04 Feb 2008

Obama: yes we can

Please note: This post was written some time ago (16 years ago). My perspectives, knowledge, and opinions may have evolved significantly since then. While the content might still offer valuable insights, I encourage readers to consider it in the context of its publication date.

This weekend I went and volunteered for the Obama Campaign. It was a great experience. I showed up at 12pm and stayed until around 5. I was surrounded by great people who all believed in Obama and his movement. Quite inspiring. I worked on validating submitted volunteer information. it was tedious work. I went through about 4500 records, sorting and updating. My eyes were done with computers by the time I left. In the middle of all the data entry and validation, one of the campaign people came into our workroom and showed us the will.i.am video “yes we can." Amazing. (youtube link).

Watching that with a group of people who are incredibly dedicated to a movement which they believe in is an inspiring event. It made me want to take the week off work and go door to door in some under represented state. The video/song is made by Will.I.Am from black eyed peas and has a cast of quite a few artists who are singing the speech Obama gave in Nashua, New Hampshire on the night of the New Hampshire primary. Pretty intense. There is a great break down of the video by Garrett Graff over at Huffington Post. Interesting to read about the history of the "Yes We Can" phrase. The whole experience of seeing the campaign inner-workings, working with people who believe in this movement, and just feeling a small amount of membership to this amazing movement was very moving. It was like a spark inside of me. So much hope and excitement. So go and vote. Let's make our voice heard.