Today in south Minneapolis, lunch was served with a piping hot side of social justice and celebrity.
Martin Sheen traveled to the state and spoke to a large lunch-time crowd at El Nuevo Rodeo, rallying the base for Al Franken and Obama. Ostensibly targeted at Latinos for Franken, but clearly reaching across the diverse population of south Minneapolis, he shared jokes, inspiration, signed autographs, and recalled the days when our leaders were of a greater stature.
Signing lots of autographs - plenty of fans of both his film and tv work, and his years of activism
Franken wasn't present, (he had an interview on our public radio just before), but Mr. Sheen brought out an eager crowd, and several local politicians.
Holding a rasher of notes and scraps of paper, Sheen opened with a memorized poem by the Indian poet Tagore:
"...where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into
the dreary desert sand of dead habit; where the mind is led forward by
thee into ever-widening thought and action into that heaven of
freedom, my Father, let my country awake. Amen!"
Then he informed us that he was rather uncomfortable speaking off-the-cuff, but shared several jokes and asides. Recalling his years as the 'acting President' and these days of being the 'former acting President', Mr. Sheen also invoked the leadership of the true greats - Carter, Clinton, and of course, JFK. He mentioned the 'concerns' about celebrity in the White House - 'Oh, Please!' and gave a pitch for his friend Al Franken. As a final note, Sheen addressed what he believed to be the final key in the upcoming Presidential election - race. He emphatically stated that 'Racism has no place in this race'.
Here he greets folks at the side of my state Senator, Patricia Torres Ray.
In addition to Senator Torres Ray (the 1st Latina elected to the MN State Senate), Rep. Keith Ellison (MN-05) gave a rousing welcome, admonishing everyone there to get out and volunteer. He has launched a huge voter registration drive, trying to find 20,000 new voters in the 5th. Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin closed with another pitch for volunteers.
Donate to Al!