I don’t know quite what to do with myself today. It is the day after the presidential election and Barack Obama has won. I am home alone this morning stuck to msnbc.com watching live video of post-election coverage and well-up with tears each time a video clip comes on from Obama’s victory speech last night. Here it is again, “The road may be long, the climb steep….I promise you, we as a people will get there.” I believe him.
I have never believed in someone like this. Okay, my husband I believe, but throughout my life, I’ve never really given my trust to anyone. Yet, in this moment, I believe in Barack Obama, and he has made me, for the first time in my life, believe in the United States of America.
As a black woman living in a small city in Delaware, I feel my color in the hallways of my daughter’s school, when I’m pumping gas at Wawa, or shopping for groceries at Trader Joe’s. I feel like someone who doesn’t quite belong, but is allowed to exist, mostly unharmed, with the distinct knowledge that this is not my place, that the United States is not something I belong to, but just something I benefit from. Well, for the first time in my 31 ½ years, I feel like and believe that I too, am an American.
I was one of those folks watching the campaign hoping that Obama would win, but with total disbelief in the progressiveness and readiness of the American people to rock the boat. I prepared myself to continue my participation in American life on the margins, amongst people whose voices, vision, and desires are misunderstood when heard and often silenced by the dominating political activity that has shaped our country until this moment.
There have been breaks in the status quo, of course. Lincoln with the Emancipation Proclamation, FDR and the New Deal, JFK and his charismatic ability to make Americans believe in its promise, and Lyndon Johnson for passing the so important Civil Rights and Voting Acts bills. But it seems that America has turned back to business as usual each time. Clearly, I was not alive to have experienced any of these presidential anomalies, but my life as a double negative minority has been shaped by the hope and possibility that these presidencies bestowed on America.
Now, on this day, November 5th, 2008, I believe that I have a country to live for, to fight for, and to love. I recently took a friend from India to Philadelphia to tour Independence Park and the halls in which the birth of the United States took place with the writing, refining, and acceptance of both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. Yet still, standing in the halls, waiting for the tour to begin, I still did not believe that I was a part of the “we the people”. I knew that it was not intended for me, descendent of slaves.
What I know now is the transformative power of these documents. What I know now is the feeling that people around the world have felt when they used the founding articles of the American democracy to break their own shackles of oppression. What I know now is that through the legacy of ancestors, abolitionists, civil rights activists, and everyday Americans who gave up or gave in a little to make way for me and all the opportunities that await these living generations, I am empowered and have won the right to be “we the people” as much as any landowning white American male.
After the 2000 presidential campaign which was the first in which I had ever cast a ballot, I felt totally powerless and disenfranchised. My vote did not seem to count. Well, I took another stab at it and with my husband and 11 year old daughter, voted for Barack Obama yesterday and my voice was heard, along with the same cry and yearning of millions of Americans of all races, ethnicities, classes, religions, genders, and sexual orientations.
The road ahead is not an easy one. The change we expect will not come fast, and may even take longer than we think. But now, we have the tools, we have not just the political, but I believe the spiritual will to be the country we were founded to be. This spiritual component rings true because the transformation we seek in policy and programs has first to be motivated by the transformation in the hearts of Americans. The dross of vain imaginings and the dust of selfishness are being swept away. Fundamentally, I see this as a reawakening of the spiritual nature of America, founded on the need to be able to worship God in the many ways we see fit.
There is an acknowledgement, a stirring in the souls of America that has been dormant for some time, but wants to strive for the justice and equality that means the oneness of humanity and that we are all loved by God. Not just Americans, but our brothers and sisters north, south, east and west of us across the world. We are one and yes we can live to make the oneness of humanity a reality.
As a Baha’i, the basic tenets of my faith are the oneness of humanity and the oneness of God. While I live personally by this belief, I have struggled to believe in the vision of America as a bringer of peace and unity. This is not the victory, this is not the end, but only the beginning, the chance to regain solid footing in creating a more perfect union. Yet, now I can throw off that disbelief and know that I will live with this hope sprung up and pouring out all of my days.
Prayer for America
O Thou kind Lord! This gathering is turning to Thee. These hearts are radiant with Thy love. These minds and spirits are exhilarated by the message of Thy glad-tidings. O God! Let this American democracy become glorious in spiritual degrees even as it has aspired to material degrees, and render this just government victorious. Confirm this revered nation to upraise the standard of the oneness of humanity, to promulgate the Most Great Peace, to become thereby most glorious and praiseworthy among all the nations of the world. O God! This American nation is worthy of Thy favors and is deserving of Thy mercy. Make it precious and near to Thee through Thy bounty and bestowal.
- Abdu’l-Baha
Thursday, November 6, 2008
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