Tag: president

news, politics

Yes we did.

Becca

When I saw him speak in person, I was shocked by his genuine optimism and love for this country and its people. He spoke with a power and a purpose I have never seen in a human being. But what I noticed more than anything was the way people reacted to him. I knew then that there was a light for our country. And our future.

 

This was more than a battle of two men.
This was a race about more than
race
or upbringing
or status.
It was about more than
politics
or power.
This was about America
and Americans
and the fact that
underneath it all
we’re all optimists
who believe we can be better than we are.
This was about believing
in our future
and ourselves.
This was about HOPE.
And hope never dies.
No matter how poor,
how alone,
or how desolate things become.
Hope triumphs.

 

To the future….

news, politics

Power to the First People

Becca

My article from my summer fellowship, News 21, finally made it into High Country News.

Native Americans are poised to swing some Western battleground states

by Rebecca Ford

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

The phones are down in Sonny Weahkee’s cluttered office on a quiet street near the University of New Mexico. But Weahkee, a Navajo, Cochiti and Zuni Pueblo Indian with a dark ponytail and a patient, gentle way of speaking, is still working on this late July day. As the executive director of the nonprofit Sacred Alliance for Grassroots Equality (SAGE) Council, he has his hands full mobilizing New Mexico’s sizeable Native American population to vote in the upcoming presidential election.

Other Native American activist groups, such as the Washington, D.C.-based National Congress of American Indians and the Oklahoma-based Indigenous Democratic Network, or INDN’s List, have mounted similar efforts across the country, working to raise awareness among candidates and voters of the need for better-funded Native healthcare and education. “If we stand together and vote together on whatever issue, we can start to gain some momentum and start turning people’s heads,” Weahkee says……

See the rest here.

news, politics

Liar, Liar pants on fire

Becca

I’ve been out of the country more times than vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. And that was BEFORE the news discovered that she’s actually been exaggerating her ONE overseas trip.

According to news reports, she actually DID NOT go into Iraq. And her trip to Ireland? oh yea, that was just a refueling stop. If I counted all the places I’ve refueled or changed plans… well, I’d have been to a lot more places.

Knowing what the rest of the world is like is a VERY important point for the leaders of our country. We’re already filled with such American-centric people, we don’t need them running our country. I love the U.S. compeletly, but you must know how the rest of the world lives.

This woman just gets worse and worse….

politics

This is our moment

Becca

When I talk to my parents and grandparents,
They remind me
That I never lived in a world
Before the internet,
Before itunes, iphones and ipods,
Before people of all color could go to school together.

I missed Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech,
And the protests against the Vietnam War,
And watching a man land on the moon.

I missed it all.

But for my generation, this may be our moment.
This may be the moment that our children ask us about.
Because for them,
Every president WON’T be a white male.
For them,
Diversity and optimism
Will be as common and widespread as itunes and iphones.
Or so I hope.

Uncategorized

Obama Talks Health at Latino Convention

Becca

 

SAN DIEGO, Calif.–During a speech emphasizing his shared values with the Latino community, Barack Obama unveiled another aspect of his health care plan at the annual convention of the National Council of La Raza, the largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.

Obama announced Sunday that his plan would assist small business owners in providing health benefits for their employees by providing tax credits to employers.

“An idea, by the way, that was championed by my friend Hillary Clinton,” said Obama in front of a crowd of 2,000, many of whom applauded at the mention of Clinton…

see the rest on Huffington Post

 

news, politics

Vying for Native American Votes

Becca

ALBUQUERQUE — Native American voters, often treated as an afterthought in presidential elections, are receiving an unprecedented amount of attention from both presidential candidates this year in the battleground state of New Mexico.

It’s a development nearly two decades in the making in which a handful of Albuquerque–based activists have been working to create a well-organized and powerful Native American voice.

Today, with 63,000 registered voters, according to the Secretary of State’s Office, Native Americans may well be the swing constituency in one of the most politically volatile states in the country.

The Sacred Alliance for Grassroots Equality (SAGE) Council, founded in 1996 by brother and sister Sonny and Laurie Weahkee, was formed to protest the construction of a road through the Petroglyph National Monument on Albuquerque’s fast-growing westside….

For the rest of the article, see The New Mexico Independent.
Or cross-posted at The Huffington Post

news, politics

Finally…

Becca

No one can say that Obama didn’t fight hard for this. And maybe we can be grateful for Hillary’s stubbornness because she made Obama really fight for this. Finally, he has reached 2,158 delegates, and he is the Democratic Party candidate.

Months ago, I was at an Obama rally in Los Angeles, where Michelle Obama, Oprah and Maria Shriver spoke in support of him. I felt at that moment that I was possibly witnessing something historical. Now I know.