The Fierce Urgency of Now Continues

For those who are unaware, this Sunday evening the President of the United States & his family and staff will be at The Ohio State University. Mr. & Mrs. Obama will be here for an Ohio Democratic Party Rally to galvanize the faithful in Central Ohio. This is key because this state, as well as this section of the state will be vital to sustain Congressional & local seats held by current Democrats. The White House has been criss-crossing the country at a frantic pace, showing a fierce urgency to sustain their majority and to more effectively push their agenda, and the time is now to do it with less than a month until Election Day. However, the President's visit may also be a sign of a more distressing problem; something Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke about when he coined the phrase the "The Fierce Urgency of Now"---that is the President is trying to re-energize the vote of the next generation, our generation, and especially rallying the support of the Black youth vote.



The vote of the youth generation, no matter the decade in which it has occurred, has been a key and highly decisive electorate because it is the vote that shows the trend of how the country may trend off to in the future and is a realistic test-group to study. Ever since President Kennedy, the youth vote has trended Democratic due to a more liberal-leaning stance but has been the group that decides most a candidates victory or loss. And that was witnessed best during the 2008 Presidential Election victory (more like beatdown) Barack Obama had over John McCain. Beyond his agenda and charisma, Mr. Obama captivated America, and especially it youth, due to his relativity, communication skills, and most of all his use of technology (finally an adult we didn't have to explain the purposes of Twitter or the fact that it's FACEBOOK not Bookface or the like to!).
Even moreso, during that campaign we saw the omnipresent pride and joy of the Black community throughout the world, not just Americans (I know you all saw them Kenyans teaching the world how to dougie lol). That is why I believe that Mr. Obama's visit is so important for everyone, but especially America's Black youth voting sector because he is trying to gather us once again to come out with the same force and vote once again becuase even though the Presidential elections get the most publicity, the midterm election season (which is now!) is probably of more significant weight because this is where the bulk of legislative work happens and the tenure and future of Mr. Obama's presidency rides on this year's results. He wants to reverse the trend the Black community has of showing up on Election CP time (that's Colored People's time for those who don't know, for further reference see the start times of a Black Baptist Church). We must stay committed to the continuous fight of progressing our nation with a fiery stance, which is what Dr. King meant by "The Fierce Urgency of Now". That is because the Black youth have had a historic presence in helping to shape and change our nation, going back to the Tuskegee Airmen (they were in college during the war), to the true start of the Civil Rights Movement with the sit-ins in Greensboro, NC, to SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), to the Black Panther Party, to the beginning of the Hip-Hop generation and how it was Black youth who propelled the popularity of the music so that MTV was forced to make it mainstream. Believe it or not, but Black youth still have a powerful impact on this country today but in a negative light because now our failure rate is what decides the number of prisons are built in this country. We must remember the honest fact fact that we are still, despite declining population numbers, the most influential and targeted minority group in America (let's be honest, the NAACP & Urban League still get more press time than any Latino or Asian group in this country, more people still know and respect Al Sharpton & Jesse Jackson than any other minority activists, and businesses still target African-American consumers more than any other minority group in marketing; ie. McDonald's, Coca-Cola, KFC, Allstate, etc).We must hold this power we have as a responsibility for empowerment for the next generation; we must carry this power with a "Fierce Urgency of Now"..
That is why I encourage and hope all Ohio State students, especially Black students, show up and support Mr. & Mrs. Obama, but also understand the depth of their visit and call to action their visit signals to us all. That is because voting may be a right but the progress of one's nation is a responsibility we are called to honor, and even moreso with a Black President, with the "Fierce Urgency of Now".