Friday, August 29, 2008
4:56am
Last night I went to sleep in a different country. No, I had not made some last minute trip across the ocean. Nor did I cross the imaginary lines that separate the United States from its boarder nations to travel deep into Mexico, South America or our neighbor to the north. It was the same bed, in the same building, in the same city where I have slept many nights before; however, last night this country changed. I changed. We all changed.
Last night, the United States of America was stretched, pulled beyond the limits of what she thought was possible for herself. She was made to stare into the mirror and see, in her reflection, the short-sited agreements that she had ascribed to – agreements that constituted her way of life; agreements that played out as her collective personal experience; agreements that had began to dash her hopes, and make her dreams feel out of reach. As she gazed more intently upon what was staring back at her, she recognized a glimmer in her eye that she had long since learned to ignore. Hidden behind years of pain that had rolled into a history of inconsistency and contradiction; wrapped in the delusion that as long as we had great ideals, and occasional experiences with diplomacy abroad and economic success domestically, we could ignore the fact that we have been a country divided along the lines of race and economics since our founding; beyond these potentially crippling realities she noticed the truth about herself. She saw hope.
She began to play songs that affirmed her creativity. She spoke words that recognized her potential. She danced and smiled and cried healing tears.
Last night, Senator Barack Obama accepted the democratic nomination to officially seek the office of President of the United States of America on behalf of that party. He stood in the gap between all that we have been and all that we will become and declared a new day. He was that glimmer, and as he shown we all saw more clearly that we are more than the smallness of our personal identities. We are bigger than war, and poverty, and discrimination. We are more expansive than race, and gender, and sexual orientation. He gave us permission to become free from the terror of fear, and to live unafraid of our greatest yet to be. Barack Hussein Obama stood on the promise that the forefathers of this great nation only understood in part - that the perfection of this union rests solely in WE THE PEOPLE – all of us, and then he invited us to stand with him. So the question becomes what do we stand for? What is the content of our character? What is the quality of our intent?
Think about it – lest in the eagerness of our response we slip back into the lull of individualism and otherness, which may require another 232 years from which to awake.
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I have never been captivated by the political rhetoric of candidates vying for the attention and support of the American people with their condescending and empty promises for change. I will say however that as the Obama campaign continues to unfold, I have recently found myself becoming intrigued by this charismatic man of character and his love for our country and its people, and his unparalleled love for the women in his life. There is something about his presence and version of politics that evokes inspiration and hope, rather than disdain and distrust. I share your sentiment in that last night I too felt as if I had slept in another country. After listening to Barack Obama's confirmation speech, the cynic in me let her guard down and had an overwhelmingly reassuring glimmer of hope for the first time that we could actually live in a "United" States of America in my lifetime.
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