This weekend will be a historic even for African Americans, hundreds of thousands of African Americans will convene on Washington DC, chocolate city, to celebrate the first inauguration of a black president.
Not only will Obama be showcased to the country and the world but so will the African Americans who come to support him. While the vast majority of African Americans will come to peacefully and respectfully celebrate Barack Obama’s extraordinary achievement we must do all in our power to make sure that we are represented as the intelligent, loving brave people we are. We can not let a few bad apples spoil the celebration.
This is not the Greekfest, Homecoming, or All Star Weekend. Your favorite sports team didn’t just win the championship, this is a turning point in American history. Here are some of the rules that we should follow in order to make this a successful inauguration for Obama and African Americans
1. No fighting. If someone steps on your 200 dollar new Barack Obama dunks, let it slide. If you step on someone’s shoes, apologize. If you see your cousin Kenny who owes you a hundred bucks and has been ducking you, don’t confront him, you’ll see him later. Now is not the time. Any fights involving blacks will be blown out of proportion by the media, we don’t need to sully the image of black people .
2. No Disrespecting Women. There will be thousands of attractive African American females out there. We should all take Barack Obama’s example and treat our women as respectfully as Barack treats Michelle. While it is perfectly fine to approach an attractive woman for conversation, there is no need to be disrespectful about it. Please don’t use the b word or h word when approaching females or are in their vicinity. Also we do not need to refer to women’s body parts when complimenting them. If a woman has an attractive figure, rather than commenting on their breasts or behind. you can tell her she has a nice physique and obviously takes good care of herself. Under no circumstances should any women be touched or groped. You don’t need to grab a woman’s arm or any other part of her body to get her attention. If she’s interested, she’ll talk to you. If a friend of yours is being rude or disrespectful, check him on it.
If you try and talk to a woman and she is not interested, that does not mean that she is stuck up, stank, bourgie or a b-word. Perhaps she is already involved or is simply not interested. If a woman is with a man, despite how attractive she may be, there is no excuse to approach or comment about her appearance. if Michelle and Barack walked by would you try and hollar at Michelle or talk about her booty? If someone hollars at your girl, let him know that she is with you politely. If you hollar at someone’s girl and she’s with some one politely apologize.
3. No Drugs. In my belief there is nothing wrong with smoking marijuana, however many people do. I realize for many there would be nothing better than to be high as Obama takes the oath of office, or to be high during the many celebrations. Still people will be bringing their children and probably don’t want their kids inhaling second hand marijuana smoke. Also police will be around and we don’t need to give them any more excuses to lock us up. If you do smoke marijuana, try and be as discreet as possible. If necessary you could make marijuana brownies or cookies to provide the same effect without being noticeable or smoke in the comfort of your own hotel room, car or the house of whoever you may be staying with.
The bars will be open 24 hours in DC and there will be a lot of parties. That means a lot of drinking. When people drink they may have more fun but they are also more likely to act stupid. You don’t want to ruin your inauguration memories by throwing up in the car, falling down in front of everyone, sleeping with someone you wouldn’t normally sleep with or pissing on yourself. I realize this is an enormous reason to celebrate and a lot of people drink to celebrate but we should do so in moderation.
4. Don’t Mess With The Police .There have been a number of recent police brutality cases in the black community. Now is not the time to take out our frustration on them. Police will be in DC in full force. Police may be rude and disrespectful towards participants but this is one time we could let it slide. If the police asks you to leave the area, this one time you don’t need to argue with them. The police work for Obama now. if you have problem with an officer, take down his badge number and report him.
5. Be Patient With Crowds. There’s going to be a lot of people in DC this weekend, which means that there will be a lot of traffic. Not only cars but people. Be patient driving down there. Make sure you bring enough food, music and entertainment for your trip as you could get stuck in traffic for a long time. Don’t get road rage make a conversation enjoy yourself. Traffic will be heavy on the streets and subway too. If you have to wait just relax make friends in the crowd, its a celebration. You don’t need to push or try and fight your way through.
This is a tremendous achievement for the African Americans who paved the way for Obama and the many who fought to have him elected. The world will be watching us. We need to show the world what a great people we are. We cannot let this celebration be marred by sexual harassment, fights and unruliness. Let’s go out and have fun and make sure everyone else has a good time too.
