Yes, we can
This is taken from Obama's concession speech after he lost the New Hampshire primary. The frontman from the Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am, was so inspired by it that he brought together a group of people from the entertainment industry (including John Legend, Scarlet Johansson, Kate Walsh, Nicole Scherzinger, Herbie Hancock) and put the words to music in order to use it as a tool for Obama's campaign. I am posting excerpts from his speech along with the video because I, too, find Obama's words brilliant and inspiring, and I want as many people as possible to have the opportunity to hear it.
We know the battle ahead will be long. But always remember that, no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics. And they will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks and months to come.
We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
For when we have faced down impossible odds, when we've been told we're not ready or that we shouldn't try or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: Yes, we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can.
It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier, and a king who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land: Yes, we can, to justice and equality.
Yes, we can, to opportunity and prosperity. Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can repair this world. Yes, we can.
...
Together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story, with three words that will ring from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea: Yes, we can.
posted by j kelly @ 5:51 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Wow, I see why you are so impressed with him. That made me long for a better world, made me want to do something, to help. I am impressed too. I will keep an open mind. Thanks for telling me about this, I would (obviously) never have found it without your help.
AH
It is a good speech - but I am sure you realize that politicians do not write their own speeches in this day and age. I have no hatred, or love, for Obama. But he is well known for the less than original content that always appears in his monologues. His writers blatantly and repetitively plagiarize Devall Patrick and David Axelrod (amongst others) without shame or remorse. And the objective media loves him too much to comment or report. If you don't believe me watch this video on youtube (especially at the 3 minute mark):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuB_W8o_UsU
Sorry if this bursts your bubble about the greatness of Obama. You are too smart to be "bamboozled" by a polished Suit whispering other men's words with a silver tongue. Most Politicians are little more than talking puppets fed by the interests that pull their strings and make them dance. Some speak more eloquently than others. In the end they are nothing more than the crooked pole/staff of their Sheppard, leading the mindless masses, like sheep, with empty promises of change that dissipate like a whisper in the wind.
Yes, i do in fact realize that Obama is a very nicely polished politician presenting a speech written on his behalf and that he is not my good friend Racky telling me his ideas about why America is so kick ass while smoking a bowl in my living room. One of my friends in Chicago actually worked for David Axelrod at AKP media (the firm that ran Obama's successful senatorial and presidential primary campaigns), and he is one of Obama's speech writers. So it comes as no surprise to me that Obama would be using Mr. Axelrod's words (or "plagiarizing without shame or remorse" as you put it) since they have had a long working relationship.
As for my bubble being burst concerning my feelings for Obama, I can say that what you have said has done relatively no damage compared to what the rest of the fear-mongering in this country has already done to the majority of Americans. I realize that this country fears relentlessly all things they do not understand or agree with. I understand that old, white republican men seem to be what this country has relied on in the past to steer America through all kinds of turbulent waters (perhaps because the majority of these men have few qualms about "calming" fears in this country by focusing them violently on to other people in foreign lands). All I'm saying is that when Obama speaks, politician or not, I see and hear energy and enthusiasm and optimism for the fate of our country from someone who is different than what has been, and my heart leaps for joy that maybe middle-class, white, evangelical Americans, in spite of their fear of the new and different, would give this politician a chance to prove that just maybe there is more substance to him than the silver-tongued Suits of the past who have been mere vessels for talented speech writers. Maybe this one is less full of “wind” than the rest of them. Maybe there is something more to him, like a J.D. from Harvard or a very long history of working with and supporting grassroots orgs focused on improving some of the poorest communities in one of this country's largest cities. And I say “maybe” not knowing for sure what is to become of his ideas, but that is what hope is all about. And I don’t believe that hoping for a change is a state of mind only for the “bamboozled.” I suppose I could say in return that perhaps you are too smart to be “bamboozled” by politicians in this country in general, but the fact of this voting matter is one of these Suits is going to be running your country starting in a few months. So I guess maybe we should all be asking ourselves between now and our moment in the voting booth, am I more afraid of a Suit whispering “we can change” or a Suit whispering everything else i’ve heard for the past eight years?
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