I am not alone in my belief that our 43rd president was the worst ever--Rolling Stone Magazine made that assertion in April 2006. And while some may argue that James Buchanan did a worse job than George W. Bush, only the visually or mentally challenged will think he wasn't the worst president in modern times; he'll leave office with the lowest approval ratings in history, 22 percent
On Inauguration Day, it will be out with the worst and in, I'm hoping, with the greatest.
Nor am I alone in believing that Barack Obama will perform above and beyond the call of duty. You can tell by the numbers; 65 percent of Americans believe #44 will be an above average president. We may be in a deep recession but Brand Obama--from magazine covers to commemorative coins to wacky and weird merchandise--is booming. And you can tell it by the art. There's the iconic portrait by artist Shepard Fairey and a countless number of Obama-inspired art.
There's also a bunch of inspired poetry and music--which brings me to my long-time friend, Joe English.
Joe, a wealthy old hippie who is in his mid-60s, has had faith and hope in Barack since the beginning. In fact, he claims pride of authorship for one of Obama's early campaign slogans--Obama Right from the Start--which is a reference to the Illinois senator's opposition to the war in Iraq.
Now that the candidate is about to become the president, the muse hit Joe up again. This time, rather than a mere slogan, it turned out to be a poem which then turned out to be a song--Five Fifths Strong: Redemption Song.
The title alludes to the infamous "three-fifths" compromise" of the Founding Fathers when they were constructing the U.S. Constitution in 1787. For those of you who are a little rusty on your American history, the "three-fifths" clause decrees that, for the purposes of counting each state's population to determine its number of Representatives in Congress and the distribution of taxes, African slaves would be counted as three-fifths of a human being.
We now have a man of African descent about to occupy the Executive House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue which is more than a gesture affirming black Americans' rise to full citizenship.
I think Joe's song does an incredible job of capturing the triumph of the moment. While it's Joe's lyrics, the music is by Atiba Jali. Five-Fifths Strong is sung by Ray Balkcom with the All City Elementary Youth Chorus of the Chicago Public Schools.
Take a listen and let me know what you think. Just click on the blue link below.
Here are the words to Joe's poem, Five Fifths Strong: Redemption Song
Out of many, we are one,
Come into the sun of this shining place
By Amazing Grace,
Not without sin, and not without stain,
In pain of lilacs last in the dooryard blooming,
To claim another New Birth of Freedom, singing,
We the People,
Freedom's Song as never sung before.
Five-Fifths Strong: Redemption Song.
It is fitting and proper, then,
That we Lift Every Voice and Sing,
For centuries' chains could not still
Freedom's will, nor mute rainforests' root.
With every voice that's newly heard,
Kola nuts are broken, shared:
The dream deferred made spoken word.
Five-Fifths Strong: Redemption Song.
Forward in this generation,
Let all the dreamers wake the Nation,
And, together, build the shining city on the hill.
From shore to shore, through fruited plain,
This is our time to live the dream,
At every patriot's grave remembering
Yes, we can.
Yes, we can.
Yes, we can let Freedom ring.
Five-Fifths Strong: Redemption Song.
Yes, we can let Freedom ring.
Stumble It!
