The Real Meaning and Real Talk of a Real Life '08 Bonnie and Clyde

That Woosh! in your ears is the sound of Sen. John McCain's old man dreams and Bush-league (Cheney, too) New World Order wishes being flushed down the G.O.P.'s toilet of dirty politics. To paraphrase F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Monday night in Denver, Colorado was at least the first 15 minutes in 2008's extended hour of profound human change.

On August 25th, Michelle Obama, the wife of Sen. Barack Obama -- the man who will most likely become, GOD Willing, the next President of the United States -- gave a powerfully sobering speech rooted in historical significance and present-day relevance. It was a speech that spoke to the futuristic hopes of a nation looking for the true meaning of an increasingly deferred American Dream, a nation teetering on the brink of collapse.

Perhaps it's too easy, or too cheesy, or too corny, or too whatever to paint the Obama Movement with the Day Glo brush strokes of Hip Hop. But I can't stop hearing Jay-Z and Beyonce's 03 Bonnie & Clyde -- from his Blueprint 2: The Gift And The Curse -- in my head when I watch the passionate interaction between Barack and Michelle. One verse stands out as I think about how they weathered the "Hi Hater" storm of Jeremiah Wright and The Clintons, the racist buffoonery of that New Yorker magazine cover, the questioning of her patriotism, or the foolish question of Are the Obamas even Black enough (which I guess is comparable to the ignorant thinking that African American children who enunciate with the proper King's English are talking "White")?:

"...as soon as the show's over/she's right back to bein' my soldier/'cause Mami's
a rider/and I'm a roller/put us together/how they gon' stop/both us?'

Last night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado was an timeless night drizzled in tears. Tears of empowerment when the lionhearted Senator Ted Kennedy inspired a nation with his courageous words of hope and optimism as he effectively passed the torch of JFK and RFK to BHO, not once flinching as cancer held his body under siege. There were tears of recognition from some of the Hillary supporters who slowly began to realize that the enemy they feared was the sister they always had. There were tears of pride welling in the eyes of Marian Robinson watching her baby girl accomplish what she and her late husband Frasier possibly never imagined, but still prepared Michelle and her older brother Craig (the head coach of the men's basketball team at Oregon State University who introduced his sister onstage) for the challenges of a life beyond the windy corners of Chicago's South Side.

As the crowd in Denver and around the world gazed upon this regal African American woman in her royal blue dress, there were tears of grief shed for women just like Michelle who endured water hoses, police batons, and the ferocious incisors of German Sheppard dogs over 40 years ago.

Actions that may have ripped their clothes and broken their skin, but not their spirit.

Michelle Obama's eloquent speech to the Democratic National Convention was the beatific resolution of Fannie Lou Hamer's brutally beautiful struggle.

There were also tears of joy and happiness when the precocious Sasha--the younger sister of Malia -- asked her dad, who was on the huge screen in a live feed from a family's house in Missouri, "What city are you in, Daddy?" That off-the-book moment, not guided by the campaign's media coaches or communication directors, crossed lines of race, status, and demographic, and softened the hardest of hearts: "That sounds like my daughter".

So maybe in retrospect, trying to comport a Hip Hop tableau to the multi-layered narrative of Barack and Michelle Obama doesn't track. But as I watched Michelle hold it down for her husband, her man, her partner, her other half, I too, wondered, like Jay-Z and possibly Barack (on the plane, on the way home, eyes closed, seat reclined, iPod on):

how they gon' stop/both us?

Comments

[jove6222]

Barry,

You continue to present things in an eloquent manner. Reading your articles are always a pleasure.

Keep up the good work.


j. Love

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you for your kind words, J Love. I appreciate it!!!

[Political Know How]

Awesome Brotha! You did a wonderful job tying Jay and Bey's Bonnie and Clyde to the real life Michelle and Barack.

I loved it. I'm forwarding the post on to my friends and relatives.

But, I'm troubled by the need for Michelle to make people "less afraid" of her. Is she the boogey man? No, I forgot, she's a beautiful, sophisticated, intelligent and successful Black woman who doesn't fit neatly into any stereotype about black women. Therefore, she's "scary." What a joke.

I can't wait until she's the first lady

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you so much for your kind words, and Michelle Obama is truly
a class act and a real role model for all young women, no matter
who they are. Thanks again!

[djarvis]

Very nice post. I thought Monday night was a very emotional night, too. Unfortunately, people like James Carville had to trash the speakers at the convention for "not being negative enough about McCain". Carville and many of the MSM commentators just don't seem to get it. Monday night was not about tearing our opponents down, but lifting the country up.

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

It was truly an emotional night and rightly so, because history was made, and a history that
will uplift us all, no matter what race, sex, gender, social strata, etc. Michelle's speech was and is
everything the American Dream is all about. Thank you for your kind words!

[southernsepia]

I was a little skeptical about your invoking Jay's Bonnie and Clyde but you're right. These people are truly dynamic together.

I also saw the faces of the women in the crowd realizing that they had nothing to fear from Michelle and connecting with her in that moment.

Barack and Michelle are the right ones for this moment.

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

Yes, I agree, Barack and Michelle truly the right ones at the right time in
this nation. Thank you for responding to my post!

[blueflush]

both women did a wonderful job. I was brought tears by mrs. obama's speech. I felt that clinton's missing the ticket has alot to do with the box she tried to box obama in after the primaries. i think he was afraid of the perception of his hands being force. besides the clintons would definitely overshadow him.

[mamacat]

Your blog reminds me that I too was beat up with a baton. I too had tears with Michelle's speech.

Let me make clear that I have never in my life resorted to violence, only non-violent demonstrating. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi were the role models for my generation. BTW, do the people of this country realise how blessed we were to have a leader like MLK? What if, instead, we had had an Osama bin Laden, encouraging people to murder each other?

It may seem funny, but I never hated the law enforcement official who beat me up. When demonstrating for change, one realistically should expect the American police to try to beat one into submission. Even today, it is the only way some of them know to react to people excercising their Constitutional right to peaceful assembly. Let me also say that I met many decent law enforcement officials as well, who knew their duty and tried to carry it out, and who seemed to me to be constantly trying to prevent their fellow policemen from overreacting.

What I do hate is that inappropriate police violence still happens. We still have repressive law enforcement agencies that believe it is their right to enforce their way of thinking on other people with batons, pepper spray, and guns. When people engage in non-violent civil disobedience, they should never be subjected to beatings and/or threatened with death. It still happens, and that is very sad.

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

I agree with you and respect what you have gone through especially
how that experience has given you such a powerful testimony that you
shared on this post. Thank you so much!

[RepugsOut08]

Michelle was fabulous!
I didn't know anything about her except the attacks from the Repugs at the beginning of this year, and I was a little worried.
Then I saw her spend a full hour on the morning show, "The View." She was so down to earth, funny, smart and gracious, that I knew the Republicans would have to back off trying to trash this lady.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If fear and lies keep us from having this dynamic, caring intelligent couple from entering the White House, the country has truly gone mad!

[TRWSEW]

Please provide the exact date that Michelle endured the water hoses and attack dogs?
And provide documentation to prove it.
Please!!!!!!!

[Danigirl65]

He said "women like Michelle", not "women, like Michelle" - the punctuation makes it or breaks it. His intention was black women like Michelle.

Proper grammar and punctuation skills are something we should all pay better attention to. Spelling wouldn't hurt much either.

By the way, great post, Barry. Michelle knocked it out of the park last night, and Hillary didn't do such a bad job herself tonight.

[Pupadup4oBama]

By the way Barry (sorry i was a little too quick with the mouse) great article...thank you for really rounding out these two people as a solid team.

PS when you quoted little Sasha I could hear her sweet little voice - loved it! :)

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you so much for adding clarifying that for the other poster, and also for your
kind words! I appreciate it!

[ruthinking]

PLEASE READ: the post is talking about Black women who were attacked in the PAST. Honestly, can you please read, then think, then post.

[PATina]

There always has to be one... uneducated, non-reader in the bunch. You are it.

[americaforme]

In these dark days of economic struggle our soon to be first Lady Michelle brought a heart rendering speech that crossed all the barriors of disgruntled, undecided, democrats. A grand Lady of great magnitude, coached an beguiled, winning her way into American hearts. We are all winners from listening to her.

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

An eloquent response. We are all winners from listening to Michelle's speech
and Hillary's too. Thank you for reading!