The 2000s

The journey of Barack Obama from Hawaii, the Southside of Chicago, and to the Presidency is one of the most important stories in American history. Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential candidate was very historic and unlike any campaign in human history. He is a very intelligent person. He organized millions of people to vote for him, he has charisma, and he married a beautiful, very smart black woman Michelle Obama. He is the reflection of America culturally, psychologically, and in other ways.  By 2007, President George W. Bush had massive unpopularity. So, the Democrats used this as an opportunity to run their own candidates. The Republicans had their field too. John McCain ran for President again in 2008. The Republican primary was just as open as the Democratic primary. The Republican field had John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Fred Thompson, Alan Keyes, Duncan Hunter, Rudy Giuliani, Sam Brownback, Jim Gilmore, Tommy Thompson, and Tom Tancredo. Mike Huckabee won the Iowa caucus in January of 2008. Huckabee appeared to the Evangelicals and other conservatives. McCain was supported by the GOP establishment ironically when he called himself a maverick. Romney was second and McCain was third in the 2008 Iowa primary. John McCain won the New Hampshire primary. The race was later mostly a battle between John McCain and Mitt Romney. They targeted Western and Midwestern states. Huckabee continued to fight. John McCain soon won the Republican nomination after Super Tuesday. 

As for the Democratic side, then Senator Barack Obama of Illinois officially announced his candidacy for President in a cold day at Springfield, Illinois (on the date of February 10, 2007). He invoked Abraham Lincoln in calling for the nation to be united in the midst of massive political divisions. Springfield was where it started. Immediately, Barack Obama had supporters to use social media, the Internet, and other means to gain massive financial support for his campaign. Other Democratic candidates in 2008 were Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden, Mike Gravel, Christopher Dodd, Evan Bayn, and Tom Vilsack. Early on in the Democratic primary, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were frontrunners. John Edwards was shown in third in numerous polls. Edwards focused on an economic message. Hillary Clinton focused on a campaign on experience since she was a Senator. Hillary Clinton's supporters were passionate. When Barack Obama won the Iowa primary, then it sent a historic message worldwide. Independents, women, and black people voted for Obama in Iowa. Obama presented himself as a “candidate of change.” Hillary Clinton was in a low point and won the next New Hampshire primary. This was when Hillary said that she found her voice. Clinton's win in New Hampshire was the first time a woman had ever won a major American party's presidential primary for the purposes of delegate selection. The debates between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were fierce and personal at times. For a time, the Obamas and the Clintons couldn’t stand each other. Barack Obama won the South Carolina primary, and Bill Clinton said that his or Obama’s campaign was a farce. He or Bill Clinton made the slick, racist comment that if Obama existed decades ago, he would give him some coffee. Later, the Obamas and the Clintons reconciled. The Louisiana, Nebraska, Hawaii, Wisconsin, U.S. Virgin Islands, the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia primaries and the Washington and Maine caucuses all took place after Super Tuesday in February. Obama won all of them, giving him 10 consecutive victories after Super Tuesday. At the end, Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination. He was the first African American to have done so. He gave his historic Democratic nomination speech at Denver, Colorado to a large crowd. He criticized John McCain’s policies as policies of the past and linked his views to Bush. Barack Obama was celebrated and achieved even more popularity. The general election dealt with the issues of the Iraq War, the economy, health care (as Barack Obama wanted a national health care system with a private system and a public government option. McCain wanted a more free market health care system), other foreign policy matters, education, and other issues. John McCain was criticized because of being tied to Bush’s Iraq War policies, and Barack Obama was criticized because of experience issues.  Obama and McCain debated numerous times. McCain cited his experience as a factor for those to vote for him, and Obama said that he wanted real change from the past cynicism. Debates came about.

Barack Obama’s strength was that he combined wit, resiliency, and strength. He could take criticism, and he was tested. Pastor Jeremiah Wright gave a provocative speech about America. Wright ironically told the truth about many issues about racial injustice, the evil of the genocide of Native Americans, and the nefarious nature of imperialism. Yet, the far right and some in the media criticized Barack Obama for associating with him. Later, Barack Obama had his Philadelphia race speech where he wanted white people to recognize the legitimate frustration of black people against oppression while telling black people to continue to fight for justice. Obama criticized Wright's speech. It was a moderate speech and the controversy didn’t end his campaign. The general election was very costly. Third Party candidates were abundant like Ralph Nader, Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party, Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party, and Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party. Allegations of Republican voter suppression existed in 2008. Election Day was on November 4, 2008. As time came on, Barack Obama won many states never won by Democrats in decades.  Obama won Illinois, the Northeast, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, and other states. McCain, unlike Bush in 2000 and 2004, failed to win all the southern states: Obama won Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia. Obama also won the hotly contested states of Iowa and New Mexico, which Al Gore had won in 2000 and George W. Bush in 2004. After Obama won California by 11:00 pm. EST, the major American networks cited Barack Obama as the new President of the United States of America. It was a historic moment as President Barack Obama was the first African American President in American history.

People celebrated in Grant Park in Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Atlanta, Harlem, and other places. 250,000 people were in Grant Park. Jesse Jackson cried, and Oprah Winfrey cheered. Broken down by age group, voters under 35 voted for Obama by a large majority with McCain most popular among voters over 60. Voters between 35 and 59 were nearly split 50/50 between the two candidates. Expressed as a percentage of eligible voters, 131.2 million votes could reflect a turnout as high as 63.0% of eligible voters, which would be the highest since 1960. This 63.0% turnout rate is based on an estimated eligible voter population of 208,323,000. Another estimate puts the eligible voter population at 213,313,508, resulting in a turnout rate of 61.6%, which would be the highest turnout rate since 1968. Even in southern states in which Obama was unsuccessful, such as Georgia and Mississippi; due to large African American turnout he was much more competitive than John Kerry in 2004.  John McCain gave a gracious concession speech in Arizona. Barack Obama gave his victory speech at Grant Park in Chicago. Barack Obama talked about the future and the responsibility of America to make a better America. The election of President Barack Obama would start a new era of America. It caused an emotional high for people, and it represented how the same issues of race, class, sex, and culture still impacted American society at the same time. The legacy of President Barack Obama would be a mixture of his achievements and mistakes. What Obama is to the liberal movement is akin to what Reagan was to the conservative movement. Nothing would be the same again with President Barack Obama.



The first decade of the 21st century was the time of the beginning of my adulthood. I was 18 years old in the year of 2001. It was the time of the start of the war on terror, the expansion of music, economic global recession, and the growth of globalization. More environmental issues were discussed (like animal extinction and climate change), and we saw political leaders arise. The music of the 2000’s was diverse. One common denominator in the music of that decade was it saw hip hop become the most dominant music of the human race. Hip hop grown into being embraced by tons of people, and it made corporations earn billions of dollars in profit. Crunk, snap, hyphy, and alternative hip hop was popular. The center of hip hop expanded outside of New York into areas like Atlanta, Houston, New Orleans, the Bay Area, Miami, Detroit, St. Louis, Virginia, Los Angeles, etc. With its strengths, controversies, and accessibility, hip hop was potent in the 2000’s.  Also, rock, pop, metal, R&B, EDM, country, and indie had their own unique style too in that decade. Computer technology expanded and Napster went out of business since many musicians abhorred them using their content without their permission. Ironically, the end of Napster was the beginning of the end of retail stores selling CDs, etc. Online devices like Ipods and iTunes made buying songs more accessible. YouTube caused more bands and artists to spread their message quicker than going into a large corporate meeting. Nu-disco and post-punk was alive. Teen pop continued with groups like NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera. Contemporary R&B was one of the most popular genres of the decade (especially in the early and mid-2000's) which was immensely popular throughout the decade with artists like Usher, Beyoncé, and Rihanna. In 2004, the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 had 15 of its top 25 singles as Contemporary R&B.


In Britain, Britpop, post punk revival and rock were at the height their popularity with acts such as Coldplay, The Libertines, Oasis, Lynda Thomas, Travis, Dido, Blur, The Hives, Björk, and Radiohead, which still continued at the top of the major charts in the rest of the world since the 1990's. J-pop and K-pop flourished in the 2000’s. Reggae, reggaeton, and other songs grew. By the year of 2000, Mariah Carey was celebrated. Craig David debuted his album Born to Do It. Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP was released in 2000 being very controversial. Outkast’s Stankonia took hip hop music into another level. Madonna and Britney Spears released albums. The summer of 2001 saw the tragic passing of Sister Aaliyah, who was one of the greatest artists of our generation. George Harrison of the Beatles passed away in the same year. Michael Jackson released his last studio album called Invincible in 2001. In 2002, the heart and soul of TLC Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes died in Central America. Kelly Clarkson won the first American Idol award in the year of 2002. 2003 was the year of Beyoncé. Her album Dangerously in Love increased her career. She was a songwriter and producer of the album. She won five Grammy Awards the following year for the album. Dangerously in Love has sold over eleven million copies worldwide and produced two US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles – "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy" – and two top five singles – "Me, Myself and I" and "Naughty Girl.” Beyonce's future albums of B'Day and I Am Sasha Fierce would cause her to have superstar status. 21st century music is defined in part by Beyonce. Linkin Park released Meterora in 2003. Also, Otutkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below opened doors and pushed the envelope in hip hop.  50 Cent and Gunit made records in 2003 too. The Black Eyed Peas’s Elephunk mixed pop and hip hop influences. Evanescence’s Fallen was popular too. Nina Simone, Cecil Cruz, June Carter Cash, Johnny Cash, and other artists passed away in the year of 2003.

Kanye West made an impact with The College Dropout in 2004. He can at times speak the truth and in other times be very narcissistic plus inaccurate. The Grey Album was released by Danger Mouse in 2004. Green Day’s American Idiot had critical acclaim. In 2005, Mariah Carey released her 10-million selling The Emancipation of Mimi, the best-selling album of the year worldwide, alongside the album's second single "We Belong Together", the year's most successful single, and the Song of the Decade 2000–2009. Luther Vandross and John Herald passed away in 2005. Madonna released Confessions on a Dance Floor, her 10th studio album. It wins a Grammy award, Brit award, sells in excess of 12 million copies and has the worldwide hit "Hung Up" which tops the charts in a record-breaking 41 countries. Kanye West’s Late Registration grew his popularity. From 2006 to the year of 2008, there were new pop acts like Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and other people. In 2007, Rihanna’s third studio album called Good Girl Gone Bad made her into the new superstar. She had music in the mainstream in 2005 with Music of the Sun and A Girl Like Me in 2006. Rihanna’s Umbrella song was one of the most popular songs of the 21st century. She won her first Grammy at 2008. In 2008, Lady Gaga released her first album called Fame. Lady Gaga explores love, romance, sexuality, and other topics in her music and in her politics. In 2008, Lil Wayne released Tha Carter III and sold 1 million copies in the first week, becoming the bestselling album of 2008. Kanye West released 808s and Heartbreak. In 2009, Michael Jackson passed away in California. The Black Eyed Peas, Flo Rida, Lady Gaga, and other artists show music. By the end of this decade, the seeds of mumble rap would grow. 

The culture of the 2000s was very expansive. Internet communication expanded with YouTube, Facebook, and other social media devices. We saw the euro be part of the European Union as a currency. The growth of China was real. With science, research found full genome sequences. The first self-contained artificial heart was implanted in Robert Tools. The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission successfully reached the surface of Mars in 2004, and sent detailed data and images of the landscape there back to Earth. Opportunity discovers evidence that an area of Mars was once covered in water. Both rovers were each expected to last only 90 days, however both completely exceeded expectations and continued to explore through the end of the decade and beyond. GPS systems are popular in vehicles. Mobile communications develop. Text messaging became commonplace. The iPhone was released in 2007 being the first modern smartphone. It was Steve Jobs’ brainchild. Google is the most visited website, and broadband internet usage jumped forward. More people used plastic surgery and antidepressants during the 2000's than the 1990’s. TV shows and movies were very prominent in the first decade of the 21st century too. Computer generated films flourished in the 2000’s. 2004's Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore is the highest grossing documentary of all time. Online films became popular, and conversion to digital cinema started. Avatar was a science fiction film directed by James Cameron. He used cutting edge motion capture techniques. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Passion of Christ (with massive violence and other controversies), etc. received awards.  The superhero film genre experienced renewed and intense interest throughout the 2000's. With high ticket and DVD sales, several new superhero films were released every year. The X-Men, Batman and Spider-Man series were particularly prominent, and other notable films in the genre included Daredevil (2003), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), Hulk (2003), Hellboy (2004), Fantastic Four (2005), Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), and Watchmen (2009). Some media commentators attributed the increased popularity of such franchises to the social and political climate in Western society since the September 11 terrorist attacks; although others argued advances in special effects technology played a more significant role. The Dark Knight (released in 2008 and directed by Christopher Nolan) is often considered to be one of the greatest superhero films ever made. The Dark Knight is a film about Batman.

Fashion in the 2000’s included emo, 80’s fashion, large glasses, crop tops, cargo pants, fitted pants, etc. Journalism became more opinionated. Opinion journalists back then include Hannity, O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, Phil Donahue, and others. In the 2000's, African Americans had their own films dealing with drama, comedy, thrillers, etc. like Love and Basketball (2000), Why Did I Get Married? (2007), The Great Debaters (2007), I am Legend (2007), Stomp the Yard (2007), Remember the Titans (2000),  Brown Sugar (2002), Two Can Play That Game (2001), The Original Kings of Comedy (2000), Bamboozled (2000), Paid in Full (2002), Antoine Fisher (2002), Akeelah and the Bee (2006), and other movies. Black TV shows were still in abundance like Everyone Hates Chris, Girlfriends, The Chappelle Show, One on One, The Parkers, The Bernie Mac Show, My Wife and Kids, That’s so Raven, Moesha, The Game, The Steve Harvey show, Meet the Browns, etc. The 2000's saw the rise of reality television from Dancing with the Stars to Survivor including Flavor of Love. Shows like CSI, Grey’s Anatomy, and the Ghost Whisperer were watched. Controversial cartoons like South Park and Family Guy were increasingly watched. The decade also saw the rise of premium cable dramas such as The Sopranos, Deadwood, The Wire, Battlestar Galactica, Breaking Bad and Mad Men. The critic Daniel Mendelsohn wrote a critique of Mad Men in which he also claimed this last decade was a golden age for episodic television, citing Battlestar Galactica, The Wire, and the network series Friday Night Lights as especially deserving of critical and popular attention. In terms of sports, many Americans and people globally excelled. From the Redeem Team winning Olympic gold in 2008 at Beijing to many other champions, human athletes have inspired the world. These athletes are Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Shelly-Ann Fraser, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Sanya Richards, Allyson Felix, Natasha Hastings, etc. Sixth and Seventh generation video games from PlayStation to X-box dealt with action, science fiction, sports, and other genres. The Call of Duty series was extremely popular during the 2000's; the diverse shooter franchise released multiple games throughout the 2000's that were positively critically reviewed and commercially successful. The 2000's was the beginning of a new technological revolution indeed.



By Timothy