I just shed a tear. I feel more of them welled up behind my eyes...but the one carried in it the hope of tomorrow. Not the figurative tomorrow-the future-but truly tomorrow. November 4th, 2008. Election day in the United States of America. The day we will elect, choose, decide upon an African-American for the highest office in the land. I am emotional, I am nervous, and I am anxious. But I have no fear. This has been ordained by God. I said it long ago, and now...in the midst of financial crisis, war, and turmoil we will crown a sweet shining prince with that which has never been available to anyone with skin the hue of the earth.
It seems as though sadness must accompany joy. Senator Obama's grandmother died on this day, Election Eve-prior to seeing her most precious baby enter the office of the President. He must be tired and longing to mourn this great loss. His mother gone, his father non-existent and now his grandmother has accompanied his grandfather in heaven. But in him there is no time to mourn, for he clearly understands she brought him to this level...she laid the path for him to have this moment. It is now the time for him to walk alone. He has Michelle and the children, but at this moment-in the dawn of this new day he stands alone and waiting for we the people, to speak.
I have been overwhelmed by this campaign. The possibility no longer being simply that, a possibility, but something far greater yet still not quite tangible. I am tired of race. Obama has opened my eyes to that fatigue. I am tired of being tied to that which I have no control over. I am tired of being judged because of it-stereotyped, assumed to be that which I may not be. I love who I am and my culture-but the racialization of life is exhausting. I am even tired of thinking about race so much. We are human beings, people, Americans. We are all striving in essence for the same things and our moral compass is not that different because of our racial background. We are all the children of God. Obama will be our President, as was Clinton, and Bush. He is a man and will make mistakes...not because he is black or white, but because he is human. He will excel for the very same reason.
It is his time. I listened to the "talking heads" for as long as I could this evening but I became tired of their answers-to the polls, to excitement, to the possibility. Tired of McCain and Palin one-liners. I am biased, but still I wanted to just bask in the moment. This moment I speak of, is his moment...there is nothing I feel that can change that. It has been written. So, I want to simply meditate on it for a while. Let the joy marinate my spirit. Bask in the calm before tomorrow. I sit here and reflect on Dr. King, DuBois, Garvey, Kennedy, Roosevelt...Douglass. Men who saw the world differently and whose vision shaped who we are as a nation and a people. I want to love the President. To respect him and honor his name. Barack Obama commands that type of love and respect without asking for it. He is a leader.
It is almost like Christmas eve. I and millions of other are waiting for our gift. It is called progress. It is no longer a hypothetical statement. It is true. There are some, on both sides of the gambit who will say this means nothing...merely symbols without substance. I would argue that first of all Obama is brilliant, not just smart. I would say that his symbol alone, if he is simply that, is substantive in that it changes the symbols formerly associated with an entire race of people. For that reason-the two, symbol and substance, cannot be divided when speaking of him.
He is a learned man, with an almost regal demeanor. That is how we should be represented as a nation around the world. Our leaders should carry an air of royalty with them. They should be above pettiness and that should be apparent in all that they do. They are role models to the world, and they represent each and every one of us here in the US.
Tomorrow I will vote with a passion and vigor never found in the process before. I will smile and sing to myself upon touching the screen, or coloring in the circle or whatever I need to do to acknowledge my vote. Tomorrow I vote for my children's dreams. Langston put it like this, "I too sing America. I am the darker brother, you send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes. But I eat well, and grow strong." We are stronger. We are ready...God please, let us move forward.
Progress will be made when eve greets dawn.
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