The year was 2004. John Kerry was the candidate of the Democratic Party of the United States of America, running against President George W. Bush. A young black man was invited to be the keynote speaker at the Democratic convention. His name - Barack Obama. He was not yet a US senator. To the world and the overwhelming majority of Americans, he was unknown.
Essentially, he told Americans that they were not a nation of "blue states or red states, or conservatives and liberals, but one United States of America". The speech resonated with America and the world.
Watching him speak that night on TV brought back memories of the eloquence and charisma of the Rev Martin Luther King Jr. I was moved to comment to my family, "There goes America's first black president." Two weeks ago when the polls showed this to be a real possibility for Barack, my son reminded me of my prediction of four years ago. Frankly, when I made that comment, I had sometime like 2020 in mind ... certainly not four short years later.
surprised and disappointed
I was very surprised and disappointed when after only two years in the US Senate Barack Obama decided to run for the presidency of the United States. Thoughts of opportunism, miscalculation and political suicide on his part wondered through my head. How could a black man successfully compete against the Washington establishment at this time? After all, in the Democratic Party it was expected to be 'Hillary's Turn'.
History will record that with 'The Audacity of Hope' and the fervent belief that 'Yes, we can' he built a powerful multi-racial grass-root movement, using new media like the internet and cellphones which propelled him not only to be the Democratic nominee, but more important to be the 44th president of the United States come Jan 20, 2009.
As Shakespeare wrote, "There is a tide in affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures."
This tide is not only personal for Barack. It is a tide which has come also for black people in the United States and the world. This is a giant surge on the road to freedom for black people. You sensed it in the self-imposed silence of the black leaders like Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrak, Al Sharpton et al , who all seemed to recognise that no misstep or misspeak on their part should sidetrack the march of history.
You saw it in first-time black voters and their determination to make their votes count. It was as if every black grandmother alive or dead was communicating to their offspring that this was the time to make 'the dream' a reality.
Barack Obama's election does not mean liberation of black people in America. However, in the same way that making Andrew Young, Colin Powell and Condi Rice and other minority members of the Cabinets of previous governments, this is part of a long journey whose sunset is nearer now than the past of slavery and the struggles of the civil-rights leaders. The 'promised land' of Martin Luther King Jr is insight.
responsibility in our conduct
It is time to collect the dividends of our peoples' struggle. In doing so, let us all recall that poignant paragraph in the famous 'I have a Dream' speech which demands of us responsibility in our conduct. "But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline." This seemed to sum up Barack's conduct and road to victory in which hope triumphed over fear and in which hope and change combined to write a new page in the history of mankind.
a country of fear
While we celebrate a new world of hope, I cannot but lament that we live in a country of fear. Young children (girls and boys) and young women are being abducted robbed, some raped and even killed. Bright young minds like Pia Phillips of Immaculate Conception High School are becoming victims of the lawlessness that our government seems unable to curb.
The first duty of a government must be the protection of its citizens. Successive governments of both political parties have failed this test miserably. Partisanship has dominated our approach to crime fighting for too long. It is time for a change in this approach of futility in crime fighting.
The criminals know the odds are in their favour, so they can continue to murder, rape and rob with impunity. Unfortunately, our government, despite promising us the overrated MacMillan Road Map to Security, is clueless in fighting crime. First, the PM told us it wasn't his job to develop a crime plan crime. Now Minister MacMillan tells us the answer is to invite dons to Parliament and opening a line of dialogue with them. We are about to 'put butter a puss mouth' with this policy.
If hope is to triumph over fear in Jamaica, and for our people to become secure again, it appears that we have to begin thinking about replacing this set of clueless, inept and incompetent politicians parading as a government.
Lambert Brown is president of the University and Allied Workers Union, and can be contacted at labpoyh@yahoo.com. Feedback may also be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.