Change You Can Dance To: Obama Music Videos

Like cities across the country, Houston is abuzz over the inauguration of our new president. The race was close here: Obama beat out McCain by 19,000 votes out of more than million cast in Harris County. But, this weekend, I am hearing much more talk of inauguration parties than complaints about our president-elect.

And community calendars are filled with events celebrating the inauguration. Last night, I attended a great Obama-themed screening at the Station Museum put on by the Aurora Picture Show: a local non-profit "micro-cinema" dedicated to promoting non-commercial films that often take the form of vanguard, short, artist-made works.

Aurora Picture Show's curator, Mary Magsamen, put together a very fun show entitled - Change That You Can Dance To: Obama Music Videos - capturing a diverse cross-section of about 20 of the tens-of-thousands (it turns out) Obama-themed music videos created by people across the U.S. and the world during the campaign. The videos ranged from folk to hip-hop to reggae. Most were polished; a few less so. Some took on a serious tone, while others were quite funny. And all were poignant in the way they captured the creativity and excitement elicited by the Obama campaign. In fact, midway through the show, my friend, Isabella, leaned over to me and said, "If I had seen these videos all together like this during the election, I would have known for sure that he was going to win."

Those in Houston can stop by the Aurora Picture Show library to view the show. But, since the show was drawn from web-based videos, most can also be found on the web through YouTube and Vimeo - the sources that made sharing this type of creativity possible in the first-place.

And for those who wish to sample the show from home, below are the links to my personal favorites included in the show. Enjoy!

Canada Loves Obama: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTc8c_FLTL8

Mariachi

Obama Posse

Change the World http://vimeo.com/1869764

Obama Boy Band

Kenge Kenge