American Rhetoric: Barack Obama -- 2004 Democratic National ...Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Dick Durbin. You make us all proud.
On behalf of the great state of Illinois, crossroads of a nation, Land of Lincoln, let me express my deepest gratitude for the privilege of addressing this convention.
Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let’s face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely. My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. He grew up herding goats, went to school in a tin-roof shack. His father -- my grandfather -- was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.
But my grandfather had larger dreams for his son. Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place, America, that shone as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before.
While studying here, my father met my mother. She was born in a town on the other side of the world, in Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs and farms through most of the Depression. The day after Pearl Harbor my grandfather signed up for duty; joined Patton’s army, marched across Europe. Back home, my grandmother raised a baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through F.H.A., and later moved west all the way to Hawaii in search of opportunity.
And they, too, had big dreams for their daughter. A common dream, born of two continents.
My parents shared not only an improbable love, they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or ”blessed,” believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success. They imagined -- They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren’t rich, because in a generous America you don’t have to be rich to achieve your potential.
They're both passed away now. And yet, I know that on this night they look down on me with great pride.
They stand here -- And I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents’ dreams live on in my two precious daughters. I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible.
Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our Nation — not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy. Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That is the true genius of America, a faith -- a faith in simple dreams, an insistence on small miracles; that we can tuck in our children at night and know that they are fed and clothed and safe from harm; that we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door; that we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe; that we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will be counted -- at least most of the time.
This year, in this election we are called to reaffirm our values and our commitments, to hold them against a hard reality and see how we're measuring up to the legacy of our forbearers and the promise of future generations.
And fellow Americans, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, I say to you tonight: We have more work to do -- more work to do for the workers I met in Galesburg, Illinois, who are losing their union jobs at the Maytag plant that’s moving to Mexico, and now are having to compete with their own children for jobs that pay seven bucks an hour; more to do for the father that I met who was losing his job and choking back the tears, wondering how he would pay 4500 dollars a month for the drugs his son needs without the health benefits that he counted on; more to do for the young woman in East St. Louis, and thousands more like her, who has the grades, has the drive, has the will, but doesn’t have the money to go to college.
Now, don’t get me wrong. The people I meet -- in small towns and big cities, in diners and office parks -- they don’t expect government to solve all their problems. They know they have to work hard to get ahead, and they want to. Go into the collar counties around Chicago, and people will tell you they don’t want their tax money wasted, by a welfare agency or by the Pentagon. Go in -- Go into any inner city neighborhood, and folks will tell you that government alone can’t teach our kids to learn; they know that parents have to teach, that children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white. They know those things.
People don’t expect -- People don't expect government to solve all their problems. But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a slight change in priorities, we can make sure that every child in America has a decent shot at life, and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all.
They know we can do better. And they want that choice.
In this election, we offer that choice. Our Party has chosen a man to lead us who embodies the best this country has to offer. And that man is John Kerry.
John Kerry understands the ideals of community, faith, and service because they’ve defined his life. From his heroic service to Vietnam, to his years as a prosecutor and lieutenant governor, through two decades in the United States Senate, he's devoted himself to this country. Again and again, we’ve seen him make tough choices when easier ones were available.
His values and his record and affirm what is best in us. John Kerry believes in an America where hard work is rewarded; so instead of offering tax breaks to companies shipping jobs overseas, he offers them to companies creating jobs here at home.
John Kerry believes in an America where all Americans can afford the same health coverage our politicians in Washington have for themselves.
John Kerry believes in energy independence, so we aren’t held hostage to the profits of oil companies, or the sabotage of foreign oil fields.
John Kerry believes in the Constitutional freedoms that have made our country the envy of the world, and he will never sacrifice our basic liberties, nor use faith as a wedge to divide us.
And John Kerry believes that in a dangerous world war must be an option sometimes, but it should never be the first option.
You know, a while back -- awhile back I met a young man named Shamus in a V.F.W. Hall in East Moline, Illinois. He was a good-looking kid -- six two, six three, clear eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he’d joined the Marines and was heading to Iraq the following week. And as I listened to him explain why he’d enlisted, the absolute faith he had in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all that any of us might ever hope for in a child.
But then I asked myself, "Are we serving Shamus as well as he is serving us?"
I thought of the 900 men and women -- sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors, who won’t be returning to their own hometowns. I thought of the families I’ve met who were struggling to get by without a loved one’s full income, or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or nerves shattered, but still lacked long-term health benefits because they were Reservists.
When we send our young men and women into harm’s way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they’re going, to care for their families while they’re gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world.
Now -- Now let me be clear. Let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued. And they must be defeated. John Kerry knows this. And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who served with him in Vietnam, President Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure.
John Kerry believes in America. And he knows that it’s not enough for just some of us to prosper -- for alongside our famous individualism, there’s another ingredient in the American saga, a belief that we’re all connected as one people. If there is a child on the south side of Chicago who can’t read, that matters to me, even if it’s not my child. If there is a senior citizen somewhere who can’t pay for their prescription drugs, and having to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it’s not my grandparent. If there’s an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties.
It is that fundamental belief -- It is that fundamental belief: I am my brother’s keeper. I am my sister’s keeper that makes this country work. It’s what allows us to pursue our individual dreams and yet still come together as one American family.
E pluribus unum: "Out of many, one."
Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us -- the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of "anything goes." Well, I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America -- there’s the United States of America.
The pundits, the pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an "awesome God" in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we’ve got some gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.
In the end -- In the end -- In the end, that’s what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope?
John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope.
I’m not talking about blind optimism here -- the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t think about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about something more substantial. It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too.
Hope -- Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope!
In the end, that is God’s greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation. A belief in things not seen. A belief that there are better days ahead.
I believe that we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity.
I believe we can provide jobs to the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and despair.
I believe that we have a righteous wind at our backs and that as we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices, and meet the challenges that face us.
America! Tonight, if you feel the same energy that I do, if you feel the same urgency that I do, if you feel the same passion that I do, if you feel the same hopefulness that I do -- if we do what we must do, then I have no doubt that all across the country, from Florida to Oregon, from Washington to Maine, the people will rise up in November, and John Kerry will be sworn in as President, and John Edwards will be sworn in as Vice President, and this country will reclaim its promise, and out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come.
Thank you very much everybody. God bless you. Thank you.
In The News Kenya: Envoy Hits At Obama Over Graft Remark AllAfrica.com, Washington
Ecstatic welcome for Obama in Kisumu Kenya Times
Obama loses 'favourite son' tagNews24
OBAMA GOES TO AFRICA, DEFENDS AMERICAN PROTECTIONISM Yahoo! News
'Govt was not opposed to Obama visit'-Mutua Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, Kenya
Govt spokesman lashes out at US Senator Capital FM
US Senator Barack Obama visits counterterrorism force base in ... International Herald Tribune, France
Senator Obama visits counter-terrorism force base in Djibouti WIFR
Sen. Barack Obama electrifies Kenyans Houston Chronicle, United States all wanted to see the man they consider a local kid made good...... He was telling all Kenyans, and especially our youth, that the sky is really the limit ...... one man who declared: "Obama is the first Luo-American senator," referring to Obama's father's tribe. ..... Residents of Nyangoma-Kogelo told local television stations they expected Obama to help them build more classrooms in the local high school _ named Sen. Barack Obama Kogelo Secondary School _ as well as to build clinics and pave the village's dirt roads. ...... They cheered as he railed against their country's high-level corruption and injustice. ..... Obama made a policy speech at the state-run University of Nairobi, it was aired live on television Sen. Barack Obama Electrifies Kenyans Guardian Unlimited, UK
Barack Obama Ends African Tour in Kenya OhmyNews International, South Korea
Obama Visits Flood-Displaced Ethiopians Washington Post, United States
Sen. Barack Obama electrifies Kenyans Ely Times, USA
What Barack Obama Can Do For Africa — and Vice Versa TIME the Illinois Senator, and possible future U.S. President ...... The first time Barack Obama came home to his father's village of Kogelo in western Kenya, it was exploring his family roots. In 1987, he and half-sister Auma rode a dilapidated old bus from Kisumu, the provincial capital, 60 miles away. As they lurched along dirt roads, a couple of chickens nestled in Obama's lap and mothers passed wet babies back and forth to the two young visitors....... as a 26-year-old backpackerHis visit has been front-page news for days, and at each stop crowds of hundreds, sometimes thousands, gather to cheer him, a stark contrast to South Africa, which he toured earlier in this trip and where most people have never heard the name Obama........ more than just a homecoming. Obama is using his Africa trip — after South Africa he will visit Darfurian refugees in camps in Chad — to strengthen his foreign policy credentials......... the Senator often remarks in speeches that his constituents are in Illinois and that his first loyalty is to them........ In a modest, tin-roofed house in a nearby clearing dotted with mango trees, Obama, 45, and his wife and daughters, Malia and Sasha, visited Sarah — "Granny" — and other relatives and shared a quick meal of chicken, porridge and cabbage. Obama told reporters gathered outside the house that he had apologized to his grandmother for all the attention she had received "because of me." ....... Sen. Barack Obama meets Kenyan president Houston Chronicle, United States
Barack Obama Cites Corruption as Greatest Threat to Kenya's Future Voice of America vowed to become a strong voice in Congress for the future development of Africa ..... Kenya is not looking for handouts and neither is Africa ...... "What they are looking for is partnership with the United States and I will do my part to shape an intelligent foreign policy that promotes peace and prosperity." ........ Obama said that if Kenya is to encourage development it has to strive towards transparency in government and to reject politics based on ethnicity and patronage. ...... when western nations talk about corruption they should make sure they are also cleaning their own house. ..... corruption has been the major factor behind slow economic growth and is why many of Kenya's brightest and best educated feel they need to move to the West to prosper. ...... Notebook: Scenes from Barack Obama's Africa visit St. Louis Post-Dispatch, United States In his hotel room in Nairobi, Obama was having trouble with the wi-fi he needed to link to the world outside of Africa. ....... Maybe it has to do with the high cost of gas, but Africans seem to keep very little of it in their tank. That was true late one night in Johannesburg when a van carrying a dozen reporters home from dinner sputtered to a halt in a strange, dark place....... Reporters complained mightily, as they do about most anything. But with no alternative, they pushed the van a quarter-mile or so to a filling station...... As reporters who cover politics and popes know, you never, ever get separated from a motorcade. Motorcade vehicles have certain advantages in traffic, namely police escorts, no speed limits and no stop signs.......... Obama said before landing in Kenya that he was worried that politicians jockeying for power might use his visit to "enhance their profile." ..... Obama noted that Kenya needs to make the transition from tribal politics evidenced in the profusion of political parties to a system in which the parties are rooted in ideals and principals........ Obama acknowledged to reporters that coming from Chicago, he knows something about patronage and corruption. ...... His best-selling book, "Dreams of My Father," gave Obama newfound wealth when it led to a $1.9 million contract for more books. ....... Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham ..... "He was black as pitch; she was white as milk" ...... the senator has his father’s voice. "He was a tall man, like his son, and he was very courteous. He would also say, ‘you need to speak good English’. And I remember him driving in his green pick-up" ....... Naboth recalled Obama’s father as being equally good with words and numbers, overseeing the country’s budget for a period and also writing speeches for the president until he was shunned because of his politics. ...... "This Barack, he is articulate just like his father" Barack Obama Is Rock-Star Popular on First African Trip in 14 ... About - News & Issues, NY Obama, presently the only African-American member of the Senate, is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Africa. ..... a "group of Kenyan women age 50 and older who have adopted children suffering from AIDS and are making a success of it with the help of a microcredit program supported by his personal funds from a children's book deal. " ...... last trip to Africa was 14 years ago as a recent Harvard Law graduate ..... "he is going to be wildly received... They realize that he is truly a son of Africa and his election means something to them personally." ....... Barack Obama Visits Poorest Part of Nairobi CBS2 Chicago, IL in the worst big-city slum in Africa ..... Obama got another wild welcome. ...... the heart of Kibera, notoriously the poorest part of Nairobi -- a place that sometimes literally stinks, lacking sewers, clean water and other basic needs. ..... "I want everyone to know the next time I come back to Kenya, this is where I'm going to come again. Because I love this area" ...... Obama met with dozens of slum-dwellers, who have started small businesses helped by loans as small as $5 -- financed by the U.S. government and others, including $1 million donated by Shore Bank from Chicago's South Side........ Obama believes so-called micro-lending is one key way to end extreme poverty plaguing the Third World. ...... give them access to capital, they'll figure out ways to make it into money ...... the impact he is already having on the AIDS epidemic in Kenya.KENYANS SWARM BARACK OBAMA: Senator’s Sa... Eurweb.com, CA
Barack Obama Takes HIV Test With Wife During Trip CBS2 Chicago, IL
Barack Obama's Kenyan Test Grows Our Love Queerty, NY
Nigeria: Barack Obama: The "Great Black Hope" AllAfrica.com, Washington South Africa, Kenya, Djibouti, Chad and Sudan. ..... This is Africa's first look at black America's rising star. ..... "one of the messages I'm going to send is that, ultimately, Africa is responsible for helping itself". ...... Obama attended New York's, Columbia University, graduating in 1983 .... was given a personal tour of Robben Island by one of South Africa's most decorated struggle figures Ahmed Kathrada. However, his grandmother, Mama Sarah Obama has assured him to expect no such fuss when he makes his next stop in his ancestral homeland of Kenya and visits his father's village of Kogelo, saying, "I don't see why the heavens should come down just because Barack is coming to Kenya". ....... Obama has recently made a habit of stopping the presses and grabbing the headlines... much of the hype surrounding his African tour is orchestrated, it does belie the fast growing perception that Mr Obama may be "the real deal": a potential future President of the United States. His growing band of supporters posits that 2012 is their year. Many Africans leaders find the idea of an African American President an intoxicating prospect........ the "Great Black Hope". ..... "democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values" ....... For someone so inexperienced, and whose policies are so ill-defined Mr Obama is remarkably popular. ..... Members of the Congressional Black Caucus spend spades of time in Africa rediscovering their "roots" and making promises, on which they are in no position to deliver, to every African leader naïve enough to listen to them........ Jackson remains a hugely popular figure and influential within the Congressional Black Caucus, but hasn't dared run again....... To run a successful Presidential campaign in the US the key ingredient is money and lots of it. This means winning over the single most important constituency in electoral America, "Big Business". And these generous donors make for jealous lovers, who expect absolute loyalty to their interests.Sen. Barack Obama Returning to Africa CBS News, New York
Sen. Barack Obama Returning to Africa Guardian Unlimited, UK
Barack Obama to take public HIV test at Kenyan clinic to promote ... Boston Herald, United States
Sen. Barack Obama, his family arrive in Kenya Belleville News-Democrat, IL
Barack Obama returns to Africa as a celebrity Belleville News-Democrat, IL
Barack Obama Cancels Congo Visit at Request of US Embassy WREX-TV, IL
US Senator Barack Obama adds voice to AIDS policy WIFR, IL
Senator Barack Obama on two-week trip to Africa KESQ, CA
Barack Obama to meet survivors of 1998 US embassy bombing in Kenya GG2.net, UK
