"Forward"

I remember being in 1st grade, and my teacher Mrs. Montgomery telling the class during social studies that anyone can be president.

I’m still just getting my head around the fact that this happened.  I haven’t fully digested it yet.  It’s such a historic event, such a significant marker in American, in world history that it can’t be overstated.  America has elected its first African American President.  Don’t even need to put that in italics.  In an email from my dad:

Did you party with the Obama victory?

Your mom was standing in front of the TV when the announcment of McCain’s concession was made. She was screaming and crying. I don’t know if she ever told you her parents, your grandparents, had to PAY to vote. POLL tax was the law in Virginia- can you believe that.

I tell you Kevin, never say never!

“Dream a big dream – and shock yourself.

Make that dream come true – and shock the world!”

See you soon

Love you son,

Dad

I had called my mom after Obama’s victory was confirmed on CNN (once the Virginia, California 1-2 punch came in).  She was hysterical, overcome with emotion, it was then that it really even started to sink in.  That I actually got what just happened.

I voted for Barack Obama because my ideologies tend to ride moderate-left and I agree with his ideas.  He’s a smart person, and a good guy.  There’s a sincerity in his words that I haven’t heard from many politicians in my (admittedly brief) lifetime.  He believes what he’s saying, whether or not he will be successful.  He believes in what he’s selling.  As a politician, a lot of what he says makes sense, but I don’t feign or pretend that his ethnicity is not a part of the equation.  Had Hillary gotten the nomination, I would have likely voted for her (VP nominee Gov. Palin forced my hand once and for all), but you can’t take away any one part away from the whole, of why Barack Obama pretty much had to be President at this point in History.  Race wasn’t an issue for me and a lot of people, but for a lot of voters out there, some voting for the first time, some black, some white, race was the only issue.  I’m looking at you, West Virginia.

The fact that he didn’t just barely win says a great deal.  America stood up and demanded this.  The rest of the world watched in anticipation, hoping that this would happen, and were ecstatic once it was confirmed, save Russia (sigh).  This was America’s chance to prove -not the world, but to itself- that we are still capable of great things.  Politicians on both sides talk about this being the greatest country on Earth, and I might agree or disagree with that.  But I will say, it’s not for the reasons they enumerate when they get up on the podium.  For the first time in about a decade being an American is something I can say I’m proud of, something for which I’m genuinely excited.  As a Black American I can’t explain how important this is to me, and if you’re not black, you couldn’t possibly understand.  But we just have to accept that and move on.

As a Catholic, I made my choice.  I made the choice because our country has been going down the wrong path.  Because the American people need to be shaken up.  I voted for Barack Obama as the next President of the United States because the Republican Party had 6 years of unchecked, unchallenged authority to overturn Roe v. Wade and didn’t.  Because the biggest threat to the sanctity of marriage isn’t same-sex relationships, its America’s materialistic, individualist, work-consume-party-repeat mentality.  I voted for Obama because government can only do so much to shape the morality of people.  That change has to come from the bottom up.  I voted for Obama because you can’t legislate taste. I voted for Obama because I’m not -and refuse to be- a single issue voter,  Pro-life or otherwise.  Laboring over details is pointless if you don’t have a grasp of the big picture.

Focused on a single leaf, you won’t see the tree.

Focused on a single tree, you won’t see the forest.

See everything in its entirety…effortlessly.  That is what it means to truly “see.”

The changes we seek, the moral core we pursue for our country and our countrymen has to start with us, with our neighbors.  Not from the top down.  I voted for Obama because the possibility of Sarah Palin becoming President in the event of McCain’s [un?]timely death is not just scary but irresponsible.  And because the Republican party, god bless ‘em, need to spend some time doing some soul searching.  McCain’s election would have galvanized a party base so corrupt, so rabid, so bent, that I would really have been afraid for this country.  Not because McCain would have been a bad president, but because over the last 8 years the Republican Party has been intoxicated by its own stench.  McCain’s campaign was a mad dog and he didn’t keep it on a short enough leash.  That’s half the reason he lost.  Using fear and ignorance as party platforms has to stop.  Obama’s not the end of it, but everything he represents, is a step in the right direction.  He and his campaign understood what needed to be done for American to elect its first black president.  They would have to work twice as hard, and be twice as smart as the opposition to get just as far, and their campaign would have to be airtight and disciplined.  Any gaffes that were made along the way were handled expertly.

Obama insires people in a way that McCain simply has not, nor can he.  Obama’s election dispelled the myth of an apathetic, lazy, cynical generation (mine), and at the same time proved to ourselves that we do have a hand in shaping the world around us.

He’s not perfect.  He bleeds and dies like we all will some day.  I won’t agree with every choice he makes, and he’s not going to magically *fix* everything.  But the proof of Obama’s wisdom is in the humility of his better speeches.  This is a man who clearly thinks about the world around him and how he relates to it, with a level head and a cool temper, saying, “This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change.”  In the midst of a palpable level of hype and euphoria, he stays grounded and says, “good game everyone, but were not there yet.” This is just the beginning.  This is our opportunity to come together as people, as Americans and really heal the divisions between each other, and work together to get our country moving again.  To quote someone on the message board I help moderate:

Look what what the Republican party is about to go through. Probably the largest house cleaning and introspective reorganization in decades. Will we see a Neo-Con in office again? Probably not and you can thank this moment in history for it. That’s power.

Look at the convergence of our youth. A renewed sense of integrity and pride in America by those who will take over command in the next decade. Their apathy subsided, their hope intensified. We can thank this moment in history for it. That’s power.

Look at the diversity among the great melting pot coming together in a force of hope and pride unseen since 9/11. 9/11 was a tragedy that brought us all together, this is a moment of perseverance and determination that has brought us all together. We can thank this moment in history for it. That’s power.

Inspiration leads to action, action leads to change. Earth hasn’t been this inspired in over a decade. And the actions that we as a nation take from this day forward will in some way be shaped by this moment in history. That’s power.

To minimize the symbolic circumstances of this moment in history is to disregard all other great turning points in history. I’m not looking at Barack Obama the 44th POTUS as a leader in change, I’m looking at a nation of millions inspired to make the changes themselves.

What makes Obama, his victory in his bid for President, and everything he represents so powerful is, his brand, his campaign, the people who have become excited for him, and those who are utterly terrified by him, is that he has become more than a man.  He has become an idea. He’s already started something incredible, but sober up and realize this puts him in a position to do great or terrible things.

What really baffles me is people who act stupid, I mean ridiculous about this victory.  Saying things like, ‘Well prepare for the world to end,’ or this one chick saying, “I don’t know how God could have allowed Obama to be elected President but now we have to yadda yadda yadda!”  The second line really grates my nerves.  How dare you presume to know the will of God?  And if you believe that God is omnipotent, wouldn’t this have been his will?  And lastly, what makes you think God takes sides in a football game, much less a political election. Praying we defeat the Nazi scum is one thing but asking God to choose between Democrats and Republicans is foolish on more levels than I can enumerate in one blog post (hell, Brian had like five or more entries on the one issue).  Ahhhhh stupid people.  I want to slap them.

Now everyone needs to come together and pray.  Pray for our country, for our neighbors, for this world, for President-Elect Obama.  Pray that God keeps him safe, protects him and his family, and guides this administration with morality, wisdom, and level-headedness in the days ahead of us.  To let the American people embrace their new President, and understand that he is a President, not a Prince, not a King, and certainly not a savior.

I just firmly believe that his rise to high office, at this point in our history, was inevitable and natural.

One love.