Obama and the Myth of Black Excellence (Part 2)
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- Опубликовано: 25 июн 2024
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After a nostalgic trip down memory lane in the last video, F.D takes Obama's legacy to task in this one. In the process, he looks at the many glaring issues with Obama's legacy as a president that are often glossed over due to his sterling reputation and historical significance. In the process, F.D takes to task the lessons often taken from Obama and the impact he's had on the image of black success and whether that image is a good or bad thing.
00:00 Intro/Ad read
09:09 There is no "Post Racial" America
14:22 Barack's alignment to Neoliberalism
19:29 The Drone Strikes
25:44 Black Boomer Race Rhetoric
35:24 The Problem with "Black Excellence"
48:50 Final Thoughts
54:40 Patreon Patrons and sneak peek
Videos referenced
Fab Socialism- • FACT: Obama is the Cut...
Thought Slime- • Thanks Obama | Why Oba...
John the Duncan-
• Built Different: Neol...
"Are you going to tell an 85 year old black man who experienced the civil rights movement first hand that his favorite president, the realization of a life-long aspiration, is a war criminal? Are you going to tell a family in Somalia that lost a loved one to a drone attack that he’s not?"
That's the fucking line, man. Excellent video.
(But to answer that first half of the question, I absolutely am gonna tell that 85 y/o Black man that his favorite president is a war criminal lol) I can appreciate the point Fiq was making there, but I just don't think you can compare the feelings and symbolic attachments of the former to the lived, material reality of the latter. If we're finding comfort in symbolism at the expense of the lives of Black and brown people in the global south, then we're not that much better than the white people who move very similarly around anti-Black oppression across the board.
I think I need to get that framed! I know as a woman we have that issue with people like Hillary - breaking glass ceilings while being problematic. Kamala is also such an example of this. It's amazing to see shirts saying 'the Vice President looks like me' in the little girl's section of clothing stores for kids of color but I didn't support her and still do not due to her policies. The more we study history, the more we realize every hero was a villain in someone else's story and its hard to reconcile that
The first line seems to be excuse-making. I can guarantee if you talk to another "85-year-old black man who experienced the civil rights movement" and was a former panther or BLA, they didn't like Obama.
@@BmoreAkuma Bobby Rush was a former panther. It's not so simple
@@tp2005 Agree with this. I am white, full disclosure. And so I have no business telling any black person how to feel about Obama. If that 85 year old black man likes Obama in spite of him being what he is, it's not my job or place to try to stop him. There's a lot of complexity there. But OTOH it is a simple fact that Obama *is* a war criminal and murderer. If we can't admit to facts like this then US empire will just continue the cycle of devastating people's lives while we quietly forget the last time it happened.
I had an African girlfriend from Senegal in 2010 who lived in France. When we were dating, we agreed to NOT discuss Obama. To say that Obama is persona non grata to most continental Africans is an understatement, starting with the assassination of Qaddafi, who was beloved by many. I was honest when I told her that as a Black American, the symbolic importance of Obama ties me to him, even if I understand her grievances. But when I later attended a graduate law program in Scotland, UK where I was surrounded by students from continental Africa, specifically Nigeria (all of them lawyers, economists, political analysts), and for one year listened to them as they discussed and unpacked to me the destruction wrought upon African and Middle East countries under Obama's watch, I could no longer keep my head buried in the sand. You want to know the impact of Obama's foreign policy, speak to an African intellectual.
Its ironic that the whole rest of the world knew about these angle of the story. I am from India and it was very well known to us. I am really amazed that Americans realized these issues way later. Talks about the propaganda that's run your country
Its the same...
But more dangerous because of its sophistication
@@SouravDas-vi1jh Every country has their own "dangerous" propaganda (India?!? Should we even start there...? Violence against Muslims and the Caste system still being supported behind closed doors). But at least for African-Americans there was one brief shinning moment when we felt anything was possible, a BLACK man could be president, before we realized it was a lie. So you can excuse Black Americans for being naive for awhile, at least.
@@juniorjames7076 Oh definitely!
Definitely we have. And not behind closed doors. Casteism is almost out in the open and upper caste immigrants are carrying it all over the world, especially to US.
But US has a strong upper hand in progressive culture. That's where the duality comes in. If you can understand my point.
He's definitely not beloved in Chad.
@@SouravDas-vi1jh absoutely. The propaganda media kool aid in the US has a special flavour.I sometimes feel like they're living in a gold fish bowl of delusion while the 'real' world watches them with pity
"It makes no sense why so many black men show so much loyalty to Bill Cosby when Bill Cosby on so many occasions showed an explicit hatred for inner city, poor and working class black males."
That's a quote that should go on a wall
I Never understood the poor blacks loyalty to the few rich blk mofos who disrespected them once they made it...lol..it goes for Cosby, Kanye, Lil Wayne, Jay z, Pharell, asap rocky etc...
It isn't loyalty. People just appreciate their music on some level.
Found this quote at 31:22 - yeah, this was on point.
Probably because they hate themselves on various levels
“Are you gonna tell the family in Somalia that lost their loved ones to a drone attack, that he’s not” you got me crying at Culver’s
If you want someone really thoughtful and intelligent to talk through the complexity, black joy, and ambivalence toward Obama, this video series does the damn thing. I didn’t realize how much I needed to process these things, so thank you Fiq
Neither did i😭
That's what made this one so tough
Yes. As a 43 year old ‘xennial’, talking to my 65 year old mom about Obama is interesting- because there is only so much policy bashing she can take. I remember when he initially started to run and I thought a) he’s a moderate and b) he ain’t getting too far. But then I was all on board when he won the nomination. But by that second term, it’s like, what exactly is he doing for us?
But it’s hard to talk about these complex feelings with someone who went to segregated elementary and actually saw local first this and that in her generation.
@@dnikkithatsame5990 I'm in the same boat and I'm 26 with a 47 year old mom. I mean she sees me on some level but then she'll interject with a "well what about trump". To which my response is " I never supported or voted for him so I expected the worst".
Tackling these topics with my grandparents....will simply never happen. Not worth it.
To be fair, I can't believe anyone, let alone on the Left, could possibly have time to criticize Obama when Trump still exists. And the Republican party. And conservatism. And capitalism. And Christianity. Etc.
I was also highly critical of Obama but at the same time I was not that disappointed in his presidency. I knew it was all for show, great optics, he was a black man in an empty suite with an attractive family. At the end of the day Obama was the typical black American politician, a man without a country, a man who ran away from the same people who helped him get elected, a coward.
It's like one of those black family convos. We criticize the shit out of him in our home, but in public we're more protective and defensive because of how we are represented by him, whether we like it or not. Such a good video. I'm sharing.
I can relate. I had strong criticisms and doubts about Obama in his 2nd term because of everything talked about in the vids and more, but I kept it all to myself in public spaces because it was clear my reasons for not liking him anymore were VERY different from the majority. 😅
im so sorry. You shouldnt have to do that.
I hate playing a similar game w trans folk. Celebrating the few who are recognized, while criticizing the nuanced issues w trusted friends.
i wanna be honest, so i do my best to surround myself w ppl who are ok w my criticisms... sometimes that alienates me from queer folk, but so be it. I just pray those capitalist-apologists eventually learn more tolerance.
Staying on code right? That's what happens when you don't have enough positive représentation...
That is so true
As a white family, we do the same, isn’t life funny.
This was painful to hear because you have articulated and informed me of everything that makes me uncomfortable in the face of black excellence. The words of Kwame Nkrumah keep ringing in my ear "The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked-up with the total liberation of the African Continent". I think of these words with every black billionaire that is announced.
Thanks for that quote!
The Handbook Of Revolutionary Warfare and Class Struggle in Africa are books everyone, but especially EVERY African at home and abroad should read. What Nkrumah said is not unlike what Malcolm X said (and i paraphrase): '"You won't understand the conditions of the people in America unless you understand the conditions of the Congo." We MUST understand that the material conditions of Africans globally are inextricably linked.
@@alwaysastudent louder for the folks in the back PLEASE
We need more Black Billionaires.
@@bmwjourdandunngoddess6024 We don't need ANY billionaires. When someone makes billions, another person's labor is exploited. There should be no such thing as a billionaire, as long as there's houselessness and hunger. What is needed is socialism, where the masses own the means of production as opposed to a handful of people doing so. There are true examples of socialist models around the world, both past and present. And what tends to happen (as per the capitalist/imperialist model) any place around the world practicing socialism tends to be invaded, coups installed, etc. This is what happened with Iran, Chile, Grenada, Ghana, Libya, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Vietnam, Venezuela and many other places around the world.
This is such a good video. And I do think it'll be interesting to see what the next Black President looks like and how it will be different.
I wonder if its gonna be Harris?
@@disc0duck I doubt it. Her and Biden aren't stacking up wins. I'd be shocked if Biden wasn't a 1 term president. I'm just hoping for a Republican president that isn't insane at this point
I’m expecting a more conservative Eric Adam’s type to emerge on the national stage soon. A conservative black voice with “swag” to sway folks towards republican ideology. KanYe is already on this, I expect it to keep growing.
Sadly it looks like the US is backsliding into fascism so this is unlikely unless they're the absolute worst
@@benoitbrown9400 I really hope it's not Michelle as she would undoubtedly be facing the same criticism and expectations as Obama unfortunately. It will probably be worse as she is a darkskin black women, and holds an image that will undoubtedly uphold expectations that she would not be able to do. I do not want her to become a fantasy . Although, if she didn't have to face these issues I would also LOVE, LOVE her to be president. Same with Stacy, but they both will face these huge expectations unfortunately.
Its hard to express how this is the first real retrospective on Obama I've watched that really, truly got to the heart of my feelings on him and his presidency. I was 16 when he was elected, and I remember the night they announced he won. My mom was at my grandma's, and I called her and we cried together while shouting for joy. My grandma cried in the background, who was born and raised in mississippi in the 30s and 40s and moved to Cleveland in the 50s, and never thought she'd live to see that day. It was huge for all of us.
But as I became an adult, and became even more political and aware, I realized the hollowness of his promises and the reality of what he was and what he did. The pain of that disillusionment, and the cognitive dissonance it brought.
Like, its so hard to explain to non-black poc and white people just how hard it was to have to defend him on one hand because the racism was just so fucking horrendous against him, but on the other hand what he DID was abborrent.
I can also say I wouldn't have gotten health insurance, or start my medical transition, without the ACA or the laws he put into place to force insurance to covet trans healthcare. But I can also say his policies decimated black communities with the bank bailouts, not giving that money to the people they ruined or providing any aid to those affected.
He was complicated, and I have complicated feelings about him, and I probably always will. But boy did it sure radicalize me further left because I learned there is no voting away oppression, any movement towards liberation and equity will always be co-opted into the system. Thanks obama for teaching me that lesson.
Obama doesn't need defending. He is an imperialist. He is openly anti-African. His administration exacerbated Bush policies. i got called self-hating for never supporting him, but a keen study of history would tell you that anyone who takes on the role of U.S. president (regardless of ethnicity) is never going to be revolutionary, nor are they going to be for the people's class. Their role is solidly to uphold capitalism, imperialism and (neo)colonialism.
This doesn't mean that people who believed Obama was going to be beneficial in some shape or form and voted for him are bad people. i've spoken to so many people over the years though, who think you can push democrats to the left, when historically and scientifically this has never been the case. Neoliberalism (and all else i named above) is a republicrat thing. The NATO invasion (and utter destruction) of Libya; the U.S. supported coup in Honduras; the continual U.S. supported coups in Haiti; the extended blockade on Cuba (and over 30 other countries, which in effect starves out the masses of people); Obama in Ghana (in 2009) telling Africans not to blame colonialism for the problems existing in Africa today... The extensive funding for the militarization of police under Obama; the U.S. (under an Obama administration) supported the coup in Ukraine in 2014, thus enabling the neo nazi takeover (which still exists today, and which they were originally aware of- and they still decided to help fund and train for that takeover)... The original objective of NATO was to destroy the Soviet Union. Once that happened, NATO never dismantled, and it's role has been to still aim to destabilize Russia (and to expand across Europe), but to also negatively affect anywhere around the world rejecting western imperialism and IMF loans. USAID and the NED also work to infiltrate and destabilize socialist-led governments, and the U.S. plots to install their desired government. This happens under both democrat and republican governments. Obama was no different. Primary members of that cabinet were also bank executives (which is what largely funded his campaign). We can look at the continuation of the Daley empire in Chicago, through Rahm Emmanuel, directly after leaving the Obama administration. There are plenty of examples. There were plenty of sites at the time as well, like Obama The Conservative, that charted his massively horrible record.
The important thing is that people actually study the voting and policy records of candidates before they make a decision to vote. People go on and on about how 'our ancestors died for the right to vote.' However, too many people in the U.S. vote based on either identity politics or personal comfort, and rarely think about how U.S. imperialist policy shapes the world. Our ancestors didn't fight 'just so we can have a Black president one day.' A keen study of history will show that ancestors like Fannie Lou Hamer were organizing in order to build direct alternatives to the republicrat parties. People talk about not voting for a republican because republicans support taking away reproductive rights; but democrats and republicans consistently fund and train reactionary factions around the world that are heavily patriarchal and are not necessarily sympathetic to reproductive rights. The U.S. is also close allies with the Saudis, and their record for women's and marginalized gender rights is definitely not compassionate. The U.S. doesn't care what group you belong to, as long as it is the one that will destroy democratically elected governments around the world.
The only question we need to ask ourselves before making a decision is, 'are they for the people's class, or the anti people's class?' Then check their records and policies to find the answer.
On the ACA; i actually read the document covering it (which is extremely long); and while i think parts of it were positive (like coverage with parents/guardians up till 26, etc.); however, its purpose was to ultimately suit private interests. One of the more 'modern' skeletons of ACA was 'Romneycare' in Massachusetts; the Heritage Foundation (the right wing think tank) also contributed to developing it, along with executives from insurance companies like Wellpoint. Obama was vehemently against socialist health care, and took credit for something that was originally a republican plan (which went as far back as Nixon even). Also, when i had to get ACA i couldn't afford it, and when i told a rep that i was not able to pay because it was between that or rent for the month, she was like, 'we don't care, as long as you pay us.' When i had to cancel ACA i had to pay a huge fine during tax time.
The 10 second explanation of all of this? Capitalism is inhumane, and it doesn't matter if a democrat or republican is in office. Nothing will change until the masses change it. History informs us of this.
The other important thing is that, whether or not someone votes, it's even more important to join an organization fighting for justice. We should never impose a moral compass on, or depend on a U.S. president, or any single individual. The role, again, of a president or prime minister in the west is to uphold capitalism and imperialism, not support the people's class. We must think beyond the four walls of this imperialist core. The more we know, the more we grow.
Be well...
(p.s. i will say that none of this has been complicated for me; that said, i love your last paragraph. As an organizer though, i don't think every movement will be coopted. Infiltrated, yes. Coopted? No. What Obama did for you, It was Reagan who did that for me at 10 years old. It was him who helped me develop a strong anticapitalist sensibility, when i watched the Iran Contra hearings on tv.)
@@alwaysastudent ok but just make a video you don‘t have to write all that
TyloschSosas _ So, not always a student then?
There could be voting away oppression but not without organising decent candidates to vote for, unless you know of another way, what hope do we have. Don’t tell me none, coz I live on it, lol.
.
Watched it on Nebula and without spoiling it, all I could think about was ppl calling Biden’s presidency, Obama 2.0 when its more like a retrograde than upgrade to me
Can we really say one way or another, though? Like, it's clear to me that Biden is a very large upgrade from Trump, Trump was a very large downgrade from Obama, and Obama was an upgrade from Bush. I think it's unlikely that Biden, overall, will be distinctly better than Obama, but he clearly pushes the trend line in the right direction. It's also unlikely that Biden will be a downgrade vs Bush, but there's flex there - how the Biden/Obama/Bush comparison shakes out will depend more on things like Congress, the courts, and the states than on Biden himself. Of the four, I think only Bush and Trump can be sensibly compared to presidents prior to 9/11 or so - which is a relatively arbitrary but functional cutoff. And in that context, I'd say Bush is a bit worse than average for post-WWII presidents, and Trump is down near the all time bottom, only really competing in the Buchanan-Wilson zone.
And of course it's important to recognize that more distance in time means both more certainty about the particular effects of a president's actions and less certainty about the relationship between those actions and overall quality of life for anyone or any group in particular.
edit: And now that I've written all this stuff and thought all these comparisons through, it occurs to me that I may have misunderstood what you meant by "retrograde".
Biden's presidency has been so shit and disappointimg that I sometimes I'm about to regret my vote and then I remember who the alternative was. Big issue with the political system and elections, we are literally forced between the lesser of 2 evils. Wish we could vote for an actual better option for once
@@yasielromero8236 you usually can during primaries. People just usually don't vote well. You only get a lesser of two evils because that's what people vote for.
@@FireTrainer92 I think the bipartisan system ( yes I know there are more than 2 parties but I mean the 3 matter and win everything), there are better systems we could have.
@@yasielromero8236 I agree I still think the American Voters would still voter closer to keep the status quo even with more than 2 parties
Giving Lupe the respect he deserves on video for calling out Obama's participation in America's imperialism and foreign terrorism feels like something Fiq wanted to do for a long time
And he grew up in Chicago, so it only makes sense.
Lupe has spouted plenty of anti-Semitic garbage, he's the LAST person who is any position to be calling out Obama.
@@jacksonteller3973 even if hitler himself came back from the dead and said Obama is a terrorist, Obama is still a terrorist doesnt matter who says it! look at the facts!
@@jacksonteller3973
Antisemitism or calling out Israeli genocide?
it's not antisemitic to criticize the Israeli apartheid state@@jacksonteller3973
I remember watching Obama get out of the car on Inauguration Day, and being afraid for him, it jolted me, subtext became bold text. The whole election really jolted me. I’m white, and seeing my tiny conservative town react to Obama disturbed me. My church, and family always preached kindness and empathy, it deeply shaped me. I apparently missed the asterisk, the “except for”, I was baffled by the friction I was facing. The generalized anger, unwillingness to listen, to understand. It broke my heart, and made me resent my hometown.
I was watching CSPAN the night Obama won the election. It was a very different tone than what was happening on CNN. I sat and listened for hours as call after call came in from White Americans who were genuinely afraid of what had just happened. Hours and the phone never stopped ringing. You could hear the terror in their voices. Not a single call was happy.
Again, this went on for hours and hours. Contrast this with me listening to the sounds of unabashed joy and celebration in the streets and I already knew that those calls were the real truth of what the next four years were going to be. I wasn't surprised at all when the backlash began and saw Trump's election as the culmination of what I heard that night.
@@nervousallday I know, what really struck me, was the tone of each of those nights. The generalized anger after Obama, like they were mad he had the audacity. When Trump won, it was articulated fear, people clearly stated why they were concerned. The difference in those reaction speaks volumes. I was so disgusted by the way that Trump supporters mocked peoples tears, like these people are legitimately scared for their futures. So callous.
@@nervousallday wow.
To be fair, conservatives and Christians always freak out when a Democrat gets into office, though to be sure, Obama being Black made sure that we'd see a bunch of racist comments thrown in along with the rest. So the problem has always been who it always has been: conservatives and Christians (whlte males in particular, obviously, though even rightwing POCs are to blame).
I swear that if Christianity was banned in this country (and the West at large), 99% of all the world's problems will vanish immediatly. We get an end to racism, slavery, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, etc. It will also result in a drastically smaIIer popuIation, which would leave a TON more resources for everyone else while also significantly reducing pollution and climate change.
Just take a look at any country were Christianity is already currently banned and it's obvious how much more progressive and tolerant we could potentially be.
@@nervousallday I remember the big thing on the news right after the election was the town halls across the country, including one that I'll never forget where the entire room full of white people had linked arms and begun singing "God Bless America" while crying as if they were waiting for a fucking nuclear bomb to land on them. I'm a white man myself and grew up in the suburbs of the Midwest, and I will never understand what on Earth they were so afraid of. It's now fourteen years later, they are more afraid than ever and I still don't understand.
You know, I can't remember what the actual term for this was called, but there's this form of cultural commodification that black celebrities do where they go all in on performing blackness but only dipping their toes in dealing with black issues, of not just outright engaging in antiblackness themselves. Barack Obama basically did a political form of that.
So exactly the thing he criticized Drake for in the video before this lol
Ben Dixon called it the Black Misleadership Class
I see a lot of Black celebrities talking about Black issues though??
@@kyleflournoy7730 Drake is so ugh!
no he did not.
I'm not Black. I'm Latino, my parents are Guatemalan immigrants who came knowing no English.
My mom doesn't follow politics much, and at this point just asks me what I think and goes along with it. But Obama brought Latin artists into the white house, groups like Burns Vista Social Club. He chose a Hispanic women who looks like one of my tias to be a Supreme Court Justice He brought our people into the room as peers.
As a Leftist, I can't help but feel like realistically he's more of the same. A continuation of the malicious and imperialistic acts that is America in the outside world.
But I also can't forget what those things meant to my mom.
He pandered to black people. I remember when his Healthcare bill went through, I was dirt poor. His bill made it so I was fined $300 for not having medical insurance. He bombed civilians in the middle east. He did nothing for the black community besides free phones. His VP was and still is a blatant racist. Imo this whole "black excellence" thing is kind of weird. Imagine if some influencer who was white would talk about striving for white excellence. Black and white leftists/ liberals need to stop looking at people as races and start looking at people based on their character. In the words of MLK: I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
@@weldonebircsbus1525 You can't be a leftist who has a full scope on all of the issues affecting capitalism without having a more clear view on race. White excellence and black excellence can never be the same thing, because black excellence was coined specifically to refer to succeeding despite all of the hardships placed on youf or being black, and white people don't have struggles placed on them *for* being white. MLK's dream refers to a day in the future, a day where we *can* stop looking at race. IN order to achieve that dream we must work to deal with the systemic issues that hold black people back, which includes the mindsets of white people. In order to combat racism, we must acknowledge the reality of race so that we can advocate for policies to undo the centuries of systemic harm by race.
In a different video Fiq recommends Racism without Racists, it's a crucial look into critically understanding the failure of the concept of colorblindness.
What do you mean your not black you’re Guatemalan? Guatamalan isn’t a color? 🤦🏾♀️
@@SJP43 "im not black. im latino, my parents are guatemalan immigrants"
@@abhirupan7630 Guatemalan is a nationality, but if I had to guess, he's probably indigenous Amerindian.
My childhood overlapped the Obama administration in that I was 4 when he was first elected, and 12 when he left office. Him being the first Black president was not something I fully understood as a kid, but I always used to resent how adored he was and how "unproblematic" he was at the time of his presidency, at least in my very liberal community. To me, Obama was just the president that created the war in my home country, dropping bombs and drone striking my people, and I didn't truly understand the nuance of his presidency until years later. This series is honestly the perfect articulation of that nuance and one of the best video essays I've seen in a while, so thank you.
i wonder how much of a part of the reason he was so careful to toe the line and try to maintain his legacy was because he felt a pressure to secure the legacy of the idea of a black president in the eyes of America
This. Someone said in the Part 1 comments that Obama toed the line so that he was the first Black President but not the last.
@@tacrewgirl I think this is the huge reason behind the "Black Boomer Race Rhetoric". Surely part of it is lack of understanding especially when there is a significant class divide between the experiences of these prominent Black Boomers and the vast black working class but I believe the bigger reason behind that rhetoric is both the simple fact that they could never have been so successful in a white environment if they were more candid on race likely leading to them internalizing that rhetoric and the fact that they are trying to portray this image of black excellence partially to contrast the negative view the media often portrays black people in. While I am quite confident that this second reason is ultimately hurting the black community by essentially viewing working class americans who deign not to project perfection as lesser, the first reason is the hard truth of the environment they were raised in and it is difficult to parse who different our environment would be today as it could have lead to both more significant change or an even more hostile environment if they hadn't adopted this tame rhetoric.
@@johannesschroder943 Right now, Black PPl have been discussing Black Excellence and accepting Black Mediocrity now which I think is beautiful!
@@tacrewgirl good point.
yeah anyone that was expecting to be a super-radical leftist is hopelessly naive, he never would've gotten a 2nd term, we all know that.
The part about his "isms", particularly US global imperialism, being "different" 👀 from that of his predecessors is super important. Big and complex questions were posed by the academic community on the African continent. Questions about whether or not his presidency fulfilled the promise of improving the internetional relations between the imperialist US and the global south and Africa in particular.
The meme where tomahawk missles have pink tips and lgbtq+ and blm graffiti on them
AFRICOM was formed in 2007, so that feels like a decided no lol.
The thing that gets me about this whole analysis- or any left-wing analysis of liberal politics for that matter- is that you will never see right-wingers analyzing Trump, Bush Jr. or Ronald Reagan in the same way. Just a thought…
It's the religious mentality that the Christian Right brought to the party and has come to completely dominate the GOP and the right-wing in this country. They apply the same mentality to politics and policy that they do to Church Doctrine. Reaganomics works because they believe it works, despite 40 years of evidence against it. They don't need evidence, they have faith. They can't criticize Reagan or Trump any more than they would criticize God or Jesus. Like even the ones who aren't far enough down the rabbit hole to literally proclaim Trump as the actual second coming of Jesus still give him that same sort of untouchable reverence.
Well said
Its really a problem. Conservative values are attractive because of how simplistic it is. This video was painful to watch and not many people want to reckon with that feeling.
You can find things like this, but they tend to be in old-school "respectable" conservative magazines, and of course their portraits of what a Reagan etc might have done right or wrong are usually less than satisfactory.
Of course that type of critical conservatism barely exists in the GOP anymore, which has now embraced fascism.
The important thing is for us lefties to keep bagging on each other and "reevaluating" one another, forever, while avoiding confronting rising right-wing fascism. We will all be reunited in Virtue Pony Heaven.
I'm a black South African and I feel like we need to have this conversation about Nelson Mandela because he and Barack are in the same whatsapp group. It was only in university through discourse that I began to realize that as beloved as Mandela is around the world, he sold black South Afticans out in a similar way. And the way that white people all around the world love him, despite his earlier radicalism, is very telling
Well consider his circumstances. In prison away from family in a hostile country. Unlike Kwame Nkruma before him, he regonized that white supremacy was a hlobal phenomenon. Nkruma, after he liberated his people and built ghana into an economic success (through very socialist policies), was taken down by the USA.
I used to think that he was a sell out but after considering what he endured, I dont blame him. Cuz even now south africans are not willing to sacrifice their economic stability (i.e. buying and and working for other black people) but we expect nelson mandela not to "sell out" that time he had already sacrificed TOO MUCH
Leading the South African freedom struggle is a huge sacrifice and you’re right Mandela had already sacrificed too much. With all due respect to him, he had no business leading the freedom struggle after 27 years in prison.
Being Central Asian and having grown up in a school system that did not touch upon black history, I've always lived my life missing a lot of cultural context and understanding regarding black people, black culture and the nature of what Obama meant/means to black people. It's complicated. But I really think this two-parter dug into the complexities, the joy, the disappointment, the ambivalence, the frustration of 'you could be doing better'. I think your age (IDK how old you are but I'm 20 so I'm gonna assume you're older than me) has given you a lot of experience, reflection and time to understand the structural realities (capitalism, respectability politics, etc.) that make talking about race and recent history so difficult for so many of us.
My context for Obama growing up was my parents being stoked about him initially because it was a dream realized, a non-white president, and it seemed to them like holy crap, maybe anyone really can be anything in the United States. Then as drone strikes became a centerpiece of his administration it became clear to them that he was not someone they wanted us to take after ideologically, but they didn't want to badmouth him because 1. all their white coworkers were already doing that, we lived in Wyoming at the time and 2. they didn't know what it would do to my brother and I to see them badmouth the first non-white president. So I kind of get it when people in the comments who are black say they didn't feel comfortable (and some still don't) saying anything bad about him. I didn't want to when he was in office and I don't want to now because some part of me doesn't want to feed into or validate the racist anti-Obama rhetoric around me.
TL;DR I have no idea how to feel about Obama and maybe I never will but at least I've gained a lot of valuable insight and food for thought from your videos, and I appreciate you for helping me see more facets of this.
I’m central asian, born and raised. I was 14 when he was elected and I remember being super stoked for him, even though I was politically illiterate. Black struggle and culture resonated a lot with young people here, even though for the most part we lacked education and basic english language to actually be informed on it.
I think the discourse about Obama is interesting because while yes, he’s a war criminal, it is curious how this is wielded. Obama is by no means an exceptional war criminal amongst all the other american presdients. I feel like sometimes while criticizing him people fail to criticise the sociopolitical structures he came from and upheld.
As a black immigrant who's country America continues to pillage and destabilize "Same shit, different day" Thank you for making this.
What country are you talking about if you wish to answer? There are several in my mind that could be the one you're referring
@@gonzalo4722 Haiti
@@achronos178 people here donate to USAID cutouts here like Hope for Haiti, and think they're helping. When they're funding the same people who assassinated Aristide. It's fucked up. Best of luck to you, friend.
@@achronos178 Haiti gets it _really_ bad. Best of luck.
@@Gaff. the West never forgave them for overthrowing slavery
Heavy thoughts, FD - thanks for the video. Despite everything, I love this country and that president, but I don’t think you can separate his “black excellence” from America itself. My personal POV is he navigated the gray as best he can. He tried to hold onto power while making “steady change” in the cautious, incrementalist manner of our forebears. He made quintessentially American compromises along the way that were sometimes wrong headed and establishmentarian. But I don’t think there is a version of this story where the first black POTUS was ever going to be a real radical. Flaws and all, I am grateful for what he did accomplish and hopeful that someone, black, white or other will eventually pick up where he left off and push our country towards a more just and less savage version of itself.
You have so eloquently put my own feelings regarding Obama into words. Since I have an understanding of how politics really work I'm not surprised by the lack of real change he could make in this country while also being very disappointed with the compromises that were made to move forward with incremental changes.
It's really hard to be fair to him, when the hopes for what he represented were necessarily so high and how much he could accomplish - or was willing to try - was necessarily limited. On top of that, it's armchair quarterbacking with intangibles to judge what he could or should have tried - how much generosity we're going to grant or how much progressive assertiveness we will demand are too much based on guesses and gut feelings.
Thx for putting this into words. Hard to think of exactly how to say this.
"But I don’t think there is a version of this story where the first black POTUS was ever going to be a real radical." This right here. We saw the same story playing out with Kamala Harris.
This is exactly it. That you for putting into words my jumbled thinking. He certainly made mistakes and deserves criticism, but I also have some compassion for him to the extent that he was in no man's land and every single move was "burdened" by being the first black president. There was no way to really win in our system and he navigated it very cautiously.
As a black man from the UK (on the Gen X/Boomer cusp 😱) he lost me with the Henry Gates affair. If he couldn't fire a white cop for being racist showed me his political impotence. The clock struck 13 and exploded
As a former Black male educator myself, I’d love to hear a full discussion/video about charter schools. That part of the video was my favorite. I enjoy having these conversations with my Black educator friends, we don’t always agree with one another about the solutions though.
Yes, I'd like to hear what he had to say about charter schools in general and within the Black community.
Charter schools fucked up the city that I live in. Most of the libraries and FACE specialists (among other roles.) got laid off because of where all the funding is going.
that Nazi flag clip was comedy gold, it literally took my breath away
ikr
It legit feels like an onion clip.
I listened to this in the background, do you have a timestamp?
Reminded me of the clip where people were wearing face masks with Nazi Flags in an attempt to represent how mask policies were just like the tyranny of Nazi germany...
Seemingly the sheer stupidity and irony was lost on them.
@@ashikjaman1940 12:25
Man, Aaron McGruder was so on point with his analysis in "It's a Black President, Huey Freeman" back in 2010. Now it's 2022 and he's shilling NFTs.
Shit's rough, ya'll. It's hard having to believe in ideas rather than people.
There's no such things as ideas in politics without people to carry them...
@@fideletamo4292 True. . . but the people who express those ideas can change or perhaps not even believe in the ideas they claim to support. You gotta keep your hopes high but your head out of the clouds.
McGruder has disposable income, so NFTs are no big deal to him.
The amount of theft that will occur based on those terrible ideas is going to destroy lives.
Some people love money. Knowing what I know about systemic issues and how it affects people, I can't blame the individual but a person like that should know better with the sort of power they wield. It's harmful but like how J.K. Rowling is doing her thing, it's levels above extra harmful.
NFTs are anarchocapitalism in action. Put another way, NFTs (like cryptocurrencies) were created and are perpetuated by people who think that the only problem with capitalism is subjecting it to rules (hence they are not anarchists, as capitalism is a hierarchical power structure).
The segment with your family...that was the most humanizing moment that underscores the meaning of your work. Those boys, and the voice of you and their mother in the background- that's what struck me most. It's for them that we dig through all this shit. As I watched the segment, I just thought of how those two boy have to navigate all this stuff we men do now. They are hella blessed to have you for a dad. Your a true scholar, and while they undoubtedly will have to fight this same war we do, your boys will be better armed and armored than most.
I’ve been binging on your content for the past two days now. Never in a million years would I watch videos on RUclips that were over 45 minutes long, but you provide gold content. Breath of fresh air, plus you provide a relatively unbiased viewpoint on various topics! Thank you for being a beacon in the sea of clickbait videos
I never really liked the term black excellence because it felt like a modernized term for the idea we as black people are told daily that if we work hard we can have this singular idea of success. Thanks for a dressing this and so much more like charter schools. I graduated from a kipp charter school and saw more pop up after it was seen as successful and how that affected pinlic schools in Newark. Thanks again Fiq and keep up the good work brotha.
Yeah it's a kinda sitcom perfect family thing and I don't like that
Black excellence exists but somehow it happens more often in middle class or less poor born families...
In a moment of hot takes and cancel culture you speak so eloquently on holding two truths at the same time. It's hard...really appreciate your perspective. I hope we can all get there, and perhaps that's what I personally should remember about President Obama.
Thank you. 🙏✌️
@F.D. Signifier...i am new sub to your channel (I am a Muslim from a country called Bangladesh- which is a small country beside india and Myanmar). I am learning so much about black culture; black art, music and the struggles of being born black in america as well as so much about your history. In the 90s I used to listen to 2pac, Notorious B.I.G, Snoop Dogg, dr.Dre, Bone Thugs and Harmony, Wu-Tang Clan, Fugees etc. Loved the work of movie stars such as Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Eddie Murphy and their movies so its really educational to learn the back stories of aforementioned Black Artist and the history and struggles through racism and other difficulties that you've educated me on a whole different level, allowing me to connect all the dots and cross all the Ts as the saying goes.
I wish you all the best and May God Bless you and your family and I pray you continue to put out these amazing videos. I have been binge watching your videos since discovering your channel. Apologies for sounding like a fan boy but what I said comes from a place of respect rather than being a fan only.
My partner and I made a conscious effort to avoid using phrases like "you need to be twice as good".
Instead we've focused on giving him the best of everything and developing the sense of entitlement that middle and upper class white people have: the idea that he deserves the best because he does the work to get it.
I don't want him paralysed by pressure or so afraid of losing that he never takes a leap into a risk like business ownership or stock trading or running for public office...
I feel that those pressures hampered me rather than spurred me on.
Ah yes, the best reason for someone to win a Nobel Peace Prize: seeming like a pretty chill dude
Actually, considering some previous winners of the Nobel Prize, Obama has the exact same credentials: being a murderous sociopath.
first nobel peace prize winner to bomb another nobel prize winner, truly groundbreaking
@@theswagman1263I bet illegally arming the Mexican cartels was what ultimately swayed the voters 😂
“Obama’s allegiance was to power”: cue menacing music 🤣 💀
that ending, i started crying. you built up this case of the harms of Obama, then put it all aside to show the power of his image to inspire. Thanks for both of these videos. i appreciate folks like you keeping the nuance alive and strong. i love bashing on liberal politicians, but i recognize the importance of grace, especially w marginalized folks, including if they obsess over Obama, one way or the other. (Not the politicians though. If i had the chance, i would call Obama a monster to his face)
I cried too. 💔
bashing on liberals helps nobody except the GOP
The “two things can be true at once” passage is so powerful. Tremendous, dauntless commitment to truth and nuance, as ever on this channel
I can only imagine how big Obama was for Black US citizens and don’t want to be disrespectful to them. However, as citizen of the Global South, I can only see the Obamas as ultimate nightmare.
I live in a country which has been forcefully annexed to the US world order. Maybe you gringos won’t understand how that goes, but basically there are dozens of countries in the world (perhaps more than 100) where you just cannot do things the way your people or government or even elites would have it. In such countries, major things are done in line with US interest. This was specially true in the 2000s through the 2010s.
To give you an example in the realm of policy, my country has a more than 10x bigger Black African diaspora when compared to the US. We were forced by the US to adopt and perfect the “war on drugs”. The number of black people that die because of the war on drugs over here is on the scale of a very destructive civil war (this is not an exaggeration, the police here kills literally orders of magnitude more than in the US). I could give countless other examples, from indigenous peoples being murdered to the sabotage, privatization and destruction of national public capabilities. US keeps the Global South on a leash.
The effect that the video describes also happened to the Global South. We thought (wrongly) that Obama would be different in the Global stage. Muhammad Ali-like. When fascist right-wing attempted a coup d’état in my country against a moderate center-left government, I thought Obama would intervene and block it. He had the power to. Just to recap for all you gringos: in dozens of countries, you just can’t pull off regime change without US support. But, contraly to what I naively expected, Obama offered ALL support. In fact, some time later, we discovered that he had been deceitfully helping the fascists for years.
I cannot understate the amount of damage this has done to my country, especially to black and poor people, as well as women and minorities. Since then, neoliberals and fascists rose to power and doubled down on destructive US-imposed policy. For almost a decade now, my country is on the way to become a failed state. As I understand it, there are many more countries that have had a similar experience as a consequence of the Obama administration. Our collective population total hundreds of millions.
Unfortunately, our leaders were blinded by Obama’s charisma and kept their guard low. When you pause to analyze interactions among world leaders at the time, you will see his vanity and narcissism led Obama to personally hate some of Global South leaders. Obama had a desperate need to always be the dominant conciliatory charismatic power figure and could not tolerate rivals stemming from the rise of the Global South. So he planned and orchestrated countless coups, interventions and infiltrations.
I understand that Obama did not create the US Empire, nor is he the inventor of the racist colonial patriarchal forces that back it. However, he did sign up for running and strengthening said Empire. The power and legitimacy he gave to Empire was very damaging to us, peoples of the Global South. This is why, and again with all respect to Black US citizens, I can only see the Obamas as the human face of fascism.
Thank you for sharing that information and explaining.
Even as a person who lives in America and is unaware of what Obama did, I agree that he was still horrible. He was basically a normal US President with slight pretensions towards racial goals and diplomacy (though some things were blocked by Republicans.) To know that he was just as imperialist means that he will never be good even if he was a first for US history.
Even if he was historically significant in being a Black President.
I hope the day comes where Black Presidents are so normal that US people can talk about all the harm he did.
Which country you are from?
@@SouravDas-vi1jh probably brazil. it’s always them calling everybody a gringo 😩💀
@@save_bandit hahaha
Good catch, I actually didnt even know this term...
"Two things can be true at once" 😢 whenever I think about Obama, I'm reduced to the dissatisfaction of that truth.
This may not be a new video but I've been watching through your channel after another video came up in my recommended. This (in tandem with the 1st part) has felt the most important to me so far. I'm indigenous but grew up in a white family and have white skin, that has it's own internal struggle but this isn't the time or place to be talking about that. I was still a baby when Obama was first elected, so for a long time you simply know him as "the president." We're taught he's the first black president, and for me at least the story ends there when we talked about him in school. Recent history wasn't touched on in the public schools that I went to. The history we do learn is whitewashed. Not growing up in a generation that sees the transition from segregation to discrimination to having a black president, and not growing up as a poc with the intrinsic knowledge of what minorities have to go through. Obama is a phenomenon that suddenly becomes unremarkable, until you choose to educate yourself. All I really knew about him growing up was that there was a "thanks Obama" running joke, and that people didn't like Obamacare. Never knew why and didn't get a comprehensive answer when I asked. But now, or at least recently, I've had the luxury of being able to see him as just another politician, liar, war criminal. Which is really just an evolution of "he is the president" with no other remarks. Being truly politically aware for the first time in this era means you don't trust politicians. You don't have faith at all in any system. You expect the lies and deceit. Not ever being part of the audience being lied to in the case of Obama, it's hard to see the icon from the con man. Your videos here untangled that, and I didn't even know or understand that there was nuance for me to learn about. It was an excellent retrospective, you have an incredible way with words as well. Your experience as a teacher really shines through. Thank you.
One of the events I knew I had to re-evaluate my thoughts about him when he co-signed Flint water to be safe for the citizens, downplayed the dangers and rode with administration. These ppl are still living with this contaminated water up to now.
I really love and appreciate this deeply nuanced view, thank you. I was in 8th grade when BO got elected and was so excited and hopeful for change in our country. It was disappointing to mature into an adult and gain a more complex understanding and see how things panned out. To see war crimes committed and a president who was sort of, to my perspective, playing the same game that all politicians seem to. This commentary gives me an even deeper perspective on what Obama could have meant to folks, and why we can't deify or demonize someone straight up. life is grey area.
Despite his super majority, the health care bill still almost didn't happen. As outlined by Susan Page in Madam Speaker, Obama seemed poised to let the bill die when a series of unfortunate events lead to the bill reaching a standstill. It was Speaker Pelosi who ended up continuing pushing it, modifying it as needed to get what they could through the Congress.
I don't say this to disagree with your greater point. I only mean to push back on the bill being as extreme an example of his neo liberalism as it might seem.
Nancy Pelosi, herself a corporatist neoliberal, ensured that the Affordable Care Act would be an example of neoliberalism rather than social democracy.
@@Robstafarian seems more like she was content with it being neo liberal if that meant she could get it passed. The question then becomes, is it better than nothing?
@@JoshsBookishVoyage Like all neoliberal policies, there is real harm in that such half measures are used to deflect further attempts to solve the problems which they did not.
man I graduated from a charter school and I never considered the ethics behind "weeding out the bad kids"
I don't remember many people getting kicked out, but I did immediately remember these two girls that got kicked out either in 6th or 7th grade for something dumb. They both ended up pregnant by the end of middle school, and I wonder if their lives were ruined by not getting help or a second chance.
Thank you for this.
The "Yes we can" line from you was great.
The "Are you going to tell an 85 year old black man that he was a criminal? Are you going to tell a family in Somalia affected by drone strikes that he isn't"" was haunting.
Out of all of your videos this is my favorite so far! I have been saying for several years now that "Black Excellence" is the "Talented Tenth" ideology for a "post-racial" society, and I am so happy to see you bring this up in this video! To grow up Black in a society that is built on your oppression and to still survive is Black Excellence in itself. To privilege a few of us over all excludes that reality, and that's why it never sat right with me.
You are right to highlight the reflection that many of us Black folks had towards Obama, even though he was pretty honest about how he was going to conduct himself as president (which The Boondocks covered, which Marc Lamont Hill mentioned back in 2008, etc.). Folks surprised about Barack calling Baltimore rioters after Freddie Gray's death "thugs" (and doubling down on it), or his 'what about the soldiers' comments after Kaep's kneel should not have been, because of the red flags that you mentioned. But it was ignored by far too many of us as those incidents happened.
I was not much of an Obama fan b/c I grew up in a Black conservative household where I was still shedding that harmful skin for the first couple of years his presidency, but I pushed back against Lupe Fiasco calling Obama a terrorist. I stopped listening to his music for a while after that. I remember even Bill fuckin' O'Reilly defended Obama against Lupe, and I regrettably sided with O'Reilly, not realizing at the time that O'Reilly did not defend Obama because he liked him, but he sided with Barack because he maintained American Imperialism (even though he almost never "agreed" w/him). Thus, Lupe calling Obama a terrorist is an indictment of American foreign policy as a whole (and it is). It's my most regrettable irrational Obama defense of his presidency.
I think that "Black Excellence" as a whole needs to be discarded entirely, because there are far too many people, in particular the Black elite and Black liberal elite especially, who personally benefited from an aesthetic of Blackness America gobbled up during his presidency who still try to benefit from it in the post-Obama years. Folks like Oprah existed well before this moment obviously, but this is geared towards folks, like Ta-Nehisi Coates, who reveled in Obama's legacy to the extent that he compared him to Malcolm X in his We Were Eight Years in Power (like, fuckin' yikes, even the book title reflects your ideas of both videos). Ava Duvernay also embodies this, co-opting "radical" politics around the prison industrial complex with 13th (which is an overrated documentary afaic), and then unabashedly defending "top cop" Kamala Harris, and by proxy, the man who significantly constructed the modern-day PIC in Joe Biden when critics of them had legit concerns about these two being featured as the main candidates for the Democratic Party in the midst of the 2020 Uprisings after George Floyd was murdered. Tyler Perry and his allegiance to prosperity gospel preachers, which tend to harm poor Black folks at disproportionate rates (e.g. defending Joel Osteen after the Hurricane Harvey fiasco, selling a jet to Kenneth Copeland, etc.). Jay-Z and Beyonce adorning Black radical aesthetic as well while moving with Black Capitalist ambitions, I could go on.
As far as commenting about Obama with kinfolk....I won't push back on my elders that still admire Obama, unless they ask me (which they don't, thank god). And even then, I would be cordial yet critical. Surprisingly, some of my kin were not impressed by him, so it is not that much of a hurdle.
(P.S. Having the talk about the paintings with your children was so endearing, it makes me wanna check in on my momma and sister that just drove to Atlanta to see the exhibit this past weekend as well!)
You hit on a point I have been thinking for the longest about the "Black Excellence" tag. It is, once again, a willful way of forgetting that so much of what haunts Black Americans does not come from Black people not being willing to work hard, it is purely the way that we are positioned to begin with and what requires of many of us to just get to "even".
Omg, we got a part 2 so quickly. I thought we were going to wait a while. Thank you, now let me enjoy it ❤️
Watching this video, I remembered the reaction of some of my friends and relatives. It was baffling to me then how anyone could think we were "post racial" when literally the birther crap started before the inauguration. Not to mention people looking for bulges under Michelle's dresses and furiously checking her pictures for signs of an Adam's apple (transphobic, too, to use the idea of Michelle being trans as some sort of insult, but I suppose it's not uncommon for bigotries to come packaged together). I remember phone conversations where I hung up on conservative family members because they repeated that stuff, or they hung up on me because I "called them racist" for pointing out that it IS racist to say black female features are masculine or to question Obama's citizenship when they NEVER did the same for other dems (and now that Biden is president, where are all the questions about birth? You don't suddenly like Democrats now, so what happened to "I'd be this critical of anyone").
I thought "at least now we're seeing what's in people's hearts, so maybe we can actually challenge it directly." I can't believe I forgot that how frustrated I felt at the time.
You’ve covered a lot, that I’m not even gonna try to touch on, it’s excellent. Just the teaching part though. My brother taught in one of the worst performing schools in Florida. He always talked about how the kids weren’t any worse than better funded schools, but that the administration was just overstretched and underfunded. And often, uninterested in helping. His students (8th grade English) hadn’t had a teacher for their 7th grade English class. They just spent that period hanging out in the gym. That shit blew my fucking mind.
Why not both?
🤫
Yep, Obama's both. Also, I hope he recovers from COVID-19 ASAP!
I've been looking forward to seeing the 2nd part of this, and it definitely doesn't disappoint 👍🏻
These video essays are SUCH high quality, Fiq. So glad I discovered you - you're always forcing me to reckon with the experiences of those I haven't considered
Loved the ending of this video. I think it shows that when words aren’t enough to fully describe complex situations, art can demonstrate how we really feel.
I'm so thankful for the complexity, nuance and honesty that you inject into every single video. Thank you so much for sharing your perspectives with us!
To think that any one person, born in this system, can be a "savior" is foolish but understandable. I have no arguments for this vid, not even a "but you left out" because you said enough to make your point. There is no simple answer, there is no individual that will save us. Looking at Obama critically can help tear down the idea of "The One". I very much appreciate this series, those final thoughts hit hard.
Damn, this hits really close to home. I grew up in a black middle class household and all of this hits the nail right on the head. I still have a hard time explaining to my girlfriend why I've come to think that Obama wasn't what we originally thought he was. I should just show her this video.
I think that one Boondocks episode summed it up, I'm glad to have voted for him twice personally but I can see why some people were a bit let down.
31:40 ......that Oprah call out just gave me ALLLLLL the life.
This whole section is so necessary to voice, and I'm an "ancient" millennial turning 40 this year.
Thank you so much... both how you use your voice to say the hard parts out loud 😭😭😭 and how you love your wife to also include her voice too (the whole Black love series was indescribably refreshing) 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿 just thank you. This is the change we need.
Thank you. I'm an Asian man in Asia and I take something universal from this (beyond appreciating this as a somewhat disillusioned fan of Barack Obama):
This is an exemplary approach to reckon any legacy of public figures: politicians, artists, intellectuals, founding fathers, and national heroes.
Very much so. There are differences in every situation, certainly, but we are all human at the end of it all. If we can see and hold onto the common threads in our behaviors and habits, lasting changes can eventually be made. That's my personal hope anyway 😊.
Watched this on nebula early, it was absolutely fantastic. Will leave a comment again later!
Watched it on RUclips now.
I'll be forever grateful to this video for introducing me to "Words I Never Said." That song has gotten me through some rough nights.
Dude... watching you at the end, explaining to your kids....that was beautiful. Not so much WHAT you were teaching...but that you were teaching. It felt like many times when I've done the same thing. The car can be an excellent classroom and children have so many questions. I've always felt it better to turn down the stereo and talk during those questions and take the time to bring them into the fold of understanding...no matter which crease or fold it's a good time to bring them into it!
I have been so excited about part 2 coming out! It’s going to be a good day. You make incredible content!!!
Profound, accessible and refreshing as always. Thank you!
You're definitely one of the dopest intellectuals (breadtube or otherwise) out there. I appreciate the quick inclusion of my HPR article on the Obama drone program.
i always appreciate the personal anecdotes and insightful reflection upon the past that you provide. great video !!
Eagerly waiting 👌🏾
Man, I don't envy you, because every perspective has a positive,has its own negatives, and every negative has its own positives, as such I don't envy seeing the impact your video, your choice of critiques (well place as they might be) will have on the future generations who continue to grow this space. Anyway from South Africa great "TedTalk." I'm glad you're reminding you're audience that their critiques of Obama might not have the the intended outcome, so always center you opinions in the middle before you go ripping because it might not inspire those you wish to inspire.
Both parts of these videos are fantastic. So thorough, and your speaking and eloquence in breaking down complex topics is very digestible. Seems like you were a great teacher and clearly an amazing dad. Keep up the great work FD
Obama's allegiance was to power...
Not even 5 minutes and you're already delivering chills
I’m excited Fiq! Loved you’re last video!
Well, put video. I appreciate you ending with asking your sons about the term "Black excellence." I am happy to know you and your wife are not making your children accustomed to these quote-on-quote positive words. I am starting to divest from the phrase myself. It's hard, but I am getting there😭💯
Black excellence exists just like white excellence but somehow it happens significantly more to middle class or less poor people right?
Man I hate that I'm just now finding you, but I'm so glad I finally have. I love getting points of view outside my own experience, and you don't pull punches. Thank you for everything you do
so good. the duality you presented at the end had me. I even found myself shedding a tear dealing with how two things can be true.
Really appreciate your nuanced approach on this video essay as well as all your others. Nuance is something sorely missed nowadays.
“complexity and nuance is where the truth lies” i LOVE this takeaway and how incredibly thoughtful you handle every topic
I really had my mind set to critique this video and at first, I thought this 2 part series was going to be your first miss. But aside from a few details about the extent of the financial crisis and the particulars of Congress that did legitimately hinder President Obama's legislative options pretty early in his term, this video was excellent. As always your work made me take a pause and reflect and demonstrated a level of nuance that feels like a breath of fresh air. I'm proud to be one of your patrons and I can't wait for what you put out next.
You talking to your children at the end gave me chills, I love that so much
Fuck man 3 times I tried writing down some comment trying to explain how I felt watching this, and it's just not gonna happen
Good ass video
People talk about this as if the other presidents we've had so far haven't been con men-- or as if the system isn't set up to favor that kind of ambition... but everything is different when folks discuss Obama vs when they discuss other presidents and I can't qwhite put my finger on it.
Agreed
For me? He promised so much and got my hopes up. Way up. I didn't give a damn about who he was, I would have cheered for anyone who came in and promised less wealth disparity and more health care. But the disappointment was equally huge.
As a black man I’d rather no Obama. To many of my people use him as a excuse to dismiss racism now or ignore racist systems.
@@christineherrmann205 oh, for sure. It (Obama's tenure) was a huge disappointment. I saw him speak for both of his campaigns, and it took a *lot* to pull that off. I definitely believed he'd make a difference, especially for Indigenous communities. There were a couple things he did, but in the grand scheme of things, he really didn't help us at all.
I'm mostly emphasizing the criticism leveled at him that other presidents (even his vice president) don't get, when they were just as bad or worse. There isn't a single US president worth their own weight in shit, as far as in concerned. Their stories are largely folk tales and cover-ups.
@@imanigordon6803 too true.
Yayyy part 2 is finally here, was waiting for this since I saw the first part.
52:00 this whole monolouge here is so powerful, I cant tell you how many times I rewound and relistened.. It is amazing how you are able to capture so much in so few words.
Also, I remember having those long conversations in the car with my dad growing up. So many of them stick with me every day. Your boys must look up to you immensly.
I come to this channel for nuanced, thoughtful takes and I really appreciate your thoughts here. Thank you for making this series.
The credits beat went really hard tho
I was about to comment that "you're one of my favorite new small content creators", but then I realized that you're not so new and not so small. I love the channel, thanks for everything
You just recontextualized my high school experience, and my self-perception of my own class. From around 37:45 - 39:00 I was hit with a half-remembered interaction where I overheard my classmate shade me and my friends, basically dismissing me as irrelevant to her experience because I was a part of that cohort that was singled out by the school administration. I remember a relatively privileged high school experience, but I ALWAYS remembered it as the natural result of my hard work, not a function of the charter school design. I also just realized that despite living along side some pretty severe poverty, my family was solidly middle-class and we behaved like it. I always thought my family was just...kinda weird in our environment. I never thought of it as a unique feature of black life in America. Great work, as always.
This has been difficult for me. Despite disapproving of many of the choices he made--including the drone strikes, I couldn't quite remove the pedestal he was on for me. Despite realizing that 99.9% of politicians are more about power than the American people, I couldn't lymp him in there.
I remember the night he won. My then teenage daughter and I were clapping and jumping for joy. As a white female Gen Xer from the south, it was something I never thought would happen in my lifetime. There was such joy and hope.
So, I sat with this video unwatched for 2 days. Started watching as I started driving rideshare. Realized I needed to focus on driving safely and changed to something requiring less brain power. Started it back up aftery last rider. Finishing up as I eat.
Thanks for this. I needed to hear it.
The easily digestible and entertaining level of how you educate is truly chefs kiss. I love how I get to learn some things and also get the perspective of an intelligent man. Even if I don’t hold the same view point, you are so fair in your analysis, sometimes I may be challenged to change my own perspective lol. You have a gift. Thank you for your hard work because I know it is not easy tackling some of these subject matters.
you are easily becoming one of my favorite creators in this website, truly amazing video
I am continuously amazed by the quality of your content. It is by far some of the most comprehensive, detailed, expressive, communicative and all around well put together free accessible knowledge I have seen on this platform. I hope your channel keeps growing.
So insightful as always. Back when I first watched the Obama episode of the Boondocks I didn't think much of Huey's apathy, I just saw it as him being a contrarian. But you explained the disonance between that initial excitement and the subsequent disappointment so well, it really puts everything into perspective. You helped shed new light on Sorry to Bother You for me too, thanks for putting this out there.
People really do say they came from nothing and never had to shit in a bucket or go hungry. Never had their single mother tell them she had to do embarrassing or shameful things to put food on the table, or a roof over their head, or shoes on their feet. Never had to go to a clothes closet for charitable clothing. Great couple videos. I was a really poor rural white kid and Obama really did make me think things could get better. That my family, and the families of my friends (of all races) growing up could get ahead. I remember crying when he stood up for immigrants with DACA, my grandmother having spent the last few years of her life working with new immigrants to get their papers together and help them get citizenship all as a disabled private citizen herself. My wonderful immigrant grandfather translating Spanish when they didn't speak English. It meant so much to me. But then I grew up and soured on what he actually accomplished. It felt hollow, like both me and him were cheated out of what could have been, but he was never quite the friend of the poor he seemed to be early on. Whoever our next non-white/multi-racial President is, I hope they're more successful in making things better.
The portrait section was very emotional. Thank you for sharing these complexities with us ♥️
The nuance of this video essay, the grit as well as the tonal sensibility. Amazing!!!
This video put into words how I felt about his administration. Something was missing, and I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Thank you for making this video!
Goddamit I've been trying to write a comment for the past 10 minutes and nothing is really getting across what I need it to. But I think that's ultimately the point. Having experienced the hype as a young 12 year old, there was so much awe and excitement for Obama. His campaign and my family's excitement made it feel like we were entering a new era for humanity. And having grown up, and over time learning more about the things that are egregious to me in his terms, it's been such a complex thing to navigate trying to untangle all of the feelings I have about him. It's really just as you said it, he is both, and it will still be something to untangle personally in the years to come.
I loved this whole video so much and was so glad I made it to the premiere! Also your family is so beautiful!
I really appreciate your videos man. It can be very difficult to articulate these nuanced perspectives in a way that doesn't take away from the emotional magnitude of these situations, and keeps the facts and analysis in tact. I think you pull this off amazingly. As someone who has been fighting for a long time both the psychological AND political/economic battles for a long, long time, (especially within my own people and community) its easy to become bitter, jaded, desensitized and quite frankly effing over it with what is passed off as "critical thinking" in a lot of our discourse. Your videos help turn the tide to a more positive, critical state of things, and I appreciate you bruh.
The ending of this video made me cry; it's so full of insight, regret, uncertainty, nuance, and hope. Thank you so much for making these videos.
Your insight on things is amazing
My Internet is leaving tomorrow for a few days and I had the great luck of seeing the upload just in time, masterpiece as always!
My favourite german word of the last few years: Ambiguitätstoleranz - The tolerance for ambiguity... We all need more of that. Great video.