First African American Wins a Major Party Presidential Nomination
Democrats choose Obama in historic acclamation
DENVER - Barack Obama stepped triumphantly into history Wednesday night, the first black American to win a major party presidential nomination, as thousands of Democrats transformed their convention hall into a joyful, shouting celebration.
Dead Prez Protest outside the Democratic Convention
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JEREMY SCAHILL: Perhaps more than any candidate in history, Barack Obama has seen an impressive array of celebrities line up to support him. Many of these figures are flying into Denver to cheer on Obama, as they have with high-profile advertisements.
The Brooklyn-based political hip-hop group dead prez was not among those artists invited inside to perform at the DNC, like Kanye West, Wyclef Jean and Black Eyed Peas. But the duo of M1 and stic.man is here in Denver performing at rallies and evening political gatherings. And they seemed right at home among the crowds in the Denver streets.
M1: Their political objectives are limited, and we know that they are surface, surface. We’re looking at a government who’s a paper tiger and someone who wants to participate in a paper democracy.
JEREMY SCAHILL: What do you make of this major embrace, as it seems, not just of hip-hop, but the whole entertainment industry, of the Obama camp?
STIC.MAN: It’s lack of understanding, the lack of political clarity, you know what I mean? And it’s marketing, you know what I mean? It’s like Barack is hot. He’s, you know—he’s the [blank] right now, so throw him on your jacket, you know what I mean? And, you know, it ain’t really deep. It’s just people riding the wave, you know what I mean? And that’s what hip-hop is being used for, is, you know, to sell products, to sell [blank] to us, stuff [blank] down our throat that might not necessarily be good for us. So some of the hip-hop people, you know, who do hip-hop, and this is our culture, we have to speak from the vantage point of people who want real power. And hip-hop is part of that. Barack wouldn’t even be in the position he’s in without the support of hip-hop. You know, and we—
JEREMY SCAHILL: So are you guys going to vote?
M1: Hell no.
STIC.MAN: Yeah, yeah, I’m going to vote.
M1: OK, cool.
JEREMY SCAHILL: Who are you going to vote for?
STIC.MAN: I mean, I’m voting with my art.
M1: Yeah.
STIC.MAN: I’m voting with my participation in rallies like this. I’m voting—you know what I mean?—in raising my son, you know what I mean, to recognize the truth about this system. I’m voting in so many ways, I don’t even got time to go to the booth in November.
M1: I’m voting for Mumia Abu-Jamal. Free ’em all. Feel me.
McKinney Says People Must “Flip the Script” Again; Urges Mass Mobilization Supporting Impeachment
This past Monday, backed up by the sustained pressure of a persistent mass movement for impeachment, Dennis Kucinich succeeded in “flipping the script” on the House Democratic leadership, and now the Articles of Impeachment are before the Judiciary Committee–precisely the result that the impeachment movement has been fighting for over the last five years!
Today we find that the ball is back in our court. It’s up to the People now to “flip the script” once again. A massive grassroots movement of the People must coalesce very quickly, which can move Chairman Conyers and the House Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on H.Res. 1258.
I call upon all the forces of the Black movement nationwide–whether they currently support my presidential bid or the candidacy of Senator Obama–along with all my Green and Reconstructionist supporters, Katrina survivors and their supporters, the election protection movement, and all progressive forces, to organize a mass mobilization to push the House Judiciary Committee to move on the 35 Articles of Impeachment, with an explicit emphasis on the Black demands for fairness, equality and justice as laid out in Articles 28, 29 and 31.
Barack Obama is the Democratic Nominee for President.
We got a Black Presidential nominee y’all. Where do we go from here?
Victory speech:
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
Final Primary Night
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
St. Paul, Minnesota
As Prepared for Delivery
Tonight, after fifty-four hard-fought contests, our primary season has finally come to an end.
Sixteen months have passed since we first stood together on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. Thousands of miles have been traveled. Millions of voices have been heard. And because of what you said - because you decided that change must come to Washington; because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest; because you chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another - a journey that will bring a new and better day to America. Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. Read the rest of this entry »
Call-to-Action: Color of Change
Some leaders in the Democratic Party are playing with fire. They think that they can betray the will of millions of voters and choose Hillary Clinton as the nominee, regardless of whether or not she is the choice of the voters. We can’t let this happen. It would be the largest disenfranchisement in modern history, and it would mean the Democratic Party giving their stamp of approval to a clear and consistent pattern of race-baiting by the Clinton campaign.
If we make our voices heard, we can stop it. Please join us in signing an open letter to leaders in the Democratic Party — DNC Chair Howard Dean, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and all superdelegates — demanding that they reject an outcome that involves trampling voting rights and legitimizing the politics of division and fear:
Price To Pay If Clinton Wins Through Superdelegates
Color of Change is drawing a line in the sand for Democratic leadership: if Hillary Clinton is awarded the nomination by overturning the pledged delegate count there will be a political price to pay.
Progressive Donna Edwards Defeats Incumbent Rep. Albert Wynn in Key Maryland Primary
Antiwar Democrat Donna Edwards joins us to talk about her defeat of eight-term Congress member Albert Wynn in Tuesday’s primary vote. The Maryland race had been described as “a bellwether contest in the fight for the soul of the Democratic Party.” If Edwards wins in November, she’ll be the first African American woman elected to Congress from Maryland. [includes rush transcript]
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Donna Edwards’ Campaign Is Bellwether for Progressive Change
Donna Edwards contest against the corporate-friendly House incumbent Al Wynn is one of many key Dem primary races this election.
Former Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney Seeks Presidency as Green Party Nominee
Former Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney is now seeking the Green Party presidential nomination. McKinney is among the most outspoken critics of the Bush administration, and one of her last measures in office was to introduce a bill for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. She joins Democracy Now! to talk about her new campaign and why she left the Democratic Party after more than a decade in public office. [includes rush transcript]
Earl Ofari Hutchinson: Edwards’ Withdrawl is America’s Loss
America just lost its best and brightest hope for real change when John Edwards gave up the presidential ghost. Edwards did something that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and certainly none of the Republicans would dream of doing: He made poverty no longer a dirty word in the mouths of many, and that included Clinton and Obama, for a minute anyway.
John Edwards Expected to Quit Presidential Race
John Edwards will end his presidential campaign today, a source close to the Edwards campaign confirmed today.
Rep. Maxine Waters: Clinton and Obama Will Have to ‘Prove Themselves’ on Iraq
Rep. Maxine Waters and other progressive lawmakers are tired of watching Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama dance around the issue of Iraq withdrawal. As the January 27 ‘Peace March on Washington’ approaches, leaders of the Out of Iraq Congressional Caucus plan to turn up the heat on the Democratic presidential frontrunners.
Clinton gets backing of Maxine Waters
Clinton gets backing of Maxine Waters
What Black Women’s Votes Mean for the Presidential Race
The power of the vote is going to be truly tested in South Carolina, a state where slavery had strong roots and now where women of color may actually be the deciding factor in the January 26, 2008 primary in South Carolina, a historical day indeed make not mistake about it.
