Dexter's Vantage Point!

Barack Obama embarked closer to presidential history as he's now formally accepted the Democratic nomination at Invesco field in front of 80,000 people. During his 42 minute speech Obama strongly proclaimed, “We are a better country than his.” Obama was right. This country is in shambles due to the incompetent leadership from a man I consider borderline functionally illiterate. Obama ironically gave his speech on the same date Martin Luther King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech forty-five years ago. On August 28, 1963 approximately 300,000 people, African American, whites, men and women, marched on Washington in protest. Like Obama’s, King’s speech was televised. In his seventeen minute speech he aroused the American masses as he delivered one of the great speeches of all time. King’s speech was delivered 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. It was very fitting as King asserted that the American Negroe was still not free. King stated, “America has given he Negroe people a...

August 8th the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame held their annual Media Day in South Bend. One of the first questions hurled at coach Charlie Weis was about last year’s debacle. Weiss responded, “We're not saying one word about last season. It's August 2008. There is not one word. You will not hear one word out of anyone about 2007. It's August 2008. I'll answer any questions about August 2008.” Sorry Charlie. After the way your team performed last season you can’t get off that easy. Notre Dame’s football program sunk to an all-time low last year under Weiss. They lost 9 games for the time in school history, dropped six home games, and got beat by a Navy team the Irish had beaten 43 consecutive times going into last year. I found it very interesting why there weren't any questions about Weiss's job security during Media Day. Given the way the team played last season and the precedent the Irish administration set when they fired Tyrone Willingham after three seasons ...

Emmett Till was a 14 year old youngster from Chicago who was heinously lynched by the hands of racists in the summer on August 29, 1954 in Mississippi. While many things have changed along racial lines I believe there’s still work to do. The climate for African Americans was less than ideal in 1955. King was beginning to ascend to prominence and Rosa Parks hadn’t yet refused to go to the back of the bus. Malcolm X was only three years removed from prison as a young minister in the Nation of Islam. Racial tensions were extremely high in the south. In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled in favor Brown vs. Board of Education thereby legally integrating schools in the south. The state where Till was slaughtered, Mississippi, was arguably the most racist of all southern states. To my amazement during the Jim Crow Era until the mid-1960’s no white person ever served jail time for killing an African American. While northern states weren’t exempt from racism the depth of oppression wasn’t like that w...

The Olympics have finally begun in Beijing, China. The theme of this year’s games is “One World, One Dream.” There are many athletes seeking Olympic glory in attempting to bring home the gold. The basketball team wants to restore its dominance like the “Dream Team” did in 1992. The forty-one year old swimmer Dara Torres is seeking to push back the hands of time and win a Gold Medal against competitors half her age. Roger Federer is attempting to salvage a sub-par year on the tennis court as he prepares for the US Open. When I look at the Olympic Games this year I’ll be looking for what happens outside the realm of competition. I’m interested to see if any athletes will step out of their comfort zone and use the world stage as a platform to denounce the genocide in Darfur. I won’t hold my breath. Forty years ago in 1968 American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos utilized the victory stand in Mexico City to send a thunderous message to the world. With bowed heads, raised fists, and ...