President Barack Obama Discovers Green-Gold in Memphis

For thousands of years Arabs walked deserts not knowing what lays underneath their feet would make the world kneel before them to have.   They lived as poor beggars having only tourist attractions as their only international industry; thereby, put aside in world commerce as backward with no real future, disrespected by the west as ignorant and useless.  And then, oil was discovered; black gold underneath their feet.  The whole continent became the most important place in the world.  People who were seen as nobodies are now making decisions that bring both good and bad times to people around the world.  While in Memphis, President Barack Obama discovers green-gold, Tennessee “Intel”.

Memphis, the city where dead kings are buried; is now, the city where life is rushing forth.  For a long time Memphis’s youth has rocked the world; they have displayed great talents in almost every way imaginable but still have gone unnoticed until now.  They have put their city on top of the world by constantly appearing in the top 5 of every national entertainment contest like American Idol, Miss Black Memphis competing in Miss America contests; top athletes from University of Memphis basketball and football teams who have become top pro athletes, and now, urban intellectuals: Thinkers.  At the same time, for years, Memphis’s youths have been overlooked as violent, disrespectful, of no good to their city, and trouble makers.  They’re thrown into jails and prisons by the thousands, as law enforcement and prosecutors labels them as gangsters, killers, and crack-heads.

As Booker T. Washington won the White House’s “Race to Top” competition their victory speaks volumes to urban children everywhere.  They’re discounted as urban underclass; it took a President to discover that’s far from the truth.  BTW represents the child next door; any of them could have informed the President and brought greatness to their city.

In addition, Memphis City School system is a beach-head for another contest: Political war. The entire caucus of Tennessee’s Republicans joined in with Senator Mark Norris (R) Collierville; to keep school segregation alive in Tennessee.  Their heavy-handed approach to prevent a unified Memphis and Shelby County schools is short of unthinkable.  The Republican Party drew a line in sand last year and declared war on urban students; as they fight in court to keep them apart.  Citizens of Memphis and Shelby County have hired top rated lawyers to prosecute this education war by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for lawyers to just say, no.  Perhaps, the President seized an opportunity in historic fashion by understanding that Tennessee Republicans are on the other side of history in their school segregation battle.  The President made it clear that he wants “No Child left Behind” replaced with “Race to The Top”.  This signals a war between Republicans and Democrats on what America’s education would look like in the future.

Whenever a President speaks on an issue, the world changes; the question is: To what?  It’s no sudden strategy of the President and the Democratic Party that BTW is permanently on the political radar screen.