My First REAL post

Okay,Okay, So I guess it’s time I made my first REAL political post, since that is the aim of my entire blog.

Before I begin, I want to make an emphasis on my big announcement!! My first interview will air tomorrow on here! I will be doing a profile piece on a poet in Charlotte, NC.  He’s quite good actually.  I’ve been working on his write-up this morning and I am quite proud of it. 

Now, on to the fun and main topic of EVERY media outlets discussion right now: EGYPT: What’s really going on with Egypt?  I know that some of my friends are not high on the whole political garbage talk, so I decided to try to break it down as simply as I know how (:

* I want you to understand, first of all, most of this is based on my own understanding.  I am not an expert, I do not attend/graduate from Harvard.  I am a journalist, I keep up with the news, and that’s that.*

1. The citizens of Egypt begin protests against their current leader Mubarak, because they are ready for a new political reform. They want to overthrow the government, and find democracy.  The protests started on Jan. 25, 2011 (last Tuesday).  The people were said to be inspired by the Tunisians who did a similar revolt against their government.  They are protesting against corrupt government, poverty, extremely high rates of unemployment, and an autocratic system of governance.  Hmm, perhaps that’s what we should try doing how about NO.

2.  As of Friday, now I want you to REALLY grasp this and think about if this happened to America, SATURDAY (Today is Monday), the government cut off cellular and internet service, and internet services, including all social networking (e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, even WordPress). Protests occurred not only in Cairo, the capital, but also in Alexandria and Suez, two other major cities.  So now the masses are spreading, okay PROBLEM.  Now you’ve made a lot of people who weren’t really mad, MAD. YOU CUT OFF FACEBOOK! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! -insert dramatic scream here-

3. On Thursday, and I won’t bore you with this guy’s name, this guy returned to Egypt, who is on the opposing side of the current leader (Mubarak).  Should Mubarak choose to step down, he would probably be named next in line.

4. The New York Times reports that 2/3 of Egypt’s population does not know any other leader besides Mubarak.  This puts a lot of things into perspective for you.  This tells you that 1. Egypt has a very younger dominated population, that is also very tech savvy.  They obviously knew that social media was the way to spread awareness that they wanted change in their political system, hence why they Egyptian government blocked these outlets.  Now about 5 years ago, it is interesting that they wouldn’t have even thought about blocking signals.  2. That tells you that the Egyptians want this information out really bad about what’s going on.  Not only was the fact that all signals and transmissions shut down an issue for the people, it affects journalists as well, because now, we have to rely solely on broadcasters and military relations updates via United States to relay information about what is going on.  That’s a safety concern.

5.”After a long silence, President Hosni Mubarak appeared on state television to announce that while he would be dismissing the government, he would not resign. Protestors continued to chant “Down, down with Mubarak” after his announcement. Shortly afterwards President Obama made a televised appearance to say that he had spoken with the Egyptian president on the phone, and had urged him to take “concrete steps” towards reform.” Huffington Post

On Saturday, President Mubarak announced that there would be a political reform.

That my friends, is what has been going on in Egypt.  However, it will be MANY years before it will be over, and this is why we must be INFORMED about what’s going on.  Just because it’s not happening here, it is still affecting us.  Egypt is a major player in our oil system.  The price of oil rose to 91.54 a barrel today, whereas it was 85.64 at close on Thursday.   Although Egypt is not a huge economy for us, the price of agriculture items (wheat, rice, breads, etc.) will see a price increase because of this new revolution.

Needless to say, stay informed.  Break the information down, listen, watch, and believe.  Even if you want to pretend it’s not happening it is, and I’ll be here to remind you.  Don’t forget to check back in tomorrow for our first profile for Black History Month.  Until Then!

Sacia

*This is a good clip to watch about the protests in Cairo. Check it out!