My Opinion Forum

I talked about vindication in one of my previous entries. I mentioned the impact on the collective consciousness of the African American community. However, I couldn’t help but notice the impact on many Whites, and on other minority communities in the United States – and the world at large.

I was one of the fortunate among the millions witnessing firsthand the making of history in Washington D.C. on the 20th January 2009. I will never forget the cold frigid conditions of that day. I will never forget the clear skies and the radiant sunshine that underscored the near supernatural euphoria that permeated the atmosphere, despite the almost unbearable temperatures. I will never forget the ubiquitous electrical charge that pervaded the senses of all persons present whenever anything Obama or Obama related appeared on the giant Jumbotrons set up everywhere around the Mall.

There were folks present from all walks of life. There were the rugged westerners sporting their familiar cowboy hats, some adorned with Obama paraphernalia. There were Buddhist monks (they must have been employing the mind over matter principle to survive the cold!), Catholic nuns, school children from all over the U.S. and Canada, Native Americans displaying their tribal colours, and ecstatic European tourists – many of them savoring their opportunity to be in America during such a momentous occasion. There were also the avowed Bush antagonists – folks evidently glad to be turning the political page. And then there were the folks like me – hailing from the Caribbean, glad to be the evidentiary bearers of vital history to pass on to succeeding generations.  Hope was the linguistic libation for the thirsty masses that day. But vindication lurked in the subconscious.

I mentioned the Bush antagonists earlier. Many of them talked excitedly about feeling a sense of release from the Bush years and the foreign policies they felt destroyed the true spirit of America. Some even spoke about being able to travel overseas again without being subjected to the anti-American backlash. Some White people present talked glowingly about how they had felt responsible in some small way for the special day because they had voted for the Obama-Biden ticket. This event was a large symbolic stake in the heart of Institutional American racism. The radiant faces of the non-black minorities present all told their own personal stories of vindication.

I remember reading a past article about the impact of the U.S. elections on disenfranchised cultures around the world. The often despised Roma of Western Europe were hailing the American achievement as their own. Many named their newborn males Obama in a subconscious effort to grasp a sense of hope and vindication from their perceived pitiful state. New born males in the Palestinian territories and South East Asia were also named for Obama.

Recent opinion polls taken in America and worldwide on Obama’s current performance seems to suggest that hope and change are still alive in the hearts of minds of persons everywhere. In addition, if Obama is unable to make good on all pre-election promises (well, we know it is impossible to please everybody), his presence on the international stage and his evident flare will always remind us that anything is possible. Yes we can…

Renowned  Bahamian author and theologian Dr. Myles Munroe once noted: “If purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable.” Famous author and respected psychologist David J. Schwartz said: “Believe big. The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief. Think little goals and expect little achievement. Think big goals and win big success. Remember this too! Big ideas and big plans are often easier – certainly no more difficult- than small ideas and small plans.” He also added: “Belief works this way. Belief, the I’m-positive-I-can attitude generates the power, skill and energy needed to do. When you believe I-can-do-it, the how-to-do -it develops.” Someone else said:” A dream can only be classified as a dream when it becomes an obsession. Everything else is wishful thinking.”

There is an old axiom that defines success as opportunity plus solid preparedness. I would personally suggest that preparedness needs to be solidly under girded with a strong belief in a personal dream, purpose or vision. Again, I would add here: “Where purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable.” Every professional field known to humankind is dotted with the tragic sagas of successful personalities who were qualified (and respected) in their respective areas, but  lacked the proper sense of purpose, or vision, to responsibly steer their lives. They would go on to lose everything through imprudent decisions. We can all identify Businessmen, Government Officials, Doctors, Actors and Religious Ministers among others who fall into this dismal category.

To me, Obama is the epitome of the neo axiom – preparation + opportunity + vision = phenomenal success. His Autobiographies serve as an inspiration to those of us who are still stuck in the cataclysmic valley of self-indulgent pity, deluded by the  injudicious statutory entitlement mentality. It should also inspire persons who are successful in their career fields to think bigger in terms of their achievements.

Obama eloquently documented his early struggles with self-identity and rejection. Trapped by a lack of purpose, he abused himself. He used drugs. He developed a chain smoking habit. He tried to fit in. He bounced from one interest to another. He had reasonable excuses to accept a life of low expectation. He was the product of an absentee father and a teenage mother. He had a funny name. He didn’t look like the people who were raising him. He felt an emotional disconnect from his White and black sides. We later observe this broken and confused individual undergo  metamorphic changes as belief in self developed, and a hope in a bigger vision began to grip him. His thinking expanded. He then developed an obsession with a sense of personal destiny. Moreover, his sense of purpose became clearer.

President-elect Obama’s meteoric rise to the uppermost echelon of American (indeed World) politics still boggles the minds of many – in particular those individuals (black and white) who lived through the turbulent 1950s and 1960s. Furthermore, three years ago, this man was a practical unknown outside of Illinois. While many current environmental and social factors were instrumental in his iconic ascent, I believe his fervid sense of belief in self, a determined dedication to the discovery of personal purpose, and a heartfelt sense of obligation to a vision – larger than himself – were the foundations of his phenomenal success.

Someone once said:”Nearly all men can stand diversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, you give him power. President-elect Obama has shown time and time again through his unflappable demeanor that he can withstand diversity. Moreover, his critics can only accuse him of being too perspicacious at worst when it comes to the use of his power!

I think it is reasonable to expect many great deeds from this great man during his time as President. He is thoroughly prepared, and he does have a strong belief in a personal dream, purpose and vision, so phenomenal success is inevitable.

I sum my reflection up by using a quote from the “Personality Of This Defining Moment” himself: We are the change that we seek. We are the hope of those boys who have so little, who’ve been told that they cannot have what they dreamed, that they cannot be what they imagined.

Yes, they can.

It became official on the 4th November 2008 (well – at least in California, anyway… it was the 5th November for the rest of us on Eastern Time). America had indeed been changed – in deliberate fashion. I sat glued to my television set all night with my father, mother and brother, switching between television stations and observing the looks of gleeful anticipation (or noticeable apprehension) of news reporters and journalists trying to interpret the electoral returns. But I digress here…

I was struck by a number of abstract events that seemed to resonate only among the ethnic group that had the highest personal stake in the outcome of events – the African Americans. It was on this night that the compassionate threads of mutual appreciation, followed by an appreciable affinity for “selfness”, and the shared sense of destiny seemed to bind together Blacks from all avenues of the political and social schools of thought.  For many, an entire race was in the spotlight that night. I watched in wonderment as the most dogmatic Black conservatives and neo-liberal African Americans wept openly while bearing witness to this transforming event. Their human tears were there for all to see.

There were emotional parties among Blacks in other parts of the world as well. Vindication was the catch word for many in the Black Diaspora.

I will explore that angle some more…