After The Election

Yeah, I grew up in an all-white, working class, Catholic neighborhood in Chicago and my friends and neighbors constantly used the N word, and I often chastised them for using it and got called an N-lover.

I was tuning around from CBC to BBC and CNN. All three are running all night with US election coverage. The bullshit politics is over for the time being.

When I was playing football for the Walterboro Wildcats in South Carolina, I took a serious shit-kicking for calling a black man “Sir.” That was the beginning of my involvement with Congress on Racial Equality, NAACP, Women’s Lib and anything else that opposed racism.

For me, two significant ceilings were smashed: the colour barrier and the gender barrier.

You guys must be very proud—and I don’t give a f-------- f---- which party you subscribe to.

Congrats,
J.Michael Yates
Vancouver, B.C.

Thanks for that story, Doug.

I had the singular pleasure of spending part of Election Night on the phone with Sonny Rollins, who spoke about his thoughts on the expected election of Barack Obama.

That interview is now at http://thejazzsession.com.

Is it just me, or is the sun a little brighter this morning?

Great day in the mornin'...

Words often fail me.

Fortunately, there are some with the right words for the time. These beautiful words are from the mayor of Newaark, Cory Booker.

“I reject the idea of a post-racial America. I want to luxuriate in the racial deliciousness of our country: the Italian-Americans, the Irish-Americans, the Mexican-Americans. I mean, that’s what makes America great. We are a nation that celebrates racial diversity. We’re not Norway. We’re not South Korea. We are the United States of America. The story of America is bringing such differences together to manifest a united set of ideals, not a united culture, not a united language, not a united religion, but a united set of ideals. That was what made America dramatic when it was founded, the first country of its kind in humanity. So I reject that. I want to celebrate all of America: its richness, its diversity, its deliciousness.”

He could almost be talking about jazz.