This past reminds us of the time when folks sang Negro Spirituals like, “Swing Slow Sweet Chariot Coming for to Carry Me Home.” I flash back to a time when folk listened intently in the fields stooped behind broad-leaved tobacco leaves and ornery stalks of sugar cane, listening for signs and verbal cues that we were going to get stronger together, that things were possible and through these possibilities we were going to work without the “powers that be” knowing it, towards a powerful change—a seemingly impossible change. This was the power of those chanted, a cappella and choral words that came from the spirit of those with calloused hands, scarred lashed backs and but still bright brown eyes held down by twisted words. Then later, when thousands of men and some black women were incarcerated, many unjustly so they could work for free for the state, there is the ancestral memory awakened by chilling, goose-pimple-producing “Prison Songs” accompanied only by the foot stomp, ensemble march and sound of the hoe for emphasis. These songs—were raw, recycled words passed along through the generations but they are containers of hope for all that have had their rights stripped—the poor, the new immigrant, children, women, the mentally ill; mentally or physically challenged, religious and spiritual minorities, gays, lesbians, transgendered, and bisexual, as well as the elderly—regardless of race, ethnicity, geography we are all now peeping from around the Bushes to hear these potent words that speak about a new day to coming soon.
“Yes we can,” is about self-determination, something vital to the black community for example. When I hear Obama’s oration I am reminded of most memorable moments within the Baptist and Methodist churches when I was a girl—the syncopated rhythms, call and response, stomping and clapping, the pastor covered in the sweat of passion, and recall how it generated a tremendous crescendo of healing energy. Those days the power of the group, using word and sound held promise and belief was sustained by the conviction in the delivery of what was said, not the fact that it came from ancient re-hashed text.
America was founded by courageous people who no longer wanted to be victimized. They were fueled by a belief that says yes, I as an individual and yes, we as a group can make this patch of land into what we want it to be, we can change the seemingly insurmountable situation that currently exists in England for us using our bodies, minds, spirits and the power of the word. Oh, yes we can is an anthem of America that weaves our diversity together with a single thread of hope. Today that fragment of our history is being held up high by Senator Barack Obama.
