This year, I’m thankful for a hope about the future of our country that I didn’t have this time last year. I won’t post much this weekend, but I’ll leave you with ten of my favorite videos from the past few months that focus on this hope–listed in no particular order. I wish everyone a happy holiday!
What If Obama Won?
Michelle Obama Wows The Crowd
Dreams To Be Obama
Alice Walker on Why She Endorses Obama
Barack Obama Speech at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner
Obama on Media’s Defeatist Perspective
Obama at Hampton University on “Poverty and Hope”
Obama Commencement Clip at Howard University
Hope for Education
Barack Obama Bridging Religious Barriers to Address AIDS
P.S. For those of you who want details and specifics, don’t worry. There are plenty of those too. Just search the archives…or maybe I’ll do a Barack Obama “Policy” Youtube Marathon around Christmas time. 
November 23, 2007 at 1:26 pm
[...] Original post by Pundit Review [...]
November 23, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Eloquent and capable of humor. I used to be a policy voter, but now I vote based on pure pulchritude…so ultimately Romney and Obama are going to have to chop some wood in my backyard to court my vote.
http://tshirtinsurgency.com/
November 23, 2007 at 6:12 pm
You know, you rock. Thank you so much for this site.
November 23, 2007 at 7:33 pm
[...] The Thanksgiving Weekend Barack Obama “Hope” Youtube Marathon via Think on These Things This year, I’m thankful for a hope about the future of our country that I didn’t have this time last year. [...]
November 24, 2007 at 2:04 am
Thanks so much for this thanksgiving treat. Im always telling tablers they should download a few speeches and bring a laptop and just let ‘em rip! I have written elsewhere about my experience arriving late at Obama’s Oakland rally (12,000) and how the whole downtown was standstill and i parked illegally 2 blks away and could hear Obama speaking from there. it was absolutely goosebumps!
Countdown to Iowa marathon. A great beginning and a great viral campaign tool!
November 24, 2007 at 7:28 am
I am also feeling renewed hope and enjoyed the videos. I especially liked watching Obama’s speeches from Hampton and Howard Universities, as my head is filled with thoughts of James Cone as shared with Bill Moyers last night. From near the end of a hour long interview:
” That’s why it’s hard for Barack Obama or Condoleezza Rice to talk about blackness; ’cause it’s– if they talked about blackness in the real, true sense, it would be uncomfortable. But America can’t be what America ought to be until– America can look at itself, the good, the bad, so that we can work on making ourselves what we oughta be.”
Watching and reading his speeches, it seems that Barack shares a more complete truth and vision about scope of problems in America with black audiences, who have a better readiness to hear it. I think Obama’s ability to help the country make progress on racism is one of his greatest strengths, but also a big vulnerability. A little more from Cone (in response to question- is Obama black enough):
“So, if Barack Obama comes out and says, “I’m black and I’m proud of it,” well, whites would get nervous. And they would be careful about whether they would vote for him. So, he has a narrow, a narrow– road in which to walk. Because he won’t be elected if he doesn’t get the white vote. It’s hard to get the white vote if you express a kind of affirmative identity with black people. So, you get caught between a rock and a hard place. And that’s where he’s caught.”
Obama’s race hasn’t seemed a big factor in election yet, but it is laying below the surface ready to emerge. My experience is many white people are uncomfortable and in denial about racism and it wouldn’t take much to sow seeds of doubt that outweigh voters hopes at the crucial moment of voting.
November 25, 2007 at 1:39 am
Of course White so-called “Christian” groups should address the issue of AIDS. They made the shit. Look at who AIDS affects. Does anyone think it is a coincidence. It is biological warfare, plain and simple. This is nothing more than an attempt by people like Rick Warren to exploit an issue that should be on every white person’s conscious and use it to refine racism/white supremacy further.
November 25, 2007 at 8:27 am
Here’s a link to one more good video, Obama on education and NCLB.
http://www.youtube.com/barackobama
November 25, 2007 at 7:10 pm
laurie,
I also caught Moyer’s interview with James Cone on Friday. I thought the back-and-forth between the two of them was intellectually delicious. One thing that stood out to me was when Moyers asked him what would we need to do to bring about the beloved community of one people. Cone replied that the first basic thing is that you have to have is hope. People have to believe it can happen. I agreed completely. You can have all the ideas, policies, plans and experience in the world, but if a leader can’t paint a picture so that people believe it’s possible, you can’t capture enough hearts and minds to bring people together to implement anything.
That’s one of Obama’s unique strengths. He can capture the nation’s attention unlike almost any other modern-day politician out there and summon us to work together to address our shared challenges. All top 3 Democratic nominees gave speeches at the J-J Dinner and at the 2004 DNC Convention, but whose speeches do we remember the most? He has a unique gift that other great ‘change leaders’ in our nation’s history have had. Hopefully, Democrats will recognize this and not squander it.