black girl blogging.

The American Dream

Posted by: elledub08 on: January 23, 2009

inauguration_headline

On this past Tuesday, I was able to witness the swearing in of our 44th President, Barack Hussein Obama. It was awe-inspiring, it was emotional, and it was a blessing to be a part of history.

I don’t know what more I can say that hasn’t already been said. When I saw Michelle Obama walk through those doors in that beautiful gold suit, that’s when the tears started to fall. We have a Black First Lady. It had finally really sunk in.

Hearing the crowd shout Obama’s name made me realize that for the first time, I was actually seeing a group this large united for one purpose–to witness the swearing in of the first Black President.

Was it cold? YES. Was it crowded? Hell yes.

But I wouldn’t change any of it for the world. Not one bit.

In the days before the inauguration, I got an email from my mother, who was raised in DC and witnessed the 1968 riots as a child. “I am so proud and happy that you are  in DC at this moment that I could just cry,” she said.

It means so much to me to hear the older genderations so filled with hope and with the excitement of change. They are living to see a dream fulfilled. I think back to my Election Night experience, and talking to my Nana while she told me through her tears that she now could tell her grandchildren that they could be whoever they want to be.

Finally, I leave you with some words from Rosetta Thurman’s recent Inauguration post:

Deep inside of each of us, there is a glimmer of wanting light that wants to do something real and true. On a clear day like yesterday at the Capitol, you could see it on the faces of a million people shivering in the winter air, wearing nothing but hope on their faces.

We have been forgiven for so many years of waiting until we get our ducks in a row before we do what we want to do in our lives. We have been given permission to fly as far as we want to go. We have all been inspired to turn back the dial and become better Americans in the process.

Listen for what it is that you are called to do. And when you hear it, don’t wait. Do it now.

If I didn’t feel that way before, I certainly feel that way now. There are so many things that I’ve been wanting to do, and now more than ever I feel the strength and the passion to pursue my dreams like never before. And only time will tell, but perhaps President Obama will usher in an era of philanthropy, of kindness, of collaboration, and–yes–of love.

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10 Responses to "The American Dream"

1 | d.muffin
January 23, 2009 at 12:03 pm

Such a wonderful post! I watched the whole thing via my computer but was still in awe of the whole event.

What a great description and wish for hope, particularly through the generations! Thank you for sharing this!

2 | Inkognegro
January 23, 2009 at 4:11 pm

yeah…but the WASHINGTON MOONIE TIMES? SERIOUSLY?

kidding.

I wish i could have gone AND stayed home….lol.

3 | bikerbernie
January 24, 2009 at 7:32 am

Let us not change history while the man is still in office. He is not black he is mulatto. He is half white. Why does everyone forget this? Why does he forget this. He has a lot of explaining to do to his mother and his grandparents.

Education of the Ignorant Masses

STOP ALREADY! Barack Obama is Not Black and Not First

b

elledub08
January 24, 2009 at 12:23 pm

@bikerbernie: you are, of course, entitled to your opinion. however, his being half white does not negate the fact that he is black.

sorry to burst your bubble.

4 | bikerbernie
January 27, 2009 at 7:29 am

Him being half black does not negate the fact that he is white, sorry to burst you bubble. See I can play this juvenile game too but there would be no end to it so I will choose to do the adult thing and use truths to prove my point like below.

You are showing you ignorance because there is a term for what he is and that is mulatto, and that is fact, deal with it.

So now to try to understand you. You have stated that 50/50 is black. Is 25b/75w also black? what about 12.5b/87.5w also black? At what point does a human of mixed heritage become not black? If you have not thought about this before today you are already lost. If you delete my post I know that I have won and you have lost because you have no reasonable explanation and the facts to back you up.

You are wallowing in a delusional reality so that you as a black person can say that your race has won something IE a black man is in office. The reality is that this is not exactly true and YOU cannot handle it. I can. This is not unlike my blog on the Georgia flag HERE

You are showing your racism by accepting a very hollow victory.

The worst of all this is the fact that I did not vote for the man and I will be the first to defend him when people like you a “supporter” who no doubt voted for him turn your back on him when you realize that he is not a messiah and he is just a man that cannot give you all that you expect from him. That my dear is reality in your face.

I do not know how old you are but it seems that you are young and if you are not then you are not very worldly because I know that you have more expectations of him than I do and this is when I will come to his defense.

By the way you know what they say about opinions . . .

My point is that opinions are useless. My facts are undeniable.

How fragile you must feel.

b

5 | elledub
January 27, 2009 at 11:17 am

BikerBernie,

You are more than welcome to have your own opinion just as I am.

It is a shame that you feel the need to call me or anyone else “delusional” because they don’t agree with you.

I will not delete your post because I support a variety of viewpoints on here regardless of how I feel or think.

You also forget that racial/cultural identity is self-defined.

He has mentioned that yes he is half black and half white.

He has also said that he identifies with the Black community.

So does his being half white make his being black any less true? No.

And I will admit the reverse of that is a true point as well.

However, if he identifies with the Black community, who are any of us to try and negate that fact by saying “no he’s half white you delusional freaks!”

Come on.

Anyways, you can believe whatever you want to believe.

And I have every right to express my beliefs whether you agree or not.

By the way, let’s say Obama identified as white.

Would you be screaming about how he’s half Black?

6 | nerdette27
January 27, 2009 at 4:36 pm

elledub, thanks for another great post, lady!

Not sure what BikerBernie is up to, aside from trying to manufacture controversy.

I think the greatest thing about President Obama is not that he’s post-racial (that’s a false construct) but he embodies a racial inevitability — that some day soon (if not already) — we’re all going to be varying shades of beige. That culture is something you can opt in to, it’s not determined by your skin.

I’m multiracial, too, and the benefit is that people can look at you and see what they want – you’re a natural ambassador. I see President Obama as a hybrid (mutt is a charged word, and we lose the beauty of his experience when we use that.) We benefit from the wealth of his multicultural experience.

Does the Black community claim him? You bet. And so does the White community and the Asian community and the Hispanic/Latino community, and the Native American Indian community… we can all claim him, and that doesn’t diminish our identification with him.

Keep it up, elledub!

7 | bikerbernie
January 27, 2009 at 9:43 pm

7 | nerdette27

I am *not up* to anything other than understanding. I wonder if elledub will state to you what she has stated to me that being “It is a shame that you feel the need to call me or anyone else “delusional” because they don’t agree with you.” Just substitute delusional with up to. It is a shame that you feel the need to accuse me or anyone else of being *up to* something because they don’t agree with you. This would be a level playing field. Additionally the way people make discoveries and acquire understanding is through questions and stating what they believe what was said. This does cause controversy but it also give the person being questioned the opportunity to clarify. But if accusations fly buy stating that someone is *up to* something and at the same time you do not answer the questions aske of you this is where the real controversy comes into play. If my question had been answered rather than questioning my motive half if not better of this post would not have existed. So the real question is why would someone peruse this line of posting instead of answering the question of someone who voluntarily said they want to understand which presupposes that they are looking for a reply so that the misunderstanding can be eliminated?

Let me ask the both of you, what is your understanding of delusional?

Delusional is not necessarily a bad thing it depends on the degree to which you are delusional. We all see ourselves in ways that others do not, we all see others in ways that they do not see themselves or in ways that others see them.

As for the rest of your post I can agree with it except for the shades of beige because that it telling about you. you have eliminated the other colors of the rainbow that is the human race like yellow and red. Also we cannot benefit from the wealth of his multicultural experience if he denies one half of it, he is cheating everyone including himself. This attitude can also be dangerous for those that will take this to mean white bad, black good. I am not saying that you tow will do this but you know there are people out there that will and that is a shame.

The answer you seek about me is not best addressed with someone else but with me and you should have asked me what I am up to because elledub cannot answer that question for you, only I can.

He will only find others claiming him IF and ONLY if he does not deny his other half.

b

8 | bikerbernie
January 27, 2009 at 10:26 pm

I have to do this point by point.

6 | elledub
January 27th, 2009 at 11:17 am

BikerBernie,

You are more than welcome to have your own opinion just as I am.

The things I stated are FACT not opinions

It is a shame that you feel the need to call me or anyone else “delusional” because they don’t agree with you.

This is explained in my last post

I will not delete your post because I support a variety of viewpoints on here regardless of how I feel or think.

That is very big of you, I mean that, it shows great character, and I feel the same on my blogs. I am sorry that I jumped the gun, it is just that I am gun shy because of the times that this has happened to me before and it was WRONG of me to apply this to you without any prior experience with you. I am sorry.

You also forget that racial/cultural identity is self-defined.

True, but if one ignores thing that one is everyone loses including yourself.

He has mentioned that yes he is half black and half white.

No argument there, but to me it seemed that you as many others I have encountered only see him as black. I am glad that I misunderstood you.

He has also said that he identifies with the Black community.

No argument here either, but to me it seem that he accentuates this more than white and to me that is disrespectful to his mom and grandparents. That is an opinion and admittedly open to debate.

So does his being half white make his being black any less true? No.

Agreed

And I will admit the reverse of that is a true point as well.

Agreed, I just thought that you were implying that he was only black, sorry for the misunderstanding.

However, if he identifies with the Black community, who are any of us to try and negate that fact by saying “no he’s half white you delusional freaks!”

Now you are putting words into my mouth that I did not say, so in this instance I cannot agree with nerdette27 that this was another great post. What you did is not fair and you know it. It only inspired people to let their emotions over ride their intellect and that causes controversy and adds little to nothing to solving misunderstandings.
Come on.

Anyways, you can believe whatever you want to believe.

No this is incorrect, I do not want to be a person who cares to wallow in “Truthiness” because beliefs are not always the truth and this is what I seek. I do not like to in the position of “ignorance is bliss.” Now I also understand that you do not either.

And I have every right to express my beliefs whether you agree or not.

Again you are putting words into my mouth. I never said you could not, but if you or I truly desire understanding through facts, your opinions and emotions must be put aside in favor of the truth. If anything I said here helps you with that then that is good for you. The same is true for me learning from you. All to often I have seen black and white interact with each other while walking on egg shells. This aggravates me to no end. We will take far to long understanding each other unless we can eliminate the fear of insulting each other in favor of bluntly open and honest conversions. We can expedite our solving things and gaining understanding this way. Do you not agree? I am sure that you do.

By the way, let’s say Obama identified as white.

OK

Would you be screaming about how he’s half Black?

ABSOLUTLY! This question of yours like me stating earlier in this post come from the fact that we have mad assumptions about each other based on a one time encounter and references of our past experiences with others that do not apply to us. I wish that I could get my friends to tell you this but I am that principled where I would be screaming that he is half black. Also you got me right I am screaming about him being half white, I tend to be very passionate about my beliefs based on fact. HELP ME I AM TALKING (in this case typing) AND I CANNOT SHUT UP! LOL LOL LOL.

This has been a pleasure, a learning experience, and I appreciate the latitude that you have given me. Thanks

b

9 | Rosetta Thurman » Next Generation Nonprofit Bloggers of Color React to Inauguration of Barack Obama
October 9, 2009 at 2:37 pm

[...] Loryn Wilson: The American Dream [...]

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