BMORENEWS.com

Barack Obama and Joe Biden

(BALTIMORE – August 29, 2008) – Arising around 5 a.m. this morning, TV still on running clips of Sen. Barack Obama’s acceptance speech last night in Denver, it was if I had never gone to sleep at all. Then, to see FOX’s re-running of after-speech commentaries by their top-notch political pundits, including Juan Williams, I was right back where I was last night: Trying to appreciate the diversity of life.

On one hand, there was the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol and ABC’s Bob Wallace, both of whom are white men, giving “big-ups” to Obama as anchor Brit Hume described last night’s political development as one with “spectacular sight and sound” and also noting its “size, dimension [and] color.”

Williams, on the other hand however, seemed to be more focused on what was wrong with Obama’s speech. Interestingly, this man of color, commented that the speech was “more prose than poetry.” I’m still trying to figure out that one. Williams also said that there were “no catch phrases to match” John F. Kennedy’s acceptance speech, that Obama’s words were “not motivational”, and that Obama gave a mere “laundry list” that “did not appeal” to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech given 45 years ago to the day. Williams also made mention that Obama presented “nothing new”, that while the Senator from Illinois spoke about eliminating this country’s dependence on Middle Eastern oil in 10 years – he said that would be impossible because Obama would not be in office in 10 years. Williams concluded that Obama’s “specifics didn’t match up” and that while there was definitely “magic” in the air, Obama “missed closing the sale.”

Wow!

The first thing that came to my mind was the African American woman the night before whom became the focus of a CNN interview. This particular woman, in case you missed it, was incredibly in love with Hillary Clinton, insisted that Obama did not have the experience to lead us, swore she would not vote for John McCain, but also led one to believe that she was not necessarily voting for Barack Obama. She said Obama had two months to convince her.

Double wow!

As I reflect on Obama’s Iowa Caucus victory on Thursday, January 3^rd of this year – and I see where he is today, there is so much that has happened in such a short period of time. Obama has gone from a whimsical thought to a whirlwind of a household name. When I remember his visit to Baltimore on Monday, February 11^th of this year at the Arena and reminisce how excitement glorified the air in a city where oh so many have the reason to be politically apathetic, I am reminded that the hand of God is definitely on this former community activist in a most magnificent way. And, although there are detractors – both white and black, there is something special about Obama where half of him is obviously and succinctly so much better than 100% of George Bush’ John McCain.

Maybe I am living in a different world than others. Maybe I am the only one who saw Iraq as an excuse for war from the beginning. When I left Amman, Jordan on September 27, 2002 with the late Arthur Murphy – just as U.S troops were coming in and preparing to invade Iraq, maybe the conversation I had with an Iraqi soldier was just a dream. Maybe he was fooling me when he spoke about how war was the last thing his country needed. Maybe the Iraqi female doctor I spoke to in Jaresh was lying when she told me how difficult it was already to earn a living there as she only made the equivalent of pennies on a dollar and how war would only make things worse. Maybe, they really did desire a war with America so as to show their prowess and were just feeding me rhetoric smothered in olives and lamb. By the way, Bin Laden was not reported to be in Iraq during my 10-day tour. 

And let’s not forget Hurricane Katrina and how it pummeled New Orleans and other pieces of the Gulf Coast, leaving so many dead and devastated and displaced and dishonored, and how George Bush sat stunned in his helicopter seat – sort of as he did when he first got the news about 9-11. Maybe the lyrics to Jay Z’s song about Katrina’s damage never existed, except in the recesses of my imagination.

And maybe, just maybe, gas prices didn’t touch $4 dollars a gallon this summer and Exxon executives were just pulling our leg when they reported record profits this year and that heating oil didn’t double or triple since George Bush took office.

I don’t know.

But I am sure that after several cups of coffee though, I did in fact here and see Barack Obama and his wife this week on television. I am sure I heard Bill and Hillary this week standing with Obama. And I am sure in my heart of hearts and my gut of guts that there is something phenomenal, if not supernatural, underway in this country and world, and even more, that Dr. King and so many others are smiling down on America from the other side of glory. I am sure that Fannie Lou Hamer, a woman of color who was kicked and beaten and stomped so that all people could have the right to vote, is hysterically happy to know that the Obama-Biden ticket is a reality and that for the first time in the history of this nation, a black man is the nominee of a major political party. I am sure that Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall can stomach these developments and that those who are still alive, from Kweisi Mfume to Attorney Billy Murphy to former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke, have got to be over-the-top since the world has served witness to something none of us imagined in our wildest dreams. Not only can a black person become a Councilperson, a Mayor, a Senator and a Representative in Congress; a black person – in these United States – can become the Commander-in-Chief of the most influential country in the world.

Yes, we have lost our swagger as the largest producer of goods and services. Yes, we have come to outsource that which we used to do at home. Yet, these things can be reversed. With the best and the brightest coming to the table of brotherly and sisterly love - irrespective of race, color, religion or creed – America can once again reach the higher heights and deeper depths of which Martin dreamed.

China Daily News gets it. The BBC in the United Kingdom gets it. Yet, others – right here in America - don’t get it. And that’s truly their prerogative. I say, however, that congratulations are in order to Senator Obama and his team on a job well-done. Personally, I am ecstatic. I am elated that the naysayers have been just about put to rest, because anyone who desires 8 more years of the same failed policies is clearly living in a vacuum. I am happy also that much-needed change is here and that no matter how much money a few have, they cannot avert the tides of progress forever. Panning the multi-racial and multi-cultural crowd last night at INVESCO Field at Mile High, I know that God’s hand was on this man who grew up with white grandparents. I know that God’s hand is too in the picture when, despite their hunger for victory and disdain for defeat, the Clinton’s played their day role. They played their positions. And, for the ultimate Doubting Thomas out there, as noted by my dear friend and colleague at WEAA 88.9 FM – radio journalist David Brown, God has also sent Hurricane Gustav right toward New Orleans – possibly as a reminder of the Bush Administration’s failure to effectively evacuate a major American city after Katrina.

Last night, Obama touched the issues. From affordable healthcare to affordable mortgages to unemployment to foreign policy to dependence on foreign oil to the search for alternative sources of energy, Obama meticulously gave proper evidence that he is in-touch with the people. Even more, he articulated how John McCain isn’t.

I don’t know about you, but for me, Obama demonstrated that he can effectively represent the American people, come up with a feasible plan of action while still speaking to our hearts and our conditions, and, further, pragmatically guide this nation towards the change we so desperately require.

No, he is not JFK. No, he is not MLK. But, with an oratorical display that matches or surpasses that of Cicero, Barack Obama humbly sealed the victory for the pride and betterment of the people of the United States – be they Democrat, Republican, or Independent.