On this day, the 45th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s iconic "I Have a Dream" speech, Barack Obama assured his place in history as the first African American presidential nominee of a major political party.Obama's acceptance speech was delivered at Mile High Stadium. The doors were thrown open seven hours before he was scheduled to appear. The lines snaked for blocks, across railroad tracks and under a bridge. After a 45-minute wait for the light rail, it took me nearly an hour to get into the stadium.
The neoclassical stage at the 50-yard line stood out like a holding penalty. To me, it evoked the Lincoln Memorial. For some, the stage resembled an ancient Greek temple.
The atmosphere was more like a rock concert than a national political convention. To while away the time, Obama supporters did the wave, text-messaged and enjoyed performances by will.i.am, John Legend, Sheryl Crow, Michael McDonald and Stevie Wonder who sang "Signed, Sealed, Delivered."
Rep. John Lewis led a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. At an earlier commemoration, Lewis recounted:
Dr. King said that he has a dream that's deeply rooted in the American Dream. We're here in Denver making a down payment on that dream.Indeed, Obama took the stage and stepped into the history books:
With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.Obama's speech was entitled "The American Promise." Like Dr. King 45 years ago, he appealed to the better angels of our nature:
America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.Obama offered the hope of a new "promissory note":
We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage, whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma.There was never any doubt that Obama would give a good speech. His supporters left Invesco Field "fired up, ready to go!" But as I sat in the stadium, I wondered whether undecided voters who were watching were turned off by the spectacle of 85,000 foot-stomping supporters chanting, "Yes, we can."
We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President – when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of go down $2,000, like it has under George Bush.
Obama's convention bounce will measure whether his acceptance speech was good enough to convince undecided voters that he shares their values and is ready to lead.
1.
As much as I admire Sen. Obama, the fact remains that his election will not change one blessed thing for the average black family.
Unless we STAY IN SCHOOL and encourage our children to become educated, we will continue to be shackled by the chains of ignorance and poverty.
Unless we GET A JOB (and actually keep it), we will continue to be crushed under the thumb of the white man's charity.
Until we STOP MAKING BABIES WE CAN'T AFFORD TO SUPPORT, we will continue to doom our children to lives of neglect and imprisonment.
Until we TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR OWN BEHAVIORS, we will continue to be held in contempt by every civilized culture on the planet.
Unless we STOP MAKING EXCUSES, we will forever remain our own worst enemy.
Obama/Biden '08
Anutha Brutha at 6:30AM on Aug 29th 2008