Sí Trends

Si Trends: Is the United States ready for a black president?
Bobbito (DJ/sneaker connoisseur): I think America is ready for a black president and has been but the powers that be haven't allowed [it]. I don't think we should be fooled, that if God willing, [Barack Obama] is elected, that everything is better and people of color have power in the United States.

Joell Ortiz (MC): I think America is ready for change, whether it be Barack or Hillary [Clinton]. I think having a woman as president would be ill too. We need something we need to shake things up a bit, so I am rooting for either one.

Sadat X (MC): I would like to think America is ready for a black president, but we still got a lot of remnants from that old guard left. Still a lot of people who were around that don't want to see a black president, still a lot of people that participated in segregation and things of that nature.

Masta Ace (MC): I think a portion of America is ready for a black president. It's time for somebody with a different way of thinking to run the country. We already saw how a redneck would run this country; let's see how someone of a different ethnicity or gender would run it.

Si Trends: If elected, what should Obama's first order of business be as president?
LL Cool J (actor/MC): Get more secret service! (Laughs).  He should focus on how to end the drain that the Iraq war [has been] on this country without sending that territory into an unstable situation. That means a better use of our troops ‘cause I feel they aren't being used in the right potential.

Egypt (radio personality): This country is in a lot of trouble right now. In a matter of eight years our deficit is ridiculous so Barack or Hillary have a lot of work to do. Whoever becomes our president has to address healthcare. I strongly believe that we should have socialized healthcare.

Alchemist (producer): To tell you the truth, there are so many issues right now. But you know, everything is related, whether it's the economy and the dollar dropping is related to the war and gas prices.

Joell Ortiz: The first issue should be free healthcare. Come on man, we got to pay to be healthy? We all want to [have] long and prosperous [lives].

Sadat X: I think his first order of business should be free healthcare. It's free in other countries! You shouldn't have to pay to be cured from an illness. You should want to provide for [a] sick person. I don't feel that should have a price.

DJ Premier (producer): The first thing I'd want to do is find out where [exactly] the most imbalances are. Then tackle the hardest thing first, that way everything else will just fall in place.

Masta Ace: I think the first order of business should be foreign policy . . . changing the perceptions, if possible, of America out in the rest of the world. America is perceived as being a very arrogant and very violent country. Bringing the troops home is going to be paramount.

Photos by Shepard Fairley

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