Ms. magazine's Visions for Change
Ms. is featuring quotes from feminists and activists - like bell hooks, Margaret Cho and Alice Walker - about what kind of change they'd like to see in the U.S. under the Obama administration.
We have a quote in there too, but it seems it was shortened significantly in the editing process. So here's our full vision for change!
The Obama administration alone can't do all the things we want it to -- it requires a vibrant and effective counterpart in the social-change sector. One of the most amazing things Obama could do is actively support the many grassroots campaigns for women's rights, low-income people's rights, queer rights, racial justice, etc., by redistributing wealth to non-profits and giving them the ability to continue the work they have already been doing in a sustainable fashion. We would like to think that as an organizer, Obama on some level understands the kind of support they need to make real and lasting change.
What's your hope for the Obama administration?
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I'm not sure if I have a long lasting vision as much as a short term desire to get the current resident out of the White House.
Maybe my vision is that the American people realize that electing someone smart is a GOOD thing.
I hope our troops get to come home VERY soon, safely and they get top-notch care when they get here.
I hope that my mother, aunt and myself can avoid foreclosure on our homes.
I hope that the racists in my family will have a change of heart.
I hope that FINALLY women's health will matter.
I hope that I can be proud to be an American again.
I hope that the changes are deliberate, sustainable and re-electable. :-)
Obviously, Obama has the power to make some real concrete changes to the structure of our society. I personally would like to see job creation that helps out women, affordable health care, repealing the Global Gag Rule and to reinstate the ban on commercial leasing of public land for oil and mining. (This has been a big issue in Colorado, where I am from.)
While those institutional changes could be very beneficial to a lot of people, the real social change will always come from the people. Obama is a capitalist and his economic policies will still be based on an exploitative system that requires a destitute class.
I feel like there has been a lack of criticism of Obama and some of his picks. Very few media sources have critiqued him for the bailout. I am upset that he kept Robert Gates. Bill Richardson...corrupt and stepping down. What about Timothy Geithner's supposed "tax mishap" and now he will still be confirmed by the senate? I don't think Washington ever really changes.
At the end of the day representational politics fail at representing real people in real communities. So fuck them. I am going to organize in my hometown and fight to keep Shell from leveling mountains in Colorado and work to create a more sustainable local economy. And if Obama gets me some health care I can afford, I will take it.
National Health Insurance
Taking back the government from the corporations
Legalizing same sex marriage
Separation of Church and state
No more faith based initatives
I'll settle for combating anti-intellectualism in politics. Can we get a complex analysis? And how about intersectionality? Correct word pronunciation?
I completely, wholeheartedly agree with the sentiments of the comment. However, I think the use of the phrase "redistributing wealth" is ill-advised. Though I don't necessarily think there is anything wrong with the idea, there are a lot of feminist, allied, open-minded, genuine people out there that are afraid of an even larger economic downfall. Such phrasing could turn those people away from movements they believe in.
Maybe reversing almost everything the Bush administration has done?