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OBAMANIA! Sen. Barack Obama during his Feb. 11th visit to The Arena in Baltimore before a crowd of 13,000

Senator from Illinois’ Historic Win Symbolizes the Hope of Universal Change, the American Slave, and the Colonized African

(BALTIMORE – June 5, 2008) – June 3, 2008 will forever be historic in America. On this day, Sen. Barack Obama shook up the world.  By winning enough delegates to beat rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, the 46-year old became the first black to win the Democratic nomination for President of these United States. His campaign has now turned its attention to the fall where he will lead the fight against Republican John McCain, a man Obama believes will only continue the failed economic and Iraqi war policies of President George W. Bush.

Before taking the stage late Tuesday night in St. Paul, Minnesota – the site of this summer’s Republican Convention - his camp released an email stating, “It's been a long journey, and we should all pause to thank Hillary Clinton, who made history in this campaign. Our party and our country are better off because of her.”

He added, “I want to make sure you understand what's ahead of us. Earlier tonight, John McCain outlined a vision of America that's very different from ours -- a vision that continues the disastrous policies of George W. Bush.”

Over the past months, many have asked me if he could win – as if I would put my support behind any other name. Actually, I was insulted that folk didn’t know me any better. Nonetheless, I would respond: ‘Obama, of course!’ After all, he is the hope of all the people, including the American slave and the colonized African.

With a platform of “change,” Obamania has taken America – and the Clinton duo (Bill and Hillary) – by storm. Although he lost South Dakota to Clinton on Tuesday, he did win Montana and picked up enough pledged delegates to secure the Democratic nomination. The magic number was 2,118.

His statement also said, “But this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past and bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.”

As a long-time political observer, I fondly recall gathering campaign signs as a boy. Dwight Pettit’s signs quickly come to mind. I was about 10. I can also recall my late dad taking me to a fundraiser for Arthur Murphy at Mondawmin Mall. Daddy was shaking hands with these seemingly important people. In both remembrances, I can recall a certain energy in the air, a certain atmosphere where people – black people, that is – were engaged.

In the years to come, I would meet a slew of politicians and politicos: Clarence Mitchell, III; Parren J. Mitchell; Troy Brailey; Jackie McLean; Marvin “Doc” Cheatham, the man who single-handedly registered more people to vote than anybody in the State of Maryland and the like – all of whom symbolized a sort of optimism that not everyone understands.

As most of you know, these became the beginning steps towards becoming a political analyst for WBAL TV-11, where I get the opportunity from time to time to discuss – argue even – politics with some heavy hitters including Levi Rabinowitz and Frank DeFilippo.

Before my father passed, he would come to see me on television with these most astute individuals. I pray he was proud.

Today, I know in my heart of hearts, he would be even more proud of the accomplishments of the Obama campaign. Here is a guy – first of all, with a name unlike any of the past presidents of this nation. Secondly, he is black … and white. Thirdly, he simply did the damn thing. Out of nowhere, this former community activist blew past Sen. Clinton – and her husband, the former president – with a clean, fresh message that has touched the hearts and souls of people everywhere. Iowa, a 93% white state, was the beginning. After that caucus, black people unconsciously received permission – it seems – to vote for him.

Early this year, no one even knew his name. Yet, on Tuesday, the son of a Kenyan father and white mother would clinch the Democratic nomination for President. Who would have thought?

February 11, 2008 is another date that will go down in the history books, at least on a local level. On that day, Obamania came to town.

Interestingly, late last year I received a phone call from DC about doing a fundraiser for Obama in Baltimore. My question to his camp was whether or not he would be coming to Baltimore. Sure, he wanted to go to Prince George’s County. Who wouldn’t want to go there? After all, despite the National Harbor blunder where minority businesses are getting shafted, it is still the richest black jurisdiction - in terms of median income – in the nation.

I lobbied local leaders, advocated on the radio, and, fortunately, the word must have gotten around: Obama needs to come to Baltimore.

Anyway, however it happened, he did come to Baltimore. And did it well. Before a crowd of some 13,000 locals and others, Sen. Obama’s appearance at The Arena was of rock star proportions. Blacks, whites, Asians and Latinos would all show up to hear this man, to see his stature, to show their support.

For me, the real beauty of Obamania is that the political apathy of so many Marylanders has been subsided and replaced with a new faith in politics.

For so long, many Marylanders have been discouraged by the political process. Many simply concluded that politics was full of crap and that what was going to be was just going to be. Many thought that while Kweisi Mfume got his first political win by about 6 votes, that those days were long gone. People felt like their vote did not count anymore, that Baltimore and Prince George’s County schools would always be a sign of neglect and discontent, that black men would only go to jail and not to college, and that single family homes were fashionably and perpetually the norm.

I’m not saying Obama is Jesus or Moses or anything of the like, but he does have a certain universal appeal that reminds me of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

One national political pundit even likened him unto Cicero.

Obamania, in a nutshell, is real!

And prayerfully, this national and international political momentum will translate into a reinvigorated attitude for local aspiring politicians. On this note, names like Mary Washington and Wesley Wood come to mind. Names like Tara Andrews and Nick Mosby and Liz Smith also come to mind. When I think of people like the late Eric Easton and Robert Stokes and Ertha Harris and Bill Goodin and C.D. Witherspoon, I am clearly reminded that although the road may seem dark at times, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

The point here is simple: Black people, stay engaged in the political process. It does work when we work it. As I always note: The book and the ballot lead to self-empowerment.

Baltimore City is a beautiful place. Despite the stigma of crime and HBO’s The Wire, I know – and have always known – that the real beauty of this city is its people. Eastside, Westside, Park Heights, Edmonson Village, Ashburton, Roland Park, Guilford: Say what you want, but it is the people who make this city great.

Over the years, we have seen a lot of firsts in terms of black leaders. Clarence “Du” Burns: Our first black mayor in Baltimore. There is also Verda Welcome, the first woman state senator for the 40th, and Verna Jones, the first woman state senator to represent the 44^th. There is Robert Bell, the state’s first black chief judge of the Court of Appeals. There is Michael Steele, a man many thought would be the first black governor. There is Anthony Brown, the first black Democrat to be lieutenant governor. There is Ken Oliver, the first black to be on the Baltimore County Council and who represents the richest black jurisdiction in Greater Baltimore. And there is Patricia Jessamy, our first black woman to become Baltimore City’s State’s Attorney. Obama is merely a continuum of this broader effort towards the self-empowerment that is so desperately needed in the black community – especially in Baltimore.

Today, 143 years after slavery was ended on this continent, we can all embrace the fact that despite the challenges and obstacles and constant threats of danger, Sen. Barack Obama now becomes the hope of every child in America.

Again, who would have thought that a black man would get this close to becoming President of the United States? Not in this lifetime, many thought.

Over the past months, many have asked me if he could win – as if I would put my support behind any other name. Actually, I was insulted that folk didn’t know me any better. Nonetheless, I would respond: ‘Obama, of course!’ After all, he is the hope of all the people, including the American slave and the colonized African.