Tuesday, December 2, 2008

ATL HipHop Meets Politics


As some of you may know, today Georgia had a run-off election stemming from the close race for U.S. Senate between Rep. Saxby Chambliss and Dem. Jim Martin. I casted my vote earlier today at a relatively empty poll station which only took five minutes of my time.

Although the numbers aren't all in as of now, I believe that Chambliss has a sizable lead. I did see some people in the streets rallying to get others to vote today, but the energy and and urgency of the citizens seemed kind of blah.

One thing I did find notable though was three of Atlanta's most prominent artists campaigning for Jim Martin yesterday at the capitol building. With all the negativity that seems to surround HipHop (and these artists in particular), it's good to see T.I., Young Jeezy, and Ludacris come together and represent themselves as the men they are. All three of the artists are known throghout the community for their philanthropic activities, but to come together and take a political stance is commendable in my opinion.


The importance of this race is that the Democrats can possibly become fillibuster-proff in the Congress if Martin gets in.

Gov. Sarah Palin (whom I thought I wouldn't have to see for a few years) was in the 'A' also yesterday campaigning for Chambliss. The messed up thing is, is that if he wins, I can see how some people will still champion this broad even though she would have had very little to do with a Chambliss victory. Gotta love (and by "love" I mean "hate") politics.



photos from Getty Images

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is really awesome that they showed up in support. It's nice to see the hip-hop figures that get such a bad wrap doin ish that is good for their community. not that they didnt already but its just nice to see them comin together like that...

hope you had a good thanksgiving!

Telese said...

That is so nice!!:-)....I love when young black people (especially my fellas) show that we aren't as one dimensional as others think we are...we all have different aspects...just have to make the choice to show all aspects and not let others define you for you.

Tha Management said...

I agree! I like it when black men represent themselves in the community. Especially men who have such a strong connection to the youth.

thekidnexxtdoor said...

I was hoping for a completely different outcome to the vote in Ga., but I guess much of the focus was on the Presidential election. SMH, it was really important as well to have a strong support in Congress and the House. Now we have to deal with all this phuckary surrounding the new president not getting sh*t accomplished. Vented.

Monk said...

@ QB, Telese, and Tha Management:

I wanted to shine light on these brothas because they really represent a LOT of others out there who get a bad "rap" (pun intended and not). Many times main stream media only show the unflattering stories about these guys and it's not fair.

@AO:

I was really disappointed with the turn-out myself. It goes to show that even people who may have good intentions (all those who came out and supported Martin on Nov.4, but failed to show support on Dec.2) may not have all their priorities straight. Sure Obama will be our next President, but they lost sight of the big picture.