Last week at the annual Congressional Black Caucus Foundation event in Washington, President Barack Obama was present at the 2016 Phoenix Awards dinner that concludes the conference. In a closing speech, the president remarked on his place in history, race in America, and much more in moving fashion.
The good folks over at Crooks and Liars examined President Obama’s speech by way of a detailed reader’s guide. With this being the last CBC Week event that will feature the president’s presence, the moment was especially poignant and important.
From Crooks and Liars:
On a September night when he gave a rousing valedictory speech to the famed Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) at the dinner for its annual legislative weekend, as awareness is setting in about how adroit and blessed Barack Obama has been as our national leader, with reported numbers showing a giant drop in poverty, a rise in jobs, and growth in family income despite the legislative blocks that stubbornly refused to fund stimulative policies for labor, wages and jobs, the President in his remarks took an unusual tact for him: the first black President, Barack Obama openly reclaimed his history and legacy and put it firmly in the history of race in America. He shared the historic challenges of a historically oppressed community formed in America when they were imported to be slaves—humans sold as property, controlled without rights for the benefit of the privileged. He described how this historical beginning was a force within him and within the community itself. How it gave birth to a driving passion for justice.
Read more by following this link.
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Photo: WhiteHouse.gov
