Statement by Cynthia McKinney,
Power to the People Candidate for U.S. President,
on the nomination of Barack Obama
as the Democratic Party's Presidential Candidate in 2008
On Saturday, June 7, 2008, Hillary Clinton announced that her 2008 presidential bid is over, making Barack Obama the first-ever Black presidential nominee of a major party in the history of the United States.
Congratulations to Senator Obama for achieving such a feat!
. . . Many of us never thought we would see in our lifetime a Black person with a real possibility of becoming President of the United States.
The fact that this is now possible is . . . also a sign of the deep discontent among the American people, and particularly among African Americans, with the corporate-dominated, business-as-usual politics that has prevailed in Washington for too many years. . . .
While congratulating Senator Obama for a feat well done, I would also like to bring home the very real need for change and a few of the issues that must be addressed for the change needed in this country to be real. . . .
I have accepted as the platform of the Power to the People Campaign, the 10-Point Draft Manifesto of the Reconstruction Movement, a grouping of Black activists who came together in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to advocate for public policy initiatives that address the plight of Blacks and other oppressed peoples in this country. . . .
The people deserve an open and honest debate on these issues and more. I encourage the Democratic Party and its new presumptive nominee, Senator Obama, to embrace these important suggestions for policy initiatives.
