Decoding Obamaspeak

“Yes, we can” . . . “We are the change we seek” . . . “We are the people we’ve been waiting for” . . . are some of the more familiar Obamaspeak phrases. But what, if anything, do these words mean? Actually, they are borrowed from other persons and movements, including Mohandas Gandhi, Cesar Chavez, and – - really??? – - New Age mystic apocrypha.

“Yes, we can” – - This one isn’t too difficult, actually, for someone who was around during the ’60s and ’70s and knew about Cesar Chavez and the farm workers’ movement. In 1972, during a 25 day fast in Arizona, Chavez and United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta adopted the slogan “Si, se puede!”, meaning “Yes, it can be done!” The slogan is usually translated into English as “Yes, we can!” In 2006, “Yes, we can!” became a rallying cry for protests of U. S. immigration policy.

Mahatma Gandhi

“We are the change we seek” - – A little more difficult, perhaps, but this slogan appears to be taken from Indian political and spiritual leader Mohandas Gandhi, known as “Mahatma,” “Great Soul.” Gandhi was a prolific writer and left behind a number of books and articles from which Gandhi “sayings” are often excerpted. In recent years, such lists have included the following Gandhi quote: “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” See: The Positivity Blog (item 1); Top 10 Gandhi Quotes (item 7); Matthew Helmke (dot) Net (item 1). In these lists, the quote is usually coupled with another:

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.”

BSPCN

In other instances, the Gandhi quote is used as the basis for an essay. See Rhapsody Girl, Open Future.

The Gandhi quote seems fairly straightforward – - “don’t just talk the talk, walk the walk.” Note, however, that Obama changes the wording and therefore the tenor of the quote, making it, “we are the change we seek.” Not “you must be.” What it means, thus transformed, is open to conjecture.

“We are the people we’ve been waiting for” – - I must admit, that one had me flummoxed until I posted a humorous item, Obama Rex – - Lost In Translation, and one of the readers left the following comment: “All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. —The Elders Oraibi — Is the end of an ancient Native American verse.” Yoicks! A clue!

So I went a-hunting, and it turns out that this is not “an ancient Native American verse” but rather an apocryphal bit of New Age mysticism which has been around for about 7 years. The verse, in varying forms, is attributed to “a Hopi Elder,” a Hopi Elder who “speaks regarding the millennium,” or the Elders Oraibi, or Hopi Elders who spoke in June of 2000, or August 1999, or in 2001, or an unnamed Hopi Elder in Oraibi, Arizona, or the Hopi Elders in Oraibi. It seems to be the guiding credo of the “Illuminated Press Kit.” One site, Alienshift, publishes two differing versions, without blinking.

While there is a place named Oraibi, or Orayve, there is no reliable account to support the claims that the alleged Hopi verse originated there. The authenticity of the verse has been disputed. In the absence of evidence to support any of the attributions, I have concluded that it is apocryphal. Also, Obama’s excerpt leaves out these lines which appear earlier in the verse:

“Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.”