Olympic dreams dashed, but Chicago’s still a world-class city

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It’s been a tough weekend for those of us Chicagoans who dreamed of bringing the 2016 Summer Olympic Games to our fair city. Friday, we found out that years of preparation came to naught when the International Olympic Committee ousted Chicago in the first round of voting, along with Tokyo. We longed to share our Midwestern American city—one filled with incredible architecture, home to people from dozens of nationalities and languages, not to mention innovative cuisine that rivals anything Los Angeles or New York City have to offer. But alas—the Olympic dream wasn’t to be, despite the passionate presentations of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle in Copenhagen last week.

As a native Chicagoan, though, I like to think the city’s exposure to the global community over the past few years have exposed more of the world to the treasures here. Perhaps instead of foreign visitors automatically setting their sights on New York and Hollywood, they’ll spend their holidays and valuable tourist dollars here in the Windy City, a cultural gem underrated far too long.

But good for Rio de Janeiro. May they host a memorable 2016 Olympics, one that will showcase the amazing and gorgeous diversity of the Brazilian people. If we in Chicago couldn’t take home the gold, I’m just glad that Brazil—and South America, for the first time—will get a chance to shine on the world stage.

“… with liberty and justice (and affordable health care) for all.”

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Finally in America, the decades-long debate over health care is coming to a head. Last night, President Barack Obama hosted a prime-time news conference at the White House, where he delivered his vision on health care and answered reporters’ questions about it.

As someone who’s extensively traveled abroad and marveled at the United States’ apparent unwillingness to make affordable access to medical care available to ALL its people, I’m amazed that so many politicians—and regular citizens—think that providing such care is somehow socialist. Subversive. And against the “American way of life.”  Well, if having to choose between buying groceries and paying for prescribed medicine is capitalism at its best, perhaps we need to re-examine our priorities.

Although nearly 46 million of us Americans are uninsured, the hardly subversive National Coalition on Health Care reports the United States spends more on health care than other industrialized nations—yet those countries manage to provide health insurance to ALL their citizens. 

I half-facetiously joke with friends that I’ll probably meet my end after being hit by a bus (as a downtown Chicago dweller, I’ve been car-free for six years and rely on public transportation to get around). But here’s the irony: if I didn’t have health insurance and wanted immediate medical care that wasn’t based on my ability to pay, I’d better hope that bus mows me down somewhere outside the United States. And THIS is the country where as a gainfully employed professional for 20 years, I’ve put hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not more) into the American tax system. And also where during several months in 2005 when I didn’t have either company- or university-provided health care, I ALSO was in a situation where I had to forgo prescription drugs for chronic ulcerative colitis since I couldn’t afford the hundreds of out-of-pocket dollars they cost me every 30 days.

Of course, as President Obama said last night, the health care debate goes FAR beyond just providing folks with access to a hospital. We need to delve into the larger realm of overall WELLNESS, of getting enough exercise and eating properly, rather than stuffing our bodies with products made from high-fructose corn syrup and Lord-only-knows what other additives are making and KEEPING us chronically sick. 

Maybe it’s coincidental, but despite frequent ulcerative colitis flare-ups here in the States, I have never suffered a SINGLE ONE when traveling or eating outside America. And that includes nearly one year of life (which was anything BUT stress-free) in Florence, Italy. I’m not a scientist or food supply expert, but I’m convinced that eating fresh fruits and vegetables grown and sold without artificial pesticides and meat grown without odd hormones helps eliminate a host of physical ailments we regularly suffer when purchasing and eating food in the States. And we shouldn’t have to shop at pricey Whole Foods to keep ourselves well.

But back to the health care issue. We Americans need to demand that our inalienable rights include affordable access to medical care REGARDLESS of our ability to pay. Until then, from this writer’s humble perch, all our bluster about "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is just talk.

Have black Americans REALLY traveled until they’ve visited Africa?

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Over the years, I’ve visited nearly 30 countries in North America, South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Europe (where I’ve traveled so many times I’ve completely lost count).

But I’ve never been to Africa. And as an African-American, that sounds pretty pathetic.

Places on the continent are always on my mental “to-do” list, West African countries like Senegal and North African ones like Egypt and Morocco. But I haven’t made it there yet.

I started thinking about this during President Barack Obama’s recent trip to Ghana. Sure, he was there to send a message to the African world about the United States’ ongoing support—albeit with conditions that included self-responsibility—but what impressed me most about this native son’s return to his father’s home continent was the fact he took his wife Michelle, daughters Sasha and Malia, and First Mom-in-Law Marian along on the trip.

While we know the Obamas have visited Africa before—going to Kenya to meet the president’s relatives—this trip had to have especially important significance for First Lady Michelle, her mom and even the girls, as all are the descendants of both African-American slaves and white slaveowners. Visiting the “Door of No Return,” where mothers, fathers and children were violently and permanently separated from their homeland and shipped across the Atlantic as chattel, must have been mind-blowing. It’s a horribly painful part of American history, but as black folks, it’s ours. And it’s important for us to own it—and in the process, make that reconnection to the continent that often feels far away and foreign to many of us.

Which brings me back to my original point: Can we black Americans really feel well-traveled if we’ve never set foot on African soil? I’m starting to think “NO.”

While unlike President Obama, who knows his ancestral country and village, most of us don’t know specifically from where our foreparents hailed. We generally assume it was someplace in West Africa since that’s where most slaves sent to the New World lived, but can’t claim that direct connection to Senegal or Guinea or The Gambia. Still, many black folks who have traveled to these places describe a sense of feeling “at home” once they arrived, as if those centuries-old mystical links broken during the Middle Passage somehow felt restored.

But I’m curious what you guys think. For those of you who HAVE visited Africa—and I’m talking anywhere on the continent—how did it change you and your outlook on who you are? Did you feel like you had “come home?” And how important was it for you to make that reverse trip across the ocean?

As for me, I think I’m going to start planning that African journey now.

Would the world be different if more of us had traveled to Iran?

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You know what struck me watching the post-election events unfold in Iran this week? How something as seemingly simple as the act of traveling can make SUCH a difference when it comes to intercultural understanding. Thank goodness we in the United States now have a president who’s thoughtful and respectful of other folks in the world… but there are still some who still see the world as “us” versus “them.” I just wonder what our country’s – and the world’s – relationships would be like if more of us traveled to “their” nation, saw how “they” lived, understood how “they” thought.

And that reminded me of a thought-provoking and in hindsight, truly prescient new book I just picked up from acclaimed travel writer (and of course, PBS television star) Rick Steves. In Travel as a Political Act, Steves explains that there’s far more travel than “good-value hotels, great art and tasty cuisine.” While he writes about travels throughout Europe (the main focus of his travel business), El Salvador, and Morocco, it’s his “Mission: Understand Iran” chapter that speaks most to me now. Last spring, Steves and his crew traveled to Iran for filming, a real rarity for Western  and especially American crews. And his latest book incorporates this trip, as well as many other fascinating ones over the years.

I got a chance to hear Steves live last November at one of his weekend Travel Festivals in scenic Edmonds, Wash. He spoke to a more-than-packed house that clung to his every word as he showed the hour-long film, then thoughtfully answered questions about his 12-day filming trip. The timing was extra-powerful, as the conference fell soon after the historic election of now-President Barack Obama. For those of us who believe in giving peace a chance, Steves’ mission in Iran sounded in lockstep with our new Commander in Chief’s philosophy of approaching folks with open minds and respect rather than tired old stereotypes and automatic distrust. If you haven’t seen “Rick Steves’ Iran: Yesterday and Today,” it’s SO worth checking out—especially in light of what’s happening in Iran right now. And not surprisingly, media outlets like PRI’s The World radio show have been seeking him out lately, hungry for perspective on what life’s REALLY like in Iran these days. It makes for fascinating listening. His life’s a testament to what he writes: “thoughtful travel comes with powerful lessons.”

I love what he writes in the Iran chapter: “I’m convinced that people-to-people travel experiences can be a powerful force for peace. People traveling to the Soviet Union helped us get through the Cold War without things turning hot. Travel to Vietnam has helped heal wounds left in the aftermath of that war. And, as the USA and Iran continue their dangerous flirtation with an avoidable war, travel there can help build understanding between our nations.”

On the back cover of Travel as a Political Act, Steves says, “We can’t understand our world without experiencing it.” Amen to that.

I’m curious, though. How has traveling abroad rearranged your OWN “cultural furniture,” as Steves calls it? How do those experiences make you rethink assumptions you held about other people, other countries? I’d love to know, and I’ll bet the rest of you would, too.

(Young) Americans in Paris and London: The Obama girls take Europe by storm

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Talk about a heavenly experience. Along with President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama, Malia and Sasha got to privately check out the famed Notre Dame Cathedral this month during their first trip to Paris. All kids should be so lucky!
Talk about a heavenly experience. Along with President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama, Malia and Sasha got to privately check out the famed Notre Dame Cathedral this month during their first trip to Paris. All kids should be so lucky!

I was thrilled to read last week that adorable young Malia and Sasha Obama would be joining President Barack and First Lady Michelle (and of course, First Granny Marian) in Paris and later London for their first European trip. It did my 40-year-old heart a world of good to know that these charming mesdemoiselles would be serving as America’s junior ambassadors to a continent obsessed with their glamorous parents—and one thrilled to see our formerly “you’re-either-with-us-or-against-us” nation back in the global mix.

But politics aside, I was thrilled for these two African-American girls, ages 8 and 10, both getting a chance to experience what life is like outside the prism of the United States. Granted, these are kids of privilege. Even if their dad wasn’t the leader of the free world, they’re the children of extremely well-educated and worldly parents and had a chance to travel to Africa back in 2006. But as I’ve found over the years, there is NOTHING like foreign travel to open your eyes to the realities of your own country. I just wish I’d had the chance to discover this way earlier in life rather than starting in my 20s. I’ve certainly tried to make up for lost time, visiting nearly 30 countries since then!

Just imagine how different we Americans would be if we started engaging the world as kids the Obamas’ age. It sure would be hard for us to demonize folks in foreign countries as “the other” if we’d had a chance to stroll their streets and museums. Eat in their restaurants. Shop in their stores. Hang out in their parks and visit their schools. And the same would be true if kids from other countries had the chance to experience America in person, rather than through stereotypes and caricatures we export to them through popular culture. 

And while I think it’s important for American kids of all races to have such exposure, I think it’s especially key for African-American ones. Whether affluent or poor, so often they grow up viewing their lives through other folks’ lenses, never realizing that there are places where they can just BE without being constantly defined (and often limited) by their color. It’s a freedom that’s hard to explain unless you leave America’s shores and spend time in other cultures where being black isn’t immediately seen as a liability. Which isn’t to say that racism and discrimination don’t exist in Europe and elsewhere, because they certainly do. But you don’t subconsciously spend every public moment waiting for some racially inspired slight, and that’s supremely liberating in itself.

So good for you, Malia and Sasha, getting out there and exploring this big, fabulous world of ours. And it’s good for the world to experience THEM, as well.