November 5, 2008
I must admit to the world a few things.
I met Barack Obama 4 years ago, on August 31, 2004 in Chicago when he was running for Senate. I walked over, shook his hand and told him “Mr. Future Senator, when you are president I want to be your Attorney General” he smiled and gave me a small chuckle and asked me if I was a lawyer, I said no, he said are you in law school, I said no, but did tell him I was going to go to laws chool. And here we are, Barack Obama will be our president as of January 20th, 2009 and I will graduate from law school this May. Funny how the world works isn’t it? I’m waiting for that phone call Mr. President.
I must also tell you that as of 7:30 last night I still did not believe he would win. I had a long breakfast and lovely conversation with a good friend of mine and told how firmly I believed he would not win. I spoke to my dad at 7 pm and told him (who had been the greatest pessimist this election cycle) not to get his hopes up. I did not believe after the last 8 years and past two stolen elections that this was possible and that faithlessness held on tight to me until I heard John McCain’s speech. To tell you the truth after he conceded I pretty much stopped watching. I didn’t even see Barack’s speech (I’m going to youtube it I promise). And even after that it was still hard to believe it was true. There will be a democrat in the white house this January…which is strange and hard to swallow after the past 8 years. And more then that….he’s an African-American. A son of an immigrant and a single parent household. He was a COMMUNITY ORGANIZER. An intellectual. A STUDENT OF OUR WONDERFUL CONSTITUTION.
What hit me hardest is that I have children, two little Chicano boys, and the first president elected in their lifetime….is a man of color, like them. A man who’s parents were divorced….like them. A man who they will see themselves reflected in every State of the Union, in every history book, in those pinche book covers they give you in middle school that have all the Presidents pictures on them. And I began to think that when term two comes in 4 years my boys will be 7 and 5 and they will remember, they will remember going to the polls with me next time. Voting for Barack again and their lives will be forever changed because of this. And then when term two comes that will mean that the little baby growing in my belly…well, the first president elected in that babies lifetime will be an African American man too. It’s beautiful and brings me to tears and gives me hope.
Thank you Barack and Michelle, Howard Dean, every volunteer, and every last single voter who cast their vote and chose to be heard.
