Hat’s off to Barack Obama for stepping up and not playing the typical political role. After all it had to, it needed to be! Yes, it needed to be said that Black people DO need to accept responsibility. Stop always blaming others for problems with the black race.
Addressing the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Barack Obama called for corporate leaders, politicians and individuals to take more responsibility for improving the nation.
Obama stressed “This is our moment, this is our time,” even promising to come back for the NAACP’s 100th anniversary convention in 2009 if he is elected president. Winning the crowd with saying “At that moment you and I will truly know that a new day has come in this country we love.”
Obama said business leaders need to focus more on the well-being of workers and communities, and political leaders should shun special interests, demanding “we also have to demand more from ourselves,” stressed Obama.
“That’s what this election’s about,” he said. “It’s about the responsibilities we all share for the future.”
In the speech to the NAACP, Obama said that parents need to turn off televisions, work with children on homework and set a good example. He urged black men, especially, to take more responsibility for raising their children.
“Now, I know there are some who are saying I’ve been too tough talking about responsibility,” Obama said. “NAACP, I’m here to report I’m not going to stop talking about it.”
Obama also said he would work to eliminate inequalities in health care and education, pursuing coverage for all Americans and improved schools. “I will stand up for you the same way that earlier generations of Americans stood up for me — by fighting to ensure that every single one of us has the chance to make it,” he said.
Obama, 46, attended a $1,000-a-head fundraiser in Cincinnati today before the NAACP speech. Some of the 200 attendees raised $10,000 for the campaign and received an invitation to a VIP reception. Obama told the group that he sees a set of “shared values” among all Americans.
“People are hard working, they are decent, they are tolerant, they believe in family,” he said.
Source Bloomberg