Sunday, March 04, 2007

From Sen. Obama's speech today in Selma. Read the whole thing, but these paragraphs really caught my attention.

I'm fighting to make sure that our schools are adequately funded all across the country. With the inequities of relying on property taxes and people who are born in wealthy districts getting better schools than folks born in poor districts and that's now how it's supposed to be. That's not the American way. but I'll tell you what -- even as I fight on behalf of more education funding, more equity, I have to also say that , if parents don't turn off the television set when the child comes home from school and make sure they sit down and do their homework and go talk to the teachers and find out how they're doing, and if we don't start instilling a sense in our young children that there is nothing to be ashamed about in educational achievement, I don't know who taught them that reading and writing and conjugating your verbs was something white.

We've got to get over that mentality. That is part of what the Moses generation teaches us, not saying to ourselves we can't do something, but telling ourselves that we can achieve. We can do that. We got power in our hands. Folks are complaining about the quality of our government, I understand there's something to be complaining about. I'm in Washington. I see what's going on. I see those powers and principalities have snuck back in there, that they're writing the energy bills and the drug laws.


We understand that, but I'll tell you what. I also know that, if cousin Pookie would vote, get off the couch and register some folks and go to the polls, we might have a different kind of politics. That's what the Moses generation teaches us. Take off your bedroom slippers. Put on your marching shoes. Go do some politics. Change this country!
That's what we need. We have too many children in poverty in this country and everybody should be ashamed, but don't tell me it doesn't have a little to do with the fact that we got too many daddies not acting like daddies. Don’t think that fatherhood ends at conception. I know something about that because my father wasn't around when I was young and I struggled.

3 Comments:

At 6:42 PM, Blogger Cliff Schecter said...

That Barack sure is an inspiring dude...Saw his speech today. It was fantastic...

 
At 6:43 PM, Blogger GottaLaff said...

Let me quote myself from a previous thread, since now it's appropriate to the post:

Today Clinton made a speech.
Obama made an impact.

And Gimmeabreak, I do agree, it was one of her better ones, but she didn't connect emotionally. She gave a campaign speech at a time when it would have been nice to see her create a little more intimacy, which is exactly what BarackStar did.

Thanks, BC. I was waiting for a post like this.

 
At 12:47 AM, Blogger lukeness said...

Where can I find the speech? I'll find it, I'm sure, but please leave a link when you quote things... especially when you say "read the whole thing..."

 

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