Japi's Blog

Senator Obama's Quotes Taken Out of Context

I received an email from a family member with the following:

This guy wants to be our President and control our government. Pay close attention to the last comment!!  Below are a few lines from Obama's books ' his words:

1. From Dreams of My Father:  'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'
2. From Dreams of My Father :  'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mothers race.'
3. From Dreams of My Father:  'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'
4. From Dreams of My Father:  ; 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'
5. From Dreams of My Father:  'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'
6. From Audacity of Hope:  'I will stand with the Muslims, should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'

I was quite upset by it so I decided to research the context of each of these (since I HAVE read the books and my perception is that the family member who sent me this has not).  If they had read the books, I'm pretty certain they would not be sending these quotes taken out of context... it's pretty sad that there are so many people out there willing to take just a tidbit of information and make their minds up about someone without really delving into the truth. 

I think it's somewhat understandable because we have a finite amount of time to spend on certain things... but this particular presidential election is too important to just read the quotes.  I am not a Rhodes Scholar... but I've educated myself on the differences between the candidates... none of them are perfect, they all have good and bad ideas... but I believe Obama gives us the best option.... but that's obviously my opinion from what I've read.

Here are the 6 quotes mentioned above in more detail... you decide if they are accurate as stated above or if they make more sense (and you agree with them) when placed in the proper context.

1. The quotes of Dreams From My Father are all race-related...
   1. 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'
   2. 'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mothers race.'
   3. 'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'
   4. 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'
   5. 'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'
   • In the book Dreams of My Father, Senator Obama describes his teenage years as he struggled with his identity... as every single teenager has done throughout history.  The quote explains how he saw himself, as white or a black?
   • This is from a response on answers.yahoo.com:
     • The book is about how growing up Barack came to reconcile being of mixed heritage. "Dreams from my Father", pertains to that conflict in his youth, and how he came to resolve it. He writes about how he romanticized the life of his absent black father who he never knew and resented his mother, and how growing up changed his views on things
     • Read the book. Don't just find a few quotes that describe a conflict he felt at the age of 13 and pass it off as views he holds right now. He wrote the book to document how he came to reconcile the issue of race in his life
   • If you understand the concepts of the book, Dreams From My Father, you will see the process he went through to get to the point where he is now.
   • A better statement of his current views can be obtained from the speech he made in Philadelphia.  The description of the race issues in the U.S. that he gave in that speech are amazingly similar to mine and (I'm sure) most people.
2. The quote from "The Audacity of Hope" ( 'I will stand with the Muslims, should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.') is completely chopped... here's the full version from the book:
   • "Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific reassurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."

It's really sad that these quotes are either taken out of context or adjusted to fit the needs of the ultra-right to scare people into not voting for an amazing candidate.  If you really want to understand what Obama offers, read one or both books (with a truly open mind) and make up your mind aftewards.

I don't think Obama is perfect, he's far from it... as we ALL are.  But out of the candidates running for president, I believe he offers the best option... read Oabama's views on the REAL issues and compare them to McCain's views... TRULY INFORM YOURSELF! 

I believe Senator Obama can bring both sides together to move our country in a positive direction.  In my opinion, Hillary would give us a similar polarization (on the opposite end) as we have witnessed with Bush... and I believe McCain would continue the policies that the Bush administration has supported and that would be a big mistake.

Read the books and make an educated decision on who you think would be the best leader for the nation.... don't just read a few lines and believe their message without understanding the whole story.

Glenn Beck - America's Addiction

I had a the pleasure of meeting Glenn Beck about 3 years ago on a visit to Philadelphia when he was doing his live, nationally syndicated radio show.  The opportunity came about because his radio show was looking to use our Tendenci software.  Glenn was very gracious and sat down to talk for about 10 minutes during a break on his radio show.

I came across an article he wrote called "America needs a 12-step program" which describes how the government used to be afraid of the people... and now it's the other way around.  He suggests a six-step program to get the country back in the hands of the people:

1. Admit we are not powerless.
2. Believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity.
3. Decide to take our power back.
4. Make a complete and fearless moral inventory.
5. Admit our wrongs, and our rights.
6. Be ready to remove our defects.

The article is dead-on target! We DO need to take back our government.

Body of War - A Powerful Documentary

Ellen Spiro (a friend of my brother Joaquin) and Phil Donahue have produced and directed a powerful documentary called Body of War. 

It is the story of a young man, Tomas Young, who joins the military to fight the evil doers and is wounded after serving in Iraq for less than a week.

Here's a synopsis from the film's Web site:

"Body of War is Tomas' coming home story as he evolves into a new person, coming to terms with his disability and finding his own unique and passionate voice against the war. Body of War is a naked and honest portrayal of what it's like inside the body, heart and soul of this extraordinary and heroic young man."

Watch the preview below:

Collective Intuition Which Inspires Us

Barack Obama has many qualities which draw us to his campaign and his message.  In fact, his message has inspired numerous individuals to begin Obama's change right now with organizations like ObamaWorks in Philadelphia and Obama Volunteer Corps in Houston.

Some of the qualities which inspire us include:

1. Message of change
2. Powerful oratory
3. Ability to rise above the fray
4. JFK/MLK like qualities
5. Hope
6. Charisma
7. Intelligence
8. Speak about race in an intelligent and adult manner
9. Mad Basketball Skillz (well, I like that one... grin)

I read an article by Mark Morford in the San Francisco Chronicle's online edition (SFGate.com) called "The very best thing about Barack Obama" in which Murford mentioned all those qualities and others... but explained that THOSE do not describe the very best thing about Senator Obama... it's actually the "feeling" or "intuition" we all have about him... we all feel (as Morford describes):

"People feel it. They hear an Obama speech or read the articles or talk to like-minded folk, and they squint their eyes and weigh everything and then dismiss all that surface crap and get that look on their face that says, you know what? This guy gets it. He feels right. It's not a trick of light. It's not complete bulls—. It's not the usual spin and manipulation and fakery. There is actual meat on this bone. What a thing."

I completely agree... it goes beyond just Obama's message of hope... it's something we can't touch yet it lives inside each of us.  Even the most jaded (of which I was one), are coming around to hear and act on Obama's message of hope and change.

Last Speech by Dr. Markin Luther King Jr

40 years ago today Dr. Martin Luther King was shot in Memphis, TN.  He was a great American who has left a legacy of peaceful resistance against inequality and injustice which is still alive.

His final speech (see excerpt below) sounds prophetic as he mentions that he is not worried because he has been to the mountaintop.  He continues to state that he would prefer to live a long life, but that he's not concerned about that. 

It was a very sad day for the world to lose such an amazing and valiant human being.

What Made Obama's Speech Great - George Lakoff

I understand that the mainstream media spends very little time on any given story and moves to the next one.   Soundbytes, tidbits, short attention spans, bite-sized pieces are all products of the short amount of time we allow to consume news or any other information in which we are interested.

So it's great to come across an article provides excellent analysis of a particular topic.  In this case it's Senator Barack Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech he gave March 18, 2008 in Philadelphia's Constitution Hall.

Professor George Lakoff has written a wonderful paper on the speech and how it's not JUST about race.  The media had to abbreviate the speech to one topic, race.... but if you have 30 minutes to listen to the whole speech - you will realize it's about a lot more than just race. 

Professor Lakoff's paper provides insight into the speech's setting (Constitution Hall, surrounded by Flags), entonation, subtext and just the overall greatness of it.

The paper is 7 pages long, but worth the 10 to 15 minutes it takes to read it.  I would recommend you watch the speech first... so it may take 45 minutes of your day - but it's such an important speech that I recommend you set aside the time.  You may also want to read the comments to the paper which, as of this post, it has 56.

George Lakoff is Goldman Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley; senior fellow at the Rockridge Institute; and author of the forthcoming The Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21st Century Politics with an 18th Century Brain (Viking/Penguin), available June 2, 2008.

Pale Blue Dot - by Carl Sagan

This is an amazing video which leaves you thinking of our importance and lack thereof.

It's in English and has Spanish sub-titles.

Don't Push The River, It Flows By Itself

Ruby Sinreich was the facilitator for a session called "Don't Push the River, It Flows by Itself".  With an interesting name... the idea behind it is to allow social networks to flow and naturally evolve.

Use and organize networks by the power of the individual which can grow to a large wave of support for a particular cause or goal.

What makes a network effective:

1. Strong social ties -personal relationships, trust, awareness.
2. Common story - shared values, collective narrative, language and words that resonate (tagcouds).
3. Dense communication grid - online and offline: blogs, e-mail, IM, phone & SMS, face-to-face, twitter.
4. Sharing culture - Opensourcy: data, information, skills & expertise, money, space (meeting rooms).
5. Network awareness - feeling like a member, knowing what the network is for.

Some of the takeaways include:

1. A better understanding of the different social networking sites and how to use them
2. How social networking can impact the nonprofit world
3. Strategies on how to use this medium for outreach and advocacy

Ruby is a wonderful and confident speaker - she is very active in the social media universe which is obvious in the delivery of this content.

Changing Your CEO from Barrier to Partner

Marnie Webb, David Geilhufe, Michelle Murrain and Steve Heye were part of a great breakout session.  It was fantastic in that Marnie had the CEO's point of view and David had some excellent examples of situations where he presented to his CEO.

The audience was not huge which allowed for great interaction with real-situation questions and comments.

I filmed Marnie for a few minutes where she explained situations where she has eithe shot something down or chose to move forward with a particular project.  She also explained that there are some piece of information that she DOES NOT want to know... for example:

If you need to purchase a new firewall and you present Marnie with all the details of the research you've done and given your recommendation.  If you give her details such as the brand of firewall, she may delve deeper into why you chose that one and not the one that he buddy CEO purchased or the one she saw on the magazine in the plane, etc... there are some things that she prefers not to know... but if she's put in the situation that she has to decide on something, she will use her best judgement based on the information she has gathered.

Some of the other take-aways from this session include many concepts I've heard our CEO, Ed Schipul, mention many times:

1. Bad news must travel fast - if an approved project is going badly, inform the CEO immediately!  This helps them make a decision on where to go from here.
2. Research and SoundBytes - be sure to do the appropriate research and be able to present it in a quick manner so it makes sense to your CEO (ROI, bottom line, etc)
3. Think risks/security first - Be sure to verify the risk factors of this project and how it can affect the current and future situation of your organization.  Even if it's a very risky project, present an objective view of it... your CEO may be willing to move forward in spite of those risks.
4. Succinct Communication - CEO's typically have many different things going on so it's important to make sure you present/talk to your CEO in THEIR language and in the least amount of words necessary.

This panel was very informative - the team of individuals were well-informed and had wonderfully natural presentation skills.

David Pogue at 2008 NTC

David Pogue, New York Times columnist and CBS news correspondent, delivered the keynote speech this morning to officially begin the 2008 Nonprofit Technology Conference - He was both entertaining and educational.  He even played the piano and sang a couple of humorous songs at the end of his presentation.

David presented some interesting concepts about voice over ip (voip) and how the cellular carriers are trying not to offer this service.  Their primary reason for not offering this service is that the cellular firms will lose a lot of revenue from the "free voip minutes".  I was able to capture most of the speech on video and tonight I will upload it to my YouTube Channel.  I was able upload the short video of David playing the piano and singing, watch it below.