I'm out for presidents to represent me...

I'm a sucka for good talk radio. Notice the emphasis on good. Talk radio can make a long road trip go by faster, can tune your significant other out if he or she ain't talking 'bout nothing and can generate good discussion among your traveling group. It is one of the reasons I invested in, and highly recommend Sirius Satellite Radio to anyone who is on the road a lot.

This past Sunday, she and I were traveling back from Virginia Beach and we were listening to the Jamie Foxx Show on his new station, the Foxxhole. While the exact subject of converstaion escapes my memory, one of the topics/issues that was discussed was Barack Obama. Jamie and his panel were asking for Obama to do more. They thought he was playing it safe and trying his best to avoid saying anything controversial and not be a "stereotypical" black men. In essence, they were saying, that while he was running a solid campaign, he wasn't being black enough.

Once again, I stradled the fence on this issue and understood both sides. I can understand the concern of some black folks for Brother Obama to set it off on some issues. However, does he need to to be controversial to be in good with "us" It would, to some folk, perpetuate the stereotype of the angry black man if Obama would use the Al and Jesse method in his campaign. To some, because he's soft spoken, he's catering to the white vote and conservative black voters. Could it be that's just the way he is. If and when we ever get a black president, I don't need an outspoken shit-starter to accurately represent me. I think sometimes in our waiting for some one in our community to step up and be a leader, we start stereotyping ourselves and mentally build what we think our leaders should be and sound like.

Page 2's LZ Granderson recently wrote an article calling out Michael Jordan. Granderson basically took the position that Michael Jordan has missed numerous opportunities to use his celebrity status for significant social change. It's something I have too wondered about. If Mike took a strong stance on an issue, even if it wasn't the popular one, many would follow simply because it's Mike we're talking about. But at what point do we stop waiting for celebrities to take a stance that we can follow and start thinking and doing things for ourselves. Sure, there's nothing wrong with having a leader. Neither Obama, nor Jordan are obligated to speak up and be the reps for black america simply because they are well known. Would it help? Perhaps, but we shouldn't hold them accountable.

Maybe we need to be a little more proactive rather than waiting and being reactive.