Dear Brother Obama...

11/6/2008 tiffinie "mc" t. says:

I would advise you to remember that you did not create the disaster that the world is experiencing, and you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play with your gorgeous wife and lovely daughters. And so on. One gathers that your family is large. We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. Nor does your family deserve this fate. One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want. They may buy endless cars and houses and furs and gobble up all the attention and space they can manage, or barely manage, but this is because it is not yet clear to them that success is truly an inside job. That it is within the reach of almost everyone.

I would further advise you not to take on other people's enemies. Most damage that others do to us is out of fear, humiliation and pain. Those feelings occur in all of us, not just in those of us who profess a certain religious or racial devotion. We must learn actually not to have enemies, but only confused adversaries who are ourselves in disguise. It is understood by all that you are commander in chief of the United States and are sworn to protect our beloved country; this we understand, completely. However, as my mother used to say, quoting a Bible with which I often fought, "hate the sin, but love the sinner." There must be no more crushing of whole communities, no more torture, no more dehumanizing as a means of ruling

11/6/2008 Joe "Pickles" G. says:

I think you mean Alice Walker

11/6/2008 Suge K. says:

i was going to say... alice waters is black? black like michael jackson, maybe....

11/6/2008 tiffinie "mc" t. says:

a people's spirit. This has already happened to people of color, poor people, women, children. We see where this leads, where it has led.

A good model of how to "work with the enemy" internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

In Peace and Joy,

Alice Walker

11/6/2008 Bella W. says:

The author, Alice Walker?

11/6/2008 tiffinie "mc" t. says:

yes! duh!

alice waters :0

11/6/2008 Randy "American Standard, Crimson Transparent" C. says:

Say it aint so? No more chez panise?

11/6/2008 Suge K. says:

tiffinie must have local sustainable food on her brain.

11/6/2008 tiffinie "mc" t. says:

man, you kids are quick!
;P

11/6/2008 tiffinie "mc" t. says:

i need food pronto, actually... talk about freudian slip!
i've been trapped in my office with out a break since 7:30 :(

11/6/2008 Suge K. says:

ms. waters has been kind of checked out of chez panisse for a while now, hasn't she? isn't she working on doing something in schools across the US?

also, this has nothing to do with the thread, but i was told the other day that food stamps are accepted at farmers markets! how is this not more well known???

11/6/2008 Cornelius S. says:

Ha ha ha.

"By the way, Mr Obama, please stop by my restaurant next time you are in Berkeley. It would be my honor to cook you some personally selected, sustainably farmed food..."

Obama could appoint her Food Czar

11/6/2008 Suge K. says:

how awesome would it be if she WERE food czar??

11/6/2008 Randy "American Standard, Crimson Transparent" C. says:

Don't laugh Cornelius - I could totally see a place for her in the cabinet.

11/6/2008 arnold "SPAM Eater" g. says:

Michael Pollan should be food czar.

http://www.nytimes.com...

11/6/2008 Randy "American Standard, Crimson Transparent" C. says:

I mean bringing CSA  to the federal level.

11/6/2008 Randy "American Standard, Crimson Transparent" C. says:

That was a good article... read it a while back.

11/6/2008 tiffinie "mc" t. says:

that *would* be awesome!

now i'm off to forage for food.
hope you guys go back and read the letter once the Walker/Waters hilarity wears off ;)

@ suge: no idea about the food stamps, either!!! ...not that i have any, but that's wonderful!

11/6/2008 Shannon "Insufferable Snarkoleptic" B. says:

Alice Walker rocks.

11/6/2008 Suge K. says:

i know! my friends told me this the other night - they were at a lecture about a month ago and they learned this. i wish it were better known. the produce ends up being cheaper than at the supermarket. and so much better. they were saying that so many people on food stamps end up shopping at the local corner store/liquor store because there often aren't supermarkets in the neighborhood. and most neighborhoods have a farmers market nearby and people could eat much healthier and better if they shopped there.

11/6/2008 KayJay .. says:

I should totally quit my job and get on the food stamps now, cuz that is some of the coolest news I've heard in a long time.  Next time I see my lazy ass fat ass ghetto sister pushin' processed cheese and "orange drank" that she thinks is orange juice down her gullet I'm gonna let her know she better stop trippin' and go to the Farmer's Market and get her some locally grown organic fruits and veggies.

And, thank you Ms. Tiffinie for this post!  It will be interesting to see what some of the African American politicians, artists, activists and authors of the world have to say about his historic event.

P.S. - I really miss you and Jeff.

11/6/2008 Joe "Pickles" G. says:

Don't worry about the teasing Tiffanie. Good post though. Alice Walker is amazing.

11/6/2008 tiffinie "mc" t. says:

Hi KayJay!!!
:D

no worries, Joe. the teasing was fully deserved...

11/6/2008 Suge K. says:

we tease tiffinie because we love her.

11/6/2008 Cornelius S. says:

Yeah, despite the funny slip, your original posts were great.  I had not read Alice Waters' letter. : p

11/6/2008 Suge K. says:

yes, tiffinie, the letter sends a great message. thanks for sharing it.

kayjay, i posted some more info about it in this thread:
http://www.yelp.com/to...
i felt bad for hijacking tiffinie's thread!

11/6/2008 tiffinie "mc" t. says:

you don't need to feel bad! that's the thing about conversations... some things lead you to others, and then before you know it, you're back around full circle, on topic.

and we learned that farmer's markets accept food stamps!! :D

11/6/2008 JeFF "I'm the orange you want to crush" T. says:

Suge felt bad?  

*Printin' this page to PDF*

11/6/2008 Suge K. says:

*kicking jeff in the nuts*

11/6/2008 JeFF "I'm the orange you want to crush" T. says:

*ooomph*

ah, all is right now.

11/6/2008 kimberly "Kimba" v. says:

Alice Walker -great role model, Alice Waters - great remoulade.
Both are cool.
And to answer a question way back in there, Alice is still active in Chez Panisse, also in neighborhood gardens, food for schools, and isn't anyone on this site old enough to remember her "special relationship" (no, not like that) w/ Bill Clinton?  He used to eat there everytime he was in Bay Area, and she revamped the whole White House food program, despite the fact that Bill was partial to Coke for breakfast and a good corn dog!