Thanks to Barak Obama, for the first time since being able to vote, I feel like I am valued as a part of the political process. I will admit that I resisted my initial impulse to support his candidacy because he is African American and so am I. After all, from grade school I was taught that electing a candidate is a democratic process and unlike many other countries, we have the privilege of choice. So I didn’t want to choose him simple because of the color of his skin; but I am not ashamed to say that I felt a strong sense of pride seeing a viable African American candidate ready to take on the challenge of the presidency. However, I wanted to really be clear about who I will support in the upcoming elections. So I did something different in the last couple of months, I began to pay attention to everything about politics that I loathed because I didn’t feel I had a voice. I listened to campaign speeches, I watched debates and I read commentaries. What convinced me that I should cast my vote for on Senator Obama is the refreshing and exhilarated feeling I get when he speaks the language of change. This past Saturday I felt energized, not by his win in South Carolina, but his victory speech and his crowd of supporters.
When Senator Obama said this about his constituency,
They are young and old, rich and poor. They are black and white, Latino and Asian. They are Democrats from Des Moines and Independents from Concord; Republicans from rural Nevada and young people across this country who've never had a reason to participate until now. And in nine days, nearly half the nation will have the chance to join us in saying that we are tired of business as usual in Washington, we are hungry for change, and we are ready to believe again.
His words gave me something to believe in, not again, but for the first time. And as I looked into the audience I saw people who looked like me, my boss, my coworker, the person on the subway, the bagger at the grocery store. I saw young African American women crying and clamoring to touch his hand as if he was the latest rock star. I saw elderly white people clapping and cheering for him. I saw all of the people that I believe Republicans disregard and view as cogs to move their machine of elitism. I saw people who are tired of Democrats showing up for our votes and offering us empty promises for change. I saw people energized and determined not to allow a political party to use the same tactics and distractions that put an administration in the White House that shoots people in the face. I saw people tired of business as usual politics and the status quo in Washington. I saw people who were raised to a level of hope and boldness I have never seen in this country.
I think for most Americans, we have either forgotten the importance of hope, feelings and emotion or have yet to experience it in our lifetime. And hope is frightening. After all, hope killed Martin Luther King. Hope killed John Kennedy. Hope killed Robert Kennedy. Whether we agreed or disagreed with these men or their political stance, they all raised hope among the people of this country, only to be struck down. So I am genuinely afraid for Senator Obama, that someone, not with a ‘trailer park’ racist mentality will assassinate him, but members of the controlling elite power structure that run this country will be the reason for his demise and the files will be sealed for 50 years and we will have to live with suspicions, conspiracy theories and conjecture as to what happened to our leader. But I have since let go of my fear. And for those African Americans that I have spoke with who echo these concerns, in the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself”. We must have hope.
For without hope there can be no change. I woke up this morning with hope for Senator Obama. That hope got me out of my bed to write this commentary. I believe in the Senator. I believe that he will respond to the needs of all of our people. I think we know as a country that it didn’t take one administration to put us in the poor economic state we are currently in. I think we all recognize that the new administration has so much work to do to unravel the mess the Republicans have created here and abroad. But Senator Obama has raised the stakes in this campaign. He is calling for change which can be scary. But what is hopeful for me is that my son, who turns 21 in two days, has a choice. My son can choose a man who looks like him to make decisions about his well-being. I would never have guessed that in the 21years since his birth, he would be able to see and believe that an African American can really be the President of the United States. Senator Obama’s candidacy suggests that our sons and daughters who represent all of the colors in the fabric of America now have a voice.
I have been infused with the audacity of hope, and fear will not stop me from spreading this message and working to elect a man that looks like me. It is not prejudice, it is pride.
