Almost 2 yrs of the Black President

It's going on 2 years with Barack Obama as the USA President and I've just realized that there are people from my life that will never get to see this time in history.

In a nutshell it would be all of my grandparents
 - Preston & Marie Baldwin, my father's parents
 - Emma Boyd, my great-grandmother
 - Ivra Anderson, my grandmother
 - Madero Hilburn, my grandfather

These are the people from my life that lived during the post-slavery era, the days of the Jim Crow laws, the marches of Martin Luther King Jr., the religious uproar & racial upheaval of Malcolm X, the militant attitude of the Black Panthers... They lived through the intolerance & bigotry of their time in the hope of a better day for future generations. I'm sure that the very concept of a Black President was beyond their comprehension, everything that they knew would say that it couldn't happen in their lifetime. Though they've passed on, this would still be considered their lifetime. And the world and this country have had many changes... technology is incredible - computer-like devices that can fit in ones pocket, basic freedoms that American's should have are slowly being erroded away, Corporations openly have politiican in their pocket, the largest North American oil spill in history has devistated a region, it's culture & habitat for decades to come, and The United States of America has a Black President. 

These are not perfect times, people are stuggling to survive and make ends meet but the times are not impossible. The world and country are changing...

I was in my head again...

It happens from time to time - i should
really stay outta there. <br>
<br>
i know i need to go out and be social. it just doesn't seem to be
convenient or affordable or anything worth while lately. ugh... that's
the uptight part of my family speaking there. the past few years i've
been trying to be responsible "handle my business" as it were and all
that seems to have done is make me more isolated than i was before. it
gets me angry and frustrated and confused and depressed sometimes!
that's when i get in my head, when i start thinking about that stuff. <br>
<br>
WTF! i'm just trying to do what's right and expected of me but it feels
like i'm beating my head against a wall half the time. <br>
i know that this is how life works. i know that others have more dire
circumstances than myself. i even try to lend a hand and help those i
care about if they let me. but even that feels hallow and pointless at
times. how can i help people when i can't seem to keep my head on
straight?!?<br>
<br>
there's an animated show called " the bookdocks". it's funny, very
blunt, takes a bit of an extreme look at certain subjects. I watched an
episode where two of the main characters are talking at the end of the
episode. <br>
<br>
Huey: Granddad, what do you do when there's nothing you can do?<br>
Granddad: You do what you can.<br>
<br>
that's how i feel 90% of the time! i do what i can but it doesn't feel
like it matters or helps, even when i'm trying to be helpful. i do what i can but it's not enough and i don't have the means or power to do more.&nbsp;<br>

This is only part what is living in my head...