I just tried to post a comment on an existing thread and found that my computer timed me out as I was composing my thoughts. I will try to control myself and express my opinions quickly enough to avoid that happenstance this time. I haven't ever posted a diary before and I think it is unlikely that I will ever do so again. I am doing so now because I feel compelled to share with you all what it feels like for one African American man contemplating the prospect of an Obama presidency.
In short. It makes me cry like a baby. I am a 39 year old, 250 pound, big, bearded black man from Richmond, Virginia who most of your mothers would almost certainly be terrified of if they ran into me on the street at night. I had the luxury of a safe, middle class upbringing. Both of my parents are college graduates. I am also a college graduate and I did spend some time(71 of 88 required credits completed) in law school before alcohol, drugs, and a profound distaste for my peers drove me away. I have experienced my fair share of heartache...and heart break but, I honestly can't remember anything else in my life that has so completely unmanned me. I am crying right now as I type.
The diary to which I intended to make a comment before I was timed out was one which is currently on the recced list that documents Obama's unprecedented fund raising in the month of September. I was all set to tell you all about how this was the first time I had ever donated to any political campaign and how great it made me feel to be a part of a movement that I felt was truly meaningful.
That is absolutely true. I do feel that way. However, as I explore my feeling more I realize I honestly never, EVER...EVER!!!!!! imagined that a black man would have a legitimate chance at being president in the United States in my lifetime. It wasn't conceivable. Literally inconceivable. Not in any way possible. No way! NEVER! EVER!
To find Senator Obama is actually on the cusp of being elected president of the United States is like a dream from which I hope I never wake up. People talk constantly about role models and individuals whom others should admire. If...when Senator Obama is elected we will all be witnesses to an historic event that will literally rival any other event in the history of our great, young, nation. An explicit rejection of America's racist past. A hope affirming validation of America's limitless future.
.
There are millions(tens of millions) of Americans who don't spend their time spouting off on the internet about all of societies ills and how they think those ills should be addressed or what they think this candidate should wear or how those candidates should campaign. They wake up every morning and look out of their windows at a bleak, brutal landscape that would terrify most of us if we found that it was our lot in life to occupy that particular niche in society. When they wake up on November 5th and turn on their televisions. For the first time in their lives(and yes I do mean for the first time in their lives and I can say so because I am not and almost certainly will not ever be married to a presidential candidate) they will feel like they have a government that represents them.
I know Barack Obama is one man. I know that one man will never change how things really work in Washington by himself. I also know that for many Americans the American dream has always been someone else's dream. On November 5th of this year that will change. Every man, woman, and child in America will know that in our country the best and the brightest, regardless of where they come from or who they are really can achieve anything. That's why I cry every time I go online. Because I spend probably too much of my time reading about the increasingly likelihood that Senator Obama will be our next president and about all of the amazing work that so many of you wonderful people are doing to make that inconceivable dream a reality.
P.S. Obama's campaign is the first to which I have ever donated. It really feels good to do so. I highly recommend it.