WWMXD

I am lost in the phenomenon called Barack Obama just as much as the next person. I phone banked for him, smiled when I saw a beautiful picture of him, teared during his speeches, and cheered along with all of Grant Park when he was named President-Elect. During his speech, instead of watching the jumbotron, I observed the faces of everyone listening and they all beamed with the same hope. Hope that this man would deliver them from all their worries and put us back on the natural track towards humanity.

I came home and saw all the facebook statuses, pictures, emails, gchats, texts chanting “OBAMA! CHANGE IS COMING!”..and got worried. We are lost in the phenomenon called Obama, but there are a few things we need to remember.

1. He is just a man. He has no special powers or the ability to make everything okay. By changing our pictures, wearing t shirts, and buttons with his face i wonder if it is more than a statement of support for this man. Could it dangerously be a sign of giving him full faith and turning a blind eye to any decisions he makes?

2. WWMXD..What would Malcolm X Do? I don’t know what he would have done, but I have a few ideas. He would not have gotten wrapped up in Obama-ism. He would have questioned every single move Obama had made in the past and every single move he is going to make in the future. If he did not beleive in every single action Obama took, he probably wouldn’t have supported him. (I’m not sure about this last statement because he did come around to understanding and respecting MLK’s actions, even though he didn’t support them completely). He would be proud of a black man in power, but would be skeptical of the change this is goign to bring about. Is it a black man in power? or a black man integrated into the same old story, a white man’s system? I don’t know what Malcolm X would have done, but without a doubt I know he would ask us to keep questioning and not put all hope and aspirations into one man, because that is a dangerous thing to do.

3. Electing Obama isn’t the change, the change is what we can do once he’s elected. Be involved. Don’t just support Obama by putting his picture up, send congress your letters, get involved in the community, have a voice in government because that is how the things you want to change will change. He will raise taxes and try to end the war, but learn about where those taxes are going and about how he plans on bringing troops home. Then make a decision on whether you support what he stands for, and if you don’t, do something about it. Racism is not going away, socio economic differences are not going away..just because one black man happens to become president doesn’t mean every black man has that same opportunity. Electing Obama as president is just the first step, and if we hang our hats now, we should not blame him for not delivering change, but blame ourselves for not taking the opportunity given to us.

We should never stop questioning our government and leaders because in the end, they are just men and can fall to weakness. This is a reminder to myself as much as it is to everyone else. Let’s not fall to apathy like we have for the past 8 years, but build an America in which we want to live.