Sunny Bey, 32, works as a barber at the New Millennium Sports Barber Shop in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles. I went to speak with him on a late weekday morning, before the shop had too many customers. Bey is in some ways a typical Barack Obama supporter—he is young, black and hungry for change. But this is also the first presidential election he’s participating in. He is a member of the Moorish Science Temple of America, a religious group that believes African Americans were descendants of the Moors of Northern Africa, and were thus originally Islamic.

According to Bey, the Moors draw a distinction between the United States (and its government) and the United States of America, the land that Americans live on. He hadn’t participated in an election before because of his religious beliefs. But Barack Obama is bringing him to the polls.

In our interview, we also talked about how Obama will give Americans more self-esteem and why Obama is like Larry Bird.

Who are you voting for?

Obama.

When did you decide you were voting for Obama?

He came out here in January of last year. He came to Rancho Park right next to Dorsey High School, and he spoke for about an hour and a half. I spoke to him right after he got off the stage, and I also gave him my son, to see what kind of person he was. Because the speech was cool, but as soon as he turned around I handed him my son. My son at the time was one year old, and I wanted to see how Obama would react. Would he just continue with his business, or was he a people person? He grabbed my son, walked off, took him away from me, pointed like “this your boy, right?” He came and brought him back two minutes later.

I like what he was saying about change, the changes he wanted to make as far as the opportunities for the people, and I also liked him as a people person right there. He kind of got to me right there.

As you’ve been following the campaign since then, has your opinion of him changed?

I like what he’s doing for the Democrats, just the way he can balance out the country. I think he brings a different type of blend. By him looking like a brother but having a background of an average white person.

I guess I’m going off who he is as a person, who he is and what I feel. But business-wise he went to Harvard, what’s better than that? He was the president of the law program, he had a law firm, businessly he’s on point.

How enthusiastic are you about this election, compared to others?

This is my first time voting in a presidential election.

So in the past you hadn’t voted because you felt like—

Well I was kind of young, and I had studied law as well. So I was really trying to get a basis on American society, that’s what I was trying to do for myself before I decided to vote.

How old are you now?

I’m 32.

And so you felt like before you decided to vote you wanted to feel –

I wanted to know peoples’ angles, I wanted to know a lot more about the American government system. A lot of people live here but they don’t know what a Republican is, they don’t know what a Democrat is, even though they’re going to the polls and voting. You ask them the definition of the word and they don’t know. I wanted to know specifically what I was getting myself into.

Why is this the first election you’re voting in?

I’m looking for change. People can never get past who they are. God gave me that. But there should be a way that everyone can live together and have peace. Because that’s the republican form of government —everybody respects everybody’s issues. But if you have a democracy and if you put your democracy representative up there, he should have enough sense to respect the people he represents.

Do you feel like presidents in the past haven’t respected the people who have elected them?

That and the people have never respected their position. They never respected the fact that they put this person in office, so he’s supposed to do what you say. Period. If he doesn’t do what we say, kick him out! Impeach him.

As far as voting for Barack Obama—is it because he’s transcending something that you’re voting for him?

Exactly. If he was talking a bunch of bullshit, he wouldn’t be on my side. I can read people. At least in government, they know where Obama is coming from.

Do you think there will be a noticeable difference after Obama is elected?

The only thing Obama is doing is giving us self-esteem. America is the place everyone looks to in the world, OK? No offense to nobody, but our people are the first people on Earth, and so with him becoming president in a place everybody looks to it’s kind of giving everybody a self-esteem thing. It’s not just our people, because our people need a big self-esteem boost, but he’s giving everybody a self-esteem boost because of who they are and where they come from. It’s really not about the race issue, it’s about … change, like he said.

How do you think the election is going to go down?

I think it’s going to be close because McCain stuck that one lady up in there …

Sarah Palin?

Yeah, Sarah, the way she looks, it’s all about imagery because Obama looks good in suits and has kind of got a young appeal. She has a young appeal as well. So they’re trying to throw that in for the little votes. But the elites in the higher places are going to make it close even though it’s not going to be close. Because it’s not about popular vote, it’s about the electoral vote.

What do you think about white voters who like Obama?

When you kind of get a sense of where a person is coming from intellectually and you’re on that person’s side intellectually, it doesn’t matter. You’re going to move toward that side.

Who can I say? Larry Bird—doesn’t have the physical ability Michael Jordan has but the mentality that he has in basketball, everybody likes him. That’s the same way Obama is, the way he moves through his life.

With Obama, you have to stop looking at the way he looks. Even when I went to go see him, there were more white people than black people there.

Do you think that’s encouraging?

I think that’s very encouraging. He was in the Jungles [Baldwin Village], for God’s sake. He was across the street from the Jungles. That’s one of the worst neighborhoods over here. People from Malibu, Beverly Hills, Santa Barbara, they came far to see him speak.

Tags: blacks, crenshaw, democrats, first-time voter, moors, obama, republicans, sunny bey