OurChart's Bloggers
Our Favorite Sites
Tips?
thehookup@ourchart.com
Obama’s Gift
November 5, 2008 - 10:45am — Gloria Bigelow
If Barack Obama can be elected President, I can surely drag my ass out of bed after a night of partying the night before even with a raging headache and somehow find a way to make a little bit of progress on what it is that I say I want to do for my life today.
If a first-term Senator with very skinny legs, who began a campaign with no money and two people on his staff, can raise the most amount of money ever in a campaign and run the campaign of a lifetime and can be elected President, I can for surely pay off the looming and mounting debt accumulated by my living beyond my means.
If Barack Hussein Obama, with a name that couldn’t be pronounced by some and who’s name was seen as a literal and figurative threat, can hope, fight, prepare and work his way to becoming the 44th President of the United States, then you bet I can get my dragging ass to the gym and become the kind of strong woman that I’ve been threatening to become for the past four years.
You see where I am going with this? It’s the unlikely becoming likely. It’s the impossible becoming possible. It’s the improbable become probable. It’s the manifestation, on a national scale, of change, that trickled it’s way down to my spirit last night while watching the returns on CNN and MSNBC (because Rachel Maddow was on) in an apartment in Brooklyn.
I never thought that I would experience a black President in my life time, and when I called my mother, as California came in and asked her the same, she responded emphatically with delight and a twist of irony in her voice, “No, Gloria, never.”
I simply didn’t believe it could happen. From the beginning of his campaign, I privately told my friends and family:
“This country is not going to elect a black person.”
“This country is not ready for that kind of change.”
“Let’s be honest here, do you really think that white people are going to elect a black man for President? It’s simply not going to happen.”
As the numbers began rolling in, the cynicism, which has always been at war with my optimism, relented under the crushing weight of the collective national step toward something new. As much as I thrive on being right, I was never more delighted by being wrong than I was last night.
A lot of the pundits have been going on, endlessly chatting about how this election has righted a big national wrong or injustice, and they are correct, it does. It is a fulfillment of a dream. It is a karmic reckoning. It is a watershed moment for our country; but on a smaller scale, it rights a wrong personally. It crushes my previously held belief that race trumps all, and that fear often wins, and that people intrinsically do not want to change. It is a grand display that has become a personal inspiration. A victory of country has become a victory of my conscience.
It’s not so much that it happened; it’s that someone believed that it could. It’s not just the belief, but it’s the undying, unyielding action, hard work and determination that made it happen. If we can move our country, we can move our lives.
- Gloria Bigelow's blog
- Login or register to post comments
- Share
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
YahooTagged As
Recent comments
- .:Queen~Mama:. co-Mon guys everything will work out..its okay.. whispers to the person sitting next to her "i REALLY hope ...
- .:Queen~Mama:.lol i just watched that too its great and about the shut down rumor, i guess it is what it is...just stick ...
- 9 days to the Final Season of The L Word ~remembering the famous Monet scene~ Alice: Just call me Alysse, the bisexual ...
- I'm going to watch it now... Woo Hoo! www.thedailyshow.com Just saw it. This is hilarious. What does Rachel call a laptop...
- You have so much to say but yet nothing to say. You talk about the how the show should be based around "Bette and Tina's" ...
22 Comments
What Gloria said!
I didn't believe it could happen either, and it's realization manifested in tears of joy streaming down my face. I thought of my older brother and his struggles being a first in the unions of NYC in the 60's; my parents and grandparents who were merely once removed from slavery on 2 fronts as American Indians & of African descent. Some have said to me, "I am so happy for you..." My reply was, "Please be happy for us ALL. I wasn't on team Obama, for reasons too many to list. Let me say, it was never because I didn't think he could win, because he wasn't MY choice. As it became apparent that it might, my anxiety overwhelmed my doubt. Somehow my presence and optimism toward the differences between he and the other candidate made my decision simple. I pray for his continued success and appreciate all that he's accomplished to this point. If his campaign is any indication, I think the United States of America is in great hands.
I'm just sayin'.....
A beautiful post
It could not have been better.
http://RoseRollinsFanBlog.blogspot.com
"WTF"
How can we as Americans on one hand elect a black president but disallow gays to marry. Am I to believe we are no longer racists , but we are still bigots. Discrimination in any form is a crime against humanity. I can not relish in the joy of the first black president while my fellow brother and sisters suffer such a devastating setback. As a black woman living in America , I must say that I am ashame of some of the citizen of this country. I'm tired of people having to beg for acceptance and inclusion. Again I continue to hang my head in shame for a nation of people who just can't seem to get it right. Taking baby steps is no longer an option. The United States of Hypocrisy is where I live.
i understand...
Gloria Bigelow
i understand where you are coming from. we still have some fight in us-- and again if he can be elected- we can figure out a way to have integrity, equality, and justice. The vision and the work-- it's not an either or-- it's a both and. the fight for gay rights- in this kind of way is till a recent movement- stonewall riots were in 1969---- we still have more fight in us. I am sure that we can do it, and i just know one day we will all look back in shock about how our country used to make us second class citizens---- we can use the concept of hope.... you know what... this comment is to long.... i just need to blog about it... cause i have some ideas and feelings on this.... but i get where you are coming from.
yesterday i got an email
yesterday i got an email from my friend who was hosting our election night gathering - along with the start time she shared the information that over night someone had come into her yard, stolen her obama sign, scattered her bagged leaves all over the yard & left a piece of notebook paper taped to her front door reading 'ni**er lover'
As Ohio was called for Obama, she went out on the porch and announced to who ever might be listening -'you couldn't stop it - you can't stop it - its happening'.
a much less unpleasant presidential election night than last time around. the gathering was made up of folks from the local peace coalition - and one particularly intoxicated friend leaned over and asked me what we should do next (insisting i was the leader, whether i liked it or not - something i don't agree with). about the same time i got a text message saying something about a nov 5 eviction action for george bush followed by one saying we should hop on a bus - i'm not even sure who those came from. We didn't do an overnite trip to d.c.. Perhaps the strategy meetings as to what to do next can wait a day or so, but there is still much work to be done.
folk the wars!
Good gawd Sue, that wasn't
Good gawd Sue, that wasn't "P" was it? They wrote "ni**er lover" on a note and left it in her yard?
yep it was our friend "P" -
yep it was our friend "P" - and they taped the note to her front door. No one came to mess with the yard or people last night at least.
folk the wars!
That's as bad as the "say NO
That's as bad as the "say NO to the gay agenda" sign somebody put in ours in 2004. What year is this anyway?
Even Peggy Noonan
is waxing poetic about Obama's victory and campaign (on Oprah).
That's quite a gift indeed...
Isn't there some irony here?
I'm amazed and delighted to see that the US has a new face to the American people and to the world. It was a powerful moment in my living room when it was announced and everyone started shouting and whooping, including the bird.
Later, at about 1 in the morning (PST), I saw prop 8 winning, then the network cutting back to those statements, like the ones you've made about what has happened in electing an African American president. I've seen this turn around in my lifetime. (I saw Johnson sign the Civil Rights act of 1964 on TV.) A couple of years ago, I went to the civil rights museum in Memphis. It's attached to the motel where MLK Jr. was shot. It's a must see if you are ever near Memphis. I thought of that and wondered if there ever will be a museum, say at the offices where Harvey Milk was shot or where the Stonewall bar is. Will there be a place where others can experience how it feels to be second class citizens?
The Yes We Can attitude about equal rights has taken a vacation today. My emotions are so mixed, and in fact, I'm grieving seeing a huge landmark in the gay/lesbian civil liberties effort get turned on its ear. There will be more to do with this, undoubtedly it will go to the supreme court, yet I believe whatever decision will be more like Roe vs Wade than like Brown vs The Board of Education, in that the energy behind denying same sex marriage, will continue to be fought by self righteous bigots on religious grounds.
Lezbeth
I'm not in favor
of taking this back to the courts now, because as you point out it will somehow always feel illegitimate to many in this country, which won't feel good to us. No, patience is required, and a grass-roots movement that builds toward a new, winnable proposition supported by a majority. It will happen.
You hit this nail on the head!!!
I woke up this morning saying almost EXACTLY the same thing. If that man, with that name can stir so much more than just "his people" and actually become president, then I can lose 20 damn pounds.
Who needs a news year's resolution, change has already come.
Let's start a list
New Administration Resolutions:
1) Go to bed earlier
2) Get up earlier
3) Respond with humor rather than venom when somebody says something that pisses me off on OC :)
......
I think I've got the first two
but the third one I'm gonna have to work on. lol But, yes, let's all make a list.
More tears
Ok, you've managed to make me shed more tears than I did last night!
We've all heard how 'the personal is the political.' I am energized and overwhelmed by the notion that the political can also be the personal.
I can hardly forget this symbol
perhaps the begining of Black people fight's achievement.
What do you think Jesse ?
You (Obama, Jesse Jackson, Gloria, and the grandmother of Obama in Kenya) made me cry.
Our hands on the arc of history
It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
Barack Obama, November 4, 2008
Thank You
Beautifully stated.
amen sister!
i need to start speaking and thinking that way as well. Taking action against the weight gain, debt, and over all bad attitude that can take over if i'm not paying attention. I voted for change, prosperity, and a brighter tomorrow for our country...why not have it for myself?
thanks for that kick in the ass!
"now let the weak say 'i am strong', let the poor say 'i am rich'..."
Glo you said it so well
and Queers need to believe (and get our asses in gear) that we will also gain EQUAL RIGHTS within our lifetime!
Yes We Can.....
You know it's odd. You saying that. I've always thought of it as a fight and I've never really believed we could win. I was too caught up in the fight and the struggle because we a group know it so well that for many it's apart of them.
Wow. Blowing my mind. In such a great way.
Belief is a powerful energy as we have seen.
Thank you....
YES WE CAN!!
YES WE CAN!!