Video: Juice TV Interviews Cocoa Tea about His Barack Obama Song

Also See: “Audio: Cocoa Tea’s Reggae Song for Barack Obama“

Homemade Video: I Don’t Think Jay-Z Likes George W. Bush

(h/t famousfoxx)

New York Times Profile of Derrick Ashong, Barack Obama, and Youtube Politics

I keep being amazed at the fact that Youtube was just created three years ago in 2005.  Look at the amazing impact it has had on our politics.  It just makes you think about how this country really can get its act together and accomplish some great things even in short amounts of time when we harness our creativity and really put our minds to it.

The New York Times reports:

On Jan. 31, Derrick Ashong, a 32-year-old musician, dropped off his pal, Shaunelle Curry, at the Democratic primary debate taking place at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. After shrugging off her suggestion that he join her in carrying a sign for Barack Obama outside the theater — his band was leaving on tour the next day — he reconsidered and walked back to join her.

Carrying a sign saying “¡Sí, se puede!” (Yes, we can!), he joined a throng that was milling around in the background of the live CNN shot focused on the anchor Wolf Blitzer. Then a guy named Mike carrying a video camera came walking by and began peppering Mr. Ashong with a series of skeptical and very pointed questions.

“So why are you for Obama?” he asked. It was clear from his approach that he expected a dimwitted answer, an expectation that he was about to talk to another acolyte smitten by Senator Obama’s rock star persona.

But, as it turned out, Mr. Ashong, who was raised in Ghana and elsewhere, was glad to be asked. For almost six minutes — about a century in broadcast television years — Mr. Ashong, who has an immigrant’s love of democracy and the furrowed brow of a Brookings fellow, held forth on universal health care, single-payer approaches and public-private partnerships.

“A lot of these H.M.O.’s are publicly traded companies anyway, but I don’t think we want to create a market for health care per se, like we don’t want to create a futures market in health care,” he said. And so on.

Cute stuff. Highly informative. But not the kind of political discourse that generally captures a wider audience.

But here’s the weird part. On Feb. 2, the interview of Mr. Ashong was posted on a YouTube channel called “The Latest Controversy,” where supporters of both Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Obama are asked very aggressively to justify their choice of candidates. The video blew up, drawing more than 850,000 views.

Read more.

Barack Obama: It’s Gotta Be The Shoes

These were designed by Van from Cincinnati.

See more of his designs here.

Video: Obama, Words, and Hip-Hop Political Activism

As I was watching this video, it occurred to me that Obama’s comments at the New Hampshire debate about the power of words is also an important theme in hip-hop political activism.

(h/t hiphopforobama)

Barack Obama’s Plan To Support The Arts and Culture

Senator Barack Obama’s New Hampshire campaign announced Senator Obama’s platform to support the arts on Friday. As President, Obama will:

• Invest in arts education to reinvigorate the kind of creativity and innovation that has made America great and that it will take to compete in a global economy
• Support increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts
• Promote cultural diplomacy to encourage American artists, performers, and thinkers to represent our best values and ideals throughout the world
• Ensure that artists have access to health insurance and are treated fairly under the tax code

You can read more about the plan HERE.

On the heels of releasing the platform, the campaign also announced the endorsement of NewHampshire Department of Cultural Resources Commissioner Van McLeod of Concord.

“Obama’s platform will provide the kind of support for the arts that the Bush administration has neglected,” McLeod said. “But more than that, it reflects some of the core values that attracted me to his candidacy: restoring our global leadership, giving our children every opportunity to succeed in today’s economy, advancing economic fairness, and ensuring healthcare coverage for every American.”

Van McLeod is currently the Commissioner for the State of New Hampshire’s Department of Cultural Resources. Prior to his job as Commissioner he served as Producing Director for the North Country Center for the Arts in Lincoln; Founder and Producer of First Night New Hampshire in Concord and was the Producing Director of the Kearsarge Theatre Company in Warner. Van has won the Granite State Award for outstanding public service, was recognized by Business NH Magazine,“NH Leaders for the 21st Century” in 2000 and has been listed in Who’s Who in Entertainment. He was one of four American Fellows at the Salzburg Seminars, “The Power of Theater: Artistry, Entertainment, and Social Commentary”. He was recently honored with a lifetime achievement award at the New Hampshire Theatre Awards.

McLeod will serve on Senator Obama’s national Arts Policy Committee.

Black Enterprise: Why Barack Obama Should Be President

Barack Obama will be on the cover of the January edition of Black Enterprise magazine. BE writes:

A Message for All People. Obama has hit on universal themes that resonate with voters across racial, gender, and demographic lines, an approach necessary for a black candidate looking to be elected. He’s also been successful in garnering support from divergent constituencies, including Hollywood, the Bible Belt, and corporate America. In addition to the war, domestic issues, such as education and employment, resonate without the usual Beltway rhetoric.

Read more.

 

Video: Kidz In The Hall Produce Hip-Hop Track In Support Of Barack Obama

SOHH reports:

As an Illinois native, Naledge, the MC of the group, has been able to observe Obama’s political career from its early stages.

“The message at the forefront of this soulful anthem is that no one should settle for less than success, because each one of us has the ability to change this world for the better,” Naledge said via statement. “‘Work To Do’ is not necessarily a song that was meant as a campaign song, but more so a philosophy on how to approach life in general…I happen to think that Barack Obama embodies everything that is promising for the future of our nation and represents the hope I sought to speak on in the song. Being from Chicago, I have seen his rise to prominence first hand and I can honestly say that I believe he is the best option for our next president.”

Barack and Oprah in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Video Summary

Video: Oprah and Barack Obama in Des Moines, Iowa

(h/t barackobama.com)

Oprah’s Full Speech

CNN Recap

The New York Times reports:

“Oh my goodness,” Oprah Winfrey said. “At last, I’m here.”

With those seven words here today, Ms. Winfrey stepped into American politics as she has never done before, opening a three-state tour in her quest to support the presidential bid of Senator Barack Obama.

“For the very first time in my life, I feel compelled to stand up and speak out for the man who I believe has a new vision for America,” Ms. Winfrey said, speaking over more than 10,000 screaming admirers. “I am not here to tell you what to think. I am here to ask you to think – seriously.”

Barackobama.com has photos and transcription of a portion of Oprah’s speech here.

CNN has more video clips of Oprah’s and Obama’s speeches here.

Politico reports:

Obama described Oprah as “this woman with a funny name from some little town in the South,” and added, “Nobody would have thought that she would become someone who moves an entire nation.”

CNN reports that Gayle King was there mingling in the audience. They also report that the Obama campaign handed out over 23,000 tickets for today’s Iowa event.