Hi Julie,

I just wanted to say, in some low-keyed sort of way, "You are too cool!" I agree with so much of what you say and I know we share a lot of our values.

Redefining success and the goals of the American Dream. Becoming wealthy and influential should not be set as the measurements of our rightful achievement. I have often heard it said that GOD has not called us to be successful, but to be faithful. Integrity, come what may, should be our motto.

Shlomo

Shlomo

I think the best we can hope for, as you say, is to instill Micah's admonishment (my son's namesake) in our children and hope that whatever profession they pick will be an outgrowth of that. Oh, that more parents would hear your words and invoke them with their parenting practices.

Of course, getting to choose a profession implies a certain amount of cultural power, too. (Or in my case, to choose to be a stay-at-home parent). I wonder if a young black man whose parents work whatever jobs they can get to pay the bills would see achieving the position of lawyer, doctor, banker or president as an alternative to enforced poverty would see a desire for financial stability as a wrong thing to want.

It is a luxury that I could choose not to be a doctor, a lawyer and a banker. For many, they don't even have that choice.

I think the power that Obama's election, in the eyes of our societies others, is not about power, but empowerment. It creates a new cultural discourse in which the most powerful images of African-Americans aren't in entertainment or in sports where exploitation continues by a different name.