By Hazel Trice Edney
Amsterdam News
WASHINGTON (NNPA) – U. S. Senate Candidate Barack Obama, singled out for his exceptional speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, says Blacks have moved past the need for a single national leader. “We’re beyond the point where we just have one messiah,” Obama says in an NNPA interview during the Congressional Black Caucus’ Annual Legislative Conference. “What we need is collective leadership helping to move the ball forward. I think everybody’s got a contribution to make.”
The 42-year-old Illinois state senator, former civil rights lawyer and Harvard law school graduate, became a household word after his rousing prime-time speech. Some pundits immediately hailed Obama as the “Tiger Woods” of politics, and predicted that he will eclipse Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton in popularity.
“There are people like myself, who hopefully can work within an institution like the United States Senate and do important work,” he says, rejecting the notion that African-Americans must choose between he, Jackson or Sharpton. “There are going to be other people like Rev. Sharpton, who will be using a different platform. And, I don’t think those things are contradictory. Rev. Jackson is a constituent and family friend, and he was an important early supporter of my campaign. I continue to draw from the wisdom and knowledge of those who paid enormous sacrifices to help people like myself have the opportunities that I do.”
Read the entire article at:
http://www.amsterdamnews.org/news/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=3448&sID=3
Amsterdam News
WASHINGTON (NNPA) – U. S. Senate Candidate Barack Obama, singled out for his exceptional speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, says Blacks have moved past the need for a single national leader. “We’re beyond the point where we just have one messiah,” Obama says in an NNPA interview during the Congressional Black Caucus’ Annual Legislative Conference. “What we need is collective leadership helping to move the ball forward. I think everybody’s got a contribution to make.”
The 42-year-old Illinois state senator, former civil rights lawyer and Harvard law school graduate, became a household word after his rousing prime-time speech. Some pundits immediately hailed Obama as the “Tiger Woods” of politics, and predicted that he will eclipse Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton in popularity.
“There are people like myself, who hopefully can work within an institution like the United States Senate and do important work,” he says, rejecting the notion that African-Americans must choose between he, Jackson or Sharpton. “There are going to be other people like Rev. Sharpton, who will be using a different platform. And, I don’t think those things are contradictory. Rev. Jackson is a constituent and family friend, and he was an important early supporter of my campaign. I continue to draw from the wisdom and knowledge of those who paid enormous sacrifices to help people like myself have the opportunities that I do.”
Read the entire article at:
http://www.amsterdamnews.org/news/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=3448&sID=3