Change Has Come

Last week my son called me at work. It was a 1pm call - either he needed something, or something was seriously wrong. I picked up the phone on the second ring.

"Hey, baby. You okay?" I held my breath, waiting for the reassurance he has given me time and time again.
"Hey Mom. I'm good," he chuckled, his new man voice surprising me, yet again.
I sighed in relief and tucked the receiver against my neck. "Good. Wassup?"
"I just wanted to tell you, " he paused, and I could hear people all around him. "I voted today."

And my heart stopped. And my eyes watered. And my baby boy made me proud.

He has listened to countless lessons about the path to vote, the deaths and pain and lynchings and catastrophes, the dehumanizing conditions to deny the vote. I dragged him to the polls with me as soon as he was able to comprehend. But you never know if it sticks, if the lessons you spent hours sharing actually matter. Now he is at Ohio U, living the football player's dream. It was possible that home and our values could fade into the back drop.

But they didn't. He voted. And his first phone call was to me. And you know what else he said?

"Ma, just think about it. The first time I ever get to vote for a president and its for a black man."

Imagine that. Can you believe that? What world do we live in where something so impossible has now become the spine of my belief, the one resounding hope that America is still the country that I love, that MY family has defended and built over the past 400 years? A black man is running for president.

But, here is the beauty. He ain't just a black man. Would I feel this way if Jesse had stopped his grumbling and pouting and joined the fray? What about Michael Eric Dyson, or someone equally credible. Would my heart stop every time they spoke, would I pray as diligently for their family. Would they have so completely captured me?

That is the beauty of Barack Hussein Obama. He possesses a magnetic poise, a strong internal calm, that makes him more than an intelligent black man running for president. It makes him a leader of leaders. It makes his calling undeniable, his uniqueness magnified. Obama inspires me to be better. Do you know how rare that is, to hear a stranger speak and want to meet his expectations, rise to his level of dignity and poise? That is what he does for me.

Michael Baisden made a dynamic point a few days back, after watching the DL Hughley first show catastrophe on CNN. Michael decided he wasn't going to blow the brother up or attempt to harm his credibility or his platform. Michael said that watching Obama taught him how to administer his opinion without trying to destroy the man's opportunity, to challenge D.L. to be better without ruining the wonderful having a CNN platform. And I understood him.

Obama makes me want to be better. He makes me want to focus on changing the here and now, on working toward a real future. He challenges the masses to be intelligent, to be respected, to expect to be treated equal, to expect to be heard.

I understand why Michelle seemed so hesitant in the beginning. Would you want to risk that wonderful gem of a man to the world? Would you want to open your arms and allow the vileness that we are now watching spew forth from the Republican party taint the beautiful creature that is your husband and your children's father. Undoubtedly, she knew what we are now learning, that Barack is special, and she knows how much is at stake, is at risk.

Please, people, understand that they didn't have to do this. They didn't have to risk this. They didn't have to look at the fate of the Shabazz family and the King legacy and take the chance of walking in those footsteps. They could have silently affected change, living the privileged dream. But they stepped forward and put a face to change, a face to belief.

DO you understand that there will be no defeat tomorrow? I want him to win, I desperately hope he wins, but if not, do you know how many dreams were born, how many seeds were planted, how many minds were changed because Michelle and Barack trusted in God and stepped forward by faith? Can you fathom the interracial child of the next generation who no longer feels out of pocket, the brown black girl who sees Michelle's unequivocal beauty being appraised by an adoring husband, the white little boy who realizes that African Americans are more than a hip hop video. Barack and Michelle have put a face on an idea that no one could really grasp before. What a remarkable thing.

AND, although McCain's camp has been acting fool, please let me repeat a point Michael Basiden made today. White America stepped forward and supported a black man for president. Think what you want, but with only 13% of the population, black folks did not get Obama this far. No matter how you try to fool yourself, it wasn't all us. Not even close.

Tell the truth - did you ever think he would get this far? Were you like me, who thought he was cute, ambitious, and just throwing a lil kink in Hillary's game, because the race was hers to lose? Then, Iowa happened. He actually won. And I thought - a state of white folks voted for him? Who is this brother? I know I wasn't the only one. Tell the truth.

Then, regardless of liking Obama or not, Hillary started acting a fool. Actually, her tactics were worse than the crap the "Mavericks" are pulling now. In fact, the McCain party is running her rhetoric as I type this, on "robocalls" to the public, because her hateful speech was so poisonous. I was so disheartened, in fact I was downright hurt, I believed in the Clinton's in an unprecedented way. But, Obama never blinked an eye, never lost his composure, never tripped over himself. And, against her hateful fire, he began to gleam - the leader in him strongly emerging.

But please just think about this point - whether he wins or loses, America has changed. White America, in the millions, looked past color and saw him as a leader. And voted for him. Think about that. Black folks, who were the least likely to support him in light of their everlasting love of Bill, dropped the heavy banner of self doubt and stepped forward into the light. Barack and Michelle have affected change, more than most of use can say in a life time. And that change has finally come...