President Obama sent me an email

There is no way I can let this day pass without an entry. Today will forever be etched in my memory and this entry is one way to be able to explain it further to K when he is old enough.

I of course sent in my contribution to the campaign and this got me on the mailing list in addition to this lovely tee shirt seen below.



Since then, I have begun to receive emails from the president keeping me informed with all his plans. I may save some of the more poignant ones for K. It is hard to capture what I am feeling at this point as well as what I have felt in the last 18 months or so. People will forever ask “what were you doing when you heard Obama had cinched the democratic nomination?” “What were you doing the night he won the election?” “What were you doing on January 20th 2009?” Common in all my responses was a sense of incredulity; like many black people I know, we never thought it would happen in our lifetime. There are feelings of elation, hope, vindication, fear, joy and finally exhaling. Living overseas adds another level to these feelings. The need to repair relations with other countries is important and people are also hopeful that this will happen.

In a few hours, history will be made when the first African American person will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America. I wonder if the forebearers envisioned this?? It certainly was not an easy campaign for him but, it was to be expected that some people would not be as accepting. Although we tried not to say it but, race was an issue in this election from the question of Obama really being black to even if he is black, is he black enough? So, to some group of Americans, he is more palatable if identified as a “half black” man because at least there is some white blood in there (which African American doesn’t have some white blood?). And to some, he may look black but he has no street cred..seems like the poor man can’t win! He is carrying a lot on his shoulders, the culmination of the dreams of many, many people (past and present)..this cartoon is poignant to me…



Obama is inheriting a country that’s in which stark numbers tell the story of an economic debacle unrivaled since the 1930s:
• Eleven million people have lost their jobs, pushing the unemployment rate to 7.2 percent, a 16-year high.
• One in 10 U.S. homeowners is delinquent on mortgage payments or in arrears.
• The Dow Jones industrial average fell by 33.8 percent in 2008, the worst decline since 1931, and stocks lost $10 trillion in value between October 2007 and November 2008.

Although he has been refered to as the 'magic negro', there is no way we can expect him to “fix” things by his first 100 days. I hope and pray that we give him a break, that we allow him the time to gain some semblance of control of the situation. But to the constant naysayers (of which there will be quite a few), this cartoon says it all.



I wonder what this means for K that the first president he remembers is like him (yes, I have no doubt Obama will win a second term) People constantly ask me “how do you think K will identify himself in the future” and depending on the specific day, sometimes I give a flippant response like “that is the last thing on our minds right now-I current focus is when will he sleep through the night and no pinching”. But really, what’s more empowering by saying “yeah, President Obama and I, similar stock and roots”

I ask myself, other than my financial contributions, what can I do? During the campaign, my “Obama Mama” group raised funds and participated in voter education and registration. We all pledged to pay our taxes on time, to support programs (no matter how painful) that will in the end be for the better good. Finally, I pray for his safety, mental health, his family and most of all for our country.