The Revolution Has Been Televised

Barack Obama just accepted the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. I just finished sobbing. I never thought I would see it in my lifetime - a Black man with a real chance at being President. Never.

I didn't think I would react so strongly. In fact, many of the emotions my soul has released this week of the Democratic National Convention have caught me off guard. Yesterday, when Obama came onstage only for a brief moment, my body immediately leaped off the couch and proceeded to dance and shout for several minutes, without warning. Like a child celebrating the appearance of a hero, I felt proud, safe, happy... free. I wore myself out dancing and chanting last night, and then marveled at the effect this man had on me.

Make no mistake, I have always been amazed by Barack Obama, and all that his nomination means for America. I have been a staunch supporter for quite some time. Still, this week has been... different, especially tonight. As he delivered his acceptance speech, I thought to myself, "They can finally see us." I said it aloud, whispered it to myself. They can see us.

I have no idea where that thought came from. I had no idea that I felt invisible until just that moment. Nonetheless, when Obama accepted the nomination, something broke open inside of me and then began to heal. At once I felt affirmed, acknowledged. Seen.

Black Americans were born inside the gates of America, but far from the comfort of the home. Generation by generation, we have inched closer to the house where our white brothers and sisters reside. The Civil Rights Movement took us directly to the front steps, where we protested and prayed and sang and shouted and were noticed, but only for a little while. As decades passed and the memories of our great leaders faded into history, America removed us from its focus, and we began to blend in with our surroundings. We became permanent fixtures on the porch of America's home - accepted, sometimes appreciated and bragged about (for aesthetic reasons - the trendy look of diversity), but largely passed by, unnoticed. We have never been acknowledged as people, five-fifths human. We have never been invited in. Every now and then, someone finds the chutzpa to knock at the door. But there has never been an answer. The door has never been opened.

Until now.

Obama is a man none of us can deny. He is intelligent, spiritual, and sincere - called for this purpose. Barack Obama holds the key to the door of a new America. With his message of hope and belief in dreams, he has opened the eyes of all Americans. Now they see us.

More importantly, now we have the opportunity to see ourselves in a whole new way. We can begin to shed the insecurities, the inferiority complexes, the robes of stress we acquire from operating in a world where we feel out of control and incapable, on varying levels, every day. Now, when we tell our kids that they can be anything they want, we can believe it, and they can believe in themselves. When they come home from school and say that they want to be the future Presidents of the United States of America, we don't have to smile and nod while silently disregarding it as a pipe dream. We can see ourselves now. Aren't we beautiful?

I do not think that electing Barack Obama into office will instantly overturn the racism that has been ingrained in our institutions since the nation's birth. To expect such would be ridiculous. However, I do feel that his election will be a great leap toward the healing of the Black American psyche. Even in coming this far, he has provided us the chance to take up the pride, courage, and self-love that we lost somewhere in the midst of Cointelpro, crack, and BET. He has done wonders for me in just a night.

I think that tomorrow I will wake with a fresh kind of confidence and a new sense of community: America. I will expect to be seen as I pass by, so I will wave. I will expect to be heard, so I will open my mouth and speak. Amazing. If other people feel the way I do, then things really can change. Barack Obama is the leader of a new revolution. Who knew that it would be televised?

Thanks, Future President Obama, for helping us all see.