5th
I know it's long, but I had a lot to say...
This blog post is going to come straight from the heart. I don’t have any facts or figures, just straight talk. Barack Obama won. An African-American man from the South Side of Chicago won. Just typing these words seems very surreal to me. I can’t even express in words how this makes me feel. I’m not usually an emotional person who cries over joyous occasions, but this makes me tear up. I feel true pride, from the depths of my soul, to say that I am proud to be a black American. Never in my life have I felt so strongly about my culture and my country. It wasn’t even a century ago, that someone like me wouldn’t even dream of being in the position that I’m in today: traveling where ever I wanted to go, doing whatever I want to do, having an education, the list goes on. My parents and my grandfather never thought they would live to see the day when a black man became President. Not only Black people, but America has come such a long way, and yesterday proves it.
The impact of the election didn’t hit me until I was on my way home yesterday and decided to stop at McDonald’s to get dinner at 11 pm. I pulled up to the drive-thru window and the cashier who took my money said to me, “Girl, do you believe we have a Black President?” I just looked at her for a second, and finally it resonated. I had been downtown all evening covering events, too exhausted to take it all in, but at that moment reality set in. African-Americans have struggled for centuries to make a stand, to get recognition were recognition is deserved. A few have definitely made their mark on the world, but still, that wasn’t enough.
It’s unbelievable that now; parents can look their children straight in the eye and tell them, “You can do anything you set your mind to,” and not have to feel like they’re lying. History has been made. History books will have to be re-written. Change definitely starts today.
I had almost completely lost faith in our government. It seemed that the system, no matter what was done, never seemed to work. The 2004 Presidential Election was the first time I was able to vote for President. I was a freshman at Illinois State University, just beginning to pay attention to politics and how it will affect me. I believed in the system, I believed that if I voted, my voice would be heard. I waited in line for almost four hours to vote that election. When I finally got to the polls, they had run out of ballots and we were handed a sheet of paper that had Kerry and Bush on it with boxes to mark which one you chose. Nothing else about judges or senators. I know. I thought it was shady too, but hey, I waited that long, so there was no way I was going to leave without doing something. When I got back to my dorm, my other roommates and myself were surrounding the t.v. When the final projection was made, I wanted to cry. In fact, I think I did cry. I felt it was so unfair, how could this happen. At that moment, I knew that this was all a sham, this system didn’t work. Or if it did, it didn’t work for people like me. The next four years, I continued to see failure throughout the government. I never saw a reason to vote because I knew that it was a waste of time and my little one ballot wouldn’t make any difference in the world. My mom told me one day, “There’s no reason why you shouldn’t vote. Too many people have died for you to have this opportunity.” Reluctantly, I voted in every local election since then and now national. This election has completely revived my confidence in the system. Democracy works, people!! It really and truly works!! You get enough people going for the same cause and yes, their voices will be heard. It can be done!
Life in general seems so much more doable. I know that sounds dreamy-eyed cheesy, so hear me out first. For the past couple years, this year especially, I’ve worked my butt off. Since I left ISU, I never went without a job. That included working 5 am shifts, staying well past midnight and working long weekends. This semester, I’m taking 15 credit hours, working two part-time jobs and volunteering at a homeless shelter by my house. Earlier in the semester, I was also studying for the LSATS (I’m re-taking them…It’s a touchy topic…) I don’t go out and have fun anymore, all I do is work and school. Lately, I’ve been wondering if it’s worth it. I work my ass off all the time, but for what? Nothing has paid off. It seems like the harder I work at something, the worse things turn out, so what’s the point of doing all this when I will never see the fruits of my labor? Now I see. It can pay off. It worked for Obama, so why can’t it work for me. I’m not even aiming as high as presidency, I just want to finish school! It can work, and I think Obama’s winning the Presidential nomination revived many people like it did for me.
That’s the one thing that drew me to Obama at the beginning of his candidacy. He is truly a wonderful role model for young children and old children, like me. He totally understands hard work and dedication as well as the anguish felt when defeated from giving it your all. I feel that because Obama is so young, he can relate more to my generation and the struggles we face. I feel that we will actually have a voice now. Our cries won’t be overlooked. He understands where we are going and he’s right along with us figuring out how to get there. The fact that the man had a Myspace account from the beginning tells us something right there. I know a lot of people only see the negative connotations associated with a social networking site like Myspace, but for a Presidential candidate to use it right off the bat shows us that he is “connected” to the young people. He’s not this far off tangent that we only read about and see on T.V. He sees the importance of the internet, not as just something to do when you’re bored or someplace to check spam mail, but as an important tool that is defining and reshaping our world.
And all this from a Black man… Wow.
