I've spent the last two hours pondering passionate politics with a varied intellectual, insightful bunch of individuals. The US election has created a political storm that has swept both sides of the Atlantic, powered by the prospect of progress, change and a black man seated in, what has always been, a very white House. It was my good friend Niyi Crown that highlighted the issues with the hype surrounding Obama and, though I had been inclined to challenge his point, it makes severe sense. Obama is very popular amongst the young - he has created a campaign that has genuinely got kids excited and is generally perceived to ‘get’ the youth - however, this genuine hype has become overshadowed somewhat. Niyi highlighted the point that too many young black people support Obama for the sole reason that he is black himself. Niyi even went as far as to berate me somewhat for liking Obama for, what he perceived to be, the ‘wrong reasons’. Another friend of mine, Andrea, has long been ‘wondering why EVERY black person on (her) Facebook is voting for Obama?!... Have people even done their research?!’ Andrea, needless to say, is both black and an avid McCain supporter. She also has extremely strong elements of truth in her words. When I joked that I would be voting McCain, my friend Shakira wondered if I would be ‘scared of the abuse I would get from every black and young person on facebook’... Proving Andrea’s point somewhat.
I myself have not researched the policies, particular politics, or philosophies of Obama, yet I, alike many others, have been swept up in the monsoon of his groundbreaking arrival on the international scene. So, I had to ask myself, why isit that I am such an ardent advocate of Obama? As I explained to Niyi, it is the innovation of the man that has captured my enigmatic imagination, and the colour factor is very much a cog in the well-oiled machine that is Brand Obama. Obama, being a black man, is majestic modernization in motion.
Two years ago, could we have ever imagined a black man running for presidency, let alone actually winning it (as early indications shows that he will)? It was Tupac Shakur that uttered the infamous words ‘And although it seems heaven sent, We ain't ready, to see a black President’. Though we may have a black President come tomorrow morn, are we indeed ready for one? Even if Obama is voted in to the White House early tomorrow morning, this does not prove that we as a race are prepared to have a non-white man leading the most powerful nation on Earth (though I flippin’ hope we are). Only tumultuous, turbulant time will tell...
With thanks to Tupac, Niyi, Andrea and Shakira for their input. Image stolen from here.
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6 comments:
I don't mean to go of on a tangent but the way you write makes me fell good about myself. Even when you're not writing about me. You got a good style going there.
And in other news...
I feel that the next Emperor of the World is most certainly going to be Obama weather we like it or not so we may as well start printing up the t-shirts now.
I believe that as the first black man in power, and such a high status of power at that, black people are fully entitled to celebrate this fact whether or not their knowledge of politics is extensive or not. any person is entitled to their own reasons for likin, dislikingor being indifferent to the whole affair, this meaning the election. Also, as for black people voting McCain, i don't think this is a reason to subject them to abuse, they clearly have their reasons for doing so and therefore we should let them get on with it!!
Thats All From Me..x
A dream is now an undeniable reality... all we can utilize is our hope
i didn't read your post yet - just wanted to thank you for coming by my blog.
and just gotta say that since the night of nov. 4 the streets of nyc just vibrate with happiness, pride, hope.
just staying in that moment...
I believe you’re making the race seem like a disadvantage - I’m sure the man is just as qualified as the rest of the candidates...probably more.
And he could be anymore than what United States of America needed. He is mixed race, was raised around Asian culture - so he is more than qualified to run a “united" country.
thnx for visitin' my blog...subsribe.
It was important that the best man won and, duly, he did. However the hype surrounding him is, and shall always be, accentuated because he is black. He is history in the making. It is not a disadvantage, and I would should never wish it to be. There is a valid point, however, that the policies and his politics have been overshadowed by the fact that he is black. So many kids out there who love the man had/have no idea what he stands for...
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