Why Didn't We Believe?

by Brian Bishop

It was a common theme heard across the USA during the run for the Democratic Party’s nominations, during elections, and at the inauguration of the new President: “I never believed that I would witness this in my lifetime!”The comments came from young, old, white, and particularly from Black folks.
In a culture that has consistently told Black folks that they can’t, Barack Obama was not only able to convince himself that ‘he can’, but he was also able to convince millions of Americans and others that together “we can.”
Clearly, he is an exceptional individual  blessed with  charisma, intelligence, political strategy and the ability to connect all kinds of people and the things that make us human: having a job, being with family and pride in who we are.
His life story is similar to that of many of us: absent father, lived in a foreign culture and in a step-family in Indonesia, and spent his sometimes turbulent adolescence living with his grandparents in Hawaii before moving to Chicago.
Certainly he had all the common excuses to screen himself out of a successful life. Yet this young man was never fazed. He never hesitated to believe that he could accomplish anything. Because like another exceptional individual before him, Dr. Martin Luther King, Obama  is a man with a vision.
In recent days I could not help but look over and over again at Dr. King’s last speech.
Dr. King was very clear in his vision of “the promised land” (and possibly may have envisioned his own fate), when he said that “I have been to the mountaintop and I have looked over and seen the promised land … I may not get there with you, but I want you to know that we as a people will get to the promised land …”
This vision, at a time when Black folks were legally and openly exposed to racism, and segregation in America.
More than the spoken words, however, I could not help but be taken in by the  conviction in Dr. King’s face and the way in his  words “we will” get there.
Fast forward to 2004 and we see a young Black man with a funny name, Barack Obama, at the Democratic National Convention who was able to effectively convey his belief that there is a better way for America to be a good place for all Americans, outside of rigid ideological and political partisanship.

I am not sure when he may have set his eyes on the big prize. But clearly his political maneuverings over the last four years from state senator to president is nothing short of phenomenal.
He was able to build a grassroots organization (from the community up), assemble an unheard-of-amount of cash, something like $700m, beat back the Clinton political machine, and the Republicans to win convincingly the presidency of the USA.
I believe that we are all still stunned by his success, mainly because we were not so sure that America was ready for a Black president.
The thing that appeals to me about Barack Obama is his sense of hope, the power of his belief, and the conviction of his vision.
It was heartwarming to hear Black youth in America and elsewhere talk of the inspiration that he has given them.
It is now easier for them to believe that they can be anything they want to be if they are willing to do the work, and to ‘believe’ that they can surpass the extraordinary hurdles that are sometimes tossed their way.
For sure Barack Obama’s appeal goes far beyond the youth. Globally, it feels as if someone has turned down the world’s ‘tension thermometer’.
We all seem to feel a little bit better, in a political world without George Bush, even in the midst of the chaos of the financial crisis and the wars going on around us.
As the newly sworn in President, Barack Obama is clear that America (and the world) is now sailing in rough waters, but he is equally clear in his belief that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
He should be an inspiration to us all. Having left us with no other choice but to believe.