[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r913uFawMyI[/youtube]

 

 

It’s really, really late in the evening and as one friend called it today, it feels like Christmas Eve. I’m sure Obama is still awake; I’m told thru mutual friends that he too can be a “night-owl.” I’m finally getting an opportunity to soak in the magnitude of what will take place tomorrow. A guy that’s just like me will take the oval office. What does “just like me” really mean and why do I feel really connected to my new President? In true confession, I was not wearing an Obama tatoo like so many others when he decided to throw his name in the hat to run for office. I continue to vote values and pledged to do that in this campaign. But it was this speech on March 18, 2008 that really sealed things for me. It was Obama’s “American Story” that made me realize how closely connected we were. Sure I realized that because of his Harvard past and Chicago ties that there are several mutual friends we had in common (i.e. Steve Mckeever, Hill Harper, Kenny Johnson, Michael Strautmanis, and several others) and the opportunity to be 1-2 degrees separated to the future President of the United States was real. But it was these words that sunk in my heart that night and made me realize Obama was “my guy.”

I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible

My background is as equally mixed up and as full of non-traditional family structures as is Obama. My grandfather came to this country after escaping Nazi Germany and moving to Italy where he would fall in love with a beautiful Italian woman as he worked through college as a shoe salesman. They would have a daughter who is my mother and move to this country when she was 5. My father was born in St. Thomas and moved to this country when he was young and ended up on the west coast. Needless to say I too have “uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents.” I grew up in a socially and politically charged 70’s Bay Area household and call myself your typical “Bay Area” mixed up kid; full of experiences on all levels, ethnically, socially and economically.

But this is not about me. And actually this is not about Obama. Today it is about a country that has had its share of problems and over the last 8; and some would argue 10-12 years. You see good people it’s time once again to be proud of being an American. I hope you had a chance to watch the video above. During that historic day, in Denver at the DNC, was the first time in my adult life that I actually was proud to be an American and wanted the world to know. I had never been in an environment where seated all around me (Latino, African-American, Gay, Short, Southern, etc) people of color so extremely proud to be citizens of this nation. I have never seen so many people scrambling to grab their USA flags and sing, that “ol USA Spiritual anthem” by Bruce Springsteen “Born In The USA” at the top of their lungs.

I think about all of my family members and my wife’s family members; many of whom are from Birmingham, AL and know all too well the “ugly” that this country has endured. My grandfather came to this country from Europe with little money, a family awaiting a ticket in Italy, and the courage that this would be the country where he would start a family. He was so in love with this country that he served for the US Army in WWII and after the war ended connected with a Rabbi in Denver to create a rescue plan my Great-Grandfather who was in a concentration camp in Germany. He did this so that his father could not only get out of a horrific experience but also so that he could come to America to join his new family. Ironic eh’ that I was in Denver of all places for my first visit ever while at the DNC.

I am so full of excitement for my children who are brilliant and talented and fully experienced this election, soaking it all in full of Hope. How cool is it that my son has a living example of an African-American man, mixed with so many tasty cultures, who will lead this country. They watched an election and presidency that was secured thru very savvy, grassroots marketing and use of technology. So yes now they too feel like they could become President of The United States. 

Have we as a country “arrived” in terms of understanding the cultural diversity “pot of gumbo” that many of us are walking around with? No. I still get strange looks when I tell people about my heritage or when they see me with my white mother. And I still get put in constant situations where racism  in several forms is alive and well. However, Obama’s victory does make the charge and the mission for equality and awareness by those less exposed that much easier. 

You know being a smart, mixed kid is finally in vogue. Thank God!