Friday, July 25, 2008

Barack Obama in Berlin

So the Democratic candidate for President of the USA, Senator Barack Obama, attracts a crowd of 200,000 people in Berlin, the largest one so far in his campaign. There is so much to say about the Senator, the manner and message of the man, the mere fact that he is the Democratic candidate – so much to say about the deep irony of his drawing his biggest crowd in Germany, of all countries. So just a couple of comments here. To begin with, having been in the USA during Civil Rights, I honestly never thought I would live to see the day. That it has indeed come says a great deal for the American people, in particular for young people in the United States. Among many other things, it says that far from being turned off, disillusioned, blasé, consumed only with celebrating themselves on Facebook and MySpace, they are alert, aware and prepared to respond to an inclusive message, a message that empowers them and advances nation building as a common cause. Whatever one's political persuasion, Senator Obama must be given credit for articulating such a view and persuaading people that he means what he says. Of course, what lends credibility to his message is the fact of who he is, the fact that his life is witness to the "Yes-We-Can-ability" to which he now calls his country. Anyone who was there back then is bound to appreciate the awesomeness, the enormity of the now. What Barack Obama stands for is a great deal more than can be communicated by the simple statement that he is the first black man to run for president of the USA – as astounding a fact as that may be – even as the crowd in Berlin listening to him speak is a great deal more than a large gathering of white people in a European city listening to a black man who may well be the next leader of the most powerful country in the world. The bleakest moments in human history and our power to transform them are alive inside this man, and brood inside that crowd. And lastly – for now, for there's a great deal more to be said – the World, the one that begged America not to go to war in Iraq, the one that is frightened about whether we have so ruined the planet that it's about to heave us off its back the way a dog shakes off water, the World that's scared that it may shortly be ravaged by disease at the same time that it is bereft of resources, that World is desperate to find someone who is prepared to give it hope, to tell it that there's a way out. So mock the Senator, call him the Messiah, if you will, but know the times are critical, and admire him for having the courage to want to step into the breach.

11 comments:

FSJL said...

Nicely said, Pam.

clarabella said...

Tanks, fsjl. And yes, I resurrec. And me see you all ova dis internet... How de poems coming?

FSJL said...

You see me all over the internet? And you ask how the poems are coming? *snort*

Check out http://fledgist.deviantart.com or http://stanmorehill.blogspot.com and tell me what you think, without fear or favour.

Jdid said...

well said

clarabella said...

Thanks jdid. Never mind the politics, we need to pray for the Obamas. They are very brave people.

clarabella said...

Well now, what have I done to make you snort at me, Mr Professorman? I will indeed check you out in the places you mention. But I will need time...

FSJL said...

The part about your seeing me all over the internet, followed by asking about 'how de poems coming?' since most of what I post on the net is my paltry verse, my dear lady.

clarabella said...

I'm a poor writer, so most of the time I spend up here is by way of work. Today I read a poem by Geoffrey Philp, and one by Rachel Manley on his blog – the first poems I've read up here in ages. And the last place (or places) I saw you wasn't at either of the two urls you mention.

FSJL said...

Pam, your saying you're a poor writer is like my calling myself skinny as a rail. Definitely not true. Where last did you see me? Now I'm curious.

clarabella said...

I don't think I meant I'm a bad writer. I hope I'm not that. But I live off my earnings as a writer, and have no regular income, nor indeed any but a very meagre pension. So the Internet is primarily for work, especially since my publishers are mostly on the other side of the Atlantic. And I apologize for 'cousin's' when it should have been 'cousins' in a recent comment on the matter of Yellow Girl Blues. It's what happens when old ladies try to write quickly. lol

FSJL said...

Oh, my misreading. Sorry. You're a financially-challenged, shall we say, writer. And here I thought you had persuaded Séan the Leprechaun to part with his crock of gold....

As a financially-challenged academic myself, you have my sympathy.