As you know, over the Christmas holiday, I had hip replacement surgery. I want to thank my friend Skip Murphy for sitting in, doing an excellent job and keeping things “on the one.” Yeah, I know he’s stuck in the ’70s – but is that really such a bad place to be? We were thinner, had more hair and only needed a house phone.
Kudos also to the hardest working morning show crew alive – Sybil, J., Nikki, Mary, Super Dave, Ross, Danny, R&B, K-Jay, Leah, Stephanie J., Andrelle, Stephanie W., Vince, Mario and Sheravius, who came in early like soldiers every morning when most of their family and friends were sleeping in over the break.
Thanks also to the team of people who took care of me physically, emotionally and spiritually. I was constantly surrounded by family, friends, and co-workers. And lastly, thank you for your good wishes and prayers I got throughout the whole time.
Even the doctors were amazed at how fast I was up walking, dancing – and if you believe J., kickboxing.
I attribute it to a lot of things, prayer, love, positive energy and yes, Tuskegee. I’ve said it over and over that growing up in that town put a belief in us that there was nothing that we couldn’t achieve if we worked hard at it. And believed.
So, here I am, weeks after major surgery, ready to get back to work on my second job: Making sure that the Big Chief gets re-elected in 2012.
Let’s look at it like a football season, unless you’re a Cowboy fan; then you may want to use another analogy. When it comes to campaign season, we are in the play-offs. Pre-season is over; the early season is history. Now, every game counts. We’re in it to go all the way – not just to make it to the Super Bowl, but to win it.
That means we’ve got to work together as a team, recognizing our strengths, coming up with plans and strategies and sticking to them, learning from our mistakes and not believing that because we made it happen in 2008, we are entitled to winning in 2012. It doesn’t work that way. We have to work even harder than we did last time because some of us have psyched ourselves up into believing that it was easier than it actually was.
It’s just human nature. We are so high on the sweet smell of victory that we’ve forgotten what it took to get us there. So, let me remind you. It took faith and belief. After all, we had never had black president before, but in spite of that reality, we were able to look beyond. We believed Barack Obama was right the man for the job.
It took commitment. We talked the talk and walked the walk for months and months. We chose our man and stuck with him. We argued with those who were against him and were never wavering in our support.
It took time and money. We raised money. We donated money. We gave our time and our talents tirelessly. Some of us likened it to the civil rights movement – and for those who weren’t around or just didn’t have it in them for whatever reason, it was a chance to be part of first a vision, then a campaign, then the most historic election of our time.
It took enthusiasm. There was an excitement and an electricity that made you want to be part of the huge groundswell of support. We bought T-shirts, posters, books – anything associated with the campaign. It brought us closer as a family, a community and a nation. People proudly and boldly went to the polls in record numbers. Parents brought their children to watch them vote and took their parents, grandparents and elderly aunts and uncles just to see them do something they never would have dreamed they would do in their lifetime.
The kick-off of the official campaign has begun, and even though it may look like the competition isn’t that stiff, we cannot be complacent.
There are some who will support anyone who runs against the Big Chief, qualified or not. They want him out of office, and they’re no ashamed to let you know it.
That alone should get us revved up to make sure that we do everything on our power to ensure history repeats itself this November.
We will have to work as hard as we did the last time around or harder. And we can’t wait until November to get started.
I’ve been fired up a ready to go for a while, but like many of you, I’m revived even more as we enter a brand new year. I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions, but if I had to make one, it would be to make sure that I do everything in my power to get my man re-elected. I hope you will too. Just watching Herman Cain make the rounds on TV announcing his mission to get President Obama out of office should be motivation enough.
If you aren’t registered to vote, do it now – call 1-866-MY-VOTE-1.
Losing weight, eating better, going to church and being on time to work are good goals, but re-electing the Big Chief is one common goal we can all accomplish together.
So, let’s catch that fever again, like this listener from the 216 area code, who wrote, “Hey crew, I live in Cleveland. My 97-year-old patient and I were the first in line yesterday to get tickets to see President Obama today.” That’s what I’m talking about!
Let’s go!
