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Showing posts with label call and response chants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label call and response chants. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
"There Was A Great Big Moose" Children's Camp Song (videos and lyrics)
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
Howard University's "HU" - "You Know" Call & Response Chant Was Included In Representative Jasmine Crockett's Speech At The 2024 Democratic Convention
Reese Waters, August 20, 2024
-snip-
Read the transcript excerpt below for the portion of this video that includes the Howard University "HU" - "You know" chant and a little bit more of that speech (from 0:55 to 1:49).
****
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post also showcases two videos that include that Howard University chant-one from Representative Jasmine Crocker and one from two Howard University alumni- an unidentified Black woman and actor Chadwick Bosman.
Additional examples of this Howard University call & response chant are also included in this post.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, historical, and political purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post. Special thanks to Chadwick Boseman (RIP) and Representative Jasmine Crocket.
-snip-
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on specific Historically Black Colleges And Universities. Click that tag below or google "specific Historically Black Colleges And
Universities pancocojams" for additional posts in this series.
****
Universities pancocojams" for additional posts in this series.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT HOWARD UNIVERSITY'S "HU"- "YOU KNOW" CALL & RESPONSE CHANT
From https://thedig.howard.edu/all-stories/the-history-of-h-u-you-know "HU Bison, Finish the Sentence: HHHH-U!" The origins of the beloved Howard University chant.
Most autogenerated video transcripts of Rep. Crocket's speech that I've read leave out that "HU" abbreviation, probably because it's not recognizable to the transcriber as having any meaning. Some video transcripts of that speech replace "HU" with "Applause" and others move on to her next words. Also, very little response is heard from the convention attendees for Rep Crocket's "HU" vocalization, probably because most of the convention attendees aren't familiar with that Howard University call and response chant.
****
TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT OF THE TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT ABOUT THE "HU" -"YOU KNOW" CHANT FROM THE EMBEDDED REESE WATERS' VIDEO
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VWZSm6kTk0&t=339s [This video is embedded above.]
SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - Chadwick Boseman Surprises Black Panther Fans While They Thank Him
TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT OF THE HOWARD UNIVERSITY "HU" - "YOU KNOW" CHANT IN THAT "TONIGHT SHOW" VIDEO
From https://thedig.howard.edu/all-stories/the-history-of-h-u-you-know "HU Bison, Finish the Sentence: HHHH-U!" The origins of the beloved Howard University chant.
“It builds an instant connection, even if you’ve never met
the person,” says Howard’s vice president of communications, Frank Tramble, who
recently bellowed the response to an alum who was presenting at a conference in
Park City, Utah, in front of a room of 200 puzzled people.
[...]
[from a video embedded in this article: The video's title is "Taraji P. Henson delivers the "HU! You
Know!" call at commencement in 2022".
[1:53:24 in that video:]
[actress Tariji P.Henson speaks]
“Y’all ready to go viral?
"H U!"
[Attendees- "You Know"]
-Pancocojams Editor: This is the end of that quote from that embedded video. The article continues...
The powerful call-and-response has the potential to build an instant bond between two Bison. Moreover, it makes one wonder, how did this chant gain so much notoriety?
Paul Cotton (PhD ’99) was deemed Howard’s historian by the community and explains how the chant came about. The late-great public announcer, Shellie Bowers, started the phrase at a Howard University football game. In fact, when the crowd first heard the chant, many were displeased by the change.
“Shellie first did, ‘First in ten, Go BI-SON,’ and that was his first widely accepted chant,” Cotton explains. “And I remember when he first started doing ‘HU! You Know!’ many alum were annoyed.”
Even though the chant wasn’t quickly adopted by the Howard community when it was first introduced, it is now a vocal relic that is cherished by Bison alum near and far, even among those who picked up on it long after graduating from Howard.
Cotton recalls, “I was actually at a gas station the other
day and a 1966 law graduate saw my Howard tags and said the chant. We talked
for about 15 minutes after that.”
The exact date of the chant’s birth can’t be pinpointed, though it’s speculated to have started around in the mid-1990’s. On an alumni Facebook group, someone recalled the chant also included “HU Bison! You Know!” before it was shortened to “HU! You Know!”
Others remembered a similar call-and-response of “HU! Bison!”…
****
BACKGROUND TO THE TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT ABOUT THE "HU" -"YOU KNOW" CHANT FROM THE EMBEDDED REESE WATERS' VIDEO
Representative Jasmine Crocket (Democrat-Texas)'s speech on day one of the 2024 Democratic National Convention included the beginning portion of Howard University's "HU"-"You know" call and response chant. Rep. Crockett said "HU" after stating that Vice President and Democratic Presidential candidate attended a HBCU (Historically Black College And University).
Most autogenerated video transcripts of Rep. Crocket's speech that I've read leave out that "HU" abbreviation, probably because it's not recognizable to the transcriber as having any meaning. Some video transcripts of that speech replace "HU" with "Applause" and others move on to her next words. Also, very little response is heard from the convention attendees for Rep Crocket's "HU" vocalization, probably because most of the convention attendees aren't familiar with that Howard University call and response chant.
****
TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT OF THE TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT ABOUT THE "HU" -"YOU KNOW" CHANT FROM THE EMBEDDED REESE WATERS' VIDEO
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VWZSm6kTk0&t=339s [This video is embedded above.]
0:55-1:49
[Reese Waters speaks]
… you never miss a Jasmine Crockett speech, especially not
at the DNC Convention.
[Jasmine Crockett speaks]
On November 5th. our nation will hire a President, a
Commander In Chief,
and leader of the free world.
So let's compare their resumes, shall we?
One candidate worked at McDonald's while she was in college at
an HBCU.
HU!
[Reese Waters speaks]
You know!
Am I allowed to say that as as a non Howard grad?
[Jasmine Crockett]
The other was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and
helped his daddy in the
family business- housing discrimination, that is.”…
SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - Chadwick Boseman Surprises Black Panther Fans While They Thank Him
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Feb 28, 2018
Black Panther fans filmed a video message sharing what the
movie means to them - what they didn't know was that Chadwick Boseman was right
behind the curtain, waiting to surprise them.
TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT OF THE HOWARD UNIVERSITY "HU" - "YOU KNOW" CHANT IN THAT "TONIGHT SHOW" VIDEO
3:15-4:06
[A young Black woman speaks to a large photograph of The Black Panther unaware that actor Chadwick Boseman is listening to her while he is hiding behind the curtain with Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon.]
"HU!
You know. I am a Howard University student, and that is your
alma mater.
I am so, so, so very proud to say that a Bison is T'Challa. the
Black Panther.
Seriously, when you made your big scene when you came out, I
shed a tear.
It was a big deal for me and my friends and definitely
Howard University.
So I just want to say thank you so much for showing us that
there are avenues for us.
[Chadwick Boseman and Jimmy Fallon come from behind the curtain to surprise
the young woman. Chadwick Boseman speaks]
HU!
[The young woman speaks]
What? What?! What?
[Chadwick Boseman speaks]
I thought you would give me my "you know."
[the young woman speaks]
Oh, my God.
-What?
What?! What?! -That was fantastic.
What is going on?”….
ANOTHER ONLINE EXAMPLES OF THE HOWARD UNIVERSITY "HU"- "YOU KNOW" CHANT
From
-snip-
This Facebook page features a brief video of a group of Howard University students enthusiastically saying that "HU" - "You Know" call & response chant
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
"Fired Up! Ready To Go" & "Fired Up! Ready To Vote" Political Chants And Slogans
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post features political examples of the chant and slogan "Fired up! Ready to Go" and the chant and slogan "Fired up! Ready to vote".
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, cultural, political, and inspirational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
****
"FIRED UP! READY TO GO" CHANT/SLOGAN
"Fired up! Ready to go" is a political chant/slogan that helps energize people to do all they can to win a particular election.
Here's information and examples of that chant/slogan:
1.
Excerpts from http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/11/fired-up-ready-to-go-chant-comments.html "Fired Up! Ready To Go!" Chant (Comments & Video), November 6, 2012
This post showcases the story of the call & response chant "Fired Up! Ready To Go!" that then candidate Senator Barack Obama adopted for his 2008 United States Presidential campaign.
...The video tells the tale of a 2007 Greenwood, S.C. rally where a supporter named Edith S. Childs helped create a chant that would set the tenor of the 2008 campaign.
...
Video: Obama: "Fired Up? Ready To Go!"
DemRapidResponse, Uploaded on Nov 4, 2008
Manassas, Virginia, 11/3/08
Obama: Finally we get to Greenwood. We pull up -- first of all, you don't know you're in Greenwood right away when you get to Greenwood, there aren't a lot of tall buildings there. We pull up to a small building, a field house in the park. We go inside. And lo and behold, after an hour and a half drive, turns out there are twenty people there. Twenty people, and they all look kind of damp and kind of sleepy, like maybe they aren't really excited to be there either. But you know, I am a professional. Ive got to do what I got to do. [applause] So I go around, I'm shaking hands, I'm saying how ya doing, what are ya doing? [applause] Wait, wait. As I go around the room suddenly I hear this voice cry out behind me, "Fired Up!" And I'm shocked. I jump up. I dont know what's going on. But everybody else acts like this is normal and they say, "fired up." Then I hear this voice say, "ready to go!" And the other twenty people in the room, they act like this happens all the time, they say ready to go. I don't know what's going on. So I look behind me, and there's this small woman, about sixty years old, a little over five feet. It looks like she just came from church, got a big church hat. [laughter] And she's standing there and she looks at me and shes smiling. And she says, "fired up!"
Turns out she is a city councilwoman from Greenwood who also moonlights as a private detective -- I'm not making this up. [laughter] And it turns out she is famous for her chant. She does this wherever she goes, she says "fired up!" and everybody says "ready to go, ready to go." So for the next five minutes she proceeds to do this, "fired up" everybody says "ready to go." And I'm standing there and I'm thinking that I am being outflanked by this woman here. She's stealing my thunder. I look at my staff, they shrug their shoulders, they don't know how long this is going to go.
But here's the thing, Virginia -- after a minute or so, I'm feeling kind of fired up. [applause] I'm feeling like I'm ready to go. So I join in the chant. And it feels good. And for the rest of the day, even after we left Greenwood, even though it was still raining, even though I was still not getting big crowds anywhere, even though we hadn't gotten the endorsements of the people we were hoping for, somehow I felt a little lighter, I felt a little better. I'd see my staff, Id say, are you fired up? Theyd say we're fired up boss, are you ready to go?
Heres my point, Virginia -- that's how this thing started. It shows you what one voice can do. One voice can change a room; and if a voice can change a room, it can change a city; and if it can change a city it can change a state; and if change a state, it can change a nation; and if it can change a nation, it can change the world! Virginia, your voice can change the world tomorrow! [applause] In 21 hours, if you are willing, if you are willing to endure some rain, if you are willing to drag that person you know who was not going to vote to the polls, if you're willing to organize and volunteer in the offices, if you are willing to stand with me, if you are willing to fight with me, I know that your voice will matter.
So I've just got one question for you, Virginia. Are you fired up?
["Yeah"]
Are you ready to go?
["Yeah"]
Fired up?
["Fired Up!"]
Ready to go?
["Ready to Go!"]
Fired up?
["Fired Up!"]
Ready to go?
["Ready to Go!"]
Fired up?
["Fired Up!"]
Ready to go?
["Ready to Go!"]
Virginia, let's go change the world. Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
-snip-
This transcription was given in the video summary but was reformatted for this post with minor punctuation corrections.
**
2.
From https://twitter.com/cnnpolitics/status/687095628690776064
"CNN PoliticsVerified account
@CNNPolitics
Cheers of "fired up ready to go" can be heard before @POTUS' final #SOTU http://cnn.com/go"
**
3.
Fired Up, Ready To Go (The Obama Song)
carminski Published on Oct 5, 2012
Fired Up, Ready To Go (The Obama Song)
by Ike Thompson
****
4.
From http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/09/18/1571430/-Live-Blog-President-Obama-to-Address-CBC-Gala-Trump-will-not-like-this Live Blog: President Obama to Address CBC Gala. Trump will not like this, By JoanMar, 2016/09/17
JoanMar Sep 17
"Still fired up. Still ready to go!"
****
"FIRED UP! READY TO VOTE" CHANT/SLOGAN
"Fired up! Ready to vote" is an updated form of the chant/slogan "Fired up! Ready to go."
Here's some examples of that chant/slogan:
1.
From https://www.pinterest.com/pin/404549979000319011/
jackie maybury saved to politics, 2014
"FIRED UP! READY TO GO!! VOTE BLUE!!...CFC....IT'S needed that the OHIO Democrats provide buses for the registered Dems in that area on Election Day."
-snip-
I'm not sure what CFC means here.
****
2. From http://miamitimesonline.com/news/2016/mar/02/fired-ready-vote/ ‘Fired up, ready to vote’
President Bill Clinton arrived in Miami Gardens Sunday as early voting begins in Miami-Dade
Carolyn Guniss, 3/2/2016
..."former President Bill Clinton... was in Miami Gardens on Sunday stumping for his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He and local officials pushed for people to vote early, ahead of the Presidential Preference Primary Election, which is March 15. Registered Democrats and Republicans may vote in the primary. So far, statewide more than 500,000 people have cast absentee ballots.”…
Florida plays an important role in the presidential election. Over the state, registered Black Democrats number more than 28 percent. In the tri-county area, more than 33 percent of registered Democrats are Black.
Sunday, before President Clinton came on stage, Miami Commission Chairman Keon Hardemon, Vice Mayor of Miami Gardens Felicia Robinson and Congresswoman Frederica Wilson spoke. Also in attendance were Kendrick Meek and his mother Carrie Meek, who both had Wilson’s seat in the past.
Locals played a big role at the rally. The Alliance for Musical Arts -Youth Drum Line and the 93rd Street Baptist Church Community Choir entertained between speeches. Songstress Rochelle Lightfoot sang the “Star Spangled Banner” to open the event.
“Fired up, ready to vote; fired up, ready to vote; fired up, ready to vote;” chanted Wilson with the crowd.
“We have the opportunity to elect the first female president,” Wilson said. “She deserves to be back in the White House, this time as commander in chief.”
Wilson said if people allowed Donald Trump to be elected “all of Obama’s work will be wiped out and we will be in trouble.”...
****
3.
From http://www.democraticunderground.com/110768413 Fired UP! Ready to vote! (Hillary GROUP), Firebrand Gary, Wed Mar 9, 2016
"Good morning my DU friends!
It's a gorgeous day here on the left coast and as the clock ticks, we're growing closer for our turn to vote! We moved even further from our competition last night in delegates, WOOOOO HOOOOOOO!
Are you fired up? I'm so fired up, that my feet and hand are hot! I just donated to our gal and I'm ready to work. March 15th is drawing nearer and we need to do everything that we need to and turn out the vote! Let's run those numbers up bae-bae.
Kick ass people, we so got this!"
-snip-
DU = Democratic Underground
****
4. From http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/05/can-obama-get-bernies-kids-to-vote-in-november.html Can Obama Get Bernie’s Kids Fired Up and Ready to Vote in November? By Ed Kilgore, May 26, 2016
..."So something to watch for as the Democratic primaries end and the convention approaches is Obama emerging from backstage and offering himself as a focal point for a reconciliation between Clinton and Sanders and as a relentless critic of Donald Trump and the party Trump has conquered. With Obama now being more popular than Clinton, there’s really little downside to enlisting POTUS in this role. And perhaps he can recapture the uncanny knack he had in 2008 to get young people, Democrats and independents alike, fired up and ready to go."
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This post features political examples of the chant and slogan "Fired up! Ready to Go" and the chant and slogan "Fired up! Ready to vote".
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, cultural, political, and inspirational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
****
"FIRED UP! READY TO GO" CHANT/SLOGAN
"Fired up! Ready to go" is a political chant/slogan that helps energize people to do all they can to win a particular election.
Here's information and examples of that chant/slogan:
1.
Excerpts from http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/11/fired-up-ready-to-go-chant-comments.html "Fired Up! Ready To Go!" Chant (Comments & Video), November 6, 2012
This post showcases the story of the call & response chant "Fired Up! Ready To Go!" that then candidate Senator Barack Obama adopted for his 2008 United States Presidential campaign.
...The video tells the tale of a 2007 Greenwood, S.C. rally where a supporter named Edith S. Childs helped create a chant that would set the tenor of the 2008 campaign.
...
Video: Obama: "Fired Up? Ready To Go!"
DemRapidResponse, Uploaded on Nov 4, 2008
Manassas, Virginia, 11/3/08
Obama: Finally we get to Greenwood. We pull up -- first of all, you don't know you're in Greenwood right away when you get to Greenwood, there aren't a lot of tall buildings there. We pull up to a small building, a field house in the park. We go inside. And lo and behold, after an hour and a half drive, turns out there are twenty people there. Twenty people, and they all look kind of damp and kind of sleepy, like maybe they aren't really excited to be there either. But you know, I am a professional. Ive got to do what I got to do. [applause] So I go around, I'm shaking hands, I'm saying how ya doing, what are ya doing? [applause] Wait, wait. As I go around the room suddenly I hear this voice cry out behind me, "Fired Up!" And I'm shocked. I jump up. I dont know what's going on. But everybody else acts like this is normal and they say, "fired up." Then I hear this voice say, "ready to go!" And the other twenty people in the room, they act like this happens all the time, they say ready to go. I don't know what's going on. So I look behind me, and there's this small woman, about sixty years old, a little over five feet. It looks like she just came from church, got a big church hat. [laughter] And she's standing there and she looks at me and shes smiling. And she says, "fired up!"
Turns out she is a city councilwoman from Greenwood who also moonlights as a private detective -- I'm not making this up. [laughter] And it turns out she is famous for her chant. She does this wherever she goes, she says "fired up!" and everybody says "ready to go, ready to go." So for the next five minutes she proceeds to do this, "fired up" everybody says "ready to go." And I'm standing there and I'm thinking that I am being outflanked by this woman here. She's stealing my thunder. I look at my staff, they shrug their shoulders, they don't know how long this is going to go.
But here's the thing, Virginia -- after a minute or so, I'm feeling kind of fired up. [applause] I'm feeling like I'm ready to go. So I join in the chant. And it feels good. And for the rest of the day, even after we left Greenwood, even though it was still raining, even though I was still not getting big crowds anywhere, even though we hadn't gotten the endorsements of the people we were hoping for, somehow I felt a little lighter, I felt a little better. I'd see my staff, Id say, are you fired up? Theyd say we're fired up boss, are you ready to go?
Heres my point, Virginia -- that's how this thing started. It shows you what one voice can do. One voice can change a room; and if a voice can change a room, it can change a city; and if it can change a city it can change a state; and if change a state, it can change a nation; and if it can change a nation, it can change the world! Virginia, your voice can change the world tomorrow! [applause] In 21 hours, if you are willing, if you are willing to endure some rain, if you are willing to drag that person you know who was not going to vote to the polls, if you're willing to organize and volunteer in the offices, if you are willing to stand with me, if you are willing to fight with me, I know that your voice will matter.
So I've just got one question for you, Virginia. Are you fired up?
["Yeah"]
Are you ready to go?
["Yeah"]
Fired up?
["Fired Up!"]
Ready to go?
["Ready to Go!"]
Fired up?
["Fired Up!"]
Ready to go?
["Ready to Go!"]
Fired up?
["Fired Up!"]
Ready to go?
["Ready to Go!"]
Virginia, let's go change the world. Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
-snip-
This transcription was given in the video summary but was reformatted for this post with minor punctuation corrections.
**
2.
From https://twitter.com/cnnpolitics/status/687095628690776064
"CNN PoliticsVerified account
@CNNPolitics
Cheers of "fired up ready to go" can be heard before @POTUS' final #SOTU http://cnn.com/go"
**
3.
Fired Up, Ready To Go (The Obama Song)
carminski Published on Oct 5, 2012
Fired Up, Ready To Go (The Obama Song)
by Ike Thompson
****
4.
From http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/09/18/1571430/-Live-Blog-President-Obama-to-Address-CBC-Gala-Trump-will-not-like-this Live Blog: President Obama to Address CBC Gala. Trump will not like this, By JoanMar, 2016/09/17
JoanMar Sep 17
"Still fired up. Still ready to go!"
****
"FIRED UP! READY TO VOTE" CHANT/SLOGAN
"Fired up! Ready to vote" is an updated form of the chant/slogan "Fired up! Ready to go."
Here's some examples of that chant/slogan:
1.
From https://www.pinterest.com/pin/404549979000319011/
jackie maybury saved to politics, 2014
"FIRED UP! READY TO GO!! VOTE BLUE!!...CFC....IT'S needed that the OHIO Democrats provide buses for the registered Dems in that area on Election Day."
-snip-
I'm not sure what CFC means here.
****
2. From http://miamitimesonline.com/news/2016/mar/02/fired-ready-vote/ ‘Fired up, ready to vote’
President Bill Clinton arrived in Miami Gardens Sunday as early voting begins in Miami-Dade
Carolyn Guniss, 3/2/2016
..."former President Bill Clinton... was in Miami Gardens on Sunday stumping for his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He and local officials pushed for people to vote early, ahead of the Presidential Preference Primary Election, which is March 15. Registered Democrats and Republicans may vote in the primary. So far, statewide more than 500,000 people have cast absentee ballots.”…
Florida plays an important role in the presidential election. Over the state, registered Black Democrats number more than 28 percent. In the tri-county area, more than 33 percent of registered Democrats are Black.
Sunday, before President Clinton came on stage, Miami Commission Chairman Keon Hardemon, Vice Mayor of Miami Gardens Felicia Robinson and Congresswoman Frederica Wilson spoke. Also in attendance were Kendrick Meek and his mother Carrie Meek, who both had Wilson’s seat in the past.
Locals played a big role at the rally. The Alliance for Musical Arts -Youth Drum Line and the 93rd Street Baptist Church Community Choir entertained between speeches. Songstress Rochelle Lightfoot sang the “Star Spangled Banner” to open the event.
“Fired up, ready to vote; fired up, ready to vote; fired up, ready to vote;” chanted Wilson with the crowd.
“We have the opportunity to elect the first female president,” Wilson said. “She deserves to be back in the White House, this time as commander in chief.”
Wilson said if people allowed Donald Trump to be elected “all of Obama’s work will be wiped out and we will be in trouble.”...
****
3.
From http://www.democraticunderground.com/110768413 Fired UP! Ready to vote! (Hillary GROUP), Firebrand Gary, Wed Mar 9, 2016
"Good morning my DU friends!
It's a gorgeous day here on the left coast and as the clock ticks, we're growing closer for our turn to vote! We moved even further from our competition last night in delegates, WOOOOO HOOOOOOO!
Are you fired up? I'm so fired up, that my feet and hand are hot! I just donated to our gal and I'm ready to work. March 15th is drawing nearer and we need to do everything that we need to and turn out the vote! Let's run those numbers up bae-bae.
Kick ass people, we so got this!"
-snip-
DU = Democratic Underground
****
4. From http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/05/can-obama-get-bernies-kids-to-vote-in-november.html Can Obama Get Bernie’s Kids Fired Up and Ready to Vote in November? By Ed Kilgore, May 26, 2016
..."So something to watch for as the Democratic primaries end and the convention approaches is Obama emerging from backstage and offering himself as a focal point for a reconciliation between Clinton and Sanders and as a relentless critic of Donald Trump and the party Trump has conquered. With Obama now being more popular than Clinton, there’s really little downside to enlisting POTUS in this role. And perhaps he can recapture the uncanny knack he had in 2008 to get young people, Democrats and independents alike, fired up and ready to go."
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Esperanza Spalding - We Are America (a song about closing Guantanamo prison)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases the video "We Are America" by award winning vocalist and bass player Esperanza Spalding.
This post also includes excerpts from a NPR radio interview with Esparanza Spalding. A partial transription of the lyrics to this song is also included in this post.
The content of this post is provided for motivational, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: We Are America - Esperanza Spalding
k-wad moovin, Published on Nov 19, 2013
Take a stand. Call the US Capitol Switchboard (1-202-224-3121) to connect you to your two US Senators and your Congressional Representative. Tell them:
I am your constituent and I want you to support closing Guantanamo.
Indefinite detention and unfair trials are illegal, un-American and unnecessary.
Visit these links to find out more about what's going on at Guantanamo Bay:
ACLU - bit.ly/gitmondaa
Amnesty International - amnestyusa.org/ndaa
Human Rights First - humanrightsfirst.org
Human RIghts Watch - hrw.org/close-gitmo
© ESPLLC
-snip-
I've not yet found a link to the lyrics to this song. Here's a partial transcription of that song:
I been told and I believe
Group- I been told and I believe
Ain't no justice, Ain't no peace.
Group- Ain't no justice, ain't no peace.
I been told and I believe
Group- I been told and I believe
What you give is what you receive.
Group- What you give is what you receive.
We gotta give it to them*
Hey hey hey
[someone sings what sounds to me like "Come on"]
Ah, we gotta let them out.
-end of partial transcription-
*The word "Dignity" is shown written on a man's body. Throughout the video the words "Justice", "Freedom", "Security", "Peace" etc are written somewhere on the bodies of people wearing prison orange uniforms. Those virtues are what Spalding means when she sings "We gotta give it to them.
****
INTERVIEW EXCERPT
From http://www.wbur.org/npr/246617031/esperanza-spalding-guantanamo-is-not-our-america [National Public Radio]
"Grammy Award-winning musician Esperanza Spalding has a problem with using the phrase "protest song" to describe her new recording, "We Are America." The song, along with its accompanying music video, demands congressional action to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.
HEADLEE: In the video, Spalding is joined by artists like Janelle Monae, Stevie Wonder and Harry Belafonte to demand Congressional action on closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. And she's here now to tell us more. Welcome.
talking about the process of writing this song]
SPALDING: ...“And I looked at the wall and, just next to the piano, some previous musician in there had written, no justice, no peace. And so I start humming the - like we were doing, like, a call-and-answer kind of chant. And, (Singing) I've been told and I believe - ain't no justice, ain't no peace. And that really became a seed that grew into the whole song. So really, I don't know how to answer your question specifically, but all I can sort of say is describing how we did it. And it was a very organic and genuine process...
HEADLEE: How will it help? I mean, I know President Obama came in and I believe he truly believed that he was going to be able to close Guantanamo without too much fuss. He found that to be very difficult - still to this day - to do. How is this video and greater public awareness going to actually do something that's so complicated in Washington?
SPALDING: Yeah. It's not as complicated as you might think. The narrative has gotten a little co-opted to become a who's soft and who's tough on security. And really, there are some very basic laws and human rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in our Constitution that are being violated. And there is a really concise and coherent roadmap that's been laid out by a lot of different governing bodies."
****
RELATED LINKS
http://swampland.time.com/2013/11/20/rand-paul-aids-surprise-guantanamo-bay-win-for-obama/
"In a surprising win on Tuesday night, the White House and top Senate Democrats successfully defended provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would loosen restrictions on transferring detainees out of Guantánamo Bay, advancing President Obama’s goal of closing the facility by a margin of 55-43. A vote in favor of final passage on the entire NDAA is expected in early December, after which it faces a likely fight in conference with the House’s version of the bill, which maintains the transfer restrictions."
****
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/01/seven-videos-of-queen-of-salsa-celia.html
The first featured video in that post is one of Celia Cruz singing "Guantanamera". From the Wikipedia page:
"Guantanamera" (Spanish: "from Guantánamo [feminine]", thus "woman from Guantánamo") is perhaps the best known Cuban song and that country's most noted patriotic song."...
****
Here's another blog about Esperanza Spalding's song "We Are America":
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/11/18/esperanza-spalding-stevie-wonder-push-for-closing-guantanamo-in-we-are-america/
****
Thanks to Esperanza Spalding for composing & singing this song. Thanks also to the other artists, musicians, and other persons involved in this recording & video. Thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This post showcases the video "We Are America" by award winning vocalist and bass player Esperanza Spalding.
This post also includes excerpts from a NPR radio interview with Esparanza Spalding. A partial transription of the lyrics to this song is also included in this post.
The content of this post is provided for motivational, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO: We Are America - Esperanza Spalding
k-wad moovin, Published on Nov 19, 2013
Take a stand. Call the US Capitol Switchboard (1-202-224-3121) to connect you to your two US Senators and your Congressional Representative. Tell them:
I am your constituent and I want you to support closing Guantanamo.
Indefinite detention and unfair trials are illegal, un-American and unnecessary.
Visit these links to find out more about what's going on at Guantanamo Bay:
ACLU - bit.ly/gitmondaa
Amnesty International - amnestyusa.org/ndaa
Human Rights First - humanrightsfirst.org
Human RIghts Watch - hrw.org/close-gitmo
© ESPLLC
-snip-
I've not yet found a link to the lyrics to this song. Here's a partial transcription of that song:
I been told and I believe
Group- I been told and I believe
Ain't no justice, Ain't no peace.
Group- Ain't no justice, ain't no peace.
I been told and I believe
Group- I been told and I believe
What you give is what you receive.
Group- What you give is what you receive.
We gotta give it to them*
Hey hey hey
[someone sings what sounds to me like "Come on"]
Ah, we gotta let them out.
-end of partial transcription-
*The word "Dignity" is shown written on a man's body. Throughout the video the words "Justice", "Freedom", "Security", "Peace" etc are written somewhere on the bodies of people wearing prison orange uniforms. Those virtues are what Spalding means when she sings "We gotta give it to them.
****
INTERVIEW EXCERPT
From http://www.wbur.org/npr/246617031/esperanza-spalding-guantanamo-is-not-our-america [National Public Radio]
"Grammy Award-winning musician Esperanza Spalding has a problem with using the phrase "protest song" to describe her new recording, "We Are America." The song, along with its accompanying music video, demands congressional action to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay.
HEADLEE: In the video, Spalding is joined by artists like Janelle Monae, Stevie Wonder and Harry Belafonte to demand Congressional action on closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. And she's here now to tell us more. Welcome.
talking about the process of writing this song]
SPALDING: ...“And I looked at the wall and, just next to the piano, some previous musician in there had written, no justice, no peace. And so I start humming the - like we were doing, like, a call-and-answer kind of chant. And, (Singing) I've been told and I believe - ain't no justice, ain't no peace. And that really became a seed that grew into the whole song. So really, I don't know how to answer your question specifically, but all I can sort of say is describing how we did it. And it was a very organic and genuine process...
HEADLEE: How will it help? I mean, I know President Obama came in and I believe he truly believed that he was going to be able to close Guantanamo without too much fuss. He found that to be very difficult - still to this day - to do. How is this video and greater public awareness going to actually do something that's so complicated in Washington?
SPALDING: Yeah. It's not as complicated as you might think. The narrative has gotten a little co-opted to become a who's soft and who's tough on security. And really, there are some very basic laws and human rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in our Constitution that are being violated. And there is a really concise and coherent roadmap that's been laid out by a lot of different governing bodies."
****
RELATED LINKS
http://swampland.time.com/2013/11/20/rand-paul-aids-surprise-guantanamo-bay-win-for-obama/
"In a surprising win on Tuesday night, the White House and top Senate Democrats successfully defended provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would loosen restrictions on transferring detainees out of Guantánamo Bay, advancing President Obama’s goal of closing the facility by a margin of 55-43. A vote in favor of final passage on the entire NDAA is expected in early December, after which it faces a likely fight in conference with the House’s version of the bill, which maintains the transfer restrictions."
****
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/01/seven-videos-of-queen-of-salsa-celia.html
The first featured video in that post is one of Celia Cruz singing "Guantanamera". From the Wikipedia page:
"Guantanamera" (Spanish: "from Guantánamo [feminine]", thus "woman from Guantánamo") is perhaps the best known Cuban song and that country's most noted patriotic song."...
****
Here's another blog about Esperanza Spalding's song "We Are America":
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/11/18/esperanza-spalding-stevie-wonder-push-for-closing-guantanamo-in-we-are-america/
****
Thanks to Esperanza Spalding for composing & singing this song. Thanks also to the other artists, musicians, and other persons involved in this recording & video. Thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
"Fired Up! Ready To Go!" Chant (Comments & Videos)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This post showcases the story of the call & response chant "Fired Up! Ready To Go!" that then candidate Senator Barack Obama adopted for his 2008 United States Presidential campaign.
The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, political, and inspirational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
COMMENTS ABOUT THE FIRED UP READY TO GO CHANT
From http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/04/the-story-of-fired-up-ready-to-go-119612.html
The story of 'Fired up! Ready to go'
By BYRON TAU 4/4/12 12:29 PM EDT
"In honor of the one year anniversary of the kickoff of the 2012 Obama campaign, Chicago has released a video telling the story of the 2008 chant "Fired Up! Ready to go."
The video tells the tale of a 2007 Greenwood, S.C. rally where a supporter named Edith S. Childs helped create a chant that would set the tenor of the 2008 campaign.
"I'm Edith S. Childs from Greenwood, S.C. and I'm the one that got Barack Obama fired up," Childs says in the video".
-snip-
Late in the evening of November 5, 2012, towards the end of his final campaign speech of the 2012 Presidential campaign in Des Moines, Iowa, President Barack Obama re-told the story of the fired up/ready to go chant. He then told the crowd of 20,000 persons in attendance at that speech that he had invited the creator of that chant Edith S. Childs to join him & his wife Michelle in Iowa for that last campaign speech. However, President Obama said that Ms. Childs thanked him but said that she wouldn't be able to come to Iowa because she was going to be knocking on doors and helping to get people out to vote in North Carolina on election day November the 6th. President Obama said that showed that she was still fired up. He then led the people in the rally in that now iconic call & response chant:
"Fired up!"
(Fired up!")
"Ready to go!"
("Ready to go!")
****
FEATURED VIDEOS
Example #1 : Obama: "Fired Up? Ready To Go!"
DemRapidResponse, Uploaded on Nov 4, 2008
Manassas, Virginia, 11/3/08
Obama: Finally we get to Greenwood. We pull up -- first of all, you don't know you're in Greenwood right away when you get to Greenwood, there aren't a lot of tall buildings there. We pull up to a small building, a field house in the park. We go inside. And lo and behold, after an hour and a half drive, turns out there are twenty people there. Twenty people, and they all look kind of damp and kind of sleepy, like maybe they aren't really excited to be there either. But you know, I am a professional. Ive got to do what I got to do. [applause] So I go around, I'm shaking hands, I'm saying how ya doing, what are ya doing? [applause] Wait, wait. As I go around the room suddenly I hear this voice cry out behind me, "Fired Up!" And I'm shocked. I jump up. I dont know what's going on. But everybody else acts like this is normal and they say, "fired up." Then I hear this voice say, "ready to go!" And the other twenty people in the room, they act like this happens all the time, they say ready to go. I don't know what's going on. So I look behind me, and there's this small woman, about sixty years old, a little over five feet. It looks like she just came from church, got a big church hat. [laughter] And she's standing there and she looks at me and shes smiling. And she says, "fired up!"
Turns out she is a city councilwoman from Greenwood who also moonlights as a private detective -- I'm not making this up. [laughter] And it turns out she is famous for her chant. She does this wherever she goes, she says "fired up!" and everybody says "ready to go, ready to go." So for the next five minutes she proceeds to do this, "fired up" everybody says "ready to go." And I'm standing there and I'm thinking that I am being outflanked by this woman here. She's stealing my thunder. I look at my staff, they shrug their shoulders, they don't know how long this is going to go.
But here's the thing, Virginia -- after a minute or so, I'm feeling kind of fired up. [applause] I'm feeling like I'm ready to go. So I join in the chant. And it feels good. And for the rest of the day, even after we left Greenwood, even though it was still raining, even though I was still not getting big crowds anywhere, even though we hadn't gotten the endorsements of the people we were hoping for, somehow I felt a little lighter, I felt a little better. I'd see my staff, Id say, are you fired up? Theyd say we're fired up boss, are you ready to go?
Heres my point, Virginia -- that's how this thing started. It shows you what one voice can do. One voice can change a room; and if a voice can change a room, it can change a city; and if it can change a city it can change a state; and if change a state, it can change a nation; and if it can change a nation, it can change the world! Virginia, your voice can change the world tomorrow! [applause] In 21 hours, if you are willing, if you are willing to endure some rain, if you are willing to drag that person you know who was not going to vote to the polls, if you're willing to organize and volunteer in the offices, if you are willing to stand with me, if you are willing to fight with me, I know that your voice will matter.
So I've just got one question for you, Virginia. Are you fired up?
["Yeah"]
Are you ready to go?
["Yeah"]
Fired up?
["Fired Up!"]
Ready to go?
["Ready to Go!"]
Fired up?
["Fired Up!"]
Ready to go?
["Ready to Go!"]
Fired up?
["Fired Up!"]
Ready to go?
["Ready to Go!"]
Virginia, let's go change the world. Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
-snip-
This transcription was given in the video summary but was reformatted for this post with minor punctuation corrections.
****
Example #2: The Story of "Fired up! Ready to go!" - Obama for America 2012
BarackObamadotcom, Published on Apr 4, 2012
"Edith S. Childs is the one that got Barack Obama fired up.
While attending a small campaign event in Greenwood, South Carolina, then-Senator Obama first heard the chant "Fired up! Ready to Go!".
As then-Senator Obama shared in his pre-election night speech in Virginia:
"After a minute or so I'm feeling kind of fired up. I'm feeling like I'm ready to go! So I joined in the chant. And it feels good.
And for the rest of the day, even after we left Greenwood, I'd see my staff and I'd say,
'Are you fired up?'
They'd say 'We're fired up boss. Are you ready to go?'
I'd say, 'I'm ready to go.'
So some people start putting 'Fired up! Ready to go!' on their shirts. Some people start putting 'Fired up! Ready to go!' on signs. Everybody's saying 'Fired up!' and 'Ready to go!'
It shows you what one voice can do. One voice can change a room. And if a voice can change a room it can change a city. And if it can change a city it can change a state. And if it can change a state it can change the nation. And if it can change the nation it can change the world.
Your voice can change the world."
April 4th, 2012 is the one year anniversary of the 2012 campaign.
Help President Obama stand up for working Americans. Join this campaign now. https://my.barackobama.com/firedupreadytogovid">https://my.barackobama.com/firedupreadytogovid"
****
ADDENDUM
[revised 11/9/2012]
Structure
The "Fired up! Ready to go!" chant is characteristic of African Americans' use of call & response statements in every day conversation as well as in vocal & instrumental music.
There are two types of call & response chants. Some call & response sayings are constructed so that the second part - the response - completes the first part - the call. An example of this is the saying "God is good". Those persons conversant in African American culture know that they are supposed to respond "All the time". I refer to this kind of call & response chant as a "completion chant".
From the video of this chant, "Fired Up! Ready to go" isn't voiced as a completion chant, but an "echo chant". The leader calls out "Fired up!" and another person or the group responds by repeating those same words. The leader then calls out "Ready to go!" and those words are repeated by the respondents. However, it's possible that "Fired up!" "Ready to go!" could also be said as a completion chant.
These two basic forms of call & response chants - "completion chants" and "echo chants" - are also found in call & response vocal and instrumental music. The next time you hear examples of call & response in African American music, in other music from Africa, in the African Diaspora, or elsewhere see if you can identify which form of call & response the vocalists are singing or playing.
**
How Ms. Child's Performed This Chant
In the video given above as Example #2 -as well as on her guest appearance on the Lawrence O'Donnell talk show on MSNBC - Ms. Child's chanted "Fired up! Ready to go!" two times with the same notes, but on the third & fourth repetition, she used a higher note* to chant the "fired up" line while chanting the "ready to go" line with the same note that she had previously used. Of course, this doesn't mean that this is the only way that this chant can be performed.
*This terminology may be wrong as I'm not a musician. But the point is that her voice went up the third & fourth time she chanted the words "fired up".
**
Definitions
Here's a vernacular definition of "fired up"
From http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080103005628AAtZUWv What does "fired up" mean [in English]?"
"get started
boot up the computer
load the software
fired up usually refers to get yourself started.
energized
i think its an idiom. phrase used by a culture"
-Barbara, 2007
**
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF CHANTS IN GENERAL AND THE "FIRED UP! READY TO GO" CHANT IN PARTICULAR
As documented by their use in civil rights demonstrations and political rallies, chants help to unify the people who are saying those words. And as also demonstrated by their religious and spiritual use, chants help to focus the chanters' attention and help to re-energize them.
Edith S. Childs' explanation of the reasons why she started the "Fired up! Ready to go!" chant during then Senator Obama's visit to her Greenwood, South Carolina illustrates the above-mentioned psychological functions of that chant.
The psychological importance of the "Fired up! Ready to go!" chant is also illustrated by President Obama's points about how that chant's repeated words helped energize him, and how he & his campaign team's subsequently used the "Fired up! Ready to go!" chant to boost their morale.
-snip-
It's a mark of President Obama's political savvy that he recognized the importance of political chants and the "Fire up! Ready to go!" chant in particular to energize himself and to energize his base.
**
Update - 11/7/2012 1:30 PM
People being "fired up & ready to go" resulted in the re-election of President Obama & Vice President Biden, as well as the re-election and election of a large number of Democrats. Congratulations!!
**
As the result of reading a post about this election, I came across the use of the phrase "fired us up". "To get people fired up" means to anger them. People who are angry may be described as having "fire in their bellies". And that "fire" (anger) may cause them to say or do something which may be needed.
An example is what happened in Florida and Ohio as a result of the Republican Governor's and the Republican Secretary of State's efforts to disenfranchise likely Democratic voters. In those states, those officials instituted various voter suppression tactics, including reducing the number of days and hours for early voting. This caused very long lines for voters on those specified early voting days and on election day. The idea was that in doing so, fewer Black people and Brown people (Latinos/Latinas) would vote because such long lines would discourage them. However, Black people and Brown people discouraged from voting, and other people remained in those long lines for three, four, five, and more hours to vote. These people may have already been "fired up and ready to go" (motivated to vote Democratic). But those obvious voter suppression tactics resulted in them being "fired up" (angry) and as a result of that anger, those Black people and Brown people and people of other races/ethnicity were even more determined to go out to vote and remain in those long lines to vote Democratic. My thanks to them!
****
RELATED LINK
Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9gWrWMM5Mc&feature=plcp for President Obama Full Speech in Des Moines, Iowa (11/5/12)
****
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to Edith S. Childs and President Barack Obama for their fired up & ready to go energy, vision, endurance, and commitment to make the United States and the world a better place for all.
Thanks also to the Obama Presidential campaign for producing and uploading this video and for all the other work that they did to help elect then Senator Obama and to help re-elect President Obama.
We are fired up and ready to go!
**
Finally, thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This post showcases the story of the call & response chant "Fired Up! Ready To Go!" that then candidate Senator Barack Obama adopted for his 2008 United States Presidential campaign.
The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, political, and inspirational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
****
COMMENTS ABOUT THE FIRED UP READY TO GO CHANT
From http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/04/the-story-of-fired-up-ready-to-go-119612.html
The story of 'Fired up! Ready to go'
By BYRON TAU 4/4/12 12:29 PM EDT
"In honor of the one year anniversary of the kickoff of the 2012 Obama campaign, Chicago has released a video telling the story of the 2008 chant "Fired Up! Ready to go."
The video tells the tale of a 2007 Greenwood, S.C. rally where a supporter named Edith S. Childs helped create a chant that would set the tenor of the 2008 campaign.
"I'm Edith S. Childs from Greenwood, S.C. and I'm the one that got Barack Obama fired up," Childs says in the video".
-snip-
Late in the evening of November 5, 2012, towards the end of his final campaign speech of the 2012 Presidential campaign in Des Moines, Iowa, President Barack Obama re-told the story of the fired up/ready to go chant. He then told the crowd of 20,000 persons in attendance at that speech that he had invited the creator of that chant Edith S. Childs to join him & his wife Michelle in Iowa for that last campaign speech. However, President Obama said that Ms. Childs thanked him but said that she wouldn't be able to come to Iowa because she was going to be knocking on doors and helping to get people out to vote in North Carolina on election day November the 6th. President Obama said that showed that she was still fired up. He then led the people in the rally in that now iconic call & response chant:
"Fired up!"
(Fired up!")
"Ready to go!"
("Ready to go!")
****
FEATURED VIDEOS
Example #1 : Obama: "Fired Up? Ready To Go!"
DemRapidResponse, Uploaded on Nov 4, 2008
Manassas, Virginia, 11/3/08
Obama: Finally we get to Greenwood. We pull up -- first of all, you don't know you're in Greenwood right away when you get to Greenwood, there aren't a lot of tall buildings there. We pull up to a small building, a field house in the park. We go inside. And lo and behold, after an hour and a half drive, turns out there are twenty people there. Twenty people, and they all look kind of damp and kind of sleepy, like maybe they aren't really excited to be there either. But you know, I am a professional. Ive got to do what I got to do. [applause] So I go around, I'm shaking hands, I'm saying how ya doing, what are ya doing? [applause] Wait, wait. As I go around the room suddenly I hear this voice cry out behind me, "Fired Up!" And I'm shocked. I jump up. I dont know what's going on. But everybody else acts like this is normal and they say, "fired up." Then I hear this voice say, "ready to go!" And the other twenty people in the room, they act like this happens all the time, they say ready to go. I don't know what's going on. So I look behind me, and there's this small woman, about sixty years old, a little over five feet. It looks like she just came from church, got a big church hat. [laughter] And she's standing there and she looks at me and shes smiling. And she says, "fired up!"
Turns out she is a city councilwoman from Greenwood who also moonlights as a private detective -- I'm not making this up. [laughter] And it turns out she is famous for her chant. She does this wherever she goes, she says "fired up!" and everybody says "ready to go, ready to go." So for the next five minutes she proceeds to do this, "fired up" everybody says "ready to go." And I'm standing there and I'm thinking that I am being outflanked by this woman here. She's stealing my thunder. I look at my staff, they shrug their shoulders, they don't know how long this is going to go.
But here's the thing, Virginia -- after a minute or so, I'm feeling kind of fired up. [applause] I'm feeling like I'm ready to go. So I join in the chant. And it feels good. And for the rest of the day, even after we left Greenwood, even though it was still raining, even though I was still not getting big crowds anywhere, even though we hadn't gotten the endorsements of the people we were hoping for, somehow I felt a little lighter, I felt a little better. I'd see my staff, Id say, are you fired up? Theyd say we're fired up boss, are you ready to go?
Heres my point, Virginia -- that's how this thing started. It shows you what one voice can do. One voice can change a room; and if a voice can change a room, it can change a city; and if it can change a city it can change a state; and if change a state, it can change a nation; and if it can change a nation, it can change the world! Virginia, your voice can change the world tomorrow! [applause] In 21 hours, if you are willing, if you are willing to endure some rain, if you are willing to drag that person you know who was not going to vote to the polls, if you're willing to organize and volunteer in the offices, if you are willing to stand with me, if you are willing to fight with me, I know that your voice will matter.
So I've just got one question for you, Virginia. Are you fired up?
["Yeah"]
Are you ready to go?
["Yeah"]
Fired up?
["Fired Up!"]
Ready to go?
["Ready to Go!"]
Fired up?
["Fired Up!"]
Ready to go?
["Ready to Go!"]
Fired up?
["Fired Up!"]
Ready to go?
["Ready to Go!"]
Virginia, let's go change the world. Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
-snip-
This transcription was given in the video summary but was reformatted for this post with minor punctuation corrections.
****
Example #2: The Story of "Fired up! Ready to go!" - Obama for America 2012
BarackObamadotcom, Published on Apr 4, 2012
"Edith S. Childs is the one that got Barack Obama fired up.
While attending a small campaign event in Greenwood, South Carolina, then-Senator Obama first heard the chant "Fired up! Ready to Go!".
As then-Senator Obama shared in his pre-election night speech in Virginia:
"After a minute or so I'm feeling kind of fired up. I'm feeling like I'm ready to go! So I joined in the chant. And it feels good.
And for the rest of the day, even after we left Greenwood, I'd see my staff and I'd say,
'Are you fired up?'
They'd say 'We're fired up boss. Are you ready to go?'
I'd say, 'I'm ready to go.'
So some people start putting 'Fired up! Ready to go!' on their shirts. Some people start putting 'Fired up! Ready to go!' on signs. Everybody's saying 'Fired up!' and 'Ready to go!'
It shows you what one voice can do. One voice can change a room. And if a voice can change a room it can change a city. And if it can change a city it can change a state. And if it can change a state it can change the nation. And if it can change the nation it can change the world.
Your voice can change the world."
April 4th, 2012 is the one year anniversary of the 2012 campaign.
Help President Obama stand up for working Americans. Join this campaign now. https://my.barackobama.com/firedupreadytogovid">https://my.barackobama.com/firedupreadytogovid"
****
ADDENDUM
[revised 11/9/2012]
Structure
The "Fired up! Ready to go!" chant is characteristic of African Americans' use of call & response statements in every day conversation as well as in vocal & instrumental music.
There are two types of call & response chants. Some call & response sayings are constructed so that the second part - the response - completes the first part - the call. An example of this is the saying "God is good". Those persons conversant in African American culture know that they are supposed to respond "All the time". I refer to this kind of call & response chant as a "completion chant".
From the video of this chant, "Fired Up! Ready to go" isn't voiced as a completion chant, but an "echo chant". The leader calls out "Fired up!" and another person or the group responds by repeating those same words. The leader then calls out "Ready to go!" and those words are repeated by the respondents. However, it's possible that "Fired up!" "Ready to go!" could also be said as a completion chant.
These two basic forms of call & response chants - "completion chants" and "echo chants" - are also found in call & response vocal and instrumental music. The next time you hear examples of call & response in African American music, in other music from Africa, in the African Diaspora, or elsewhere see if you can identify which form of call & response the vocalists are singing or playing.
**
How Ms. Child's Performed This Chant
In the video given above as Example #2 -as well as on her guest appearance on the Lawrence O'Donnell talk show on MSNBC - Ms. Child's chanted "Fired up! Ready to go!" two times with the same notes, but on the third & fourth repetition, she used a higher note* to chant the "fired up" line while chanting the "ready to go" line with the same note that she had previously used. Of course, this doesn't mean that this is the only way that this chant can be performed.
*This terminology may be wrong as I'm not a musician. But the point is that her voice went up the third & fourth time she chanted the words "fired up".
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Definitions
Here's a vernacular definition of "fired up"
From http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080103005628AAtZUWv What does "fired up" mean [in English]?"
"get started
boot up the computer
load the software
fired up usually refers to get yourself started.
energized
i think its an idiom. phrase used by a culture"
-Barbara, 2007
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THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF CHANTS IN GENERAL AND THE "FIRED UP! READY TO GO" CHANT IN PARTICULAR
As documented by their use in civil rights demonstrations and political rallies, chants help to unify the people who are saying those words. And as also demonstrated by their religious and spiritual use, chants help to focus the chanters' attention and help to re-energize them.
Edith S. Childs' explanation of the reasons why she started the "Fired up! Ready to go!" chant during then Senator Obama's visit to her Greenwood, South Carolina illustrates the above-mentioned psychological functions of that chant.
The psychological importance of the "Fired up! Ready to go!" chant is also illustrated by President Obama's points about how that chant's repeated words helped energize him, and how he & his campaign team's subsequently used the "Fired up! Ready to go!" chant to boost their morale.
-snip-
It's a mark of President Obama's political savvy that he recognized the importance of political chants and the "Fire up! Ready to go!" chant in particular to energize himself and to energize his base.
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Update - 11/7/2012 1:30 PM
People being "fired up & ready to go" resulted in the re-election of President Obama & Vice President Biden, as well as the re-election and election of a large number of Democrats. Congratulations!!
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As the result of reading a post about this election, I came across the use of the phrase "fired us up". "To get people fired up" means to anger them. People who are angry may be described as having "fire in their bellies". And that "fire" (anger) may cause them to say or do something which may be needed.
An example is what happened in Florida and Ohio as a result of the Republican Governor's and the Republican Secretary of State's efforts to disenfranchise likely Democratic voters. In those states, those officials instituted various voter suppression tactics, including reducing the number of days and hours for early voting. This caused very long lines for voters on those specified early voting days and on election day. The idea was that in doing so, fewer Black people and Brown people (Latinos/Latinas) would vote because such long lines would discourage them. However, Black people and Brown people discouraged from voting, and other people remained in those long lines for three, four, five, and more hours to vote. These people may have already been "fired up and ready to go" (motivated to vote Democratic). But those obvious voter suppression tactics resulted in them being "fired up" (angry) and as a result of that anger, those Black people and Brown people and people of other races/ethnicity were even more determined to go out to vote and remain in those long lines to vote Democratic. My thanks to them!
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RELATED LINK
Click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9gWrWMM5Mc&feature=plcp for President Obama Full Speech in Des Moines, Iowa (11/5/12)
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to Edith S. Childs and President Barack Obama for their fired up & ready to go energy, vision, endurance, and commitment to make the United States and the world a better place for all.
Thanks also to the Obama Presidential campaign for producing and uploading this video and for all the other work that they did to help elect then Senator Obama and to help re-elect President Obama.
We are fired up and ready to go!
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