We are now cleared for takeoff
It’s a mind-shattering thing to have something you’ve held as a basic fundamental belief suddenly challenged and proven wrong. It’s like believing your whole life that the world is flat. Then when you are told that it’s actually round, you have to rethink everything you’ve ever thought about the world and your place in it.
I’ve had my core-beliefs shattered on a few occasions during my lifetime. One happened during 9/11. The other just happened on November 4, 2008. It’s interesting to compare the impact that 9/11 and Barack Obama’s election had on me and my view of the world. In both cases, my basic presumptions of the world were proven wrong. In one case, the world was shown to be far more dangerous than I believed it to be… in the other, the world is far more beautiful and accepting. Both cases, however, left me shell-shocked.
I was at an election party on November 4th with some good friends. When they finally made the startling announcement that Barack Obama was the next President of these United States and everyone around me started screaming, I just sat speechless. I’m never at a loss for words but I couldn’t think of anything to say. One of my facebook friends used the word “surreal” to describe the feeling and I totally agree.
I’ve grown up as a Black man in America with a very distinct perception of what’s possible and what’s not possible for me in this country. Now, I’m a naturally a highly-ambitious person. I’ve chosen the very risky career of music and I deeply believe that I can succeed where many others have failed. But as ambitious as I am, I am still aware that certain things are not possible for me, especially as an African American.
We’re no long living in slavery but the effect of slavery still limits many of our opportunities. We’ve made great strides though. Today, a black man can be CEO, governor, senator, even a billonaire business mogul. And, one day… surely not in our lifetime… but if we keep pushing and making progress, maybe one of our children or grandchildren will have the privilege of being the first Black President of the United States.
That was my world view. That was the essence of how I built my hopes and dreams and Barack Obama has destroyed that forever. I can’t stress how unnerving it is to watch somebody do what I would have argued a year ago as a total impossibility.
It’s unnerving, mind-blowing, earth-shattering. And it’s also incredibly freeing. To watch someone tackle a hugely improbable goal, with everything against him (his race, his middle-name, etc), and actually win, makes me feel like Neo from the Matrix. Like I’ve just discovered that there’s a whole new set of rules that work in this world and I’m much more powerful than I ever thought I could be.
To say that I’m inspired doesn’t even come close. I am electrified! I, though I’ve always been hopeful, am now filled with hope beyond hope. Barack has proven the faith which I’ve studied my whole life. His success testifies to a God that doesn’t deal in “probabilities” but “possibilities”. His victory demonstrates truly “all things are possible” and that when we let our light shine, it can be much more powerful that 100 sermons.
Barack Obama may do many wonderful things as President. Hopefully, he’ll help lead us out of this terrible time in our country. Personally, I am more excited about the fruits that we will soon see from his life-changing example. I know so many people who are now inspired to start that business they’ve always talked about… or looking to change their career or go back to school or commit to a great relationship. I am eager to see all the new ventures and opportunities that will develop over the next few years.
Seriously, I can’t wait to see it. And I will be right there in the midst. Living fully in this glorious new world.
Tags: 9/11, barack obama, election 2008
This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 at 11:01 pm and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Beautifully stated, eric.
This is truly an exciting time!
November 12th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Eric,
given this country’s history and origin sin with slavery, this is a great step in fostering ethnic pride and a sense of hope and also, like you said, the possibilities of life. It’s great, isn’t it, to see a rebirth of hope for the underprivileged? What better example is there? Like the man stated before in his speeches, “By the odds, I shouldn’t even be here.”
And perhaps he had the support structure that many other underprivileged kids don’t have. But if there is one lesson that you can take from him as a template, it’s this: EDUCATION is the great equalizer. There will always be obstacls for minorities, even those with advanced education, but it at least affords you the opportunity to do SOMETHING with your life.
I’m too young to remember JFK but I’m old enough to barely remember RFK and the impact he had in his short time with us. And I never got that sense of Barack being the one to pick up the torch that lay dormant when Bobby passed away, but when I saw the spontaneous eruptions of joy and pride occuring along the U Street corridor among whites, blacks and latinos, and seeing on TV the folks in Grant Park, I had a chill go thru me. And I thought, he IS the new torch bearer! He is the one to finish pursuing the ideals that RFK had, of uniting a country.
The real hope is that the notion of race won’t matter, that over time, it becomes irrelevant. Of course, it’s great to take racial pride in him, but knowing that my own family has bi-racial relatives, I know it’s hard for my relatives to completely forget their “other half”. But perhaps Obama is a symbol for being a unifier because, while he really represents “all” of us, he himself is not necessarily easily categorized. Sure, he identifies himself as African American because American society judges you by what you LOOK like, and so, rightly or wrongly, he’s been forced to choose “who” he is. In my mind, not to take away from the racial pride black folks have in him, he’s both; I don’t just see him as “one” category. his roots are also with a white middle class upbringing, and he’s culturally exposed to Asian influences from Hawaii, while growing up constantly viewed as another black kid. I think, he really does represent all of us! I see his multi-racial and cultural roots as a symbol of the great melting pot. And hopefully, he will be the one to help change ignorant people’s thinking.
It’s much tougher for the older generation, like mine, that grew up with animosity and suspicion, and we’re hung up a lot on race. His appeal to the younger generation is where the real hope lies. Kids are growing up in a much diverse environment than before and they have friends from different backgrounds. It isn’t happening everywhere, but there are enough pockets around the country where I think it’s an evolution of this country’s collective mindset where we can all lay down our suscpicions about each other and take one great step toward’s Dr. King’s color blind society.
And it’s just good to get the Republicans out of power too, ha ha!!!!
November 13th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Hey Eric,
I agree. I think many different types of people are able to see themselves in Barack. He represents so many different kinds of struggle. I think he’ll definitely do a lot in terms of unifying this country. In fact, if he does nothing more than that, then I’ll proclaim his presidency a success.
November 13th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
well put, lots of people are capable of seeing themselves in Barack and gaining inspiration and hope from him. And even Barack has alluded to his diverse experiences. RFK’s eloquent words at the news of Dr. King’s death, I think, evoked a yearning in this country that hasn’t been expressed again until someone like Barack came along:
“For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust at the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I can only say that I feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man. But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to go beyond these rather difficult times….
What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.
So I shall ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, that’s true, but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love–a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke….
We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times; we’ve had difficult times in the past; we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; it is not the end of disorder.
But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings who abide in our land….”
And then Barack gave a speech in Indianapolis remembering RFK:
“Some of you were alive when this speech was given… He was in a crowd mostly of African Americans. And he delivered the news that Dr. King had been shot and killed. And he said, at that moment of anguish, he said, we’ve got a choice… in taking the rage and bitterness and disappointment and letting it fester and dividing us further, so that we no longer see each other as Americans, but we see each other as separate and apart and at odds with each other. Or we can take a different path that says we have different stories, but we have common dreams and common hopes. And we can decide to walk down this road together. And remake America once again. And, you know, I think about those words often, especially in the last several weeks - because this campaign started on the basis that we are one America. As I said in my speech at the convention in 2004, there is no black America, or white America, or Asian America, or Latino America. There is the United States of America.
We’ve got a lot of pent-up anger and bitterness and misunderstanding. But what I continue to believe in is that this country wants to move beyond these kinds of divisions. That this country wants something different. And so – I just want to say to everybody here that as somebody who was born into a diverse family, as somebody who has little pieces of America all in me, I will not allow us to lose this moment, where we cannot forget about our past and not ignore the very real forces of racial inequality and gender inequality and the other things that divide us.”
I mean, wow! I really think he’s tapping into something a lot of us feel and have longing for in our politics and our lives. He’s got a lot of problems in front of him due to the current administration, but I really believe he is, like Colin Powell said, a transformational figure.