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.
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