The Inspiration of Barack: <em>"Yes We Can" Film Series</em>

I refer to the series as "Seven American Stories of Hope." I hope most people will be able to relate to at least one of them.
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I could sit here all day writing down the reasons why I support Barack Obama. In my lifetime, I don't remember another person who has been more influential. He is intelligent, logical, strong, honest, dedicated, honorable, passionate and -- most of all -- inspirational. He has inspired me, a usually self-motivated individual, to try to be a better person overall. I sometimes find myself in situations where I have a choice do my best or just get by. And something in me refers back to something Obama may have said about making this country better. Then I realize that if I can do better in all of my endeavors and we all do the same as a collective nation, this place can actually get better. Hmm, how basic does that seem? Well, that's how Obama makes things, basic, logical and attainable. And this is fact, he is the only one right now who can take this country in the fundamentally new direction in which it needs to go.

As a filmmaker, I wanted to do something to support this man that I truly admired. As it happened, one of my filmmaker friends in Los Angeles, Mike Lynch, was thinking along the same lines as I was. So I received a call late one night in my small New York studio. Mike says, "Qasim, we need to do something to support Obama." That call sparked the flame in me to stay up that night and draft up some ideas for a short film series. This series would capture the quality that I most appreciated about Barack Obama, The Inspiration of Barack: "Yes We Can" Film Series.

I refer to them as "Seven American Stories of Hope." They're about different people facing some sort of hardship in their lives who become inspired by Obama to take an essential step forward. I hope most people will be able to relate to at least one of them. I hope everyone will be inspired by them all. All of the titles begin with "Yes We Can" and are followed by College, Economy, Family, Housing, Immigration, Vote and War. You can probably guess from the titles what each of them represent.

Each week I'm going to post one of the videos. I'll also discuss why I did it, its significance and why it's relevant to what's happening today. They will also be displayed at different screenings around the country. I'll keep you informed as to when and where these screenings will occur and how to get tickets.

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