Just because Obama has won, does not mean that we get to relax!
Bare in mind that all the African-Americans that have occupied high and/or important roles in our history have only paved the way for this wonderful, magnanimous yet inevitable feat. There is little I could say to spoil this moment in history, but I struggle with all of the expectations that are expressed about Obama… that if added up make him almost tantamount to Jesus Christ himself. Let it not be said that I had high hopes for the new President-elect, however I do not want to impose my will on, what has to be, an already daunting task ahead for President-elect Obama. Yes… an African-American has achieved being voted into the highest office in the land, but we must be careful not to carelessly lay our dreams at the door of the White House or at the feet of Obama.
Part of what I’ve heard from the mouth of Obama himself, is for us to rely on ourselves and not government. He said, “The change we need doesn’t come from Washington, change comes to Washington!”
He has proven more than anyone else, within the African-American community, that we can truly do anything! What we have to be careful of is that this winds up being our last shot. What I mean is that we have become somewhat lackadaisical and sedentary over the years, about our freedom (of all things). We have been in stasis waiting on Obama to come… waiting on our next great leader! We seem to not have been able to quite get it together without MLK-type leadership and guidance. I’m not saying that a vast number of us have not achieved (because Obama, among numerous others, is irrefutable evidence that we can), but I am saying that we have not yet done what we are apparently capable of.
Maybe it has taken this Presidential achievement to push us onward and upward, but things have just begun. I’ve seen for a long time, Americans ability to push pass the past, although I guess it has taken this great moment in history to bring our gifts to forefront. I have also seen (for even longer), the African-Americans’ ability to persevere and achieve greatness, in the face of a spiritual, emotional and even physical genocidal type warfare perpetrated against us.
This election has either started the clock ticking or is the winding down of our time. Let it not be the latter, as I have already heard people imply or directly say that if we cannot overcome now… we haven’t a chance. If you are awake now… if you are paying attention now, then please, please, let’s finally do what we came here to do. Mistake my words, if you want to! If you are too afraid to go forward on to victory, then first at least admit that much! You may find, in doing so, the courage to push through the fear.
We have come here for a reason, so if you can not finally pull it together, then move out of the way and let those who are ready, do their (our) thing. On this side of the election, so many things that held certain meanings have either lost their meanings or are now open-ended to be answered or are now confusing to say the least. Case in point:
Now I believe that if Rene Marie (in the video above) had the benefit of knowing then, that Obama would win the election, she may have altered her actions. On this side of the election, I hope she does not feel the same need to use such tactics. However understandable her tactics may seem to me, I’d like to think that what I saw in Jesse Jackson’s reaction to the reality of Obama actually winning has spread, and at least given people some hope. We should not wait to see what President-elect Obama is going to do, but let us begin carving out our own piece of the dream or proverbial pie! The deed has been done! He has been elected President, his success or failure in the future should not have any bearing on the message that has been lying in wait for us to embrace.
The future is here… The future is now! It is no longer: ‘What if…’; it is now, ‘What is!’
Vetulus Pectoris Societas (Poor Souls Society) 