Yes You Did

Remember, Bill Clinton's "I did NOT have sex with that woman". Mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick's version of that bold-faced lie is written on this t-shirt. Erm, yes you did!

Yes. We. Can.

Will.i.am produced this piece based on Obama's New Hampshire speech. Kudos to the celebs that got behind him - Common, Kate Walsh, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Aisha Tyler, The dude from Lost - Harold Perrineau, Ashley from Fresh Prince of Bel Air - Tatyana Ali, Scarlett Johansson,k Nicole S...... from the Pussy Cat Dolls, Hill Harper and many others. Tres inspirational. I have pitched my tent.

The Kilpatricks Are A Mess

Sorry to all those living in Detroit but your Mayor - Kwame and his wife Carlita are a mess. A hot mess. That was some drama that played itself out on national tv. The Mayor of Detroit was sued by a couple of police officers who said that he used his security detail to cover up an affair he was having with his chief of staff. Sworn under oath, both the Mayor and his mistress denied that they ever had an affair. The mistress even rolled her eyes when asked whether she'd had an affair with the Mayor.

Turns out that they did have an affair. The text messages between them was proof. Note to all: If you're doing something not quite legit, don't use your official blackberry, cellphone, laptop, computer to spill out the details. All that stuff belongs to your boss and he/she/they can always come back and get you. In this case, they were both employed by the state and the state now has records of all their exchanges.

Why is the Mrs. a mess? She allowed herself to be dragged into her husband's mess. She showed up on tv professing to love this man who has so humiliated her. She could have stayed by his side quietly to show support or stayed at home. When in this situation, just do Hillary. She came out on top in the Monica Lewinsky saga. If she not, her behavior would have come back to haunt her at such a critical time in her political career.

Of course the mistress, Christine Beatty is an even hotter mess. She had no business messing with her married boss especially since she was married herself. This story reminded me of all the romantic affairs that have unfolded in the public eye vis-a-vis politicians. It seems important to me that the wives come away from the scandal with their dignity intact.

Happy Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving I had no specific plans i.e. I wasn't invited anywhere and didn't plan on cooking up a spread either. I thought it would be nice to spend the day volunteering was glad when one of my sisters came up with specific plans for us to do so. I am glad we did because HFHH never disappoints. It is always a great experience and you get to do satisfying work that leaves you feeling great.

My favorite thing to do at these dinners is to serve the people. For me, that's where the fun's at - you get to interact with people coming through the lines, you work as a team with others, and get the satisfaction of actually feeding people which is what it's all about. HFHH is actually more than just feeding the hungry, they have a free clinic, a job recruitment center, a barber shop and beauty salon (saw a lady getting her brows done), and a place where people can pick up donated clothes. It is truly awesome the work Elizabeth Omilami and her family are doing. They are keeping their father's vision alive and that's fantastic.

Interestingly enough, a few other people had the same idea this Thanksgiving. As we were coming off the elevator, Reverend Al (Al Sharpton) was trying to make his way in. I was going to tell him that I am a big fan of his work and I love his radio show - I listen to him all the time - but he took a call on his cellphone right before he got into the elevator. Congressman John Lewis was also there to volunteer. He dished out stuffing for me when I was doing the rounds. I'm not to keen on him at the moment being that he's endorsed Hillary. I wish he'd endorsed Obama. I just feel like MLK would have endorsed Obama were he alive today. For the first time that we have a viable candidate, I feel like we should all rally behind him. I digress... Keshia Knight Pulliam (Rudy Huxtable from the Cosby Show) was also there to volunteer. My sister and I were dishing out veggies next to her and her brother on the line. She's really low key. A few people asked to take her picture but she insisted on finishing the work she was there for before taking photographs. Good for her.

Happy Thanksgiving. It was a great one.

Nigeria's Presidential Elections

From what I heard on CNN, there were 25 candidates on Saturday. How do you choose from 25 different candidates? Weren't there primaries held to limit the final vote to the candidates with the highest percentages of votes? I was only aware of seven that were running at some point - Yar'adua, Buhari, Atiku Abubakar, Utomi, Okotie, Duke and Orji Kalu. At the beginning of the process, I was very excited because I thought things truly had changed in Nigeria for us to finally have candidates like Duke and Utomi putting throwing in their hats.

However, as things progressed, the old Nigeria began to surface. It turns out that the future leader would be selected, not elected when he was chosen by his party as the candidate. Why weren't the people given a chance to choose their party's candidate in primary elections? Instead, a few old cronnies got together to decide for the country. Naija is messed up like that. I hate that last sentence. I hate that I even thought to say that but things like that happen in Nigeria. What were the issues? What did the candidates stand for?

Apart from Duke and Utomi, I never really got to know what the candidates were about. I am looking forward to the day when we'll vote based on what candidates can do, the issues they hope to tackle when they are in office. I asked a few Nigerians around me: "Would you have voted if you were in Nigeria?" Some said yes and I asked who they would vote for? Without knowing the man, they said Yar' adua because that's who the current president supports and with nothing else to go by, that's the choice they would have made. I most likely would have voted at the gubernatorial level but other than that, I think I would have saved myself the trouble of voting for a president that had already been selected a long time ago. That's speaking as an outsider. Perhaps if I was in Nigeria, I would know more but based on what I've read about the presidential process, I would have been better off staying at home. Sad indeed.