by Weusi

ok …

I live in the suburbs of NJ. It is pretty much a carefree world. But the other night, something was wrong …

On Sunday morning, I couldn’t sleep. In the pre-dawn hours, my non-diagnosed adult attention deficit disorder kicked into overdrive! I crept out of bed, sat on the couch and wrote for hours. I wrote about everything. World politics. Community. Organizational visioning. Family. Business. Creative ideas of all kinds just kept flowing. Some I will share with you (or someone) one day and others will never see the light of day … until my passing and the Smithsonian Institute seeks out the relics of my genius!

And, when the sun came up, I watched REAL football from the BPL and AFCON for a few hours. It was great! Chelsea and Manchester United won! Eventually, I grabbed bowl of cereal and fell asleep while some cartoons played in the background. Then, I watched American football. I was glad to see both underdog teams. The 49ers and the Ravens won. Somewhere during the course of the evening, it really hit me that … I did NOTHING AT ALL Sunday.

I flipped a few channels and quickly jumped into semi-nerd mode when I heard Martin Espada on the Bill Moyer Show reading a poem about visiting Fredrick Douglass’s grave site on Obama’s first inauguration. Then he made a comment about Mr. Douglass …

Fredrick Douglass was tireless … he did not see social change as beginning and ending with the election of Abraham Lincoln, so why should we see social change as beginning and ending with the election of Barack Obama.

He also made some other interesting comments …

The essence of gang warfare, according to Luis Rodriguez and others that work with gangs, is the destruction of the mirror image.

(To put this in better context watch the entire show here.)

As I watched, I was reminded that the following day was going to be another historic day in American history. Then Monday arrived. Barack H. Obama publicly accepted his role as President of the United States for a second term. I watched TV coverage of the swearing in, and some of the auxiliary events, on and off for a few hours. I watched the first family and other honored guest as they responded to the festivities. And, although people watching is what I enjoy the most about these type of events, there was no mistaking that Barack Obama was the man of the day. Not in the same way he was in 2009. But, he unquestionably owned the day. Obama is an incredible writer (2013 inaugural speech transcript) and orator.

Now, this is not the time to get into my views of his policies or how he implements them. And, since I don’t know the dude, I won’t comment on if I like him or dislike him. (But we did have a moment where he gave me the brother to brother nod while in the White House Green Room!) This is what I will say …

We live in a time where a generation sees historical changes around the world all of the time. At a button’s click, they witness things in live time that will be in history books for centuries. Over 4 years ago, Obama headed a campaign rooted in the ideas of HOPE and CHANGE. With the public voting him in for a second term, the statement is that CHANGE and HOPE are not just ideas anymore. Obama is the personification of these ideas. The youth of this country have lived through and witnessed what is the equivalent of a dream becoming truth. They saw a miracle happen before their eyes. Now, they can believe anything can happen. Some will believe. Some won’t. There are a few that will even put in the work and put up with the discomfort to make their dreams become a reality.

Barack Obama’s presence in the White House wasn’t even a dream a generation ago. It was unimaginable. Now, although this generation of youth don’t know a time when the US wasn’t at war, they have seen a war end. Obama has shown the youth of the United States something different: A future that has new options. For that … I salute you, President Obama (and the First Family).

AND …

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (What? Did you think I was going to leave him out!?!),

I personally can’t get with the non-violence thing. But, I have a great deal of respect for the movement and for the advances ro which the Civil Rights Movement is directly responsible. Thank you Dr. King!

AND …

A belated birthday shout out to THE WORLD’S GREATEST ATHLETE/ACTIVIST …

Ali for Trayvon

That’s all …
be thankful …
SHiNE