Obama Presidency Transforms African-Americans

I lost my mind this week.  Nose-deep in The Inferno, balancing a budget, laying out the commentary section til ungodly hours of the morning and struggling through writer’s block among myriad little problems like bad food and nasty weather wearing me to the bone.

Election Day madness relieved no stress.

But, glued to CNN’s electoral map explained by a holographic Wolf Blitzer, I shivered with joy and pride at the prospect of Barack Obama winning the election.

I took a breath and said: This is beautiful.

I’m not talking about issues.  I’m not talking politics (though those were my primary motivations in voting for Obama; let’s not get that confused). 

As an African-American, this is a moment of sincere awe and inspiration. 

Black men and women of generations past say they never thought they would see the day, a glorious hope made tangible—well, I never thought I would see this day.

I’m an optimist, but I’m fairly realistic about this country’s history. 

During primary season, I asked my mom what she thought about Obama running and possibly winning.  She doubted he would beat Hillary Clinton, let alone be elected president—if nothing terrible happens to him first, there’s no way we would elect a black man.

Look now.

He’s not a dream anymore.  I woke up Wednesday morning and he is somewhere in this nation preparing for the day he’ll inherit the White House.

I called my mother shortly after the major networks declared Obama the winner.  She was speechless.
I called my best friend from high school—a biracial girl—and she too was speechless.  We couldn’t articulate the fireworks going off in our bodies.

I stood in The Grill with friends and strangers, black and white, screaming, dancing, jumping and choking back tears.

This is an epic occasion for African-Americans and blacks throughout the world to change age-old beliefs about blacks and what we can achieve. 

The world views us from a lens of pop culture and politics, and the world will see a new image of black America.

The world will witness a new nation, a nation where the most unlikely citizen, man or woman, minority or majority, can rise to the occasion and hear their voice ring from the highest office.

There have been black politicians in the past, but never has one represented the most powerful country in the world.

This is beautiful. 

This is beautiful and this is real.

Derrick Austin may be reached at daustin@ut.edu.

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