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Books by
Barack
Obama
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
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The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the
American Dream
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Obligation to Fight for the World as
It Should Be
Text of Michelle Obama speech
As you might
imagine, for Barack, running for President is nothing
compared to that first game of basketball with my
brother Craig.
I can't tell you
how much it means to have Craig and my mom here tonight.
Like Craig, I can feel my dad looking down on us, just
as I've felt his presence in every grace-filled moment
of my life.
At six-foot-six,
I've often felt like Craig was looking down on me too .
. . literally. But the truth is, both when we were kids
and today, he wasn't looking down on me—he was watching
over me.
And he's been there
for me every step of the way since that clear February
day 19 months ago, when—with little more than our faith
in each other and a hunger for change—we joined my
husband, Barack Obama, on the improbable journey that's
brought us to this moment.
But each of us also
comes here tonight by way of our own improbable journey.
I come here tonight
as a sister, blessed with a brother who is my mentor, my
protector, and my lifelong friend.
I come here as a
wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an
extraordinary president.
I come here as a
Mom whose girls are the heart of my heart and the center
of my world—
they're the first
thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and
the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night.
Their future—and all our children's future—is my stake
in this election.
And I come here as
a daughter—raised on the South Side of Chicago by a
father who was a blue collar city worker, and a mother
who stayed at home with my brother and me. My mother's
love has always been a sustaining force for our family,
and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity, her
compassion, and her intelligence reflected in my own
daughters.
My Dad was our
rock. Although he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis
in his early thirties, he was our provider, our
champion, our hero. As he got sicker, it got harder for
him to walk, it took him longer to get dressed in the
morning. But if he was in pain, he never let on. He
never stopped smiling and laughing—even while struggling
to button his shirt, even while using two canes to get
himself across the room to give my Mom a kiss.
He just woke up a
little earlier, and worked a little harder.
He and my mom
poured everything they had into me and Craig. It was the
greatest gift a child can receive: never doubting for a
single minute that you're loved, and cherished, and have
a place in this world. And thanks to their faith and
hard work, we both were able to go on to college. So I
know firsthand from their lives—and mine—that the
American Dream endures.
And you know, what
struck me when I first met Barack was that even though
he had this funny name, even though he'd grown up all
the way across the continent in Hawaii, his family was
so much like mine. He was raised by grandparents who
were working class folks just like my parents, and by a
single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like
we did. Like my family, they scrimped and saved so that
he could have opportunities they never had themselves.
And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same
values: that you work hard for what you want in life;
that your word is your bond and you do what you say
you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity
and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if
you don't agree with them.
And Barack and I
set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass
them on to the next generation. Because we want our
children—and all children in this nation—to know that
the only limit to the height of your achievements is the
reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for
them.
And as our
friendship grew, and I learned more about Barack, he
introduced me to the work he'd done when he first moved
to Chicago after college. Instead of heading to Wall
Street, Barack had gone to work in neighborhoods
devastated when steel plants shut down, and jobs dried
up. And he'd been invited back to speak to people from
those neighborhoods about how to rebuild their
community.
The people gathered
together that day were ordinary folks doing the best
they could to build a good life. They were parents
living paycheck to paycheck; grandparents trying to get
by on a fixed income; men frustrated that they couldn't
support their families after their jobs disappeared.
Those folks weren't asking for a handout or a shortcut.
They were ready to work—they wanted to contribute. They
believed—like you and I believe—that America should be a
place where you can make it if you try.
Barack stood up
that day, and spoke words that have stayed with me ever
since. He talked about "The world as it is" and "The
world as it should be." And he said that all too often,
we accept the distance between the two, and settle for
the world as it is—even when it doesn't reflect our
values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we know
what our world should look like. We know what fairness
and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us
to believe in ourselves—to find the strength within
ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And
isn't that the great American story?
It's the story of
men and women gathered in churches and union halls, in
town squares and high school gyms—people who stood up
and marched and risked everything they had—refusing to
settle, determined to mold our future into the shape of
our ideals.
It is because of
their will and determination that this week, we
celebrate two anniversaries: the 88th anniversary of
women winning the right to vote, and the 45th
anniversary of that hot summer day when Dr. King lifted
our sights and our hearts with his dream for our nation.
I stand here today
at the crosscurrents of that history—knowing that my
piece of the American Dream is a blessing hard won by
those who came before me. All of them driven by the same
conviction that drove my dad to get up an hour early
each day to painstakingly dress himself for work. The
same conviction that drives the men and women I've met
all across this country:
People who work the
day shift, kiss their kids goodnight, and head out for
the night shift—without disappointment, without
regret—that goodnight kiss a reminder of everything
they're working for.
The military
families who say grace each night with an empty seat at
the table. The servicemen and women who love this
country so much, they leave those they love most to
defend it.
The young people
across America serving our communities—teaching
children, cleaning up neighborhoods, caring for the
least among us each and every day.
People like Hillary
Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in the glass
ceiling, so that our daughters—and sons—can dream a
little bigger and aim a little higher.
People like Joe
Biden, who's never forgotten where he came from, and
never stopped fighting for folks who work long hours and
face long odds and need someone on their side again.
All of us driven by
a simple belief that the world as it is just won't
do—that we have an obligation to fight for the world as
it should be.
That is the thread
that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs
through my journey and Barack's journey and so many
other improbable journeys that have brought us here
tonight, where the current of history meets this new
tide of hope.
That is why I love
this country.
And in my own life,
in my own small way, I've tried to give back to this
country that has given me so much. That's why I left a
job at a law firm for a career in public service,
working to empower young people to volunteer in their
communities. Because I believe that each of us—no matter
what our age or background or walk of life—each of us
has something to contribute to the life of this nation.
It's a belief
Barack shares—a belief at the heart of his life's work.
It's what he did
all those years ago, on the streets of Chicago, setting
up job training to get people back to work and
afterschool programs to keep kids safe—working block by
block to help people lift up their families.
It's what he did in
the Illinois Senate, moving people from welfare to jobs,
passing tax cuts for hard working families, and making
sure women get equal pay for equal work.
It's what he's done
in the United States Senate, fighting to ensure the men
and women who serve this country are welcomed home not
just with medals and parades, but with good jobs and
benefits and health care—including mental health care.
That's why he's
running—to end the war in Iraq responsibly, to build an
economy that lifts every family, to make health care
available for every American, and to make sure every
child in this nation gets a world class education all
the way from preschool to college. That's what Barack
Obama will do as President of the United States of
America.
He'll achieve these
goals the same way he always has—by bringing us together
and reminding us how much we share and how alike we
really are. You see, Barack doesn't care where you're
from, or what your background is, or what party—if
any—you belong to. That's not how he sees the world. He
knows that thread that connects us—our belief in
America's promise, our commitment to our children's
future—is strong enough to hold us together as one
nation even when we disagree.
It was strong
enough to bring hope to those neighborhoods in Chicago.
It was strong
enough to bring hope to the mother he met worried about
her child in Iraq; hope to the man who's unemployed, but
can't afford gas to find a job; hope to the student
working nights to pay for her sister's health care,
sleeping just a few hours a day.
And it was strong
enough to bring hope to people who came out on a cold
Iowa night and became the first voices in this chorus
for change that's been echoed by millions of Americans
from every corner of this nation.
Millions of
Americans who know that Barack understands their dreams;
that Barack will fight for people like them; and that
Barack will finally bring the change we need.
And in the end,
after all that's happened these past 19 months, the
Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love
with 19 years ago. He's the same man who drove me and
our new baby daughter home from the hospital ten years
ago this summer, inching along at a snail's pace,
peering anxiously at us in the rearview mirror, feeling
the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined
to give her everything he'd struggled so hard for
himself, determined to give her what he never had: the
affirming embrace of a father's love.
And as I tuck that
little girl and her little sister into bed at night, I
think about how one day, they'll have families of their
own. And one day, they—and your sons and daughters—will
tell their own children about what we did together in
this election. They'll tell them how this time—we
listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this
time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming.
How this time, in this great country—where a girl from
the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law
school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can
go all the way to the White House—we committed ourselves
to building the world as it should be.
So tonight, in
honor of my father's memory and my daughters' future—out
of gratitude to those whose triumphs we mark this week,
and those whose everyday sacrifices have brought us to
this moment—let us devote ourselves to finishing their
work; let us work together to fulfill their hopes; and
let us stand together to elect Barack Obama President of
the United States of America.
Thank you, God
bless you, and God bless America.
Michelle Obama Keynote Address at DNC
(video)
If you like this speech consider
making a donation
Michele Obama Speech Video
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Responses
I was positively
impressed by Michelle Obama's speech, and (as a
footnote) found the unexpected presentation by her
brother most gratifying. According to Wikipedia, Craig
Robinson, the older brother of Michelle Obama, is "the
head men's basketball coach at Oregon State University,
stands 6' 6", was a two-time Ivy League Player of the
Year at Princeton University, graduating in 1983 with an
AB in Sociology. He is the fourth highest scorer in
school history. He earned an MBA in Finance from the
University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in
1992.
Robinson was drafted in the fourth round of the 1983 NBA
draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, but never played in the
league. He played professionally in Europe, returning to
the U.S. in 1988 to become an assistant coach at the
Illinois Institute of Technology."
Of course, none of this has anything to do with the
economic or foreign policy of the USA. It does not
address the big hit I am taking thanks to the
inflationary policies of the Fed. Those of us drawing
Social Security and who are able to continue working are
able to maintain financial assets, but those who are
dependent on Social Security income below $20,000 are
barely able to survive.
Classes started yesterday. I have a freshman seminar
which is a bit too large, and an advanced course in
American intellectual history, 1607-1865. Both classes
are filled, so the total number is fifty five. There
are three Asians, possibly more, but only one person who
looks as if she might have proximate African roots.
Afro-American enrollments in the big ten average less
than 4% according to available estimates. In a typical
semester, I have come to expect 1.9 Afro-American
students, but no more, but this semester, I have not
been able to identify any. Thanks to Ward Connelly, I
may have fewer in the future. The supposedly elitist
University of Michigan claims a 5.8% African American
enrollment. Wilson
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I like very much
what you have written. There's lots of information
packed in; all connected in one way or another to issues
talked about at the Democratic National Convention (DNC)
or in their platform, briefly the decrease in the
availability of opportunity and our wrecked economy
brought on by the shift in wealth to the super-rich. As
you see above I have given Michele's speech a name.
You may want to
count the number of times in which the word "work" or
its variation is used in her text, maybe more as a noun.
It is very interesting how in this context it does a
double duty as both noun and verb, thus providing an
amazing energy as image and action. But all
under control and restraint, more feminine than the
masculinity that Hillary exerts.
Of course this
speech seeks to go after the white blue collar workers
of American (the last bastion of anti-black personal
racism in America) and how the speech was designed to
appeal to this group of Americans, who are very unlikely
to vote for the Obamas to be in the White House. They
are not just in Ohio and Pennsylvania, but they exist
throughout the country—North, South, East, and West.
They have been the backbone of the Republican Party
since the times of Richard Nixon. They are the spiritual
grandsons and great grandsons of what used to be called
the Dixiecrats.
Of course, the DNC
will say nothing at all about affirmative action for
fear of offending this group. Of course, Obama has not
altogether abandoned this issue but he has nuanced it in
such a way none knows what he has in mind. As far as
Craig's speech the most memorable fact of the Robinson
household was that he and his sister were limited to one
hour of TV and that seemed to have been the Brady Bunch,
which I assume was the white middle class family on
which they modeled their own lives imaginatively.
In any case the
Robinsons and the Obamas have placed the weight on
“white America” to live up to its ideals and to its
pocketbooks. They have less than 70 days to create a new
America and to give the old one a decent and respectful
burial.—Rudy
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Rudy, the only
"family" show on t.v. when the Robinsons were growing up
was the Brady Bunch (and its look-alikes "Little House
on the Prairie," "The Waltons," etc.), which featured
White, middle-class, traditional North Americans. The
fathers went to work; the mothers stayed home to cook
and clean; and the kids played with the dog. Yuk! What a
Norman Rockwell depiction of American life that even the
actors who played the parts now regurgitate over. Where
were today's alcoholic uncles, Lesbian grandmas,
Sapphire mamas, drug-dealing cousins, and pregnant
teenage sisters, all of whom make life interesting,
exciting, and far from bland?
Tavis Smiley is
still being petulant. A friend told me that she caught a
bit of MSNBC, which had a panel with Smiley, West, Jesse
Jackson, Jr. (wasn't he brilliant and statesman-like
last night?), and a couple of other Blacks. Anyway,
Smiley made a comment like, "If we have to give up
blackness, then we shouldn't vote for Obama." He's still
smarting over Barack's failure to attend HIS (Smiley's)
conference in New Orleans. I am just too disgusted with
him!—Miriam
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Hi, Rudy. I've been
reading [Douglas A. Blackmon's]
Slavery by Another Name [: The
Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the
Civil War to World War II (2008)].
There is a critical scene in the book when a
white jury is called upon to convict some
local plantation/slave holding
kidnappers for illegally keeping Black
people in bondage—forcing them to work in
Alabama in the early 1900s. These trials
were being watched closely even by the White
House. The judge prevailed upon the jury to
prove that the South could stand for justice
and overcome their past. They failed. They
let the culprits go free and the judge and
the prosecutor who had tried to bring an end
to state-sanctioned profiteering from the
sale and re-sale of Black men, women, and
children were stymied by white loyalty to
white folks. This was followed by the film,
The Birth of a Nation and white
supremacy myths gained greater power—all
across the nation. This kind of denial seems
to be endemic in the nation's past. This is
truly an historic moment to see if they can
let go. . .or if we can mobilize enough
young people and "free-thinking" white folks
to defeat this sickness/psychosis/dysconsciousness.
Ham-mercy, Joyce |
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Michelle Obama Addresses Convention:
Heartfelt Speech Turns Undecided’s Fears into Tears
By Lloyd Williams
“I know firsthand .
. . that the
American Dream endures . . . That is why I love this
country.” – Michelle Obama, August 25, 2008
On February 18th of
this year, Michelle Obama said at a rally in Milwaukee
that “For the first time in my adult life, I am really
proud of my country, because it feels like hope is
finally making a comeback.” Ever since, that quote has
haunted her, as the question of her patriotism has
remained the subject of speculation by everyone from
right-wing pundits and bloggers to the New Yorker
Magazine which put a caricature of her on the cover as a
wild-eyed, wilder-haired, machine gun-wielding radical
in combat fatigues.
Fortunately, on the
opening night of the Democratic Convention, Michelle got
a national platform to prove all her detractors wrong.
And she made the most of that opportunity, passionately
delivering a heartfelt speech in which she credited her
sacrificing, hard-working parents with her success for
having instilled her with traditional Puritanical
values.
The spirited
20-minute address, frequently interrupted by applause,
deliberately wound its way from her humble roots to her
becoming a lawyer and returning to Chicago where she’s
remained committed to social causes even after marrying
Barack and starting a family. The ostensible aim of
these undoubtedly carefully-crafted remarks was to
position herself in the mainstream in the eyes of Middle
America as opposed to on the lunatic fringe.
Her words
undoubtedly resonated with blacks as a recognizable
story of sacrifice and struggle en route to overcoming
the odds. More importantly, via the use of catchphrases
like “I love this country” and “God bless America,” she
probably reached plenty of skeptics and undecideds still
sitting on the fence as she related how very grateful
she is to have achieved the American Dream.
At the conclusion,
the Obamas’ adorable little girls, Natasha and Malia
Ann, joining mommy onstage to wave to daddy in Missouri
served as the perfect icing on the proverbial cake.
Judging by the uniformly-positive, often teary-eyed
response from even some former detractors interviewed
after the airing, it’s safe to say that Michelle has
finally managed to put the loyalty controversy behind
her once and for all.
Perhaps the
campaign will now finally be allowed to focus on the
substantive issues. After all, we do still have two
wars, runaway inflation, mounting unemployment figures,
a sinking dollar, a banking crisis, global warming, the
housing market collapse, outsourcing, and a host of
other worries to worry about.
Attorney Lloyd
Williams is a graduate of the Wharton School and a
member of the NJ, NY, CT, PA, MA & US Supreme Court
bars.
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Go,
Tell Michelle
African American Women Write to the New First Lady
Edited
Barbara A. Seals Nevergold and Peggy Brooks-Bertram
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Blacks in Hispanic Literature: Critical Essays
Edited by
Miriam DeCosta-Willis
Blacks in Hispanic Literature is a
collection of fourteen essays by scholars and
creative writers from Africa and the Americas.
Called one of two significant critical works on
Afro-Hispanic literature to appear in the late
1970s, it includes the pioneering studies of
Carter G. Woodson and
Valaurez B. Spratlin, published in the 1930s, as
well as the essays of scholars whose interpretations
were shaped by the Black aesthetic. The early
essays, primarily of the Black-as-subject in Spanish
medieval and Golden Age literature, provide an
historical context for understanding 20th-century
creative works by African-descended, Hispanophone
writers, such as Cuban
Nicolás Guillén and Ecuadorean poet, novelist,
and scholar
Adalberto Ortiz, whose essay analyzes the
significance of Negritude in Latin America. This
collaborative text set the tone for later
conferences in which writers and scholars worked
together to promote, disseminate, and critique the
literature of Spanish-speaking people of African
descent. . . .
Cited by a
literary critic in 2004 as "the seminal study in the
field of Afro-Hispanic Literature . . . on which
most scholars in the field 'cut their teeth'."
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Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and
the Education of a President
By
Ron Suskind
A new
book offering an insider's account of the
White House's response to the financial
crisis says that U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim
Geithner ignored an order from President
Barack Obama calling for reconstruction of
major banks. According to Pulitzer
Prize-winning author Ron Suskind, the
incident is just one of several in which
Obama struggled with a divided group of
advisers, some of whom he didn't initially
consider for their high-profile roles.
Suskind interviewed more than 200 people,
including Obama, Geithner and other top
officials . . . The book states Geithner and
the Treasury Department ignored a March 2009
order to consider dissolving banking giant
Citigroup while continuing stress tests on
banks, which were burdened with toxic
mortgage assets. . . .Suskind states that
Obama accepts the blame for mismanagement in
his administration while noting that
restructuring the financial system was
complicated and could have resulted in
deeper financial harm. . . . In a February
2011 interview with Suskind, Obama
acknowledges another ongoing criticism—that
he is too focused on policy and not on
telling a larger story, one the public could
relate to. Obama is quoted as saying he was
elected in part because "he had connected
our current predicaments with the broader
arc of American history," but that such a
"narrative thread" had been lost.—Gopusa
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
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Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
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The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
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January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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posted 26 August 2008
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