8 posts tagged “barack obama”
So, as you can see, I was one of the lucky few to get a ticket to Obama's Election Night Rally. I had not planned on bringing da boys, as the ticket only allowed for me plus 1 guest. But, we were able to get them throught the checkpoints and through the Grace of God, they were able to witness this historic event with me.
It was an Incredible Spirit in that place. The entire crowd counted down the seconds to the close of the West Coast polls and we all started cheering and jumping up and down as CNN then immediately projected Barack Obama our New President!!
And then, to be so honored, to hear his first speech as president elect....it's something we will Never Ever forget! We are so Excited to be a part of this historical event and to witness it in our Sweet Home Chicago....
Enjoy pics from (what seems like) mere moments ago.....
Note: The first part of this post is written by Roland S. Martin, CNN Contributor
Excerpts follow but you can read the entire article and hear Jeremiah Wright's Full Sermon at: http://intheknowchicago.com/Issue1Link1.htm
My personal notes appear at the end....
As this whole sordid episode regarding the sermons of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright has played out over the last week, I wanted to understand what he ACTUALLY said in this speech....I have now actually listened to the sermon Rev. Wright gave after September 11 titled, “The Day of Jerusalem’s Fall.” It was delivered on Sept. 16, 2001.
One of the most controversial statements in this sermon was when he mentioned “chickens coming home to roost.” He was actually quoting Edward Peck, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and deputy director of President Reagan’s terrorism task force, who was speaking on FOX News. That’s what he told the congregation.
He was quoting Peck as saying that America’s foreign policy has put the nation in peril:
“I heard Ambassador Peck on an interview yesterday did anybody else see or hear him? He was on FOX News, this is a white man, and he was upsetting the FOX News commentators to no end, he pointed out, a white man, an ambassador, he pointed out that what Malcolm X said when he was silenced by Elijah Mohammad was in fact true, he said Americas chickens, are coming home to roost.”
“We took this country by terror away from the Sioux, the Apache, Arikara, the Comanche, the Arapaho, the Navajo. Terrorism.
“We took Africans away from their country to build our way of ease and kept them enslaved and living in fear. Terrorism.
“We bombed Grenada and killed innocent civilians, babies, non-military personnel.
“We bombed the black civilian community of Panama with stealth bombers and killed unarmed teenage and toddlers, pregnant mothers and hard working fathers.
“We bombed Qaddafi’s home, and killed his child. Blessed are they who bash your children’s head against the rock.
“We bombed Iraq. We killed unarmed civilians trying to make a living. We bombed a plant in Sudan to pay back for the attack on our embassy, killed hundreds of hard working people, mothers and fathers who left home to go that day not knowing that they’d never get back home.
“We bombed Hiroshima. We bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon and we never batted an eye.
“Kids playing in the playground. Mothers picking up children after school. Civilians, not soldiers, people just trying to make it day by day.
“We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff that we have done overseas is now brought right back into our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.
“Violence begets violence. Hatred begets hatred. And terrorism begets terrorism. A white ambassador said that y’all, not a black militant. Not a reverend who preaches about racism. An ambassador whose eyes are wide open and who is trying to get us to wake up and move away from this dangerous precipice upon which we are now poised. The ambassador said the people we have wounded don’t have the military capability we have. But they do have individuals who are willing to die and take thousands with them. And we need to come to grips with that.”
He went on to describe seeing the photos of the aftermath of 9/11 because he was in Newark, N.J., when the planes struck. After turning on the TV and seeing the second plane slam into one of the twin towers, he spoke passionately about what if you never got a chance to say hello to your family again.
“What is the state of your family?” he asked.
And then he told his congregation that he loved them and asked the church to tell each other they loved themselves.
His sermon thesis:
1. This is a time for self-examination of ourselves and our families.
2. This is a time for social transformation (then he went on to say they won’t put me on PBS or national cable for what I’m about to say. Talk about prophetic!)
“We have got to change the way we have been doing things as a society,” he said.
Wright then said we can’t stop messing over people and thinking they can’t touch us. He said we may need to declare war on racism, injustice, and greed, instead of war on other countries.
“Maybe we need to declare war on AIDS. In five minutes the Congress found $40 billion to rebuild New York and the families that died in sudden death, do you think we can find the money to make medicine available for people who are dying a slow death? Maybe we need to declare war on the nation’s healthcare system that leaves the nation’s poor with no health coverage? Maybe we need to declare war on the mishandled educational system and provide quality education for everybody, every citizen, based on their ability to learn, not their ability to pay. This is a time for social transformation.”
3. This is time to tell God thank you for all that he has provided and that he gave him and others another chance to do His will.
By the way, nowhere in this sermon did he said “God damn America.” I’m not sure which sermon that came from.
This doesn’t explain anything away, nor does it absolve Wright of using the N-word, but what it does do is add an accurate perspective to this conversation.
Note from MsGenevieve: I blogged this because I think it's important for folks to gain their own perspective on the issue and remain an advocate of finding their own truth. I've visited Trinity numerous times in my youth and heard Pastor Wright speak. He's a brilliant man with a tremendous gift for moving and inspiring his congregation. I am a better person for having had heard his words and would never denounce him under any circumstances. However, I'd heard a story recently on NPR discussing how a lot of white people have never been to a Black Church service and have no idea about our ways of worship and teaching. Although most black folk have been to a white church service at least once (remember spending that night over your white friends house on the weekend's and going to their religious services on the Sunday morning??) I wonder then if it is possible to really wrap one's mind around something when they really have no point of reference.
Jacques Berlinerblau, program director and associate professor of Jewish Civilization at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, has a posted Note to White People where he recalls his findings during research for his book on African-American oratory. He writes:
Last week the junior Senator from Illinois found himself trying to explain the pulpit indiscretions of his spiritual mentor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Aware that many wanted to know how he could spend years listening to such remarks without having decamped from Trinity, Obama tried to place those remarks in their proper context:
"Like other black churches, Trinity’s services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear."
Things are often said in African-American oratorical contexts—sometimes the most lyrical, provocative and over-the-top things—which are rarely intended to be marching orders. Those who hear these things may indeed be dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting, but they are acutely aware that they are not hearing fighting words....I want to suggest that African-American public speakers understand that their role is to uplift, educate, entertain, and even outrage. Audiences, in turn, understand that they will enjoy, reflect, absorb and then promptly adhere to the stunt man’s credo: don’t try this at home. I am not saying, however, that nothing of substance ever comes out of the Church. When the pastor asks for volunteers for the soup kitchen across town, people cheer and sign up. When the pastor asks for congregants to help tutor children, people cheer and sign up. But on those occasions when the pastor suggests some sort of radical political action leading to macro-structural change, people only cheer.... And while Obama’s argument about taking these words in context was, in and of itself, valid, it does not in any way neutralize the advantages that will accrue to those who take them out of context.
Well that's all I wanted to post about that.
And now for a little comic relief.....
Today is the Illinois Primary where we plan to show Much Love to our HomeGrown Barack Obama.
Get Out & Vote.
Generation Barack Obama After Hours Celebration benefiting Obama for America with Barack and Michelle Obama.
Friday, 6/8 @ 9 PM
Union Station, Chicago
444 W. Jackson
Cost is $100
Buy tickets online at: http://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/GBOChicago
In case you have students who may be interested. Summer internships in Washington DC are still available through March 23rd. They are looking for students who are interested in politics, communications and public service, and who have strong writing and research skills. Bilingual and multilingual students are particularly encouraged to apply. You can get further information and the application at Nubia Chaidez, Constituent Services Agent and Chicago Internship Program Coordinator, Office of Senator Barack Obama, Chicago, Illinois (312) 886-3506; (312) 886-3514 fax
I am interested to know the thoughts of the Neighborhood on the Letter to Michelle Obama. I've posted it below:
Posted from the Chicago Sun Times 12.29.06
To Michelle Obama: From one mom to another
Dear Michelle Obama,
The holiday season is here, and many of us are snuggled with our families eating, opening gifts, and enjoying the love and comfort of our children and spouses.
This feeling of family must be weighing very heavily on you right now. Your husband is the man of the hour, and the whole country is waiting to see if he will run for president.
The decision is not one to be taken lightly by any family -- but the Obamas' are not any family. I don't need to tell you that, I know.
As I sit here with my two young children, I think of you often. I wonder how you weigh what could be one of the most important candidacies in American history, and what we all hold the closest. How does a family like yours decide between changing the world and risking your lives? Between making history and making a normal childhood for your daughters? Between public service and suburban bliss?
I look at my husband and my two beautiful children, and I wonder how on earth you and your family will make this decision. It would be a sacrifice, no question. Possibly the biggest sacrifice a family could make. We all know it wouldn't just be the usual pressures of the job or public life, it could very well mean the word no one wants to say but everyone is thinking: "assassination."
The ugly truth is some in America may not be ready to see a black family in the White House. The ugly truth is the decision to run for president could mean the death of your husband or family member or yourself. Is any job worth it? I don't know. There are no easy answers. Would I risk my own family to change the world? I don't know. I honestly do not know.
Here I spend my entire day thinking about how to protect my children. That is what a mother does. She protects, she teaches, she does what is best for them. Everyone else be damned, she does what is best for them. But how on earth does a mother begin to decide between what is best for her children and changing history. Very few individuals have ever had to make this decision. I don't envy them. Just thinking about what you may or may not be thinking is enough for me.
I'm sure everyone in the world is giving you advice right now. I won't presume to know enough about what you are going through to even try to give you any. What I will tell you, though, is you already have the respect of many mothers in this country.
The simple fact that I know you are weighing this decision with such intensity makes me like you and your husband even more. It confirms to me you are the type of people I think you are: smart, loving, educated, and with great common sense. Frankly, it makes me want your husband in the Oval Office even more. I'm just not sure my needs outweigh the cost to you and yours. I don't want to seem like a selfish American, but it will take something BIG to give hope to this country and those of us disheartened, disenfranchised, and just plain disgusted with the current state of affairs. Yes, I want Senator Barack Obama to be that something big. I want him to be the answer. I want to ask you to support his run in 2008. But I can't. I can't ask you to do it for me. I can't ask you to do it for the children or for the future or for the good of mankind. You are a mother, like I am a mother, and I know I can't ask that of you.
I can only wait.
Whatever you decide, the Moms, if no one else, will understand and have your back. If you make the choice to change the world, we'll be there with flags flying, and we'll remember the sacrifice your family is making for ours. If you decide to refrain from the Oval Office, we Moms will know exactly why. We will not for a moment question the protection of your family.
May you enjoy this holiday season with those you love and hold them close,
Erin Kotecki Vest
This column first appeared at huffingtonpost.com
This Sunday February 11th, Senator Barack Obama will be announcing his intentions for the 2008 Presidential Campaign. Join thousands of other Chicagoans in cheering him on as he declares his intentions and hopes for the future of our country.
The rally will be held at the UIC Pavillon, 1150 W. Harrison near the Racine stop of the Blue Line or the Racine exit of the Eisenhower. The doors will open at 3:30 PM.
Tickets are FREE but required. Tickets are available for pick up at the following locations:
UNITE HERE
333 S Ashland, 60607
Wednesday - Friday 9am - 5pm
Alderman Matlak’s Office, Ward 32
2131 W Division
Wednesday – Friday 10pm – 6pm
North Side
49th Ward Democratic Headquarters
1774 W Greenleaf, 60626
Wednesday & Thursday 9am – 9pm
Friday 9am – 6pm
Saturday 9am – 6pm
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Kane County
Kane County Democratic Headquarters
700 E Main St, St Charles, 60174
Wednesday – Friday 5pm – 8pm
West Side
29th Ward Democratic Headquarters
5037 W Madison
Wednesday – Friday 9am - 5 pm
Saturday 10am – 1pm
DuPage County
Anderson’s Bookstore
123 W Jefferson
Naperville
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Wednesday Friday – 9am – 9pm
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South Side
4th Ward Democratic Headquarters
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Wednesday & Friday 9am – 8pm
Saturday 1 - 5pm
West Suburbs
Oak Park Democratic Party
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Wednesday & Friday and Saturday 9am - 12pm
Wednesday & Thursday 6 - 9pm
Lake County Democratic Headquarters
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Sunday 9am - 12pm
House of Hope Box Office
752 E 114th St, Chicago
Wednesday 2pm - 8pm
Thursday and Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 7pm
