Entries tagged 'movement'

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

An American Prayer

While the McCain camp tries to brandish the term “celebrity” against Barack Obama as a pejorative, true celebrities are showing their commitment to the cause.

The video above is just the latest supporter-produced video to go viral. Co-written by British songwriter Dave Stewart and U2’s Bono, the video features celebrities Forest Whitaker, Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, Cyndi Lauper, Barry Manilow, Joan Baez, Macy Gray and Joss Stone alongside regular Americans.

This part of Stewart’s written introduction to the song is particularly powerful:

This video isn’t so much an endorsement of Barack Obama as much as it is a celebration of all those who have picked up a sign, who have registered to vote and are working to make the world a better place. So as Senator Barack Obama ascends to the mountain top, let us not forget all of the others who for the past 40 years have sung anthems of change to make this moment possible.

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Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

We Are the Change We Seek

I joined the Barack Obama campaign nearly a year and a half ago, on January 16, 2007, the day the junior senator from Illinois announced his candidacy. I joined, not as a paid staffer or initially even a volunteer, but as a member of a movement.

Like many of Obama’s early supporters, I was initially drawn by Obama’s message of change and his eloquent speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004.

Beyond nice talk, however, I was particularly attracted to Obama’s message encouraging citizens to engage in their local communities. At the time, I told a number of my more skeptical friends, “Even if he loses, this country will be a better place for him having run.”

Tonight, Obama’s movement has passed the first hurdle, winning the Democratic nomination for president. Now the real work begins, not just for Obama, but for the movement.

There will be challenges, no doubt. There’s a substantial portion of this country that will claim that Obama is too young and too green to lead this country. There will be people that say they’re comfortable with the status quo and that it’s too “risky” to elevate this new voice to the presidency.

They’re wrong.

It will be up to the millions of members of this movement to counteract those claims, to show that this country is ready for change.

While we may elect one man in November, it’s the movement that will actually make the difference and change the face of this country.

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