President Barack Obama addressed the NAACP this week on its 100th anniversary, giving young Black people the double-edged-message of  "don't give up", but also "no excuses".

Thank You, Barack Obama, thank you!

This is the very thing that having a Black president does-- it nullififes the race card.  If a Black person can become president of the United States-- by an overwhelming majority vote-- then we Black people can no longer cry victim of "the White man".

Too many times in my life, I have met Black people who played the race card whenever things didn't go their way, when in reality it was their shortcomings staring them in the face.  I went to art school in the 90's and my evil twin Sean, a dyed-in-the-wool player hater, was in my figure drawing class.

Sean received a constant grade of C's and D's in the class, and one time he said to me, "Ms. Griffith is racist-- she keeps giving me bad grades".  Of course he never voiced his opinion out loud, because not only was I receiving A's, he knew in his heart that he was a sub-par artist, and that it was much easier to blame the white teacher than face his own lack of drive and talent-- and his eventual dropout in his sophomore year.  The art world did not skip a beat when he left the community.

One of my favorite Black History heroes is Frederick Douglass, a renegade slave who taught himself English and spoke so eloquently the whites refused to beleive that he was ever a slave.  Yet we have Black people born and raised in this country who ignore and belittle education, who can barely speak English and stand by as strangers to this country arrive with nothing by a goal and a smattering of the language and achieve untold success.

And whose fault is it?  Really?

Black people, it is time to stop being the victims and stand victorious.  We survived slavery, we survived segeregation and we will survive these hard times to come.  I have stopped singing the Negro song "We Shall Overcome" because "deep in my heart, I do believe" that overcoming is in the mind.  And in my mind, the only thing to overcome are my inner fears and reservations.

Finally a successful, educated Black man who cannot be put down as a "sell out" or "white man wanna-be" has stood up and addressed the Black nation and said stop looking for handouts and start overcoming hardships.

It's called tough love, Black people.  When we have all reached the mountaintop together, as a people, you will thank him for it.

Peas & Hominy