What a Day to Be Alive...

November 5th 2008

It is 10am and I sit amidst the rubble of a celebration. Last night 40 or so assorted friends came together in our tiny temporary rental in Buenos Aires to watch history unfold. I felt calm all night. There were questions about fairness and funny business at the poles, but I wasn’t worried. I knew that the forces of darkness could not pull off another upset by disenfranchising poor, working class people because we are hip to their game now. We are watching. We were up until 3:30am, determined to see it to the end. We listened to the acceptance speech, speechless.

America is awake and has become clear not only that our way of life is in jeopardy, but that it is our personal responsibility to safe guard it, every one of us. We have walked away from cynicism and into the sunlight of hope. Somehow enough people, tired and angry from years of being led blindly through the darkness, collectively reached out and turned on the lights. No, there has been no change in the fact that Americans see differently on important issues. There is no national consensus for what, exactly, path we should take. This morning though, we have a real leader to guide us and he will not keep us in the dark. Many meaningful things were said last night but among them I was notably moved by President Elect Obama’s promise to work closely with those who disagree with him and to lead us all.

I am many thousands of miles from the tiny Los Angeles house my mother shares with my sister today. Still, there was not a moment last night when my mom was not on my mind. My mother was a “community organizer” who spent my childhood fighting for the rights of the oppressed and the under-served. She fought for equal rights for women and people of color. She fought for the care and education of all children, even those from poor families who’s parents were not likely voters. She fought so that some day, if I wanted to, I could run for president and a black man could vote for me, or vice versa. My mother paved the way for Barack Obama’s victory. Today I am proud to be an American citizen. I stand tall and will use the words “President Obama” with respect and pride as I move through the world. Even more I am proud to be Marie Ory’s daughter. I stand in awe of the people who worked and fought for so long in the face hatred, violence, poverty and ignorance to open the doors to this day.

Some of the things my mother learned in her years as a community organizer and civil rights movement leader have been passed along through the years to others (that’s they way those community organizers work - wink, wink). I would not be surprised to find out that Barack Obama worked in much the same way my mother did. Use the press and churches to get your message out. Help people understand how what you are asking them to do will help them, now. Respect that you are asking much of them. Never forget why you are doing what you do. Work hard. Never give up. Never underestimate the enduring power of a human being’s desire to walk in the sunshine of hope and fairness.

I imagine that President Barack Obama will lead our nation away from the brink in the same manner that he attained the office, calmly, morally, meaningfully, working hard. We will not all be happy. We will not all get everything we want. We will not be automatically protected from the pain of healing our collective selves. This is going to hurt. There will be those who will blame President Obama for the pain. Most of us I pray will simply know that healing and growth can be painful. When small children grow, their bones ache. Broken bones too, ache as they knit, slowly, back together. We are still yet a young nation and we are finally growing out of our childish ways. We are finally becoming the nation our founding fathers envisioned. It has been a long hard road but I believe America always knew where we were headed. There is an artist, Greg Laswell, who sings a beautiful song, “What a day” (http://www.myspace.com/greglaswell), which perfectly describes my feelings on this day when he says simply, “What a day to be alive...”