Backing it up: Barack Obama, Civil Rights and America.

I’m really interested in Barack Obama as a political leader.I think that he is crucial to world politics and human rights in America as well as in the world at large.

“Giants have stood here so we don’t take this pulpit lightly, but we invited this brother because he’s committed and brilliant.We had to fight, bleed and die just to be able to vote…Now we can select Presidents. And now with credibility and intelligence and power, we can run for President…” -

Rev. Raphael G. Warnock , introducing Barack Obama before parishioners at Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.( taken from here)

So, why is Barack Obama important?

Because this is a leader that speaks to us beyond race, gender, class, political background and nationality.And he has the potential that makes him stand out as a choice across people with varying political lineages.He is , I hope, the new face of America.

I’m not going wax eloquent about how inspirational he is.Indeed words can ring clear across cynicisms and doubt. Hear him speak to convince yourself.

And here is his speech at New Hampshire, the by now anthem, “Yes, We Can”.

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama – New Hampshire Primary
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008
Nashua, New Hampshire

I want to congratulate Senator Clinton on a hard-fought victory here in New Hampshire.

A few weeks ago, no one imagined that we’d have accomplished what we did here tonight. For most of this campaign, we were far behind, and we always knew our climb would be steep. But in record numbers, you came out and spoke up for change. And with your voices and your votes, you made it clear that at this moment – in this election – there is something happening in America.

There is something happening when men and women in Des Moines and Davenport; in Lebanon and Concord come out in the snows of January to wait in lines that stretch block after block because they believe in what this country can be.

There is something happening when Americans who are young in age and in spirit – who have never before participated in politics – turn out in numbers we’ve never seen because they know in their hearts that this time must be different.

There is something happening when people vote not just for the party they belong to but the hopes they hold in common – that whether we are rich or poor; black or white; Latino or Asian; whether we hail from Iowa or New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina, we are ready to take this country in a fundamentally new direction. That is what’s happening in America right now. Change is what’s happening in America.

You can be the new majority who can lead this nation out of a long political darkness – Democrats, Independents and Republicans who are tired of the division and distraction that has clouded Washington; who know that we can disagree without being disagreeable; who understand that if we mobilize our voices to challenge the money and influence that’s stood in our way and challenge ourselves to reach for something better, there’s no problem we can’t solve – no destiny we cannot fulfill.

Our new American majority can end the outrage of unaffordable, unavailable health care in our time. We can bring doctors and patients; workers and businesses, Democrats and Republicans together; and we can tell the drug and insurance industry that while they’ll get a seat at the table, they don’t get to buy every chair. Not this time. Not now. Our new majority can end the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas and put a middle-class tax cut into the pockets of the working Americans who deserve it.

We can stop sending our children to schools with corridors of shame and start putting them on a pathway to success. We can stop talking about how great teachers are and start rewarding them for their greatness. We can do this with our new majority.

We can harness the ingenuity of farmers and scientists; citizens and entrepreneurs to free this nation from the tyranny of oil and save our planet from a point of no return. And when I am President, we will end this war in Iraq and bring our troops home; we will finish the job against al Qaeda in Afghanistan; we will care for our veterans; we will restore our moral standing in the world; and we will never use 9/11 as a way to scare up votes, because it is not a tactic to win an election, it is a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the twenty-first century: terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.

All of the candidates in this race share these goals. All have good ideas. And all are patriots who serve this country honorably.

But the reason our campaign has always been different is because it’s not just about what I will do as President, it’s also about what you, the people who love this country, can do to change it.

That’s why tonight belongs to you.

It belongs to the organizers and the volunteers and the staff who believed in our improbable journey and rallied so many others to join.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change. We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come.

We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told that we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.

Yes we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can.

And so tomorrow, as we take this campaign South and West; as we learn that the struggles of the textile worker in Spartanburg are not so different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas; that the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America’s story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea – Yes. We. Can.

Thanks to the North West Progressive Institute Official Blog.

Barack Obama’s politics is interesting, not just because he’s Black but also because as a person he’s firmly faith based.While he grew up with diverse religious influences of Christianity and Islam in a secular household he discovered faith during his years in community service.Of all the candidates in the 2008 US Presidential Election, Obama is most forthcoming in his views on religion and the role it plays in his personal life.

This brings us to a burning epicenter in politics.When people vote for a leader or a party they often go with a leader they can trust.The role of faith and religion in politics can by no means be underestimated.And it is perhaps at the crux of the politics of identity.

Anyone who watches Indian politics knows that faith or religion plays a big role in it.Across the spectrum, from Gandhi to Jinnah, our leaders have held the hearts of their followers not just because of their political agility but because they seemed sincere in their spiritual make-up.This applies less for religion as much as it does for the idea of faith, for the depth that a person’s existential discourse brings to his listeners.The ‘rhetoric’ of religion cannot be different from the ‘rhetoric’ of politics.

We’re in dangerous territory already.Because this has been the domain of the far ‘right’ or the ‘Conservatives’ in every part of the world.And is an unjustifiably violence prone and narrow trail.

But with a leader like Barack Obama I find the balance well established.He is able, apt and faithful, but you are going to vote for him because he is all of these things.

On reading accounts of people speaking in favour of Barack Obama I found that many of these people were formerly associated with the Republican party, while  Obama is actually a Democrat.In America, there are a lot of value based voters or people who vote on the basis of established religious values around hotly fraught issues such as the abortion debate or the debate on same sex relationships.While this domain has been claimed by the Republican Party, one finds that with a leader who is openly accepting and nurturing of faith-based values, there is a lot of room to think about the ethics of some pertinent issues which will determine the value systems of our coming generations.Our stances on the environment, on women’s issues and health-care,on nuclear issues and imperialism.

Barack Obama scores well on a lot of these fronts.He remains pro-abortion rights or pro-choice, and is also not closed with regards to homo-sexuality, but the discerning faith or value based voter is neither neglected nor pandered to.

And last, the message of hope and change.The question that arises is whether Barack Obama will be able to influence American politics in ways so as to undo the damage that it has done and continues to do to the world.Whether his leadership will be able to quell the arms race in South Asia, whether America’s whole-hearted support of the Israeli occupation of Palestine will continue, and whether America will do a good job of rebuilding Iraq.Whether this new leadership will be able to end the darkness that this political era has brought with it.And for this, we all hope, for it is not one leader but the consensus and initiative of a majority that can create any real change.

Across the world, the politics of religion has had different and varied histories.But we need an understanding of issues that sees faith, religion and progress all in the same world view.We need to believe.

More analysis at the debate on Barack Obama between Anasuya, Yoda and me on this post at the One State Solution blog.

Chelby Diagle, who was my original source for the video writes this article on Barack Obama’s Muslim roots and whether they should be taken seriously, critiquing both his ideas on foreign policy and American politics in general.Her work , part of a thought-provoking and quirky series called ‘Being Black, Being Muslim’ is here.