Barack Obama is Elected President -- Now What?
I spent Sunday morning visiting black churches here in Newark and heard so many pastors, in poignant praise, illuminate our nation's presidential choice in historical context. My own pastor spoke of years of struggle and tears, years of sacrifice and pain, years of faith amidst oceans of despair that WERE NOT IN VAIN. "Weeping may endure through the night but joy cometh in the morning."
There is joy. There is joy for black Americans and white Americans; joy for all those who believe our country is a nation conceived in perfect ideals and called to a perfect mission but that has been in an unyielding struggle to address our imperfections.
We elected Barack Obama. The achievement is not simply that he is a black man but that he was the best candidate for the job selected for that reason and not rejected for his race.
For all of us who love America, such a time of jubilation and triumph must also be a time of sober focus on the work that must still be done to make our union more perfect. The promise of America is still not real for all Americans. The pledge we have all made and that millions of schoolchildren make every day -- that we are "one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all" -- is still one of aspiration.
Especially now -- in this time of economic crisis, in this time of insecurity and worry, in a time in America where far too many face medical bills that cannot be paid and mortgages that cannot be sustained -- we must take an honest stock as to what such a victory truly means.
Especially now -- in this time of war, when our nation hemorrhages billions of dollars per month in an ill-conceived war; when the blood of great and heroic American soldiers flows into a foreign land at a more painful rate than any treasure we have spent; and at a time when our national torch of freedom, justice and truth, a once guiding light for many nations, has been obscured in the sight of our global friends -- we must take an honest stock as to what such a victory truly means..
Especially now -- in this time when we have too many children that go to school through the 8th grade yet only receive a 5th grade education; in this time when we have too many communities where violence trumps peace, where poverty punishes dreams of prosperity, and where individual hatred undermines collective love - we must take honest stock as to what such a victory truly means.
In a time of crisis past, the great Langston Hughes swore an oath to America that he would make real the promise of this country of hope.
. . . O, let America be America again-- The land that never has been yet-- And yet must be--the land where every man is free. The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME-- Who made America, Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain, Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, Must bring back our mighty dream again.O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath -- America will be!
The day after Jackie Robinson stepped onto a major league baseball diamond, people in cities, towns and communities all across America rejoiced, and then went out to continue the difficult yet rewarding work of coaching and helping millions of children toward their dreams.
The day after Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon, teachers in schools across the country continued the difficult work of teaching, counseling and empowering children to learn.
On VJ Day and VE day, Americans all across the country celebrated the victory of American soldiers and the defeat of enemies who threatened the free world. But the very next day, soldiers of our democracy returned to streets, neighborhoods and courtrooms, to register blacks to vote, bring legal challenges to segregation and Jim Crow laws and to work for a richer justice for all Americans.
In church today, we prayed for Barack Obama and the team he will eventually bring with him to Washington. His is a sacred task; to lead our nation through crisis to prosperity. But beyond Obama, we must also recommit ourselves to our righteous work in cities, towns and neighborhoods all across America.
Dr. King said, "Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle." Certainly Obama's election does not mean our nation will inevitably manifest the best of our collective ideals. It will take continuous, collective struggle and sacrifice. As Ghandi said, "You must be the change you want to see in the world." We cannot simply hope that Obama is that change.
Obama is our president and now we must go back to work, with the same interest, enthusiasm, creativity and passion we evidenced in this past election.
After my successful election as Mayor of Newark in 2006, I challenged all of the lawyers who supported my campaign to do something to continue our momentum for change. The lawyers decided to stay together and challenge others to join our mission - which was never about electing one man but about changing one city.
Together, we formed our nation's first ever fully pro bono legal service program for men and women returning from prison. We call it ReLeSe (Reentry Legal Services). We saw that the majority of ex-offenders who return to prison do so because of technical parole violations. Many, who make the tragic choice of returning to lives of crime, do so because they perceive no path through their legal and financial troubles. Our volunteer lawyers help ex-offenders disentangle the many legal and administrative challenges that impair their paths to occupational security and constructive connections with the community. Our volunteer lawyers have now empowered dozens of men and women to stay out of prison and make constructive contributions to Newark. (Please see www.njisj.org for more information.)
I am proud of how Newarkers have answered the call that I believe Stokely Carmichael first made famous: "We are the leaders we've been looking for." Any honest survey of my community and those throughout our nation evidence that there is so much more Americans can and must do to fulfill the promise of our nation. We, who wave the flag of other people's glory, we, who drink deeply from a well of freedom that we did not dig, should consider it a small measure of sacrifice to continue the campaign for change well past Obama's election. During this past election, Americans, on both sides of the political aisle, donated hundreds of millions of dollars and put forth millions of volunteer hours. I witnessed a demonstration of a collective enthusiasm for America that I have rarely seen beyond the more shallow displays on the Fourth of July or the poignant patriotism evidenced weeks following a national disaster or the grave attack on American soil seven years ago. Barack Obama is our president. Now what? Now we must continue as the call to serve our nation remains and grows more urgent.
God bless America, God bless our next President Barack Obama, and may God bless all Americans in our unyielding pursuit of our ideals.
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Fellow readers should know that Cory Booker, much like Barack Obama, has worked from the ground up to make his own very impressive mark on his own city, Newark, New Jersey.
As a fellow resident of New Jersey, it has been great for me to see Booker assume leadership and initiate so many positive changes in Newark. One example is the legal program he writes about in this article. The challenges facing urban America are enormous, but Booker has taken them on, and his city has certainly made progress.
Again a bit like Barack Obama, Cory Booker has very special communication skills and unique gifts, a true talent for leadership, and he has had a first-rate education.
As a senior citizen, I am heartened to see these "young" politicians moving into our power structure. My hope is that their success and commitment to change and hard work will inspire many, many more young people to opt for public service as a career. Perhaps our young people can begin to move away from a culture that has been so very focused on material gain and consumerism. Maybe we can begin to see a greater concern for others and for the common good.
Here's a great video from Fly Gypsy that makes this very point:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf19H_sHMro&fmt=6
Criminals return to crime because they "perceive no path through their legal and financial troubles?"
Are you saying it's the fault of the LEGAL system that these criminals continue to be criminals?
That is highly debatable at best.
Also, as nice as it is that Obama was "not rejected for his race," it remains to be seen if he really is the best man for the job of being President of the United States.
GREAT essay. I went to college in Newark in the 80s and am so excited about Cory Booker and his future. What a team he and Barack Obama would be.
Obama has been elected...and look at what we've achieved!
A clear path to universal health care, middle-class recovery, improved foreign policy, the end of war bleeding us to death, improved education, college available to all - things for the betterment of all Americans!
So now that he has been elected, the best thing than can happen right now is for the gay lobby to be unsatisfied and to demand their full and complete political plate, and hold protests all around the country.
There are several benefits to this.
First and foremost, it will inflame and exacerbate the divisions in the country, the culture war, and even divide Obama supporters. This is needed at this time so that the Right decides to be uncooperative, to obstruct the Obama agenda. And so the Republicans get a new boost, especially come the next election cycle.
The second benefit is that many of Obama's own supporters now have a wedge issue thrown in their face, and they are now having buyer's remorse for their support of him. This means that the support Obama will need won't be there like it could be and he'll be less successful.
The third benefit is it divides Americans so much, especially those "Red State" ones. That redrawn political map? Get the eraser!
Good post. I've been wondering why this prop 8 thing has been spreading so much fire. There has been more taking to the streets than throughout all of the Iraq war.
See Sara Haile-Mariam's Profile
I have to respectfully disagree- your analysis not only misses the point of Mr. Booker's essay but it also fails to account for one of the main tenants of President-elect Obama's ideology. We can disagree without being disagreeable. I myself am adamantly opposed to Prop 8, I don't believe that it's a moral issues or a religious issue but an issue of justice- an opportunity to yet again rise up to embrace our greatest ideals by rejecting the notion that equality is something that can/ should be legislated.
I have no intention of vilifying those those who don't share my view. I intend to converse with them, to articulate my position, to empathize without backing down. Our history reminds us that inequality is bred by misunderstanding and fear. We've faced similar struggles before and if we are to perfect our nation then we must again. Mr. Booker's point was that we must participate in the process. The protests that took place yesterday are a reminder of how important it is for ordinary Americans to participate with the assumption (and the historical precedence to believe) that our efforts are never in vain . 40 years ago similar protests were conducted to address segregation. Two weeks ago we elected our first African American President.
You can put away your eraser. Times have changed, and despite narratives that insisted that we could "never" elect a black President, we did. This too is something that we can overcome.
I have one suggestion for President O'Bama. I think he should reach across the aisle and appoint George W. Bush ambassador to Iraq. He has been telling us for 7 Years he has a plan for Iraq.Let's give him the oppurtunity to tell the Iraqi people those plans and see that they are carried out.
"Cheney Impeachment Hearings Now!" petition at:
http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/125
"Impeach Bush and Cheney for Torture" petition at:
http://www.democrats.com/impeach-for-torture
"Impeach Bush for Iraq Lies" petition at:
http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/142
"Impeach Bush To Stop Pardons" petition at:
http://www.democrats.com/pardon
Rpbert59;
I have 0 use for Bush, Cheney or Rumsfeld. However in the absence of clear evidence of "High Crimes & Misdemeanors" I fail to see any tangible benefit other that some kind of partisan self righteous revenge. I think that the war was stupid and wrong, but there is not clear legal proof that he lied about the evidence. Too many intelligence sources would simply say the evidence was flawed or cherry picked. I suspect that he wanted all of the evidence to support what he wanted to do from the beginning, but proving it in a Congress would be difficult. He would be "found" not guilty just as Clinton was and that certainly has not tarnished his future. I am not equating Clinton’s lies with Bush’s probable dishonesty. We have too many in Congress who failed to to do their job in challenging the intelligence before we went to war and were clearly were negligent in believing someone whom they did not trust and should have double checked the facts. Those folks love to hold hearing just to
be on TV and make speeches. Why didn’t they hold hearings and withhold the vote until convinced of the truth? They did not even read the intelligence documents. We have too many real problems with the financial problems to waste more money on a vendetta against one of the worst Presidents in History.
A brilliant suggestion!
This has been a great victory for Black Americans and has had a ripple effect around the world.
Its about time an apology to people of colour came forth.
Enough suffering. This applies to people of different faiths as well.
Let us also remember our First People. Native Americans.
Maybe we should give all of the land and property that we stole from the Indians as repreations. Talk about a housing crisis..
See Lucia Brawley's Profile
The example of the pro-bono legal services, ReLeSe, is so inspiring! I hope that Obama's administration encourages these kinds of organizations to form all over the country, especially in urban centers. And I agree that we must all engage in this kind of creative problem solving, ingenuity, and personal initiative, in order to partner with our new President in forging a better America. Newark Mayor, Cory Booker, is employing a lot of great ideas from which our federal government can take cues.
The headline, "Now what?" was misleading.
We have every reason to expect greatness out of Barack Obama no matter what he faces.
Energy Independence needs to be included in the realm of our economic issues. Our dependence on foreign oil impacts every aspect of our society and economy. This past year is a testimony to that fact. Jeff Wilson has a great new book out called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence NOW. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is worried about our economy and interested in seeing our country become more energy independent.
Newark NJ has a very high crime rate. Lots of murders. What's being done about that?
It's gotten a lot better since Booker took office!!
Kudo's to Newark! A community coming together for the good of all....by joining hands and saying "Let's get to it"! Once the glory sinks in, and the smoke of the fireworks clears....Americans will come to realize that, yes, we are needed to help our new President Elect with his stated direction to reinstill this country's greatness by instilling self-worth in it's people. We have become quite the "spoiled" nation....we want "yesterday" to accomodate us. We have been provided huge amounts of credit giving way to working and saving to buy what we want. Then we complain because we have to pay insurmountabe interest rates (which they are outta sight compared to "earning rates") for the convenience. A person who does pay with "cash only" these days is looked down upon with having no "credit history!!". To begin to repair our "so out-of-whack" economics, Pres. Elect Obama will begin in Washington and we need to begin at home, retooling our spending habits, realizing our limitations but grateful for what we do have. Pres. Elect Obama does not have a magic wand, but does believe in hard work to bring respect and appreciation back into our lives. But, we must help him to accomplish these goals which will not be overnight. It's time...our time....to make good on this change for our future. Don't sit back and take note every four years to what's going on.....we must make each and every day count.
I saw Cory interviewed on Bill Maher. I said to myself WOW another Obama.
Look for him in 2016.
I saw Cory Booker on Bill Maher´s "Real Time" and was impressed. His best point is that America indeed needs to re-invent the CITIES. Cities are the pillar of civilization. No wonder that an outdated GOP likes small towns so much.
For example, much of the energy crisis could be solved by making the cities worthwile to live in them again. Flats in multi-storey houses are a lot more energy-efficient than suburbian houses. People who live in cities with a good mass transit system don´t need cars, or at least don´t need them to commute every day.
It is very exciting to see a politician who talks about things which can´t be fixed in only 4 years. Some things have been on the wrong track for at least 30 years and probably need another 30 years to be fixed. These are the really important issues, unfortunately they are the least rewarding issues for politicians.
I saw Cory Booker on Bill Maher, too. He made some good points but I didn't think that he was as articulate or as able to inspire as Obama. I applaud his work in Newark and hope his dreams for that city come true. Other mayors should take note of his work.
I too(and that's three!) saw Cory Booker on Rel Time, and I WAS impressed by him on the show, but even more so, by reading this essay. Great work! I wish you(him) all the luck in the world, in his work, and hope to see him in a more prominent role one day. His heart seems to be in the right place, and his mind is undoubtebly sharp enough.
And, by the way, he's absolutely right! Obama isn't the new Messiah, and he alone cannot bring about change, no matter how great he and his visions are, but we all need to pitch in and do our part!
As quoted in the above essay: "You need to be the change you want to see(in the world)."
I'm an African-American man and I voted for Barack Obama first and foremost because I honestly feel he is the right person to be President. I believe he can help get us out the messes we have endured for the past 8 years. America's reputation is already being healed. (Look at what other countries are saying about us now. My roommate is from Germany, but he said he would have voted for Barack if he could). But I also voted for him BECAUSE of his ethnic background. I feel, spiritually, that the fact that his father was African-American and his mother was Caucasian is a sign that people from all ethnic backgrounds can come together and be ONE. Africans were denied their rights and freedoms when they were brought to this country as slaves and women had been denied many of their rights in times past, also. Much of this still goes on today. Barack Obama's victory gives a renewed sense of hope to not only African-Americans, but ALL Americans. Of course, some of the sore losers on the McCain/Palin side are now using that whole "now lazy black people can get jobs" as a new way to express their racism and hatred. One, Barack's victory does not automatically end racism. At worst, it made racist people even worse. Two, there are lazy people from ALL ethnic backgrounds. It's sad that some people still CHOOSE to be ignorant.
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