Politik

Give me one cause one is best in confusion confidence
Give me peace of mind and trust don't forget the rest of us
Give me strength, reserve control
Give me heart and give me soul
Wounds that heal and cracks that fix, tell me your own politik
-Politik, from A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) by Coldplay

Just got back form yet another exciting government lecture from Professor Leon. And no, I'm not being sarcastic. I've started to look forward to his class. Last class when we were talking about immigration in the United States, he managed to squeeze a laugh in:

"Maybe we should look at how U.S. foreign policy is affecting countries like Mexico and countries in Central America. Maybe that's why everyone is trying to get into America. You don't hear about how NAFTA has raised the price of corn to the point where you can't find a tortilla in Mexico. Who would have ever thought there were cities in Mexico you could go to and not find tortillas. That's like going to some black folks house and not being able to find... chicken!"

Made me laugh. A lot.

In today's lecture about learned politics he talked about the incident at the 1968 Olympic Games where athletes John Carlos and Tommie Smith displayed the black power salute during the award ceremony for the 200 meter race. Professor Leon told us a story of a boy in the fifth grade who went to school two days later, and when the Star-Spangled banner was played before school he raised his fist and bowed his head.
That boy was kicked out of school later that day.
That boy was Professor Leon.
Professor Leon said that he was the only black kid in school and that his classmates went home and were afraid that there was a radical in their class. Professor Leon eventually returned to the school. He also mentioned that the school was Catholic, but that's neither here nor there. Can't wait until next class period.