I Am Here Because Of Ashley

[filkertom]

I became an Obama supporter by default.

I now join his camp enthusiastically.

I still think he's got a ways to go on policy. He really, really should spend some quality time with John Edwards. And I will not be happy if Hillary Clinton ends up on the presidential ticket.

But damn.

Damn, that was a speech.

Did you hear it? Did you watch it? I heard bits and pieces, about half of it, just now while running errands. (Thank you, Air America. None of the other networks, not even NPR, played any of it live.) He addressed the issue of Rev. Wright's statements head-on, and then went far, far beyond that. And said a lot of the things that I, that liberal/progressive bloggers, have been saying for a long time. And went even further than that.

The part that hit me, and I suspect hit a lot of people, the hardest -- because there were a lot of amazingly hard hits throughout the whole speech -- was the ending:

There is one story in particularly that I'd like to leave you with today – a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King's birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.

There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.

And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that's when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.

She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.

She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.

Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother's problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn't. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.

Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he's there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, "I am here because of Ashley."

"I'm here because of Ashley." By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.

But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.

The goal is to make America better. For every American. Every one. Not richer, not more privileged, not more powerful -- better. The rest follows from that. It can't help but do otherwise.

Barack '08.

ETA: The speech on YouTube.

Comments

[annearchy.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. One of the most powerful speeches ever.

Barack '08.

[unclekage.livejournal.com]

I've been behind him since he first started on this campaign trail.

He's a tall, lean junior senator from Illinois. Where've we heard that before?

And he sounds just like "The Rock." Listen to him! He could be "The Rock Obama!"

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Thought of that the first time I saw him. If The Rock wasn't a Repub -- and maybe even if and maybe even because he is -- I'd say he and Obama should do an appearance together.

[ericthemage.livejournal.com]

"Can I break you in half? Yes I can!"

[admnaismith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a tall lean junior Senator from Illinois with insufficient experience!

I don't care how good a speech he gives--he's just not tested enough to sit in the White House with such a limited resume. Not with the country as divided as it is these days, anyhow.....

;-)

[beldar.livejournal.com]

It's a good sign when a man running for president starts saying things that you have been thinking on your own for years.

After today's speech, Hillary will have to fight dirty(er?) -- hope she doesn't succeed.

[the-s-guy.livejournal.com]

I can't see how she can, really. I only hope that someone tells her that it's over, to pull her head in and make a concession speech that won't backfire and blow her to bits.

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I do think it would just be nice to have a president who does not actually make my skin crawl when he speaks.

[figmentatious.livejournal.com]

Wow is right. I've been enthusiastic about him for a while, but that speech really makes it clear that we need this man as president. I haven't even had a chance to listen to it yet- I just read the transcript. And it left me teary-eyed and trembly from the sheer beauty and power of it. It will be interesting to see how it affects the polls.

I don't want to wait months to replace our current tap-dancing buffoon. I want Obama now! Sigh- patience is not my strong suit.

Amusingly, as I started writing this my iPod random play mix started playing "Yeah, Yeah Transitions" and it somehow amused me to hear you singing "Change is Good" at that moment.

[renquestor.livejournal.com]

I agree with you good sir. This is the first candidate that I've looked at and said, I want this man as president. Not "I'm voting against his opponent, so that's why he gets my vote. No, I'm voting for him, because of all the politicians in this race, he's the one who has stood up and said that what this country needs is not divisiveness, but unity. We need fairness and decency, not cronyism and bias. Hopefully Obama will go a long way into at least starting the recovery of 8 years of a bitterly divided country.

[hughcasey.livejournal.com]

This guy just keeps on saying the right things.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Let's hope he does 'em, too.

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

I spent my entire lunch break watching this speech...amazing. He didn't sidestep...he went head on for it. And he cut right to the heart of the matter...when someone we love and respect says something that maybe (or definitely) they shouldn't, does that mean we disown them? Of course not. I freakin' love that he didn't just 'kick' Rev. Wright to the side for political expediency.

Makes me think that maybe he won't kick us to the side for expediency, either.

That was wonderful to watch.

Speeches

[markiv1111.livejournal.com]

Obama is a superb speaker and I am quite sure he will be a very good president. But I am starting to get (somewhere between "jaded" and "cynical") about speeches, just because it is so much easier to say a whole lot of things than it is to put them into practice. Note our current president, Mr. George W. Bush. He is not an excellent public speaker; I would put him just around "marginal." But he is a far, far better speaker than he is a human being, and a far, far better speaker than he is a president. I want to see Obama win, but my main reasons for doing so involve his track record (notably the years in the Illinois state legislature) more than his speeches. Let's give him a chance to walk the walk.

Nate

Re: Speeches

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Precisely. One of the most important lessons we (and by "we", I mean Left Blogostan) have learned over the past couple of years is that there are indeed modern progessive/liberal Dems... who ain't. And there's already gonna be a lot of opposition from the Republican party and the punditry, but the simple fact is that we do have an agenda, and we'll keep going through this until we get people who can and will implement it.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

I just watched the speech on Youtube and he hit many of the things I've thought for a long time. The ending of the speech where he spoke about Ashley is also what hit me the hardest.

I think I may have just found the person I'll vote for this election.

[wormquartet.livejournal.com]

All I got is "Wow."

-=ShoEboX=-

[smallship1.livejournal.com]

Interesting thought...it wasn't that long ago I was watching, courtesy of this very journal, Keith Olbermann castigating Clinton for not doing to Geraldine Ferraro...exactly what Obama just didn't do to the Reverend Wright. Perhaps the two cases aren't as parallel as all that, but it dinged a bell in my head.

It is a brilliant speech. I'm sitting here wondering if I dare to hope.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I've thought the entire Rev. Wright "controversy" was bullshit from the beginning. And, to be honest, until I heard it, I thought Obama's making a speech about it at all would be playing into the hands of the dolts and liars and spinmeisters who are trying to screw up the election and help keep power in the hands of the Heirs to BushCo. But used some of the most amazing verbal judo I've ever witnessed. Literally, the only thing I could wish he'd added was what unclelumpy said over on his LJ:

I would like very much tonight to talk to you about how our nation's economy is caught in a downward spiral, headed by the plummeting value of the American dollar... But I cannot.

I would like very much tonight to talk to you about how our Nation's reputation in the eyes of the international community is becoming more and more negative... But I cannot.

I would like very much tonight to talk to you about how our ongoing war in Iraq is costing the American taxpayer untold billions of dollars and our military the lives of thousands of brave young men and women... But I cannot.

Why can I not speak on these things?

Because despite my BEST EFFORTS and despite the presence of ALL THESE PRESSING MATTERS... My opponents, both from within and without my OWN PARTY... Have decided that the most important issue to address during this election is the COLOR OF MY SKIN!

He did cover a lot of those issues in the body of the speech, however, at least to make people know he's aware of them on a much deeper level than most American politicians, certainly more than either Clinton or McCain.

[allandaros.livejournal.com]

I didn't watch it, and don't think I will; I start to get antsy while watching speeches. But I did read through the transcript; I could hear his voice reading it out.

That's a damn fine speech. I definitely teared up near the end, discussing Ashley. Because that one image is enough to justify hoping again.

[msgeek.livejournal.com]

This is Obama's JFK speech.

[tomreedtoon.livejournal.com]

I said on other places (Democratic Underground primarily) that this speech earned Obama an honored place in history. I haven't heard anything like it since JFK and Dr. King.

I think that neither McCain or Clinton (either Clinton) could come up with anything similar.

And according to one source, Obama wrote it himself, sweating over it for a day, and only ran it before two of his aides before he gave it. He didn't test it before a lot of his staff or a panel of media consultants. That ALONE is courageous in this media-soaked age.

It's also posted on "Crooks and Liars"

[capplor.livejournal.com]

Right now, what I'm saying is "Win or lose, we've got to keep this guy around!" I might be cynical, I might be suspicious of someone who sounds too good to be real, but I WANT to see what this guy can do for American politics. If not now, soon.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the links Tom. That was beautiful to behold.

[kilbia.livejournal.com]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/18/america/18obamaspeech.php?page=1

Gmail linked me to the transcript!

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's some speech.

I've been leaning toward Obama for a while, even though I think Hillary is one smart and hardworking lady unjustly smeared by right wing hate radio.

Now I'm an Obama fan.

[trifleresplende.livejournal.com]

Hillary is smeared by right-wing radio, but she uses her intelligence and hard work for evil, and is utterly vicious and ludicrous in her attacks on Obama - oh, and she supports censorship and torture and McCain over Obama.

That said, Obama's speech was beautiful, and I hope so much that Barack holds the courage of his convictions.

[jannyblue.livejournal.com]

*jawdrop*

Wow. Just wow.

[melaniedavidson.livejournal.com]

Oh wow.

*shuffles feet* ...Hey, have you seen this (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v343/rohanshieldmaid/polimon.gif)?

[sylverwolfe.livejournal.com]

From the first time I caught one of his speeches, way back when the campaigns were JUST starting, I've been behind this guy. I like not only what he has to say, but how he says it. I'm a pretty jaded girl for a 20-something, but Obama makes me almost hopeful, after the past 8 years of disillusionment and disgust.

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

A few of the donkey fedora talking heads are starting to chime in and it's about what you would expect. *grumbles*