Friday, November 14, 2008

FROM SLAVERY TO THE WHITE HOUSE

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there," Obama said in Chicago, Illinois, before an estimated crowd of up to 240,000 people.

Barack Obama wrote a new chapter into US history becoming the first African-American elected president, capping a stunning rise which in just four years propelled him into the Oval Office.

With unflagging energy and vitality, he took on the political establishment, defeating former first lady Hillary Clinton in the party primaries, overturned the perception that America was not ready to vote for a black president, and crushed the weight of the Republican attack machine.

Four short years ago, Obama was just a little-known but charismatic Chicago politician with a ready smile, who wowed the 2004 Democratic convention with a dazzling speech. The world’s greatest boxing champion, Ali, once said, “Champions must have skill and good will. The good will must be stronger than the skill”.

Certainly, Barack Obama possesses both qualities enormously and used them effectively to achieve a long, overdue dream, walk to freedom. Obama said “America change is now or never…, America you have spoken…., this is your time…. and this is your choice…..” and obviously, the choice was manifested on November 4th, 2008 electing him as their president to the White House. www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1856914,00.html

The next biggest choice and change would be the name of the White House which is outdated and it was named at the time of white domination and the American people need to carry on with the choice and change by naming it with universal names such as American House, Open House, Lincoln House or Obama House to mark this audacity of historic hope and change in progress.

"There is no a black America, and white America and Latino America and Asian America- there's the United States of America," he proclaimed then. The same is true if I say there is no a Black House, and White House and Latino House and Asian House- there is the American House, …..

It was a message he has used to ignite a new fervor and excitement in a country angered by the economic crisis which has dragged down the world's top economy and sickened by the Iraq war.

In defying the odds, the 47 year old, Obama has reshaped conventional wisdom on how to pay for a successful White House bid by harnessing the Internet as a powerful fund-raising tool.

As a community organizer, he understood that the younger generation is the locomotive of change. Obama directly addressed and motivated the young generation and middle income communities to embrace a new agenda called ‘change we believe in’. By so doing he galvanized millions of young Americans to enroll for change and preached so well that America change is now or never. On the contrary John McCain solely depended on traditional followers that are the haves and CEOs.

McCain lacked mass base, resources and energy to bring to Americans the change they want in the 21st century.
Obama’s campaign also put together a formidable grass-roots organization, especially in key battleground states, which in the end gave him an unstoppable momentum towards the White House.

The son of a Kenyan, African, father and a white mother from Kansas, America, Obama has sought to rise above the issue of race and project himself as the candidate for all Americans.

But his victory on will remain bittersweet for Obama, after the woman who raised him to believe he would be whatever he wanted to be passed away just hours before his crowning moment.

His white maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, whom he called "Toot" lost her battle with cancer in her home in Hawaii, never living to see Obama realize the aspirations of generations. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7436720.stm

In a rare show of emotion, from a man who has been seen as cool and collected throughout the grueling 21-month campaign, tears streamed down Obama's face at a North Carolina rally.

His voice thick with grief, Obama said this was a "bitter-sweet time for me. She is going home".

Obama recapped his grandmother's life from her birth in 1922 and her marriage to his grandfather, their struggles through the Great Depression and with his infant mother through World War II.

"She was one of those quiet heroes that we have all across America," said Obama. "They're not famous. Their names aren't in the newspapers," he said, vowing to fight for all the country's quiet heroes.

Born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961, Obama's path to the White House has not been backed by the privilege and wealth often enjoyed by past candidates.

His father left when he was just two, and the young Obama later moved to Indonesia with his mother, Ann, when she re-married.

He spent several years in Jakarta, before returning to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents when he was in his teens.

After attending Columbia University in New York, Obama went to the elite Harvard Law School, where he was the first black American to be president of the influential Harvard Law Review.

It was while working at a Chicago law firm that he met and then married Michelle, a fellow lawyer, in 1992. The couple has two young daughters, Malia 10, and Sasha, seven.
On November 4 the world, as it expected, saw an African American, Barack Obama, rise to the highest post of the most powerful nation on Earth.
It's how everything that happened with black people and the drastic changes were in the past, and for once it's in the present and we can have a stake.

I screamed so loudly and cried during his victory speech. Words cannot describe how proud I am of Barack Obama and his accomplishments. I have followed his race repeatedly, joined barackobama.com site and most importantly I began to believe that he could win during his campaign. The road ahead of us will be difficult and the fight will be hard, but last night was a great victory, and I honestly believed that Obama can beat John McCain.

I watched McCain's speech and I didn't see change- I saw the same old politics and the same legacy of elderly Anglo Saxon men leading America. Americans want real change! They want a better foreign policy that is not driven by arrogant bully tactics. They want an educational system that actually doesn't leave a child behind. They want a leader who knows more about the economy than I know, I know and I do. They want a leader who understands the complexity of race relations in America and civil rights issues.

And dammed, I want somebody that looks like me in a leadership role for a change!

I was so excited watching history being made - the election of Barack Obama, the first black president.
Until now, the history of the black civil rights movement in America has been largely that - history.
The great moments and characters that define it - the desegregation of schools, the "I Have a Dream" speech of 1963, the Rosa Parks and Martin Luther Kings - serve as the milestones describing the slow transition to equal rights. For blacks living being marginalized in a just and equal society is equal to prisoner’s in a death raw waiting for their doomsday to come.

Who will forget the infamous Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, who issued a proclamation against integration and stood in a doorway to prevent two black students enrolling at the University of Alabama in the 60s?

In this planet earth there is no place where you could find respect for black race including our own Africa. Blacks are facing insults, beating and killing for exercising their right to speak up, belong to any party they choose and vote in any kind of elections by their own government who have low expectations and respect for their own black people.

The monkey chant in European sport stadiums and the street attack by white supremacists on European streets and the Asian countries prejudice against black people is all known.

Now, Americans by putting a black person as their leader has now challenged the world to show respect for fellow black people wherever they are.

I have no doubt; however, it is only in America blacks can reach to the highest office through democratic election living as members of the minority community. This could not have been possible in Europe and you should not even think in Asia and Australia.

We as a people congratulate Americans for their unity as “one people” and for electing Barack Obama as their president. Congratulations!

Watching a black man become president is an inspiration, a reflection that the fabled land of opportunity has opened the doors to people of colour as well, a coup for blacks, the United States and the world.

It's very inspiring to know we've gone from nowhere to somewhere, from nobody to somebody and from slavery to the White House having a black man as president.

It will be a great influence on all the people that are racist against blacks. Obama's election is one of the greatest achievements for America and for black people around the world living in obscurity.

Bigotry is still well and alive and flourishing implicitly. But the fact that Obama explicitly and smartly muted race issues during his campaign gave way for his vision of hope and change to gracefully emerge. www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=7743407308044900839&postID=1514072184902445175

Racism is far more widespread in the United States, UK and other countries than in Australia.
The race issue is not as prevalent in Australia as in the States, with its gangs and crime.

I don't think the country’s politicians are sensitive to the subtleties of Australian race issues. Still, the effect of having an intelligent, articulate black man on TV on a regular basis can't help but have a positive effect.

Yet again, you can't underestimate the value of breaking those stereotypes. To do so Australia and other countries must give equal opportunity and allow black people/artists to take part in the media rather than paint white people’s faces as black to take part in comedy and artistic roles. There are more black artists equally talented if not overly artistic to do the job.

To see the inauguration video, search for "President Barack Obama 2009 Inauguration and Address" on youtube search line after you finish viewing.

For Australia, apologizing to the stolen generation is just symbolic when the road to recovery and change is so steep by not giving Aborigines and other blacks an opportunity and support, to perform in the mainstream artistic industry and managerial positions, without resenting and discriminating.

Nevertheless, one day change will come to Australia that a black man will be the leader of the Democratic Republic of Australia, New Zealand, UK and other European and Asian countries.

At last! With role models like Obama and new generations raised in a multicultural mix, we're finally nearing the point where a candidate of colour will no longer be an issue.

Congratulations Mr. President!

No comments: