The Day After

I rarely have the time for something as petty as keeping up a diary. But on this day – The Morning After - as the sun peeped through the window curtains, it brushed against tracks of tarnished tears on my face. I made my first entry into a new diary. It started with “Barack….”.

My eyes are heavy from lack of sleep. I spent the previous night glued to the television set soon after I returned from the wild party at the bar down the street. It was then that I realized that I had to go to work, sigh.

In the corner of the room, the television screen beam pictures of people – thousands of people cheering, dancing, and singing. People of all race and creed huddle together and shed the same tear. Then I realized it was real. This is actually happening – There was an unusual party the night before.

Something else is unusual about the day after we made history take yet another shape. It was supposed to be chaotic, a day to spark payback for generations of inequality, but not on this day. Instead what I saw was a nation of people who quietly carried on with their day. It was a solemn acceptance as a maverick passed on the touch to a new generation. A white woman looks on in admiration as a new president spoke and tears quietly made its way down her face. A teenage black female holds her face in her hands in disbelief – YES WE DID IT. Indeed we all share a common destiny. As our finger tips pointed touched on a screen and pointed to a new direction, our resolve met bigotry. Over five decades ago, a black athlete pumped his fist in the air in defiance against social injustice; on November 4^th, a white man pumps his fist in the air jubilant of a victorious black man. I wished the abolitionists were here.

My memory drifts back four years earlier in a small classroom in the University of Maryland. My classmate and I talked about American history during one of our civil rights class session. I recall my white classmate nodding in agreement when I said that we will long become fossils before a black man is elected the president of this country. I remember vividly even now, the look in his face. I suspect I had the same expression as well. There was an uncomfortable understanding between us as we paused for a moment to think about the gravity of our conversation - It was surreal. We both wanted to see it happen in our lifetime but never believed in the certainty of it.

Who would have imagined then how far we were from the truth? Who knew that history lurked in the corner destined to prove us wrong? Who would have imagined that in the summer of 1961 destiny collided with faith and in 2006, on a cold February afternoon in the Chicago Illinois, our cynicism began its journey to reality.

On November 4, 2008, WE the American people gave the world a gift. Like Barrack Obama said, against all odds together “… we put our hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day”.

Even now as I let me emotions run through my finger tips. I am not ashamed to jot down in this diary that I too cried. I am still in awe about this historic occurrence in our nation’s history. That we choose common sense over racial prejudice gives me hope that a substantial part of racism died on November 4.

This victory should not only be registered in a column for Obama. As cliché as it sounds, it is truly a victory for all of us. It is not about the genius of the man Obama. It is about a nation of people who believe in the fundamental ideology that is America. It is about the citizens of the world who hear destiny’s cry from Washington DC to Nairobi to Kigali and respond with thunderous Unisom – WE ARE ONE!

As much as people would like to say that Obama is the first Black President of the United States of America, I am afraid to disappoint you. Obama is also white. He is the embodiment of the beauty when we unit. He may not be messiah but his voice makes us to lunge forward and take that leap of faith.

In his acceptance speech, as cold as ice, with all humility, a grandmother to bury and the weight of the world on his shoulders, he spoke to our commonsense once more. As the world watched, he spoke not of his victory. Instead he spoke of a vision for better understanding; a vision that will lead us through challenges of a new frontier.

I believe that the easiest part has been done. The tough road which lies ahead is in the hills of Afghanistan. We must rescue freedom in Darfur and we have to be our brother’s keeper in Gaza. But we can only achieve this if only you listen to that tiny voice that spoke as you cast your vote on November 4, 2008.

It is a voice that calls us to roll up our sleeves; get on our knees and rebuild this nation one brick at a time. For those who stand ashore and laugh in our demise, I say it is time we show them that the ideology that is America lives on. That ideology that is the wind pushed against the backs of our founding fathers and led them westward to a land where they can rub on the heels of hope and believe that anything is possible. I believe in the possibilities of this country. I believe God’s grace shines on us all. We must do our part to raise this nation once more. God Bless America!

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So Presidential

If Obama’s speech on racism and equality is any indication of his character, then he is, unequivocally, the man for the presidency of the United States of America. You see, the issue he so passionately spoke about yesterday will be the element that may derail his quest for the presidency.

I often joke with my friends - Americans are ignorant and amusingly arrogant. Inflammatory or not, this is a true statement. However uncomfortable my assertion may be, this is a blunt reality that we must face. America is one country where anyone can say the right thing just to get elected. All Obama has to do to win this election is to lay out an elaborate plan filled with ‘too good to be true’ promises and he just might win this thing. Americans aren’t interested in the judgment, tact and intellect behind making important decisions. Americans don’t have the ability to separate political dexterity from truth even if the facts right under our noses.

White America has failed Obama. Let me rephrase that. Some white people caught in enclaves of flawed pre-historic way of reasoning, have fail Obama. I’m talking about the likes of Rush Limbaugh, ever so arrogant in his stance. On his talk show, Limbaugh time and time again, ridicules Obama’s race, with a song called ‘Obama, the great Negro hope’ song. John Hagee, the leader of the, of the so-called evangelist voting block, incited hatred against Catholics. He sat through and interview with his God child, Glenn Beck, as they talked about Obama the Anti-Christ. He insists on war against other nations. This Hagee completely insensitive about the children caught in conflicts in the Middle-East preaches about war, war and more war. Correct me if I’m wrong. Shouldn’t a man who speaks God’s word preach about peace? In fact, Mr. Hagee, why don’t you become advocate for peace? This is they type of Change Obama is talking about. This Hagee guy endorsed John McCain. No one is dragging Mr. McCain through the mud but Obama must disown his former pastor otherwise, his speech isn’t enough – I hear echoes of FREEDOM and EQUAILITY!

Black America has failed Obama. What’s exactly being ‘Black’? Is it that Obama didn’t go through the same prejudice that blacks have to face in this country? I wonder is he is being tagged 'Not Black Enough' because he choose not to use race for his own demise?

Not all whites are racists. In fact, some blacks are equally racists. But the fact remains that some people in the White American community have failed Obama. They speak as though Obama isn’t of a mixed race. Is it that they to tear him down because his blood in TAINTED? Why can’t White America accept Obama and take him for who he is? Isn’t his mother white? Does his gene from his father automatically exclude him from White America? Why must he be truly embraced by African Americans any more than White America?

Obama, as far as I am concerned, is not a black man. He’s not even a white man. Obama is America. America is culmination of people of different colors, race, creed, and heritage. Don’t we call this country, THE MELTING POT? America is promise, freedom, and respect for human dignity. America is the breath of freedom which runs through my lungs. America is the fertile land for innovation; the bearer of hope for those who are disenfranchised.

Yet, some prosecute this man as though he doesn’t deserve to aspire for the highest office of the land. I strongly believe that somewhere in the last 8 years, due to no fault of anyone, we all have lost our course. While George Bush’s administration lends itself to be an easy target for people to lay the blame of our broken social system, I beg to differ. For it is we, Americans, Republicans, Democrats, and yes, even the Independent voters, who embraced an American that has steered of its course. We have let fear mongering clamp us down somewhere in the depths of our ignorance while the rest of the world have moved ahead.

I would be lying to you if I said that I am not attracted to his candidacy because he is an African American. But there’s something more to this man. I read his book long before his candidacy and so, I believe I am privy to every facet of his life; his struggle to fit in and unforgiving world. AND YOU CLAIM HE HASN’T BEEN TESTED? I listened to his speech during the National Democratic Convention in 2004. Even then, without any political aspirations, this young man stood before an uncompromising America and challenged us. He told us that there’s no such thing as red state and blue states.

If 60% of blacks vote for Obama because he’s black and Hillary Clinton nets 60% of white votes because she is white, then there is a problem with America. If this is the case, then we are fighting the wrong war. The real war is the issue Senator Obama once again brought to the footsteps of out conscience.

Obama never anchored his campaign on race. He simply conveys the sentiments of most Americans who are simply fed up with a largely forgettable 8-years of Bushism. His campaign has been successful thus far because he speaks to our conscience. He seeks to resurrect that spirit upon which this country was conceived. He seeks to turn on the reason in our minds so that we’ll realize that America is not a nation. America is an ideology upon which our founding fathers used to fight against oppression. America is that ideology which set the course for equality of all men (check the preamble in our constitution). America is the home of people who seek freedom.

It is upon this ideology that Obama condemned Pastor Wright’s speech. In his words, he said: “He (Wright) speaks as though this America is stagnant.”

Yes, America has leaped through the huddles of slavery. America has dodged a bullet in the civil war. American has walked through the quicksand of the civil right movement. America must move beyond this notion of race. Those who beckon racism reborn must not succeed. America must return to where it once was. We are loosing our grip as a world power. The Silly season stops here because we must realize that the frontier is no longer on the battle fields.

The new frontier is in the cyber café in remote villages of Africa. Our new frontier is in the oil wells in the Middle-East. The new frontier is in technology hobs in India, and Japan. The new frontier is in the class room – not the conventional classroom. I’m talking about the classroom called ‘Globalization’.

We must embrace a new direction and let go of our ignorance. We must leave this nation in the hands of our children better than the way our fathers gave it to us. For those who taught Obama’s candidacy under the pretense of his so-called inexperience, well here you have it. Is there anything more presidential in the way he handled this situation? Those who said he is not vetted. Again, here’s a man who has endure a barrage of attacks not like other candidates have been put through. Do you have any idea what it means not to be BLACK enough? Do you know what is like trying to fit in the white community but he will not be accepted for who he is? Yet, with utmost humility, calmness and president-like, Obama has walked through it all with millions of American, black and white, behind him. He faced our nation yesterday as a leader should. He confronted that issue which makes everyone else uncomfortable. He’s exercised judgment, while speaking out against a looming war. He stood against this unending war because he has the ability to see the bigger picture. These are the qualities that a president should possess and not pretend to have.

Presidential or not, one thing Obama has done in this campaign is to get Americans to discuss the most pressing issue in this country. He has shown the world that American’s can move beyond race, glass ceilings and status quo. Obama has giving this country, even in the most challenging circumstances, a reason to believe in ourselves. He has given us one hope to cling to as we go through his desperate times.

President Obama, McCain or Hillary should unite this country and stop belittling this great nation with petty talk. We must stand together for the sake of Great America!

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