Things are looking up

What a three days it's been. Obama is using his power to do the right thing. It will make a huge difference to women that reproductive rights are assured. And he'll probably appoint three liberal Supreme Court justices over the probable eight years he's in office. We are lucky.

What a change.

Now I want to think hard about what my country really is like. Who is here, what  they do, who exercises power and how: really basic questions. Even local matters can be too complex to understand. Most of us, most of the time, can't think about such things because we are so busy pursuing our interests, as we must in order to survive. Spending time with my children and grandchildren takes me back to what it was like for us when we were so involved in the day to day logistics of family life and had little time to reflect or to plan beyond the most immediate concerns. That's life for most people. And for me, too, for most of my life.

I'm just about finished reading Latino Spin: Public Image and the Whitewashing of Race  by Arlene Davila.

The cover, which she analyzes at length, shows a Latino morphing from wetback into American consumer. She decries the shallow thinking behind such depictions of Latinos. She is an anthropologist and provides an ethnographic analyis of the subtle aspects of racism and classism as they impinge on Latinos.

Her perspective is that of a Puerto Rican academic living in New York City.

If I have time I'll write a review, but those kiddies keep me hopping. I cook and cook and cook. And walk for hours with them in the bitter Seattle cold. They are all about to descend on us, so goodbye for now.

Comments

[Valerie]

Hi Hattie, it seems like President Obama and his cabinet are working to do what was promised on the campaign trail.

This has been very fascinating for me to watch because I lost interest and faith in politicians during Nixon's administration. My attitude has pretty much been wait and see.

[Hattie]

Right, Valerie. We learned that politicans would say anything to get elected and then turn around and betray the public. But everything Obama has done so far is moving in the right direction.

[Joy]

I feel...and have felt he is a man of his word Hattie. I know at any one time we could hit a snag, but I feel good about him Hattie.