Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: politics, brother ali, Barack Obama, Yes We Can, Recent events, life the universe and everything, social justice, activism, peace, justice, war
Though much of the “honeymoon period” of Obama’s presidency has ended and we are finally realizing that it will take much effort and time to undo all the wrongs and injustices that George W. Bush’s eight years, today Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
This is wonderful. However, what is even better is President Obama’s reaction to winning the prize.
To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honored by this prize — men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.
But I also know that throughout history the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it’s also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said that his Nobel Peace Prize was “also a commission — a commission to work harder than I had ever worked before for ‘the brotherhood of man.’”
Dr. King’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech is worth reading.
Dr. King was right when he said, “Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”
Barack Obama acknowledges that the prize is not so much a reward for a completed effort but rather a reminder, almost a burden, that there is still work to be done. That we shall overcome. That we are all part of the effort for a peaceful world. Barack Obama is being honored for his work in international diplomacy and efforts for a world free of nuclear weapons even though the we are still on the journey.
I love Obama and I love Brother Ali.
Combine the two and you get transcendence.
Click here to listen to Brother Ali’s newest song, “Mr. President (You’re the man)” .
I’m posting the lyrics (from here) so you can read along with the song.
“
[Verse 1]
Stand on your feet the new black commander in chief/
You see the voice of the people can’t be defeated/
We got together and demanded what we needed/
The masters of suffering gotta have some relief/
No more relaxing in that passenger seat, this is/
Our country and our chance to redeem it/
I got to pinch myself I can’t believe it/
We made history happen and you seen it/
We weren’t supposed to put that man in that seat/
We’re supposed to be divided by scare tactics and greed/
Like the most a black kid could ever be/
Is rappers and athletes or selling crack on the streets/
But now’s the time to rise and shine/
We all unite behind America’s brightest mind/
I’m getting goosebumps writing this rhyme/
Almost feels like we got it right this time/
Come on!/
[Verse 2]
I seen white folks confronting their neighbors/
About that old racist McCain shit/
Out in front of where they live/
The first time in my generation/
This nation has had this real race conversation/
And then I saw Obama’s fundraising/
Groundbreaking and found out where it came from/
Not corporations but real folks donating/
I’m mean I seen thugs reading newspapers/
People in the street who been ignored for so long/
That they never saw reason at all to get involved/
Start stepping forth, became a heavy force/
And made their voice change the presidential course/
They never used to give a fuck/
Now they know they got a visit us/
At least they know they gotta listen up/
Tell them old heads the jig is up/
You will never get elected again without us/
Come on!/
[Verse 3]
Of course I know that/
The real war for being free isn’t over/
Every leader need a team of true soldiers/
And once man can’t change the world from his office/
In order to do that we gotta all get on our shit/
We gotta raise our kids/
Take the revolution we started/
Pick up where we left off and don’t quit/
Don’t care what the cost is/
Combine forces with your sisters and brothers/
And pool your resources/
Of course it’s great Barack’s in/
But now we all got to win/
Let’s have a campaign to change us from within/
Rely on each other we ain’t gotta trust them/
Our heart’s been broken by the country within/
But today I got my hand on my heart/
I might go and plant a flag in my yard/
Man fuck it!/
Two years of saying ‘Yes We Can’/
And today Barack Obama’s the man/
You gotta love it!/”
