Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Coincidence?

I was off work this past week while Barack Obama was in town. Did any one brave the crowd and see him?

I'll be upfront with you all. I'm an Obama supporter now. His recent speech on race won me over. If you haven't had the chance to read or watch it, it is well worth the time. I can not think of the last time I felt proud of a public figure, a politician no less. And I feel proud of Obama for giving this speech. Backlash, be damned.

So, I was listening to the news and hearing reports of how quickly tickets to see him speak were going out of his campaign office when I realized something...PWCL had just the week prior purchased a bus bench for Sexual Assault Awareness Month and where will it be located?

In front of Obama's campaign headquarters at 30th & SE Division. It's our only bench (all other ads will be on buses so that they move around the city - keep an eye out for them!) and we love it. Here's the design:


Sorry about the low quality. If you can't read it, it says: We live in a rape culture, but we don't have to. Decide to End Sexual Violence.

I guess I'm just excited that Portlanders who support Obama are going to see this bus bench as they stop by the office. I don't believe in coincidences so I personally think the universe was looking out for PWCL when we chose that bench.

If you haven't had a chance to read or listen to the speech I'm fawning over, here's the YouTube video:

You can read the transcript here

3 comments:

Jenny said...

I'm so excited for the beautiful SAAM materials. It's so wonderful to work at an agency that actively proclaims "We live in a rape culture, but we don't have to."

Rebecca said...

I was amazed by Obama's speech on race - he was HONEST. It was refreshing, brave, and loooong overdue by a prominent politician who also just happens to be running for president.

One of my social work professors, an amazing woman named Joy Leary, often said, "America's pathology is her denial." For centuries, we've been doing a good job acting as though each individual American is not affected by the issue of race. I'm so glad the conversation is receiving so much attention, and I really hope we don't stop talking about it.

Hey, what a great topic for a Feminist Salon!

KelseyP said...

I am absolutely in love with Obama as a candidate. I've never seen a politician get people, even more the young population, excited about the election. My parents keep saying it feels a lot like when Kennedy ran for president.

Also, the SAAM stuff look rockin.