Obama and Boulevard 3 - Barack takes over Hollywood
Last night presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama, spoke in front of a large crowd at Hollywood's Boulevard 3. Industry insiders and hipster politicos, many of whom where under the age of 35, were among the crowd who were warmed up by Cedric the Entertainer, who introduced the Senator.
Standing behind the stage where Senator Obama was to speak, I looked up to see Cedric the Entertainer enter to climb on stage, do his thing, and introduce Barack. That Mr. the Entertainer is a funny man.
The Senator spoke for about 20 minutes, galvanizing the crowd with his booming voice harking me back to growing up in the Baptist churches of Louisiana.
The man should have been a preacher.
He spoke of the nation's need for a universal health care plan, how, when he moved to Chicago, no one could pronounce his name correctly, the current administration's dreadful foreign policy, and his desire to help curb our nation's dependency on foreign oil. He talked about his recent trip to Selma, Alabama and the 42nd anniversary of the march there, his attempt to unite crowds by showing that events and identities America tends to separate and classify into different groups can all be identified as one unit.
Someone in said that Obama's visit to Selma must have been to have been amazing for him to be able to touch such a great event in African-American history. Obama replied that it wasn't African-American history, it was American history.
I almost cried several times during the speech.
Then I almost cried again when I saw Kate Walsh (Dr. Addison Shepard on "Grey's Anatomy") standing directly behind me because I knew at that moment I would never be that hot.
There were quite a few celebrities at the event, most of whom were African-American. The Senator's Harvard Law School classmate, Hill Harper, Gabrielle Union, Henry Simmons, Eric LaSalle, Lawrence Bender. I believe I saw Sanaa Lathan and supposedly, Oliver Stone was there, as well.
At the end of the event, I spoke with producers of the event, 008 The Movement and I was told that there will be many more events to come, in an effort to reach out to younger voters, in an effort to expand the Senator's reach in Los Angeles.
All in all, a great event. An opportunity to see someone of Mr. Obama's stature do what he does best.
Photos by CDubya (Courtney Walker)