They say a picture is worth a thousand words and this Newsweek cover ups the ante. There’s a lot going on here with this provocative flick starting with the comparison of President Obama to Napoleon/ George Washington.
At a time when we have employers firing folks because Obama was re-elected, racial unrest on a college campuses like Ole Miss, folks from 15 states trying to kick off a secession movement and Fox News anchors having major meltdowns, this cover with its headlines will only serve to enrage folks more even if the story was intended to be complimentary.
At the same time one must keep in mind that the President of the US in many respects is the President of the world..so while many may see Obama as a conqueror of the racist adversaries who opposed him here at home, he’s still the man behind drone strikes, mass deportations Africom, regime change, and NDAA and in that sense he’s deemed a conqueror to be feared. The US is perceived as an empire and Obama is the head of it. the words Obama Conquest underscore that sentiment.
Toussaint L’ouverture
The Newsweek cover has in its headline GOP: You’re Old You’re White You’re History. Considering we had so much vitriol coming from the GOP with cries to ‘take the country back‘, which many took as code to stop Blacks and other people of color from advancing, this cover is sure to be a dagger is some people’s hearts. Obama winning or conquering has been his opposition’s worst fear. And while its true many have compared the picture to Napoleon or George Washington.. I’m gonna say Obama in this photo reminds me of Toussaint L’ouverture, the man who defeated Napoleon, maybe that’s why some folks are scared.
Anyway that’s my two cents, whats your thoughts on this cover?
Toussaint L’ouverture…a great comparison…and Obama is the hero knocking out the GOP or a symbolic Napoleon is about the way it is.
I read that Blacks in America alone wield some 8 billion dollars in spending power which equates to quite a bit of “voice” when we decide to use it. Add the other minority groups to that army and as a unified unit we CAN overwhelm the old white establishment consistently. Our mission though is to ensure we don’t just vote for the minority but help select a minority that can handle the pressure and has the experience of some years in politics fighting the established ways of doing things.
I am reblogging this to TheUrbanLink.net and a couple more.
Reblogged this on Grimes Social Media Promotions and commented:
I am glad Obama’s 2nd term is creating this type of awareness…Davey D is a very respected journalist and this piece is something that needed to be written.
obama is the boss 11
wow wait to see what happens-10 @GlobalHHB
This is an unbelievably fascist price of propaganda. Imagine how this looks to the Bowen people being hit with drone strikes every day across the globe.
Has my beloved liberalism become the new authoritarianism? I wanted a uniter not a divider.
Ps) Will we follow him only into the next war of aggression?
That is the question.
My first initial impression is that I don’t like the image. Just after the election, I’m not feeling depicting the president as a cartoon. Not to say, I would not ever like it. I just feel that it has a childish tone and they could have represented Him with a different tone, just coming off the seriousness of a re-election. Without having yet read the article, so I’m curious to see if anything in it offers the likeness that they are going for. I like your comparison to Toussaint L’ouverture. I wonder if that is really what they are trying to get across. The fact that others seem to see a resemblance to Napoleon or George Washington is interesting. But for me, they key thing is the words they did include Obama Conquest: ‘Lucky’ General or Master of the ‘Game’. To me the key is in the wording, as well gives some insight into what the image portrays and what I take away from it is that this not a GAME & Obama is not ‘LUCKY’ and further makes me think how so much propoganda is put out attacking President Obama and not truly taking him or the American people and their choice/voice seriously.
If the illustrator had intended to clearly invoke Napolean, he would have included a hat. With Washington, a wig. This figure is a mockery by way of putting Obama in the clothes of his “betters”. Napolean was the original Little Big Man – someone who overcompensates for his “natural” shortcomings by ripping up everything within his range. Clearly, Obama will not be favorably compared to Washington, especially by those right-wing fundamentalists who worship the founding fathers. By visually referring to a little bit of both, the illustration just calls out Obama as a “cakewalk” negro, a humorous pretender to the throne. “The cakewalk’s original meaning was lost; where it had originally been black slaves attempt to mock their superiors and for a minute live in autonomy, it had come to be the bumbling attempts of poor blacks to mimic the manners of whites. The dancers were no longer joking, but were portrayed as genuinely wantingto be like the superiors. This interpretation held great appeal in a nation where race relations were whites’ concerns about blacks were building steadily, and it became a way to briefly escape that tension.”
http://downloads.thedaily.com/ui-images/2011/10/14/101411-opinions-history-cakewalk-carmichael-2-ss-662w.jpg
good thing i live in canada eh 18
Wow. I’m at a loss with this cover 6
im loven very minute of it go go go obama 1
Damn the dude one.. What’s the problem.. We dont got a problem with Christopher Columbus and he slaughtered a whole civilization.. Hehehe (4)
LOL, Napoleon was a small man with a small dick and a massive ego. He was ultimately defeated. And history tends to repeat itself.
I feel U with the Toussaint L’Ouverture resemblance here. And Ayiti being the 1st Independent Black Nation in 1804, I’m sure that’s a VERY frightening picture 4 sum. PEACE!
I have to disagree with those using the Toussaint L’ouverture resemblance, why, because they’re both black? Come on now, we can do better than that. Obama is dangerous, he’s a person that in his own words believes in redistribution (not to be confused with reparations) and fundamentally changing America. Why people, black or white, still believe Barack is a savior of sorts is beyond me. He’s a President that has given government authority to kill and/or detain (indefinitely) American citizens without trial (NDAA & extension of the Patriot Act), he has signed into law H.R. 347 essentially making it illegal (even a terrorist act) to protest and to assemble, he continually has backed attempts to place the internet under government control (SOPA, ACTA, CISPA), he’s now making an outright effort to disarm the public either through reintroducing a weapons ban (a permanent one I might add) or through a UN/NATO treaty (it shouldn’t take a history buff to know a disarmed society is a slave society) yet his administration has been involved in two huge illegal weapon dealing scandals (Fast & Furious, Benghazi).
Sadly the GOP would be no better, we need to awake up and realize it’s truly a 1 party system under the guise of two, a 1 party system for the elite by the elite. Until we demand true freedom and an end to institutionalized corruption things will get no better but seemingly worse as people continue to wonder why. We will be stuck to repeat the same charade of electing someone who isn’t in it for us no matter how well intentioned they seem. We are in sad times, the misguided leading the blind.
“Believe nothing, question everything”
Truth no one is under any illusions about Obama.. He’s perceived as a threat to racists and to that degree, maybe they wanted to add to the nervousness by having something ‘revolutionary’..
I’m glad to hear it and my rant wasnt aimmed at anyone in particular, just frustrated with the state of things. I actually just came across your blog today and I like what I’m reading so far, good points of view so I will most definitely be visiting again.
dope (2)… DatzHott
Hmm.. I can see why.. Just get over it. (4)