Back to The Future

“Well we did it!!! I have to tell you this was beautiful. Now we as black people can really look into our children’s eyes and tell them that yes you can aspire to be anything you want to be in this country, yes you can!!! It was beautiful in more ways than one. The first person to call me when they announced that Obama had won was my daughter. My 19 yr old college sophomore. The first thing she said was "We did it Dad and my vote counted!!" I told her "Yes your vote counted". See what we can achieve if we all work together for the common good? It was also symbolic because the first people I called were my grandparents; to tell them how happy I was that they got to see this moment in their lifetime. See they are in their 80's and have lived through Jim Crow in the south. So they know first hand how much of a triumph this was. We have to savor the moment, but remember that there is still much to be done. We can't rest on this, but let's build on it.”

I wrote that last year after the historic election of Barack Obama, the first African American President of the United States. I was elated and hopeful because “We were who we had been waiting on”. This was a campaign born of hope and promise. I have to admit when I first heard his name as a candidate I was skeptical. I was a Hillary backer, I figured “this guy doesn’t stand a chance and I’m not going to vote for him just because he’s black” Then something happened, I heard the Iowa caucus victory speech He said” we are choosing hope over fear, unity over division and sending a clear message to the whole world that change has come to America.” I was done after that caught up in the message and the mission. There were some roadblocks along the way. Rev Wright, ACORN, Bill Ayers the “He’s a Muslim “rumors. None of that could derail or stop one of the most flawless campaigns ever run. I have to admit I was swept up in the moment also, but was still a realist. I didn‘t expect him to fulfill every campaign promise, It would be a process, but I did think that we would eventually end the war in Iraq, that there would be more transparency in government, that we would have universal healthcare. I’m still hopeful that President Obama will set his agenda and get these things done.

The only complaint I have with our current president, I don’t want people to take this the wrong way, is that I wish he had some George Bush in him. I don’t mean “your doing a heckuva job Brownie”, while New Orleans is underwater and FEMA was days late with a response George Bush. Nor do I mean let’s start an illegal war with Iraq over faulty intelligence, that they knew was faulty, but wanted to get a dictator that threatened my father and could not use that as an excuse to go to war George Bush either. I mean the one thing I admired about Bush was that right or wrong if he believed in something he stuck to his guns and didn’t let republicans or Democrats sway him. He did what he felt was right party be damned. I want to see President Obama be more assertive and take on his own party if he feels its right. Now that is not a dig at our President according to Politifact.com of the over 500 promises that were made on the campaign trail 52 have been kept and another 134 are in the works. He has compromised on a few and almost 300 are not yet rated. I understand Rome was not built in a day and it will take time. As I said on the historic night a year ago we must not rest, but build on this. We are who we have been waiting on. It is up to us to hold our elected officials responsible and to make sure they live up to our expectations. I know that is a lot to ask with a horrible economy, unemployment at the lowest it has been since 1983.These are the cards that President Obama was dealt, lets make sure he doesn’t fold until the job is done.