Jacob Isom is the skateboarder from Amarillo, TX that snatched a Quran that was to be burned from a BBQ grill and uttered the now famous phrase, “Dude, you got no Quran!”
YouTube has changed the way the world watches videos. Each month more Americans watch You Tube than watch the Super Bowl. According to You Tube’s statistics enough content is uploaded to make 60,000 feature films a week. When a video catches the imagination of the public it goes viral, popping up everywhere and shared via email link with everyone.
Dodson, a 24-year-old Alabama native rescued his sister from a would- be rapist in her bedroom and became an overnight internet sensation from his angry interview with a news crew the next day.
On July 28, Dodson was interviewed and passionately spoke directly into the camera, trying to warn people of the attacker prowling the Lincoln Park housing project. His use of street slang and his lack of pretension connected with people.
The Gregory Brothers auto-tuned his interview, set it to music and the rest is internet history.
With 24 million page views, a single sold on iTunes and T-shirts for sale, Dodson has made enough money to buy a house for his family and get out of the projects. You can buy a t-shirt at http://www.districtlines.com/Antoine-Dodson-Bed-Intruder
He plans to go back to school, finish his business degree and open a small business to help support his family.
Watch the video-you’ll be singing “Hide your kids, hide you wife,” for the rest of the day
Jacob Isom, a 23-year old skateboarder heard that a Christian group named Repent Amarillo was planning on burning a Quran in a local park. In an interview with Shira Lazar, Jacob explained his reasoning.
“I decided to try and stop him because we don’t let people step on other people’s religion in this country.”
Isom snuck up behind the pastor that had already poured lighter fluid on the Islamic holy book and snatched it from the grill.
He then uttered the words that made him famous, “"He said something about burning the Quran and I was like, 'Dude, you HAVE no Quran' and ran off," Isom later gave the book to a local Muslim leader for safekeeping.
The news video got the auto-tune treatment and boasts close to 400,000 page views. Jacob Isom works at a local pizza parlor and previously posted cooking videos on You Tube. He is selling T-shirts with his face on them for $15 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110587675366
“I decided to try and stop him because we don’t let people step on other people’s religion in this country.”
Isom snuck up behind the pastor that had already poured lighter fluid on the Islamic holy book and snatched it from the grill.
He then uttered the words that made him famous, “"He said something about burning the Quran and I was like, 'Dude, you HAVE no Quran' and ran off," Isom later gave the book to a local Muslim leader for safekeeping.
The news video got the auto-tune treatment and boasts close to 400,000 page views. Jacob Isom works at a local pizza parlor and previously posted cooking videos on You Tube. He is selling T-shirts with his face on them for $15 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110587675366
The skateboard he used when he made his escape with the holy book is for sale on eBay. Jacob Isom’s Skateboard http://cgi.ebay.com/120621420475
He hopes to buy a food truck to sell pizza by-the-slice with the money he makes. His other dream is to be in the High Times magazine. High Times sent him a care package of T-shirts and books and plans to feature him in an upcoming issue.
People argue that these people aren’t really heroes that the views on You Tube come from people making fun of these unique characters. Dodson’s sister would have been raped if he hadn’t intervened. He gave his interview to warn others of the danger and his personality struck a chord with the internet community.
While the world endlessly debated the burning of the Quran scheduled at multiple places in the United States, Isom took action.
The pastor of Repent Amarillo, David Grisham, was left with nothing to burn and slunk out of the park, accompanied by the jeering voices of the crowd. The Facebook page of Amarillo Citizens Against Repent Amarillo has 3,800 friends now, compared to the 40 friends that they had before the Quran snatching incident.
Two men found themselves in extraordinary situations and responded with love and bravery-that’s why Antoine Dodson and Jacob Isom are heroes. Their You Tube videos remind everyone-we all can be heroes
-By Tricia Tighe
