Guest writer: Yvon Numa
In 2016, we will see the end of an eight year tenure for our FIRST BLACK president. We’re going to have to put on our big girl and big boy pants on and handle the situation with grace. A presidency is hard to obtain and even harder to maintain with the correct mind state. Can we break down this presidency? Let’s just go ahead and do that. Growing up a black male being from where I’m from it's always expected you’re going to just fall in between the cracks of life or just work until you die and that's it. Barack Obama showed us the highest possibility of representation for both black men and women. Let that soak in for a minute. Look at the evolution of the black man in the United States and Barack defied all of that and clinched our presidency and did a hell of a good job at it.
When Obama took office in 2008 the nation was heading downwards in a bad way. Now everyone expected Obama to come in and save the nation and brings us to prominence in areas that range from economics to education. No, it doesn't work like that.
“They let a brother steer the ship / And never told him that the ship was sinkin'” - J. Cole.
Obama’s first year in office was pretty successful in terms of where the country was going due to the previous administration. Preventing another depression was his biggest accomplishment of his newly elected office. Obama’s stimulus package created over 1 million jobs and jumpstarted the economy once more. Another problem Obama attacked head on was the housing crisis, yet another problem inherited from the Bush administration. It had seemed that everywhere you turned homes were getting foreclosed and it was sickening. Where did that leave Obama? On top of the depression, auto industry needing help, and lack of jobs, the new administration had to handle this problem. The HARP (Home Affordable Marketing Program) allowed the newly elected president to do just that.
As a President, the Congress is crucial to any bill or action you want to demand. Obama has had to order 217 executive orders since his first term. Executive orders are laws by the President that don't need the approval of congress but they carry the same weight as laws passed by congress. Some of his works under executive orders are pretty extraordinary. So what I’m telling you is that Obama went and did these things without the approval of congress and please look at what's being named here. You may look at these orders and wonder why no president prior has addressed these issues. Some issues are: “Establishing a White House Council on Women and Girls, Ensuring Lawful Interrogation, Promoting Excellence, Innovation, and Sustainability at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and even Recruiting and Hiring Students and Recent Graduates”. Want to get a kick out of those few executive orders? They were all signed in Obama’s first two years. Don’t we have an amazing president? Attacking these issues by way of executive order just shows us that our president cares enough to push. Perseverance has been Obama’s key to his presidency and we should all be proud of the benefits we receive due to it.
Now most who read this article are simply going to look and say “well, yeah he has to do that he’s the president” but won’t understand the level of ingenuity it takes to combat these issues on a federal scale. We should all look and think about this in a scope of a year. Problems coming from every sector from the last administration plus you have to implement your own changes you’re working towards. That’s a whole lot. Can we take a minute and embrace what Obama has done for us in that short period of time? For the majority of Obama’s presidency the House has been majority of Republicans. Since the house and senate can veto a bill it makes it hard for Obama to pass everything he wants to pass. Those who criticize the work Obama has done may not understand that the congress is partially at fault. Being a nation of democracy means we have representatives for our interest and they make it hard for Obama to get his job done.
If you can look back and try to remember all the presidents in your lifetime, who do you feel has actually done anything that benefits you? The media tried to throw titles and stigmas at our President. Socialist and Communist are words that, if you remember, are closely tied with Obama in certain circles. When working for the working class you’re labeled a communist or socialist…hmmm….doesn't sound too savory does it. Let's give it up for one of the United States’ most progressive President. The first President to have a mix tape made in order to spread awareness. The first Black President. The first Black Family in the white house.
We would like to thank Yvon for his contribution to the KoolforLife.com blog. May we see more of his perspective in the future.