Making History

Almost every news outlet has noted the historic nature of this date, August 28, both for today and 45 years ago.


[August 28, 1963 -- March on Washington for Civil Rights]

And tonight, in Denver, CO, Barack Obama will accept his party's nomination to be the Democratic Presidential candidate for 2008.


[The convention is moving to Invesco field where they estimate more than 70,000 will be in attendance]

I think it would be easy to think that in a blog post titled "Making History" that I'm talking about Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama as the ones who are making history.


[Obama at a campaign stop in Texas]

But these are just two men, albeit two effective and inspiring leaders. But still, they are just two men. However, what you need to look at are the crowds. Look at the people who gathered on the Washington mall 45 years ago. And look at the crowds gathered in the rain in Texas.

Although there's a 45 year gap, the crowds are remarkably similar in their attentive focus, in their diversity, and in the conviction and desire of these people to gather together to make history. Because history doesn't get made by individuals alone. History is made through completely mundane acts, such as someone taking the time to show up and listen to a civil rights leader speak in our nation's capital. Or a U.S. citizen taking the time to become a delegate and to attend the DNC in Denver. Or for an average American on November 4 to get in his/her car or walk to her/his local polling station and casting a vote.

Maybe history books won't record the average person who goes to the polling booth. But it's important to remember that neither Martin Luther King Jr. nor Barack Obama would be making history if it weren't for the millions of people who helped to make history happen in their own small ways.

The Democratic Nominee--Barack Obama

It has been said before but I'll repeat it here: history has been made. Barack Hussein Obama (and yes, I'm invoking the middle-name deliberately to make a point) is the Democratic nominee for the 2008 Presidential election.


[pause for sustained applause and whooping and whistles]

I received a very enthusiastic email message from a friend who is out of the state right now who just can't believe that we are seeing this happen. And I've had similar conversations on the phone and in person with friends and family members who are over the moon about this state of affairs. And we are a mixed bunch, my friends and family. And I think that's important to note, because so much has been made of race by those outside of Obama's camp and supporters--about him being a "black" candidate who has a "Muslim" middle-name and family ties to Islam.

But imagine what this says, to the nation, to the world, but more importantly to the kids at your local elementary school: the Democratic nominee for the first time is not a white man. And in Obama's case his mixed-parentage, and very mixed-upbringing, is also something to take note--that he comes from a complex heritage and claims family across the globe of all different ethnicities.

There are a lot of pundits, talking heads, and reporters who are writing about what this means for the Democratic party, for the nation, for the world. One article I found interesting was in today's New York Times, "Many Blacks Find Joy in Unexpected Breakthrough." I think it's true that African Americans probably do feel a sense of pride and perhaps even surprise that a majority of white Americans (and Americans of color across the spectrum) are behind Barack Obama--that he garners so much cross-ethnic, cross-racial support. But the truth is, I think for any of us interested in anti-racist practices, Barack Obama's nomination is one that inspires a sense of hope--a renewed faith that WE can make a DIFFERENCE in the nation.

And I went back and looked through all of the posts I had written about Obama (there are several--you can type in his name in the search box and see), but I want to link to one I wrote nearly a year ago. It was written on June 12, "Walk for Barack", right after I had participated in the Saturday, June 9 "Walk for Change" that Obama's campaign orchestrated. This is when my support for Obama became concrete--because you don't knock on doors in 90 degree humid weather in the South if you don't feel a sense of passion and commitment.

Here is an excerpt from what I wrote then--the context is that I was relating a conversation that I had had with an older African American man who expressed skepticism that Obama was electable because he questioned whether this country was ready for a black president:

I don't know if the average American voter wants to elect a black president. But what I told this gentleman and what I believe, and what got me out on a 92 degree afternoon, knocking on people's doors, volunteering for the first time in my life to canvass for a cause or a person--what I believe in my heart of hearts is that I want to and need to believe that we, as a nation, are ready to move ahead in terms of racial politics. That we want to learn from the past and we want to learn from each other. And while I know that racism will not be erased so easily by a few ethnic studies classes or multicultural fairs, I also know that I am supporting Obama because I have to have faith. I have to believe and to envision the country I want rather than the country I suspect I have. I have to actually practice what I preach rather than bemoaning the state of race and politics that we currently live in.

All I have to say now, a year later, is YES WE CAN!