Obama in Selma: The Passion of a President

[babylonsister]

http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2015/03/obama_in_selma_the_passion_of_a_president.html


Obama in Selma: The Passion of a President

On this 50th anniversary of Selma's Bloody Sunday, President Obama stood in the shadow of the Edmund Pettus Bridge and delivered a history lesson for the ages.
By: Peniel E. Joseph
Posted: March 7 2015 8:01 PM


President Barack Obama speaks in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 2015 in Selma, Alabama. Selma is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the famed civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery that resulted in a violent confrontation with Selma police and State Troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images



snip//

Switching from philosopher to preacher, Obama cast Selma as a hopeful beacon whose reverberations could be seen in the “presence of African Americans who run boardrooms, who sit on the bench, who serve in elected office from small town to big cities, from the Congressional Black Caucus all the way to the Oval Office.”

Selma helped “the doors of opportunity swing open for not just black folks but for every American. Women marched through those doors, Latinos marched through those doors, Asian Americans, gay Americans, Americans with physical disabilities they all marched through those doors.”

The president continued his extraordinary speech by remarking that the work for racial justice continues. “When it comes to the pursuit of justice we can afford neither complacency or despair,” explained Obama. The president discussed Ferguson as not a cause for despair but an opportunity to continue the long struggle toward equality and freedom. He implored all Americans to face reality by possessing the “moral imagination” of the civil rights era and recognizing that “change depends on our efforts and our attitudes.”

On this score Obama observed that “with such an effort we can make sure that our criminal justice system serves all and not just some.” Obama concluded his speech with a call to arms, issuing a full throated call for the restoration of the Voting Rights Act.

To truly honor the legacy of Selma he so eloquently outlined, the nation’s first black president should order a radical shift of the Justice Department’s criminal justice grants from incarcerating hundreds of thousands of African Americans to offering jobs, rehabilitation, and education. The first order of business in renewing the dream of Selma now is in restoring the millions of black families' experiences of economic and spiritual devastation at the hands of institutions that President Obama still has power to influence.

Obama’s brilliantly nuanced speech will require bold executive action to become enduringly substantive but on this day it stands out a truly historic message that black lives matter not only in the past, but right now.

[russspeakeasy]

1. Thanks for posting this.

[Omaha Steve]

2. K&R!

[jpak]

3. Teh POTUS was quite uppity today - to the delight of us that despise the Confederate GOP

Thank you President Barack Hussein Obama.

Let the Ratfuck Racist GOP chase its scaly fucking ratfuck tail.

yup

[calimary]

6. What you said, jpak!

[BlueCaliDem]

9. Couldn't have worded it better, jpak. Thanks! eom

[Cha]

12. LOL, jpak.. well done! Thanks Obama!

[Historic NY]

4. OMG...the organ was cranking it out..

he did a magnificent barn burner of a speech.

[Fred Sanders]

5. The Republican Party primarily represents Fox-addled Republican primary voters in Rural Iowa.

In a two party State what choice does the political media have but to pretend the GOP does not?

Where is the profit in that?

[freshwest]

7. Cried all the way through the video! Inspiring us to all be our best and not give up our power!

[sheshe2]

8. While some wish to trash this President and many Dem's here....

This President nailed it today in Selma.

Obama’s brilliantly nuanced speech will require bold executive action to become enduringly substantive but on this day it stands out a truly historic message that black lives matter not only in the past, but right now.

He spoke about equality for black people, for all people.

[BlueCaliDem]

10. Sat on my sectional with teary eyes throughout. BEAUTIFUL address.

And then I felt a little panicked that we're not going to have him in two years from now. Almost hyperventilated, too. But instead of hyperventilating, I got this incredible sadness inside. For now, though, I'm going to enjoy every day he's our president and hope that his loyal and trusting VP and friend, Joe Biden, will run in 2016.

I will be the first in line to vote for him in the primaries.

[George II]

11. He's given some very eloquent speeches in his short career, including his first acceptance speech...

...but this one was by far his best. I'm sure MLK Jr. is very proud of him tonight.

[Cha]

13. Yes, as someone said.. I bet Martin Luther King would have loved it!

http://theobamadiary.com/2015/03/07/the-presidents-selma-speech/

Selma Mahalo babylonsistah~