I Finally Believe!

I went to a Obama Victory Party last night (yes, before the results came in).  My friend had gone all out: live music, catered food, and a 50-inch HDTV.  By 10:00, I started getting anxious about “what if,” and went home.  I just got out of the train station when Harlem exploded: people yelling out of windows, car horns blaring, my neighbors screaming with heartwarming delight.  The tears started flowing.  Can’t tell you how relieved I was – still am.  This morning, a brother I’ve never seen before, came to a dead halt and, with a smile, asked how I felt today. I told him, “Fabulous.”

My son can now tell his daughter, my granddaughter, with absolute truth and certainty, “You can be President of the United States.”

May you live in interesting times

The title is an old Chinese proverb that resonates in my life. I’m born post-slavery in the greatest of nations, participated in the liberating sixties movements, immersed from its formative years into the information age, and now witnessing the first man of color securing the presidential nomination on a major party ticket.

If sometimes I seem to be too cynical about life in America and its dominant society, if sometimes I fail to see the fundamental fairness and integrity in its hesitantly maturing humanity, let me remember and savor this significant moment in history.

And it’s about damn time!