America has never been here before.
True, there have been outstanding black orators throughout the nation’s history. True also that they were heard outside the black community. After all, many non-blacks can quote portions of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.
[dailymotion]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x833ml_martin-luther-king-i-have-a-dream-s_news[/dailymotion]
Perhaps a smaller number have adopted Malcolm X’s “By Any Means Necessary” into their normal dialog.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhg6LxyTnY8[/youtube]
America’s black folks like preacher types, whether or not they like church. Clerical robe or no, we want to see and hear a confident black man deliver a strong message about our concerns with passion and conviction. Often, the message itself can stink on ice, as long as the emotion with which it is delivered is right; that’s the way we roll. We like leaders who can get us worked up, use their passion to communicate important themes beyond the surface level. As Obama is the first black president under the US Constitution, (provided you overlook questions regarding Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Warren Harding, and, Dwight Eisenhower), America has not had that type of a “preachy” leader in the White House.
Now, and you may call this a “black thing,” it does seem that sometimes how a leader speaks is more important than what he says. We like that traditional, build-to-a-climax, message which leaves at least half the room up and shouting, even those who have no idea what the man was talking about. That style over substance thing can be a problem.
Which brings me back to…Obama.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mnv37Aqbi8[/youtube]
Granted it is only an excerpt, and it may not have been his best effort. However, you see the same result that you would in a black church service when “the Spirit is high” – wild applause, shouting, people out of their seats…y’all know what I’m talking about.
Is there a problem with this? Well, generally no; a leader who cannot motivate emotionally will never be effective. But what did he say? That HE was fighting, and HE needed the folks to get with HIM, and that the folks needed to stop complaining and get on board?
That is not how King motivated while he was the “moral leader of our nation.” The message was consistently about the issue of black citizenship rights, not about what what King was doing or how people needed to get on board with him. His speeches demonstrated WHY every and anyone should be on board.
Malcolm also, while less conciliatory to the white national majority than King, did not make his messages about him and how he needed support. He knew how to choose and describe an issue that demanded support. People followed Malcolm and King, not because they asked for help, but because they spoke and took on issues where they could be of help.
You know, in a “good” church, the preacher, puts his heart and soul into a message that will help the people’s standing with God. In a not-so-good church, the preacher’s heart and soul goes into a message about…the preacher. However, in both places, you will find those who say, “That man is PREACHIN’!” And blacks will keep a sorry preacher around for awhile – the money can be funny, the church building can be falling apart – as long as he gets them to shoutin’ come Sunday morning.
With deficits at historic levels, with not a single budget being in place during his term, with the national debt now equaling the size of the economy, with black unemployment having risen to levels not seen in more than 7 decades with no end in sight, and with government initiatives that force individual liberty to take a backseat to the collective “good,” the US is not as good a church as it once was or can be. Additionally, it is not addressing the issues where people need help.
Still, as evidenced by the video clip, there are many blacks, and especially Obama himself, who yet believe that man is preachin’.
I’m just not sure he’s saying what the people need to here.
Copyright 2012. blackmanthinkin.com
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