“No Excuses”- President Obama’s Address To The NAACP
EDUTAINMENT By David D. on July 17, 2009 at 1:15 pmChills, fam.
Obama gets a pass for the mom jeans. Hell, Obama could have trotted out to the pitcher’s mound in Prince’s leopard assless pants and still be good in my book after this speech.
Our President spoke before the NAACP for its annual meeting and it was that old campaign-stump-speech-giving Obama that made us so excited to vote for him in the first place. You could almost tell he was excited to let his hair down again and give an impassioned speech like old times. Though the “no excuses” speech has been done before, Obama was able to give it in a very accessible way that didn’t sound like “I did it. Why can’t you?” I hope you’re taking notes, Mr. Huxtable.
Two more personal reasons the speech resonated with me:
1. I went to that same slave castle Obama mentions during a three month study abroad semester in Ghana. And it’s really been difficult to articulate what it was like to walk in the same, dark desolate dungeons our ancestors had to live in while waiting to be sent to America. Obama hit the experience on the head. It’s eerie and angering. Yet it’s oddly hopeful to see how far a group of people can come. I can only imagine how surreal it must have been for the person walking through the point of no return last weekend to be the first African-American leader of the free world.
2. At 9:56, Obama talks about three Civil Rights workers in Mississippi who sacrificed their lives. In case you didn’t know, they were James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Micky Schwerner. They were lynched in 1964. And my dad was supposed to be in the car with them. But by the grace of God my dad, who rarely gets sick, had bronchitis and stayed at home. He gave those three men their fateful assignment and has been dealing with the guilt ever since. He has even told me on a few occasions that he sometimes thinks he should have been in that car with them. Yet, because of that serendipitous illness, my dad is still alive to see the first African-American President calling them heroes.
When I get home, I’m going to sit my nephews down and make them watch this video. This was one for the ages, Obama.
Posted in EDUTAINMENT, GENERAL, SMOKE BREAK, TV/Movies, Videos — Tags: Barack Obama, Civil Rights Movement, NAACP, VIDEO
Tweet This
Digg This
Save to delicious
Stumble it
RSS Feed
17 Comments
Much respect for this post, and the very personal story you shared is much appreciated. It kind of shook me up, made me realize (as if all the other stuff in life doesn’t) that life is not to be taken for granted. Peace
I’ve been out all day and been receiving texts about this speech consistently since it went down.
Deep, deep story you told about your pops. I can’t imagine having that type of image embedded your brain. Although he has no reason to feel guilty, I can definitely understand his logic.
Way to go, Obama. Keep breaking barriers and keep making history. Let’s just get this recession out the way, this sh*t blows.
http://www.thenewsroom.com/details/3743865/All+Categories
Sir Lucious Leftfoot!
It’s funny how cats are getting their panties in a bunch saying Obama is “playing Black” in this speech, pandering to the LCD.
Moving
Yes We Coold !
Yes We Did!
Awesome story about your Pops David D., thank you for sharing.
I just wish the media wasn’t drooling over the “no excuses” sound bite. The way his speech is being framed is very misleading.
Man this is all he does is give “good speeches” anything else?
the clocks ticking, big homie.
Great story.
Thanks for sharing.
I watched this last night and it was very inspiring to say the least.
Yes we can! Yes we did! and Yes we are…
RMF!
Good shit as always David
“That means putting away the Xbox and putting our children to sleep at a reasonable hour”
^^Presidential advice? Really?
@ Dolla C
I hear ya mayne, Obama is a great orator and inspiring people (on all levels) can do a lot to stimulate a consumer based economy and defrost the money cycle. Rome wasn’t built in a day…Obama is dealing with some man-sized problems right now.
Excellent speech, but like one of the posters above me, I’m ready to see some action behind his speeches. He’s got a lot of potential I just want to see him hit that potential, and he hasn’t come close yet.
was it really for the ages or did you just have a personal connection to it? Organizations such as the NAACP are caught in a catch-22. They claim to be fighting for equality and unity but the title of the organization creates a distinction between the races. Once we start to ignore race and resist the temptation to classify a group of people based on their levels of melanin is when progress will happen. The NAACP perpetuates this division of “races”.
I’m so proud that this is my president