Visions of Spring

The oil spill of the Gulf of Mexico seems to be the hottest topic, flooding Huff Post with new blogs, articles, and updates every few hours. Today, the spill has managed to find its way to Florida’s shores. Blobs of oil goop were found on the beaches early this morning. BP, who is responsible for the leak, is in charge of fixing this spill. The head of the company wants “his life back.” Well, Mr. BP president, we’d like our clear waters, wildlife, and jobs back.

Since the spill, thousands of animals, including endangered species, have been exposed to the toxic oil. Folks who fish off the coast, own restaurants nearby, resorts, and equity on the houses near polluted beaches are at risk. Humans who swim in the ocean are in danger of ingesting blobs of oil. The ecosystem is being destroyed by a man-used resource that, since seeping into the ocean, now pollutes water, air, and land. Quite the triple threat indeed. However, where are the revolutionaries? Where are the green technology graduates and businesses? Where are the engineers who could fix this plan? WHERE IS THE LEFT?

Hasn’t BP already done enough polluting for a few hundred years? This will take so much effort to restore the ecosystem, if possible, the jobs, the loss in equity, the ocean! Yet, they seem to be the ones fixing the problem. Perhaps Obama should open the floor to other companies, especially those with women as managers and in high roles. Perhaps we should be investing our money, time, and effort into green energy alternatives. According to one blog on the Huff Post, of the 19 green energy companies (there are over 50 different ones) that are in the NY stock exchange, only 5 have women in any high-ranking position. 5. Out of 19. And some only have ONE woman. Uno. Un. 1. Why not open the floor to a more diverse platform of opinions and ideas? Why invest in companies that continue to remain patriarchal?

Regardless, the two most upsetting items to me personally about the spill is that 1) They are not being charged (yet at least) for contaminating public oceans, damaging the ecosystem, and failing to figure out a solution 43 days after this whole mess began and 2) Many people are continuing to/will continue to use OIL instead of trying to organize efforts for healthy, cleaner alternatives. Groups should issue statements on the spill. People should boycott the company. Activists and the masses should be building up efforts for large protests, sit-ins, demonstrations, and rallies. We as members of the left should turn this accident into a solution to the countries dirty oil usage by fighting for less oil and more green energy. We cannot allow  this tragedy to go unaccounted for like so many other opportunities in the past. Let’s fight for a cleaner, better world!

Recently, I decided to turn on the television Sunday morning and see what was going on in the world of the media. Upon watching the usual Sunday political shows, one headline (besides the fact that Jay Leno is switching back to the 11:35 time slot [yawwwwn..]) was about Harry Reid’s racial comment about Barack Obama. In a quote from the book Game Change,

“He was wowed by Obama’s oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama — a “light-skinned” African American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,” as he later put it privately.”

It seems other folks have also made comments about Barack Obama due to his race. Reporters on the television (mostly conservative) said they would keep their nose out of the liberals business and not get involved with this situation. However, the majority of liberals agreed that he apologized, Obama accepted the apology, let’s move on.

Or should we?

Should we allow folks to continue to make racial comments and receive a slap on the wrist for it? Other political figures have quit their jobs because such a comment involving race was made. Personally, I believe this issue should not be filed away in the “problem solved” cabinet. Comments such as these prove that racism and stereotypes still exist in todays society. There should be continuous education and organizing towards ending racism in America. Allowing the Majority Leader to run off scott-free without proving a point that these sort of encounters commonly occur off the radar and should be fixed immediately allows other folks to make comments and continue a circle of prejudice. Hopefully folks can use this as an example of how the struggle for freedom from oppression is a battle not yet won.