The New York Times has this special edition of photos of Obama’s People. It’s interesting to see the variety and age of some of these people. I like Eugene Kang, 24, special assistant to the president…he looks like he could be one of my students!
Today is a GREAT day!! January 20, 2009
Got myself up early and went over to the Civic Center to share this momentous day with thousands of others. Click here to see my photos on Flickr.
Congratulations President Barack Obama! We are all proud!
The Check has finally been Cashed January 19, 2009
It goes without saying that today, more than EVER, this amazing speech of Martin Luther King Jr.’s has a new meaning. The time has finally come, it took too long…but it has finally come.
Happy Birthday Dr. King!
It’s a beautiful day… November 6, 2008
Here’s a nice video I found on Youtube of the world’s reaction to the good news. What a difference a day can make!!!
The day after… November 5, 2008
Woke up at 5:30am this morning. I must have been dreaming about last night because my first thought was an answer: no, really, it IS true! And then I smiled and in my half sleepy brain state I stepped back and had this flashback of 4 years ago..this unknown young black man…and last night…this historic speech which was difficult to watch without a heart filled with all that fuzzy, happy, joy joy joy kinda feeling.
Today…let us be joyful. Today…let us celebrate a historic. Today…let us finally exhale and look ahead.
Oh yes, this will be a hard task for the new man in charge. But I know he will surround himself with amazing people and he has the eyes and hopes of a world on him. The world is looking at us again and thinking…you’re back, baby! you’re back!!
******** I do have to add: California’s voted YES on Proposition 8. This puts a ban on gay marriage. This is a very sad thing. It shows that change is slow. It will come. Eventually. People are finally ready for a black president. People are not yet ready to allow ALL people to have the same rights. That change will come one day. When people are not afraid and feel threatened by the different kinds of love people have for each other. Yes, one day that change will come too.
TODAY!! November 4, 2008
Sometimes, emotionally, I can only handle one situation at a time. My brain goes into serious automatic/sort things into compartments/deal with one thing at a time/no freaking out mode.
I just turned on the television (it’s 6:40am) to CNN and already they are at polls watching the lines and interviewing people. In Colorado, this young girl, Megan, is interviewed before she walks in to cast her vote. She is voting for the first time and is very excited. She says at the end: “go Obama!” Other people in line look very young. Probably their first time or at most the second time they are voting.
As my fellow blog friend Deonne writes so cleverly: Voting is the new black. Oh yes! It has become very popular to vote now. And in good ‘ol US fashion, we go all the way using technology to turn something into a popular thing. Great! Good! I am glad that young people are taking charge and getting interested in what happens in their country. I have to confess that politics was far from my interest radar when I was 20 years old. But I still went out and voted. I felt proud to vote.
And so, as I watch Megan speak, I get teary eyed. Wait. You need to know that I can very easily get emotional. You know how they do segments on shows like “the Today show” about a mother who sacrificed her left kidney to save her dying baby, or the firefighter who spent two hours in cold streaming water to save a dog, or just as simple as a reunion of long lost siblings…I cry, cry and cry every single time. Doesn’t even have to be such an obviously heart-wrenching segment or commercial.
Like most of you, I can’t believe that long awaited day has finally arrived. I cry because I imagine tonight when Chris Matthews or Tom Bokaw say the long awaited words: Ladies and gentlemen, Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States of America. I cry because I imagine the same two saying: Ladies and gentlemen, John Mc Cain is the 44h president of the United States of America. I cry because I image all these people excited about voting.
But my tears are mostly because I really really like Barack Obama and I really really want him to win this presidential election. I also cry because if he doesn’t, I can’t describe how depressed I will be.
I saw Barack Obama for the first time in 2004 at John Kerry’s Democratic Convention and immediately liked him. I wrote about his for the first time on October 2006.
And today, 2 years later, I know who this guy is. And I am still not cynical or pessimistic…
I am sure he will not be perfect. I am sure he will not do everything he promised that he would do. I am sure he will make mistakes. But I am sure that his heart is in the right place. I am sure he will be good for us, for this country and for the world. Do I need a president who will protect this country first? I want a president who will give the world this country back. A president who will speak with his so called enemies. A president who will be the adult in the relationship and will show strength and leadership. A younger president who will take this country from old world puritanical conservatism to forward thinking, progressive and open-mindedness. From the image of a president who embarrasses us every time he speaks to one who is intelligent and well-spoken. A president who will restore the middle class. Who will finally deal with this country’s defects: health care, poverty and homelessness, the economy…
Barack Obama is this person. Today I don’t want to think of what could happen to him if he became our president. I don’t want to get insecure and think that this is too good to be true. Today I am dealing with one set of emotions. Excitement. Pride. Ready for change. My heart is full. Yes, it is almost like being in love.
Today I am ridiculously hopeful and optimistic.
Today I am casting my vote.
Today I visualize these words:
Ladies and Gentlemen, we present you the 44th President of the United Sates:
BARACK OBAMA !!!
One more DAY! November 3, 2008
In watching the very long lines of people at polling stations in those areas where voting can be done ahead of time, I had an idea. These people need to be comfortable and encouraged to STAY there and not give up!
I live in the downtown of San Francisco so I know this will not happen here. And I will be voting mid-morning.
I know my idea comes a bit late and I really hope that someone else has come up with this idea and organized themselves…
Organize groups of volunteers that set up tables (preferably covered since it could be raining or snowing in some parts of the US) where hot coffee/tea/snacks are served for free to those waiting in line. Maybe even have some music playing…just anything to make these people more comfortable, to make sure they stay and stand in line and get into the polling place and VOTE!
Yeah, this year seems to be so much more important for us all to vote than it has been in so many years!
On that note…I can’t WAIT till tomorrow! I am so ready to vote and I am praying that OBAMA wins!
