So in the honor of dual promotion and the like, I thought I'd just re-post a blog from my MySpace blog that I did a couple months ago. Seeing as how he's now the actual nominee, I figure it's a good time. So yes...here it. Enjoy!
I remember the day well...
It was late 2004 and I was watching the last night of the Democratic National Convention on ABC. Charlie Gibson – or maybe it was Peter Jennings, I can’t quite remember – sat perched above the convention center and talked about how there would be a young, charismatic senator from Illinois who had been chosen to give the keynote address before John Kerry came out to speak. He said his name, Barack Obama, as if he was savoring every syllable.
Barrrrrrack Obahhhmahhh.When he walked out onto the stage, to a huge ovation, a long, lanky figure, my mind swam with questions as I sat at my desk chair, having just eaten dinner.
Who is this guy to get this kind of ovation?How have I not heard of him yet if he’s this popular?He’s black? There’s another prominent black person on the horizon?He looks young. How old is he?
I just sat there and watched him with his bright purple tie and self-assured smile as he stepped to the podium, giving what seemed to be a genuine smile to the elated crowd. He spoke of some amazingly controversial things at the time: being inclusive. He talked about collaborating with Republicans and his belief in an America that’s more than red states and blue states. I later figured out that was the reason for his tie color, the combination of red and blue. He spoke of his dream for the country and how, despite the current tenor of the politics of the time (which has only gotten worse, by the way), we as a nation, as a conglomerate of good-hearted people could make it the United States of America once again.
I was captivated. Here was a man talking about the audacity of hope, how there’s a certain boldness that comes with believing in the good in people. Being a jaded, pessimistic cynic takes no courage. Having hope in people, entrusting them with your dreams by giving them the benefit of the doubt takes immense courage. For the first time in my lifetime someone was talking about such things as if they weren’t wistful allegory, rather as though they could actually happen...and in our lifetime, no less. This is not some dreamland, it is our country and we can make it happen.
In early 2006, when I found out he had a book out, Dreams From My Father, I clamored to get it. I read it in two weeks. After I finished reading the book, which he wrote after having become the first black man and youngest person ever to head the Harvard Law Review, I decided to write him a letter letting him know the divine purpose I felt he possessed and that it was his duty to run for president in the upcoming campaign. There could be no waiting another four or – God forbid – eight years. America needed him now. Three weeks later, before I’d actually written the letter, Barack announced his plans to run.
When I tell people who I support, I usually get the "oh it’s cause you’re black" look or maybe they’ll just come right out and say it. It’s the kind of prejudiced thought process crippling our country today. People can’t like to do something simply because they like to do it, it must be because of their race or upbringing. Blacks aren’t supposed to skateboard and listen to punk music. White people aren’t supposed to like anything other than country music. Latinos are only allowed to take the low-wage jobs, but not too many or else there’s hell to pay. One of the actual reasons I’ve heard for why he shouldn’t be president is that his middle name is Hussein, as if it’ll mean he’ll be a tyrant as well or something. Barack isn’t Muslim, he’s a Christian, but because his Kenyan family gave him a name with Islamic roots, he’s torn down as if he’s one of the enemy.
That’s not the country I believe in and it certainly isn’t the one our forefathers sought independence for.
I believe in a country that actually had an island devoted solely to the acceptance of immigrants and still has people risking their lives every single day simply to set foot on its land.
I believe the people of this country have so much more in common than not and that what divides us should be embraced instead of seen as a reason for hate or bias. My two best friends are superficially nothing like me. One, a tall, lanky, pale white, conservative kid from Orange County who had had no relationship deeper than acquaintance with a black person before he’d met me. The other, a fit, olive-skinned half-Irish, half-Portuguese who loved punk and wearing sole-less Vans. Instead of picking each other apart, we have picked up each others’ tendencies and ambitions. All three of us now like punk – and hip hop. One changed his party affiliation. We realized our similarities outweighed our differences. How galvanized would the country be if more people did the same?
I believe this country could be so much more than what it has become, a disappointing menagerie of fear-based political agendas. The kind of polarizing jargon that has, until recently, made most Democrats afraid to say one word against the war on terror for fear that they’ll be called unpatriotic.
(Sidebar: What’s going on in Iraq is most definitely not a war on terror. It’s a war to control one of the most oil-rich countries in the Middle East. Had it been a war on terror, as Mr. Bush likes to call it, we would have kept the focus on the actual terrorists, which were – and still are, by the way – in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Iraq War is all about taking care of his father’s unfinished business and then maintaining possession of one of Iran’s neighbors.)
I believe the power still lies within the people, we simply don’t realize it. Instead, we accept being told what’s in our best interest and allow our rights to be taken away from us, one discredited Amendment at a time, for the "good of the country." It is up to us to seek the knowledge being deprived by the current administration. An educated population is a strong one and the more people who realize that, the better off our nation will be. So long as we simply accept what is being fed to us without delving deeper, we will continue to feel like the power is being sucked away faster than blood by a leech.
That starts with us trusting each other, being able to move as a unit instead of a collection of combative individuals. It starts with us being able to trust the leadership we elect into positions of power. It starts with us taking control by taking pride and responsibility in voting our (educated) conscience. It starts with us being passionate about the things that matter in this world. That is how we unite.
I believe one person can lead the country back together after nearly a decade of such severe divisiveness that people call each other conservative and liberal as if it’s a bad name or something of which they should be ashamed. I believe one person has the charisma and the audacity to believe it can happen too.
I believe his name is Barack Obama, the tall, lanky black guy with the purple tie.
