BARACK OBAMA: The Makings of an Icon

He's the 44th President of the United States. Half African, Half White ... and ALL AMERICAN, Barack Obama has stirred up the masses and renewed a spirit of hope, change, tolerance and patriotism that I don't think I've seen in my entire lifetime.

Google his name and you'll get over 100 MILLION results ... Search for his image and you'll get over 28 million pictures of his Presidential visage.

But when we remember the "Little Campaign That Could", there are two main elements we'll tie to the name Barack Obama:

1) A street image turned into a symbol of hope and change .... and 2) a song about one era of intolerance that reminds of how far we've come and how far we still have to go ....

This image is one that most people will remember from Obama's campaign ...

The regal former Illinois Senator bathed in a palette of modern patriotic colors ... posted as a symbol of HOPE, CHANGE and PROGRESS (depending on the poster you may see). But do you know where this historic image came from?

It came from this guy:

His name is (Frank) Shepard Fairey. He's a 38 year old graphic artist from Charleston, SC and the image he created as part of a grassroots effort to help the Obama campaign became the image that not only defined his run for President but secured his place in history.

Even though he got into art at the age of 14, Fairey didn't start his artistic business ventures until 1989 (at age 19), while he was studying Illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design.

There he created his "Andre The Giant Has a Posse" sticker campaign, which get a lot of attention and spawned lots of copycat art around the world; this campaign later evolved into his Obey (Giant) campaign. In 1994, his efforts caught the attention of a documentary filmmaker and Fairey, and his artwork, were featured in the film, titled "Andre Giant Has a Posse".

By 2007, Fairey had founded a design firm (which produced cover art for the Black Eyed Peas, The Smashing Pumpkins, and the movie "Walk The Line," plus he did campaigns for Pepsi and Netscape); he also opened an art gallery, helped start a magazine, published a book, married a former co-worker, and had two daughters. There wasn't much left to accomplish ... but then came Obama.

When then Senator Barack Obama announced his candidacy for President, Fairey took action. He created an art piece emblazoned with Obama's face and the word PROGRESS. He printed up thousands of posters and stickers and became a one-man political machine ... distributing and posting them everywhere.

Obama's camp got wind of Fairey's effort and not only applauded him but asked him to make more, with the words HOPE, CHANGE and VOTE (words more in-line with the campaign's platform). Fairey obliged, and by the end of his grassroots campaining had distributed some 300,000 stickers and half a million posters -- all funded through art sales.

Anywhere you went during the campaign, you could see Fairey's image ... but like me, you may have thought a Black man created it. Or that Obama's campaign designed it. Not so.

An underground artist turned political activist created this iconic image, that even covered a special issue of Time magazine featuring Obama.

Mostly due to his contribution to Obama's campaign, Fairey was honored by GQ with a Man of the Year Award in 2008.

Fairey definitely deserves honors for his talent and passion. And he deserves credit for making a Presidential hopeful, a symbol of progress, hope and change. Obama is a great speaker, and a great man but that simple image mad him an icon.

Source

• Read an interview with Shepard Fairey HERE (in which he talks about his role in the Obama Campaign).
  
  

• See more of Shepard's images, go HERE or to the OBEY GIANT WEBSITE.

The President and First Lady may have danced to "At Last" on Inauguration night, but there's one song that will be remembered as the anthem or theme of Obama's campaign. And it was made famous by the man pictured above -- Sam Cooke. I'm talking about the song "A Change Is Gonna Come."

But did you know this song, penned during the Civil Rights Movement, has an SBC connection?


Here's the story:

I won't give you the background on Sam Cooke (for his life story go HERE). For those that don't know, he was right up there with Marvin Gaye and his friend Otis Redding as one of the top singers of his time. He met an early demise when he was shot at a hotel. But enough about that, let's talk about the song.

In 1963, it's said that Cooke was deeply moved by Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind". While on tour in May of that year, and after speaking with sit-in demonstrators in North Carolina, Cooke returned to his tour bus and wrote the first draft of the song.

"A Change is Gonna Come" reflected two major incidents in Cooke's life.

The first was the death of Cooke's eighteen-month-old son, Vincent, who died of an accidental drowning in June of that year.

The second major incident came on October 8, 1963, when Cooke and his band tried to register at a "whites only" motel in SHREVEPORT. They were arrested for disturbing the peace.

The song was a departure from Cooke's crossover balled "You Send Me" and his dance hit "Twistin' The Night Away." And he was concerned about losing his White viewers with such a solemn and controversial song.

The song was recorded in December 1963, but worries about the song content prevented it from being released until the next year (December 1964). Cooke was killed 11 days before the song hit the airwaves, so he never got to see its success.

It was a hit among the black community. It was used an anthem for the ongoing civil rights protests. It was also a hit on radio and the music charts. It is considered Cooke's best composition.

In more modern terms -- It was featured in the movies Malcolm X and Ali. It has been covered by Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Tina Turner, The Supremes, Terence Trent D'Arby, the Fugees, The Neville Brothers, Wayne Brady and most recently SEAL.

This song also became the soundtrack for President Obama's campaign for Change. Check out all the You-Tube videos featuring the song (in tributes to Obama) HERE.

SEE, THIS BLOG IS NOT ONLY ENTERTAINING -- IT'S EDUCATIONAL TOO! :)

*** Congrats to the Person/Man of the Year -- President Barack Obama ****