1 post tagged “polistix”
But today that changed. Today I saw rich white people, and poor black people, and middle incomed gay people, and thugs, and felons who just realized they could vote, and stars, and icons, and local celebrities, and church mothers, and pagans, and Catholics, and Protestants, and Jews, and Gentiles, and just about everyone come together and get the first African American president elected to our country. And the best part wasn't just that he was elected, but that so many people from so many walks of life were happy about it! Not just happy, but ecstatic, and hopeful, and wonderfully optimistic about a new tomorrow, about change, about finally being given the reigns to freedom with a pass good for the next four years.
It won't be perfect, and there will be missteps I'm sure, but our President's failures will be marked with our ownership as much as his accomplishments. His win wasn't just a win for him, but a win for this country. A win for the little kids who are going to grow up in a world where a minority being a politician is not just a fanciful myth, but an actuality! Dare I say it, a NORMAL THING! Do you realize that you won't be able to tell minorities NOTHING! You can't tell us that we can't ANYTHING because WE CAN DO ANYTHING! Even be president, you see. Barrack did it. Or should I say, President Barrack Hussein Obama.
Isn't it amazing? Aren't you amazed? When they announced it I couldn't believe it. I couldn't breath. I called Juanita and got her boyfriend who told me she was asleep.
"Ooh, so she doesn't know yet?" I asked him. He laughed a little bit and said, "Naw, she doesn't know, she was so tired out from the day (she was also exit polling) she went to sleep."
"WAKE HER UP!!" and she came to the phone groggy and slurred until I told her the news,
"Nina! Are you awake? Did you hear? Obama won! Obama's the President!" Nina soon perked up and deopped the phone out of excitement. Out of shock, and awe, and unexpected elation. My friend Noreen is half Pakistani and half Indian and she said to me today, "You know Stacey, I was born here, but this is the first time that I've felt truly like I'm an American. Like I belong and I'm proud to be here. Does that makes sense?" And of course it shouldn't make sense, but it completely does on every level. There's such a comfort found in melancholy, but it's one that's misleading. You tell yourself you're happy because being actually happy means too much pain, disappointment, and fighting. To believe in the power of someone fighting for you who has none of your best interests at hand is akin to bailing out a leaky boat with a collander. It doesn't work. But to be able to band together with those who struggle with you to elect a man who not only shares your interests, but lavishes in the honor of fighting for them is waterproofing the boat before it makes its next voyage.
It's a beautiful thing, and today's beautiful day just added to the atmosphere. We were all scared and worried, and some of us still are. But we're learning not to live that way, to be able to hold our heads high finally and look each other in the eye and say, "Thank You".
I have so much more to say, and I may soon, but for now I'm going to sleep and keep on celebrating until January 20th and beyond. Goodnight LiveJournal, goodnight America. I'm proud of you.
