we start trusting ourselves/each other to do right and do good. That's the problem no matter the level which you speak.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Who To Vote for President?

We have to be accountable for our actions. As we throw around terms like "corrupt" and "racist" and "bigot" and "reckless" in our politics, we do ourselves a disservice. my thing is this. What mentality do you want our government to have? Is it a bunker mentality where we look any islamic as an enemy combatant? Is it the little boy who lost his family because of a civil war?
How do you approach this? I don't think any of the parties have the right answers. I would be willing to listen to Trump's economic plan, but his national security is based on mythology and isn't pragmatic to the ever changing demographic.
Saying that I'm voting for Hillary would sound nice, but what am I voting for? Am I voting for 30,000 missing emails? Am I voting for the Clinton Foundation mysteries? Or Am I voting for someone who has been fighting for women's rights since the 70's?
Two events creep into my mind.
1 Occupy Wall Street. 2011 when Romney had his 47% fiasco. That's not what bothered me. What bothered me was Newt Gingrich said something along the lines of "they should go home, get a shower, and get a job." He was talking about these people who is saying that something is wrong here, the system is broken.
2. A couple years later, We have the Black Lives Matter movement, We see these deaths of Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, and Michael Brown. I know people think the issue is with police. From my perspective, it is a movement that is saying, "THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN."
Without digging too much into the weeds of policy, I'm looking at these candidates and trying to figure out who is fighting for who?