Obama, You Got Me!
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Yeah, I know I’ve been quiet this summer. I’ve been running so hard it’s been a minute since I had the time to blog in this space. But something got me fired up last week. It got me so inspired I feel like I’m 19 years old and ready to take on the world again. It was Barack Obama’s convention speech.
I’ve read and heard all the opinions. Plenty of people have had something to say about this. So why do I feel the need to weigh in now? I’ve always been the guy who found politics boring, and I haven’t trusted anyone in Washington to do anything for me for a long while. It had no relevance to me, and I never really got what all the hype about Obama was about. But now I get it. The guy won me over. He touched me in a way no politician ever has before. He hit all the right notes and he hit ‘em hard. I was the undecided voter Obama needed to reach with his words, and now he has my full attention.
What resonated with me the most was when he said: “It’s not because John McCain doesn’t care. It’s because John McCain doesn’t get it.”
That to me sums up what’s been the problem with the old way of doing this on all fronts. The old guard ain’t bad necessarily. It’s just that they don’t understand that there’s a new reality, and a new way of doing things that’s a better fit for our times. When these guys fight change they stand in the way of progress and push back the energy and drive of the young. It hurts their future, and everybody else’s.
But Obama’s words gave me an energy I haven’t felt since I got started in the music business, when I believed anything was possible. That’s a powerful thing.
So when I woke up the next day and checked out all the blogs in the black media, I was shocked. I read that Tavis Smiley thought King’s legacy was being “glossed over” and that Rev. Jesse Jackson was mad that King’s famous speech was “being reduced to a soundbite.” A whole bunch of commentators were complaining that Martin Luther King wasn’t getting enough respect, and that referring to him as “a young preacher from Georgia” was somehow a dis. It felt like they didn’t even hear the same words I heard. But what hurt me the most was when Dr. Cornel West, a man I really admire and respect, said Obama was “running from history.”
For real?! Exactly why was Obama supposed to be giving everyone a history lesson in his speech when the whole point was to talk about the future? What he said was exactly what he needed to say to introduce himself to apolitical folks like me and get us fired up and ready to make a change. It was his job to lay out the plan that will bring America into the 21st century, and that’s what he did.
I want to know where we’re going and how we’re going to get there, not where we’ve already been. It’s his actions that carry the torch for MLK, not some boring tribute to the past that other people expect him to make. That’s the kind of bullshit that old people who’ve been here forever get stuck on. They’re missing the point. They’re forgetting that when they followed Martin Luther King they were young themselves. They were looking ahead, not backwards.
You name me one single politician or president in living memory who could get a standing ovation from 84,000 people before he even spoke. More than 40 million people were watching — more than anyone paying attention to the Olympics. If anything, even a leader of Clinton’s caliber might get a few boos. I’ve been in the music business my whole life and I’ve never seen anything close to that kind of excitement in a crowd.
It was intriguing to me to see how the dude caught these people. Obama came out with a power that no world leader has. He commands that kind of crowd because he brings something that goes beyond politics. What I was watching from my home in Los Angeles, Obama had me through the whole 45 minute speech. No one can grab my attention like that! Anyone who knows me can tell you I can’t even sit still for five minutes, but I watched that speech from begin to end. His words and mindset spoke to me in a way that’s relevant to my life.
Obama’s movement is about us, and what we can do to shake things up. He delivers the drive in people to want to do things that make change. That’s why older people who’ve held their spot forever — the John McCains and Jesse Jacksons of this world — find him a threat. They have to fuss about the small stuff that has no relevance to the big picture of our future because they got nothin’!
It reminds me of the beef between Ice T and Soulja Boy. Ice T said Soulja Boy was “single-handedly killing hip hop.” But whose hip hop? Soulja Boy speaks to his own generation. He makes songs that sound great on a ringtone and get millions of hits on YouTube — something Ice T could never do today.
No disrespect to these older dudes, but it’s not about you, it’s about the destiny of our kids. Just because it’s new and different doesn’t mean it’s bad. I run into the same kind of mentality with older executives in the music industry. The business is failing because they’re stuck in the old ways of doing things, but they resist the ideas of younger people like me. I’ve been battling this way of thinking my whole life. When I first started making music in Atlanta, people said I was too country, and that the music of the South would never have the flava of what was going on in New York or LA. Now everyone’s coming to Atlanta. It’s the mecca of music. Times change.
Things don’t need to stay stuck in one gear. If we keep trying to fight progress, it’s gonna march right past us. We need to be inspiring young people instead of always telling them what they’re doing wrong. That’s why I wrote my book, “Young, Rich and Dangerous.” There aren’t enough people with credentials who can speak to the younger generation and influence them the right way. A few months ago I blogged about the fact that young black people fall off because they don’t have a bridge generation that can listen to them without judging them and set them on a path to a better future. Black or white, Obama is a good bridge. We have a long way to go, but he’s a start.
That’s why it’s time for people like myself, who have real influence with kids, to inspire them to get out there and vote. Obama’s not going to be able to bring America into the future if the younger generation doesn’t get behind him in a way that counts at the polls. He’s got my vote, but he needs yours. Now I’m gonna go out there and do everything I can. Because it is time for a change.
Thanks Mr.Dupri for your awareness hope to (prosper awell)im gonna make the right decision to vote..
ya’ll ant got no other jd pic?
Glad you were able to see what many don’t but should see in Obama.
But you made a good point.. many of us (young blk ppl) dont pay attention to politics because its “boring”.. but thats one thing that we need to pay attention to because it effects us moreso than anybody else. It took George Bush for people to pay attention… and you see where that got us.
(claps)
Well said JD.
I have never had a politician evoke emotion from me until Obama did last week. He has my vote and I am going out to get more votes for him. Young people need to pay attention to politics because in the future we will have to pay for the mistakes of today.
Yes we can!
I LOVE JD STATEMENT, YES I AM VOTING FOR OBAMA FOR SURE CANT WAIT I AM 27 YEARS OF AGE AND THE YEAR BUSH STOLE THE COUNTRY THAT WAS MY FIRST TIME VOTING AND REMBER VOTE OR DIE BUSH WON I COULD HAVE DIED. BUT THESE YEAR WE ARE MAKING HISTORY WITH OBAMA.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what up JD , I agree with on Barack bridging the GAP with people who are undecided as far as the election is concern. I also agree with you when you state that Barack is ushering in the future of how things in this country ect should be run. Yes it is important to honor the past and use it as a blueprint but what’s going on right now will have a impact on the future too come! Barack 08! Voting is important just 40 yrs or so ago people had to fight just to get that right.! it s up to the PEOPLe to make a change in this world and I think Barack is energizing people to get out there and ACT and make change happen! Holla back!TmusicmanimjusT!!!!
This entire campaign has drawn me in. It’s been very dramaful and entertaining. Politics was never my thing but I always paid attention for the sake of conversation. And this time round I’ve been glued to the news watching who Barack would pick for his VP and how his speeches would be delivered. I even couldn’t wait to see who McCain would pick for his VP and now with all her drama I love watching it unfold. But Barack has been the man JD, and I’m glad you’ve taken notice because we (as a nation and culture) need everyone, especially our black men in power, on board. How you feel and what you think means tons to people so it’s nice to hear you touching on such an important topic.
BARACK ‘08 YA DIGG!!!!!!
With a viewing audience over over 32 million on his nomination speech, I too watched with interest of what he had to say after watching others speak for him during that week. After his speech, I watched with interest the talking head show roundup on Nightline, Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley. What surprised me the most was what had been said on Tavis Smiley, Dr. Cornell West and some other lady who’s name slips my memory. She and West were appalled by Obama’s speech and the fact that he didn’t mention by name, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and only referred to him as the “young preacher from Georgia”.
Well, you can’t please the old guard dogs of civil rights in this ever evolving age of social dynamics. Look, I’m on the last on the low end of the bell shaped curve of baby boomers from that generation. That generation was promising peace, love and happiness but instead turned into corporate lackeys. The environment was a just cause and saving the whales was important until money was discovered and idealism went out the window. The leaders or rather, the self-anointed leaders of the civil rights movement who thought they could assume the mantle of the late Dr. King are annoyed that Mr. Obama has done something that they had failed to do and that is to become a cohesive factor in this political race.
Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Shelia Jackson-Lee are the old watch dogs who have parlayed and exploited and hype sometimes wrong arguments off the backs of the unsuspecting victims and used those victims for their own political gains and sometimes monetary gains. Since Obama has not catered to their way, Jesse Jackson makes verbal snipes at him with derisive commentary. It is unique that Saturday Night Live did a cartoon commentary of Barack Obama sending Jesse and Al out in the boondocks just to keep them out of the camera, something of which they’ve been described as media whores.
So, it all follows the old path of was Barack catering to whites versus blacks because he didn’t say all the right words that night for these individuals. Well, when you’ve been trying to be the voice of all black America and it’s falling on deaf ears, dissatisfaction rears its ugly head. Even amongst self-anointed black leaders, they have come to find that blacks are not a monolithic thinking collective and I do not know why the media still wants to portray this? The media still trots out the same black faces speaking on behalf of me. I do not think like that. I’m neither Democrat or Republican for quite some time. I grew weary of seeing politicians pimp the black vote with promises and promises from both sides and for whatever reasons, blacks in this country have a higher percentage rate of health, education, judicial and financial problems and the solutions do not rest in a politician of old.
If Barack has the initiative to make this country better than the last eight years, give him the opportunity to do so and hire him. John McCain and party have irritated me this season. If all else fails, hit the opposition with the tired and true negative campaigning and blame the black guy for the sexism even though the media started it, it is still his fault. As we live through this history, we see that not just the old guard dogs whimpering away but we see that racism is just as powerful as it once was and just as deceitful. Do the right thing, people, do the right thing.
Are you the next Obama? LOL I’m in total agreement with you, I was also and undecided voter but now Obama has my attention as well. Did you happen to watch the Republican National Convention? John McCain did an okay job but one point he made did stick out. When he said “its not about who takes credit for a good idea but lets take the good ideas from both parties and make them one.” That is the only part of his speech that I may find truthful, especially since he voted with Bush 90% of the time. I really cant see him doing anything different since he agreed with the current administration. Hopefully, the younger generation will come out in droves and prove to America and other countries that we welcome change, change is inevitable, and that change is a good thing for any country. Change brings progress, whether good or bad, it is needed for growth, understanding, and most importantly life.
All of you younger voters, you can make a change, but not if you do not vote. Make a decision, pick a candidate you think will help you and your future family prosper and live in peace. Just VOTE! Make your voice heard.
J.D., thanks for the words of wisdom and letting us know that even though you are a superstar you are still a man that loves his country and his people. You are not above us but one of us. Peace.