Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Barack Rocks

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Obama comes up huge!

Have you heard Obama's speech yet? The parts of it that I've heard (thanks, mostly, to Randi Rhodes who played much of the speech this afternoon) "Nailed it perfectly!", meaning that he fearlessly and honestly talked with, and to, we the people,his fellow citizens, about race, racism, prejudice, slavery, his former minister and his (Obama's) respect and affection for the man that Reverend Wright is, the ambience found in many churches with a membership that is predominantly black, and so much more.

To me, his words are moving, they are honest, they are heartfelt, and they undeniably radiate the fact that Obama has it within himself to be a truly great leader who is able to unite the people of our country who are so sick and tired of the usual and customary politics of personal destruction and hate.

His speech was insightful, inspiring, hopeful, courageous, and absolutely awesome. He spoke with passion, intensity, integrity, honesty, and wisdom. The parts of it that I got to hear inform, educate, and moved me to tears.

I feel such a longing in my heart for him to be elected by a landslide. If we, as a nation, are smart enough to elect him as our President, we shall be truly blessed. Not only is he a man who is psychologically "congruent", who is "inner-directed", meaning that he is clearly someone who is comfortable in his own skin. He is also uniquely poised to speak to both black and white Americans, for his father is from Kenya and his mother from Kansas. Who else is so uniquely qualified to speak, out loud in the public forum, that which white people may say in private only to other white people and that which black people may say in private only to other black people? As Barack so wisely noted, one biracial (black) Presidential candidate and one campaign season cannot accomplish the "More Perfect Union" envisioned by our Founding Fathers, but his speech today begins the necessary national dialogue about America's "original sin"; a dialogue into which our country must enter if America is ever to truly become color blind.

His speech reflects a man unafraid to truly be himself, who spoke to us and shared with us, in crystal clear words, his understanding that we are, each of us, imperfect and flawed; people who are capable of saying really divisive things and yet who are, nonetheless, still deserving of friendship and love and acceptance within the human family. How many of us can say that we don't have a family member or a close friend who has said out loud things that are racist that have made us cringe, just as Obama shared that his grandmother had done?

His comments about his church, which is a part of the United Church of Christ denomination, made me proud to have grown up in that faith community and to wish that I could find a church up where I am now that would "hum" for me.

I was so moved, hearing him upon turning on Randi's show, that I HAD to call people up and tell them about it! I hope Keith Olbermann plays it in its entirety, and if not, I plan to look for it on the net.

If you haven't heard it, you absolutely must! It is, as Randi said, a speech that will be taught in Universities in the future. And, I'm betting, that he wrote every single word of it. It rings with conviction and truth.

All of you, of course, already know all of this about him! Do hear it in its entirety, if you haven't already.

15 comments:

  1. Concerning Senator Obama's speech today. I saw more honest feeling and humanity in Obama today than Hillary Clinton has shown in her entire public life. If you were really listening to his speech you heard a man that is able to understand both the good and bad of both the black and white sides of this divide. I loved my grandparents dearly but like Obama said about his grandmother I heard them say things about other groups that I did not believe. As for his preacher no person who goes to church can be honest with themselves and say that they have never heard their preacher mutter something that was off color are simply wrong. That does not make the preacher a bad person it just makes him or her human. Yes, preacher Wright said some things that I would cringe at but I thought one of the reasons we had guys and gals fighting in Iraq was to protect our freedom of speech.

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  2. Obama faced his demons, proved his mettle and passed his test. Now, the question is, can America do the same?

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  3. What's in a Name? In the Middle East, Arabs are asking if Obama is Jewish. It seems to be based on the name Barack being like Ehud Barak. So his first name makes people this he's Jewish and his middle name makes Christafascists here think he's a Muslim. Lucky for him his pastor is there to speak up for him as a Christian.

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  4. This was a great speech and cemented Obama's lock on the Democrat nomination.

    I really wish Hillary would bow out gracefully, but it ain't gonna happen. Which means six more weeks of dredging up ammunition for the opponents to use in the fall.

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  5. Vigil, thank you for leading me to Wizard, it's a great site. Now as for the Obama speech. First time I read the text, I was undone by it. Sobbing is the honest word. To dare to hope that we might just barely be smart enough as a nation to elect a president who is that smart, that thoughtful, that kind. I'm so glad he was able to do what he had to regarding Wright's more inflammatory comments without losing his mentor and friend. We call that integrity. I come from Paris, Texas and all my mother's family were racist and homophobic to the core. But when my family broke apart when I was five, I was sent to Sherman, Texas to live with my aunt and uncle. On the train ride out the only child my age I could find to play with was a black child. When I dragged her by the hand to meet my handsome, dignified Uncle, Linton, he snatched my hand away from hers, said "Shoo!" to her, she went running back to her momma in the colored car, and I was given a lecture about the inappropriateness of playing with little pickananny kids. I never learned the lesson. I always knew it was wrong. How did I know that at five? It was the first time I had been instructed in bigotry. My aunt and uncle were always kind and generous with me, but I just knew they were wrong on the one. My rebellion was to use the colored only drinking fountains whenever I got the chance. No black person has ever been unkind to me. Never.

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  6. Yes, Utah, Obama can teach us a few things. He reminds me that I can love my late father for who he was and still hate the vile racist and militaristic things he believed and said. I thought of that truth when I wrote my letter to my ex-cousin. But that didn't stop me, because C. is of my generation. And he was no hick from Utah. (Sorry!)

    I cut him no slack.

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  7. BTW, Emily! GR8 post! You deserve a raise!

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  8. It really was a great speech. Even conservatives like Charles Murray at the National Review have called it "flat-out brilliant."

    Of course, people like Sean Hannity will still keep droning on about "black separatists," and Rush Limbaugh will still keep trying to pigeonhole Obama as "the race candidate," but what I think that this speech did was remind the public at large about how juvenile the Hannities and Limbaughs out there really are, and how counterproductive and condescending their rants have been. It's a must-watch speech.

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  9. There is no doubt that Obama's eloquence is equal to his sincerity. This man offers us hope. We need hope. Utah, I wish I could say no black person was ever unkind to me but I cannot. Then again I can't say no white person was ever unkind to me. It makes no difference to me. People are people. Obama is special people.

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  10. Obamacans and Obamaphobes alike should read Tina Daunt's Obama heartens his base. Quote of the piece from Stevie Wonder:

    The reality is, conscious Americans know that Barack Obama is the color of truth.

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  11. Only just saw the speech. Very moving to me, especially as a preacher's kid. He is quite a teacher!! Not only does he unify people, he unifies ideas and philosophies for me. Sure, I KNEW that people are good and bad, but had I accepted that extended logic that churches (within and among them) are both good and bad? Not quite until now... GREAT SPEECH. He will move a lot of people with it. I was surprised by how he really hit his preacher hard with his criticisms which I didn't expect.

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  12. Obama is another pimp for the Price System as is Hillary and the other jokers.

    The only thing I am convinced about is that Americans are brainwashed.

    There is no hope at all with the present system.
    The North American Technate TNAT

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