Early Friday morning after getting in from work my girlfriend brought to my attention a facebook users status message which read:

"Barack Obama said he didn't have all the details regarding the Gates/Crowley incident yet called the Cambridge Police Department's actions "stupid" and made a comment that racism is still alive in America, thus, implying racism was present in this case. Now how does that make any sense? And why is he commenting on this in the first place!?!?"

As I'm sure many would wonder what kind of attention such a status message would receive. Well it received a good deal of attention negative and positive; some people leaving extensive responses and/or short comments. Some statements angered me, some made me think and some simply saddened me. In stead of simply reacting and continuing this back and forth drama of why the Gates/Crowley issue was or wasn't wrong, racist or anything else, I simply stated my opinion in the most honest and respectable way I could.

This individual said "[Obama] feels he can make a judgment call like this AFTER he fully admitted he did not have all of the facts!? That's feeding into people who get their jollies from screaming racism." My response to this users comments up to this point was this; President Obama was asked a question by a member of the press and that question was "What does [Gates arrest in his own home] say to you; and what does it say about race relations in America." Obama chose at that point to respond with his opinion (which in the Great USA he has every right to do so, regardless of his title of President) and in his statement he said: Skip Gates is a friend so he may be a little biased, he doesn't know all the facts but his understanding (based off of what's been reported) is that gates was arrested for disorderly conduct in his own home after having already proved, by show of identification, that he did in fact live there. He later states that not having been there at the time of the incident and not having all the facts, he "[does not] know what role race played [in the incident], but it's fair to say that:

1. Any of us would be pretty angry.
2. The Cambridge Police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home.
3. What I think we know separate and apart from this incident, is that there is a long history in this country of African-American and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately; that's just a fact..."

Now by stating that there is a history of disproportional racial interactions between Law Enforcement and Latinos and African-Americans does not mean that he was saying racism was present in the Gates/Crowley incident. When mulling this over I ask you to refer back to the previous quote from President Obama.

Whether or not President Obama should have stated his opinion of such a heated incident after admitting he didn't have all the facts can be looked at favorable in any direction. Some people may not care, some may be angry/disappointed/ect and some may be glad/supportive/ect. In my opinion to be upset that he made a statement having not had all the facts is contradicting oneself because it is exactly what everyone is doing right down to the flippin' media. This notion alone is because in the United States of America there is this thing called Freedom of Speech and it applies to every American (even the President if you can believe that). Let us also not forget that President Obama (like all of us) is human and as so he is capable of making mistakes and having bad judgment. I don't believe his making a statement was a bad judgment decision, however, I am pointing out the fact that it is possible that it could have been and that being the President doesn't make him immune to making those decisions.

Yay I'm finally sitting down and taking a moment to post my first blog in my return to xanga. Man I can't believe I left this place because I love blogging and sure as hell missed it. But I think I left because I didnt really have much to say or at least nothing meaningfull, just ranting and randomness. Funny too because thats probably what I will be doing now I just think things I blog will be more meaningful this time around.

OK so let me get to the point. I wanted to post about who I am as I believe myself to be. Mostly as a response to LyricallyCharged's post asking her recent friend requestees (is that even a word?) who they were, but also because I thought it would be a great first post. So lets dig in shall we?

Who are you?   I am Joanne
When?  23
Where?  Boston, Massachusetts
What makes you, you?  I think the circumstances in my life, the way I was raised all the trials and tribulations, past and present experiences are what make me who I am. My humor, personability and open-mindedness help too.
What do you love?  Life, love, beauty, people, friends, family, and fun.
What do you hate?  Intolerance, closed-mindedness, ignorance, hate and I think thats it.
What do you stand for?  Love, fairness, equal rights umm thats all for now.
What do you stand against?  Discrimination, oppression, inequality
What makes you cry?  Discrimination, inequality, devestations across foreign countries ugh it all makes my eart heavy.
What makes you laugh?  sometimes anything and everything, good jokes, corney moments, funny faces, awkward and embarrasing moments.
What's your deep and darkest hidden secrets?  I am not the great person that everyone thinks I am
Why do I Blog? I blog because I think there are times when I have deep profound thoughts and questions and I what to share them with as many people as I can and get their feedback, determine if other people have the same thoughts, ideas, or opinions. And sometimes I just think I need to share those thoughts with others because maybe it will give them a new perspective.

That seems to be all I have to say for now. Till next time. Have a lovely Holiday Season.