I was struck by older black men today.

I had decided that I was not going to write about this historic day, a day so historic I do not have to identify it for anyone reading these words. Thank you by the way, if you are.

Instead, I preferred to just breathe it in and remember what my heart and skin felt like watching it unfold.

Truthfully, it was so emotional that I am at a loss for words to describe it. Unlike millions, both in the United States and around the world, who watched the majesty unfold on TV screens en masse, I watched by myself and cried happy tears alone, overcome with joy over the achievement of this day. I am in the midst of many medical tests, so joining others in celebration was not an option today.

This will now be the second time in as many months that I will be discussing skin colour on this blog, making it twice more than I have discussed the topic in as many decades.

While my first blog, September 2008, made clear that I was not fortunate in one respect, my childhood was in fact shaped in another very privileged way. I was blessed to have spent my formative years growing up on street of immigrants from every corner of the world. As it has often been said, children do not discriminate until taught to. Having been surrounded as a child by all flavours of ice-cream, skin colour was normalized for me. I never considered the issue of skin colour until I grew up. It was then that I experienced immense gratitude for this gift from my childhood, after realizing that not everyone was granted this blessing.

I secretly hope that the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th President of The United States of America today will be the skin colour crashing barrier event that leads us all on a short journey toward one people, the people that are humanity. I know it is naïve; after all, apparently a high school in Georgia held its first non-segregated high school prom in 2007 (that being one of the most shocking things I have read in my lifetime). Lord, let us please reach that place where we do not have to discuss a person’s degree of deposition of skin pigmentation ever again or race for that matter.

Ironically, after having just said that, I was in fact struck by skin colour all day, by the skin colour of one wedge of humanity, older black men.

Throughout this historic inauguration day I could not take my eyes off the stories on the faces of older black men. They may not all have been moved to the visible tears that overcame Reverend Jesse Jackson on election night, but their emotions were no less palpable, as their faces moved across television and computer screens worldwide. If provided the opportunity, I would delight in interviewing each of them, one by one, as I am sure they each have a story we need to hear. “What does the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama mean to you?” It would be a gift to listen to their responses.

There were a multitude of beautiful and inspiring sounds vocalized today, by poets, musicians and politicians. For me, after a day of being struck by the stories on the faces of older black men, it was then entirely appropriate that my favourite words should be expressed by one such man, the Reverend Joseph Lowery. I plan to quote them below, so I can re-read them again in the future. Thank you Sir for voicing them. My last feeling this evening as I watch President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama groove to the beat on the dance floor is that while I have always been proud of my nationality …today, for the first time, I wished I was American born.

May we step into the future of humanity with bold hearts after this historic day!


The Benediction of Reverend Joseph Lowery

“God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou, who has brought us thus far along the way, thou, who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee.
Shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand true to thee, oh God, and true to our native land.
We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we've shared this day.
We pray now, oh Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration.
He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national, and indeed the global, fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hands, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations.
Our faith does not shrink though pressed by the flood of mortal ills.
For we know that, Lord, you are able and you're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds, and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor, of the least of these, and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.
We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that yes we can work together to achieve a more perfect union.
And while we have sown the seeds of greed — the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.
And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.
And as we leave this mountain top, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.
Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle. Look over our little angelic Sasha and Malia.
We go now to walk together as children, pledging that we won't get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone.
With your hands of power and your heart of love, help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nations shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid, when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.”

Sage Spencer

Next Blogum: March 2009

President Barack Obama, the 44th President of The United States of America – Inclusion Rocks!

Where were you on November 4, 2008 at 11:57 pm EST? 

How often do we get to make history? Almost never!  Anyone who voted for Barack Obama today fashioned this watershed moment.  “We the people” now includes all American men.  Congratulations Senator Obama!  Thank you for demonstrating once and for all that the content of a person’s character and not the colour of one’s skin is what should determine a man’s worthiness to be the President of The United States of America.

  

While I have never understood, apparently since childhood according to my schoolteachers, measuring a man by his degree of deposition of skin pigmentation,  I have never failed to grasp how important skin colour and the bizarre concept of race is to so many people, too many people. 

I am someone who has celebrated every unjust barrier that has been broken down, no matter how small.  I find the breaking down of such barriers electrifying.  The thrill and significance of the wall torn down this evening cannot be underestimated.  Even if it did not mean all the things that it means for America, and offer the hope that it does after the damage done to America in the last eight years, and only meant one thing, that little black boys and girls in American can now say without thinking, “one day I will be President of the United States of America”, then it would still be astonishing.

This election was about many things: one of which was a competition between hope and fear.  Hope won.  That is something to celebrate after eight years of being led by fear.  Rosa Louise McCauley Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are smiling this evening.  And so is Mrs. Madelyn Dunham.  She is watching over her grandson tonight and feeling pride in the boy she helped raise to be President.  The timing of her passing was destined.  She brought him as far as she could.  She voted for him and she passed on when she knew he would be okay.

While the statistics of exit polls, shown on the main television networks, made it clear that there still remains a part of the US population that let Senator Obama’s skin colour influence their vote,  unspeakably huge progress was made today. 

President-Elect Obama has accomplished things already, including demonstrating that a political campaign for the Presidency of The United States of America, and therefore all other political campaigns, can be run and won without sacrificing one’s dignity or integrity.  His raising the bar for the standards of behaviour among politicians is a welcome change.  Lets us hope, however naive it may seem, that the Karl Roves of the world are destined for the dustbin of campaign history and that humanity can progress not regress.

Simply by winning the Presidency, after carrying out his campaign in the manner he chose to, President-Elect Obama has already applied a small bandaid on the large wound created by the Bush Administration.

Four years ago, I felt a sadness I cannot describe when President George W. Bush was elected to a second term of office.  I felt like I was watching the decline of the American empire.  Did people not understand the further damage the Bush Administration was capable of doing?

Hope was quiet these past eight years; at times it seemed barely audible.  Fear was in charge.

Tonight my faith was restored when hope won out over fear.   There is an opportunity for change, if we have the courage to embrace it with all of our hands, together as one people.

And while the popular vote indicates that America remains tonight a divided country, I have faith that President–Elect Obama’s integrity of character, sober and calm strength of spirit,  uniting, organizing and conciliatory nature and great passion for America tenders the opportunity of profound and noble change.

As he has said, “Yes we can!”

God bless the new first family of America: Barack, Michelle, Malia and Sasha Obama.

Bring on the progress!

Sage Spencer

Next Blogum: December 2008