Happy Fourth of July! Tis the season for a killer playlist, hot dogs, bikinis and an ice cold—well, you fill in the blanks. Speaking of killer playlist, I can’t help but listen to mine from last year, which goes on for hours but with a little something from everyone. I just can’t resist.

Now that the primary elections are over, the question looms large: What has Adriano Espaillat’s team got that we ain’t got? Soldiers, crew members or just more people from the Washington Heights hood who got out to vote. Whatever the case may be, times are changing, and along with it, changing tactics. However, the old adage still holds true: It ain’t over til it’s over. If your candidate didn’t win, there’s always next time.

I have often been approached by faithful readers who have stated that although they love keeping up with the social happenings, they also like the commentaries on social issues that affect us all, and not just the party people. Do I like getting up on the soap box? Yes I do. What better time than now when we’re in the midst of the changing of the guard than to give an opinion?

I recently read an article critiquing President Barack Obama’s past eight years, and whether he really did enough for the advancement of the Black race. Hmmmm. I think it is safe to say that the country, the race and the world is going to miss Obama when he’s gone. Lest I speak too soon, the first thing that comes to my mind is at least he never brought any scandal or shame upon us as a people or a nation. He’s a straight shooter, smart, committed and hard working, and he looks good. His swagger alone when he walks through the corridor before taking the podium to address the nation is enough to make you stand up and pay attention. Or how about when he appeared at the baseball game in Cuba while fostering international relations, with his shirt collar open and dark glasses? Was he the epitome of GQ or what?

I pledged my undying loyalty to him after he took out Osama Bin Laden, and if he had done nothing else for America, it would have been okay with me. But for Obama that was small potatoes. He continued on through the fog. With a combination of education and street smarts (the likes of which have never been seen before and may never be seen again), one by one he took on issues, confrontations, kept Kim Jong-un in line, etc. etc. etc. He brought us economically out of the dismal abyss of the Bush/Cheney administration, and while I thought everyone in America should have received a stimulus check as opposed to it all going to the banks, statistics show the economy is better than it was eight years ago.

Although it may have its wrinkles, ObamaCare is slamming, and even as Obama himself stated, “States that didn’t even vote for me were among the first to enroll, and have the largest number of applicants.” The list goes on and on, and you know that. No one will be able to replace or carry on his je ne sais quoi or savoir fair. If you think you’ll ever see a president stand up and sing “Amazing Grace” like Obama, before the world at one of the most horrific tragedies this new-aged country has experienced, think again.

But could Obama have done more to address the blatant disregard for the Black lives brutally taken by racist, ignorant, barbaric members of our society, who were then totally exonerated in the plain face of evidence? Maybe. In asking that question, also ask yourself, can Obama come into our ghettos and stop young Black men from shooting one another, selling heroin, peeing in the halls, throwing garbage in the street, writing all over the walls in the hallways, cussing, fighting and hating one another?

In my eyes, the best we can do is look at the president in terms of whether he’s doing what’s best for America, to protect America, help America grow, lead, teach, provide for its citizens and make the world a better place so that the planet can continue to live on for generations. If the president is doing what’s best for America, then surely we benefit because we are Americans. We therefore fit into the scheme of things, but only if.

So the time is now that we, as Black people begin to look out for ourselves, help one another, love ourselves, love one another, create opportunities for one another, to stop and say, “How you doing?” and really mean it. Clean up our own neighborhoods, educate ourselves and our children. Sometimes helping the elderly doesn’t take more than asking, “How you doing?” and taking time to stop and listen. We really need to care for one another instead of always looking for someone else to do something for us—no excuses.

The world is in a terrible place right now, but as scary as it is for us, how scary were the Holocaust, World Wars I and II, the American Revolution, the Civil War, the South during the fight for civil rights? Every era has its cross to bear, and one day this time will go down in history as the Age of Terrorism. Hopefully, we will survive, as a country, a nation and a people.

I will miss the Obama administration, and I am thankful that it occurred in my life-time. Although I remember Obama stepping into the office with his hair black and leaving with his hair gray, I also remember him as being one of a kind, a true knight, donned in the armor of salvation, a Don Quixote of sorts, with ideals, values and valor, and although it may have seemed like he was fighting windmills, he stood true to the cause for one nation, for the people, indivisible, under God, with liberty and justice for all.

God bless America.

Until next week … kisses.