In other news, I got a chance to see Dr. Cornell West speak on Senator Obama's behalf on Saturday morning.
I'd just like to say that, without qualification, this was the best endorsement speech I've ever attended. Cornell West was everything that most stump speakers are not: creative, off-the -cuff, honest, poetic, and even, at times, humorously scandalous. (He mentioned on several occasions how partisan politics make him want to go "runnin' to the crack house").
Throughout his talk, he touched upon critical race theory, Hillary, Edwards, Oprah, John Coltrane, Alicia Keyes, Aretha Franklin, the progressive Vanderbilt, our fear of mortality, courage, prayer, blackness, post-negroism, honesty, and the mainstream media, peppering his speech with quotes from Shakespeare and imitations of stuffy politicians.
A lot of times when you go to these events, you get the feeling that people are just going through the motions and regurgitating the same shit over and over again while trying not to say anything different or unpalatable. This was definitely different.
His basic thesis went something like this: right away he wasn't sold on Obama, but after having spoken to him for around 10 hours on two separate occasions, he's on board. While he concedes that he's an old-school brother, he recognizes that Obama is a new-school brother. Cornell West is Aretha Franklin. Obama is Alicia Keyes.
Here are two of Mr. West's opinions that I found to be funny and/or astute--
On Mike Huckabee's chances-- Cornell thinks that all the other candidates are trying to out-conservative each other and it's going to fail. Huckabee is running as a right-wing populist. He cares about black people and poor people. He's a Neanderthal on a whole host of other issues, but he could make a run. Cornucopia, the Horn of Plenty, shares these thoughts.
On me, telling him thanks for coming-- "Stay strong young man."
On Oprah's typical cowardice-- Cornell loves the sister, but he's also a big critic of her. He loves the charity that she does and the schools that she builds in South Africa, but that's charity. Charity is easy. She's never made a public stand on important domestic issues and never gotten involved politically. He recognizes the fact that she's a entrepreneurial genius. She can't alienate her right-leaning, white, suburban housewives by being overtly political or she'll lose viewership and money. But c'mon, after your first billion dollars you can't start taking a stand for things you believe in can't you?
In conclusion, this is why I love Obama. People who usually don't believe in things believe in him. Call it the Kennedy effect. Oprah Winfrey, long a non-partisan-own-back-watcher, is ready to go on the campaign trail. Cornell West, not known for his support of partisan politics (didn't even vote for Clinton in '96 because of the welfare reform and the banking consolidation bills) is sold.
Here is Dr. West, keeping it real and sharing some of his thoughts on Obama before his endorsement:
But now he's on board. And so am I . And so is Oprah. And so in these last 15 days or so until the caucus, I only have four words for Senator Obama, the youngest, freshest candidate in the field, "Stay strong young man."
I'd just like to say that, without qualification, this was the best endorsement speech I've ever attended. Cornell West was everything that most stump speakers are not: creative, off-the -cuff, honest, poetic, and even, at times, humorously scandalous. (He mentioned on several occasions how partisan politics make him want to go "runnin' to the crack house").
Throughout his talk, he touched upon critical race theory, Hillary, Edwards, Oprah, John Coltrane, Alicia Keyes, Aretha Franklin, the progressive Vanderbilt, our fear of mortality, courage, prayer, blackness, post-negroism, honesty, and the mainstream media, peppering his speech with quotes from Shakespeare and imitations of stuffy politicians.
A lot of times when you go to these events, you get the feeling that people are just going through the motions and regurgitating the same shit over and over again while trying not to say anything different or unpalatable. This was definitely different.
His basic thesis went something like this: right away he wasn't sold on Obama, but after having spoken to him for around 10 hours on two separate occasions, he's on board. While he concedes that he's an old-school brother, he recognizes that Obama is a new-school brother. Cornell West is Aretha Franklin. Obama is Alicia Keyes.
Here are two of Mr. West's opinions that I found to be funny and/or astute--
On Mike Huckabee's chances-- Cornell thinks that all the other candidates are trying to out-conservative each other and it's going to fail. Huckabee is running as a right-wing populist. He cares about black people and poor people. He's a Neanderthal on a whole host of other issues, but he could make a run. Cornucopia, the Horn of Plenty, shares these thoughts.
On me, telling him thanks for coming-- "Stay strong young man."
On Oprah's typical cowardice-- Cornell loves the sister, but he's also a big critic of her. He loves the charity that she does and the schools that she builds in South Africa, but that's charity. Charity is easy. She's never made a public stand on important domestic issues and never gotten involved politically. He recognizes the fact that she's a entrepreneurial genius. She can't alienate her right-leaning, white, suburban housewives by being overtly political or she'll lose viewership and money. But c'mon, after your first billion dollars you can't start taking a stand for things you believe in can't you?
In conclusion, this is why I love Obama. People who usually don't believe in things believe in him. Call it the Kennedy effect. Oprah Winfrey, long a non-partisan-own-back-watcher, is ready to go on the campaign trail. Cornell West, not known for his support of partisan politics (didn't even vote for Clinton in '96 because of the welfare reform and the banking consolidation bills) is sold.
Here is Dr. West, keeping it real and sharing some of his thoughts on Obama before his endorsement:
But now he's on board. And so am I . And so is Oprah. And so in these last 15 days or so until the caucus, I only have four words for Senator Obama, the youngest, freshest candidate in the field, "Stay strong young man."
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