November 4th, 2008: A Birth of Hope
02:01 Jul 09 2011
Times Read: 639
I wrote this the night Obama was elected President. Not quite as thrilled now as I was then, but the moment was definitely an inspiration to me...
It ended with a bang. A proverbial “shot heard ‘round the world”. The United States of America had just elected its first black president and the ripples of this action are being felt in corridors everywhere. A subtle feeling of guarded optimism is spreading with the swiftness of a wildfire. Minorities in every corner of the globe, from Chicago to London to Sydney to New Delhi are beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, they are seeing the dawn of a different and exciting era. One in which you are not considered inferior simply because you are different, or to borrow from another great African-American leader: “When a man can be judged, not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character”. The ramifications of this act will reverberate throughout history. Undoubtedly, there will be some that simply cannot grasp why an entire race would cry out, in a cacophony of joyous relief, as if finally receiving a great vindication that has been long coming. Why that same feeling would have the power to cross racial barriers and to offer a glimpse of hope that finally some of the memories of the atrocities of the past can finally be buried and a true healing can begin. Last night, strong men cried, overcome with emotion when the realization of the moment began to sink in. That in this country, which once saw a time when black people were denied, threatened and in some cases even killed for trying to take advantage of a simple, yet apparently threatening “right to vote”, a man of color is now to take a seat in the highest office in the land and become the new leader of the free world. A man, who has had such a meteoric rise to the pinnacle of power and has displayed an unique and unbelievable ability to bring together, unite and inspire people from every walk of life and every racial, economic and philosophical divide will now take on the monumental and daunting tasks that are facing this great nation.
Can you feel it? It is a truly tremendous thing. That shared feeling of hope and optimism, the likes of which I and many others like myself did not believe would be experienced in our lifetime. Can you hear it? The faint echo of cries at years and years of injustices are fading slowly, slowly away. Say it with me then my friends. Say it with me, in the mantra that has been repeatedly shouted out by all of those who have felt disenfranchised by this country that we love so dearly and by all those who came together to work so long and so hard to bring about this moment of change. Scream it with me at the top of your lungs and from the highest rooftops of your town. YES, WE CAN!
Work in progress.....07:37 Jul 07 2011
Times Read: 645
Against the window
I hear it beating, scratching, clawing its way
Fervently staring into the abyss of my soul
The hourglass tilts
In muck and mire I wade
Traveling miles, not moving an inch
Hello?
Why can't you hear it
Screaming
The echos deafen me
yet I strain with all my might to hear
Longing to grasp even a word
fearful of its content
In the darkness, I writhe.
Clutching, grabbing, clawing fingers at my heart
My feeble strength
not up to the daunting task
My will found wanting.
I look for the light to guide
My out-stretched arms finding no purchase
My feet stumbling 'neath me
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