I Have Never Been More Proud of America

The other day, August 28, 2008 to be exact, I must say that I cried. I cried because I had the opportunity to witness history. I witnessed something that I thought I would never ever see. Ever! I witnessed a black man become nominated to be president of the United State of America. America, a country that was built on slavery, a country that segregated against the Negro, a country that hung my ancestors, a country that denied my people so much had nominated a Barack Obama to be its president.

I can only imagine how proud Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. must have felt as he looked down upon this historic moment. In his “I Have Dream” speech, Dr. King talked about little black boys and black girls joining hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. Well today those little kids are now grown, and I witnessed them hold hands to nominate a black man for president of the United States of America. Not based on the color of his skin, but purely on the content of his character. Dr. King must be somewhere standing tall and proud, just smiling.

Take a moment to imagine how Harriet Tubman must feel. Honestly this probably wouldn’t even be possible if it wasn’t for her bravery. She was essentially blacks’ first hero. A young lady who risked her life constantly, just for freedom, just for change, just for equality, Miss Tubman defines the word hero. Surely, God was with her every time she made those trips. She understood her destiny. She understood our destiny as a people, but even she could not have pictured this day.

There are so many that have paved the way for Senator Obama’s opportunity, and isn’t that all we ever wanted from this country, an opportunity. We never thought about actually becoming president. We just wanted the opportunity to become president. We just wanted the simple freedom of drinking out of that same water fountain if we wanted too, sitting at the same lunch counter if we wanted too, using the same restroom if we wanted too, just to sit on the front of the bus if we wanted too, a chance at a good education, equal rights, a chance to vote, and to express our opinion without being hung for it if we wanted too. All we ever really wanted was the opportunity. So many sacrificed there lives for this day, we owe them a big and gracious thank you.

As a young black boy growing up who loved to read about history, I always believed that despite our past, that I lived in the best country in the world. The other day, on August 28, 2008 to be exact, I’ve never been more proud of America. In fact, I’ve never been more proud of being an African America. Ever!

My Take On Black In America

By now I'm sure everyone has had a chance to view the CNN two day mini series/two part documentary, Black In America. If you haven't then I don't know where you've been because it seems like they replayed it every other day. There has been a lot of criticism of the piece produced by Soledad O'Brien, fair or unfair. Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion of what they thought of the piece. I won't debate that, but what I will say is this....

Personally, I applaud CNN for having the courage as a news organization to show our pain and struggle so vividly in great detail. A lot of times in this country we as everyday black people don't feel relevant. What CNN and Miss O'Brien were trying to do, was make us relevant. Relevant not to ourselves as black people living in America but relevant to the rest of America. I think some critics missed that point.

The other day I over heard someone saying, in a neck rolling tone, "I don't need CNN to show me what it feels like to be black in America. I'm black. I already know what it feel like." True enough, but someone outside of our race might not really know what it feels like. Some people need visual proof of a black mother or father struggling below the poverty line as they try to put food on the table for their families, or worse yet how drugs, disease, and violence are destroying our communities every day at a rapid pace. America needs to see visual evidence of this fact of every day black like, because America needs to learn to care.

For far to long our struggle and pain has been swept under the rug like it doesn't exist. It seems like the rest of America has this attitude like it's not our problem, that's their problem. I hate to break the news to you America, but it is your problem. How can we progress as a great nation when we have a great mass of people struggling to make ends meet as if they were living in a third world country. It's sad, because artist of all genres have talked about it for years. Rappers, singers, and poets like they were reporting for a black version of CNN trying to raise awareness of the dire situation at hand, but it seems America has failed to listen. Maybe, just maybe, because of Soledad O'Brien and the real CNN, America will take the time to listen and try to understand what it must feel like to be Black In America. KUDOS!!!!