Has it occurred to you how fortunate you are to be alive, literate and of sound mind as we ponder together the amazing events of the last eight years? If you are a person of color, no matter where you live or how you got your news, somehow the name Barack Obama broke through your consciousness; not only because “it’s a funny name,” according to Barack, but because it is the name of America’s first Black president.
It is truly amazing how such a strange name (by American standards) worn by a man of color broke through the institutional barriers of hate and prejudice; broke through the deep seated fear, mistrust and disbelief of White Americans, leading many Bible believers to claim that Barack Hussein Obama is the fulfillment of prophecy. Conspiracy theorists have postulated so many bizarre stories about president Obama that the much respected Mother Jones Magazine did a comprehensive story with charts showing the ludicrous stories being circulated. A brief list of these theories claim that the president is, “a Muslim as well as a terrorist, he is the anti-Christ, his campaign was funded by drug money, he faked Bin Laden’s death, he is bringing 100 million Muslims into the United States, that he was born in Kenya, he killed his grandmother to cover up his birth. I remind you, this is a brief list.
The fact that President Barack Obama is still alive is a testimony to the resourcefulness of the Secret Service and the power of prayer, if nothing else America wouldn’t want its first Black president assassinated. The much respected Southern Poverty Law Center through its magazine “Intelligence Report,” recorded that, four years into Obama’s presidency, conspiracy minded, anti- government Patriot groups had grown exponentially to almost 1400, while outright hard core hate groups in the same period added hundreds of other groups to its ranks, almost doubling to over 1000.
Within a year of his Presidency the Republican Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell declared that his party’s prime objective was to ensure that Barack Obama was a one term president, since that declaration in 2008, the government of the United States was frozen. Collectively the Republican Party and its backers locked every productive spigot they controlled, effectively strangling or immobilizing the economy in order to make it seem that the President was incompetent and incapable of doing his job.
Even after his decisive actions to bail out the auto industry, saving tens of thousands of jobs while shepherding us through one of the most devastating recessions in modern times, President Obama’s critics remained unmoved and became even more recalcitrant than before.
You must therefore understand my utter disgust and disappointment with the Democratic Party, when did they ever mount a full scale defense of their president, when did they ever openly beat back the assaults upon this man and his family? When did the party ever lead the charge in unison like the opposing tea party ‘crazies’ did in regaining the house? What faction of the Democratic party stood as the rear guard as Obama’s legislative agenda for immigration sputtered and died?
Now President Obama’s signature bill, the Affordable Care Act which has literally given new life to many of its clients is about to be gutted, these hapless democratic leaders can only sing a duet with Dionne Warwick called “Wishin’ and Hopin’.” And this is the part that makes me mad as hell, how could the most intellectual president of the modern era not employ the finest product management and marketing team to launch ACA? Instead he relied on academics from MIT and Federal bureaucrats and assorted idiots to launch one of the most significant pieces of legislation in the last 20 years. The name Obamacare should never have been promoted or branded and the roll out should have been handled by private sector marketing professionals; it might have even have cost less. But we all make mistakes.
Without fear of contradiction, I can proudly say that President Obama and his family did America proud, their dignity, composure and decency is unmatched, every little boy, every little girl (despite some of their parents) witnessed the finest display of a Black Camelot . First Lady Michelle demonstrated all so eloquently and stylistically the grace and royalty of the Black woman. I must allow another woman to describe her best:
“Now you understand just why my head’s not bowed. I don’t shout or jump about Or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing, it ought to make you proud. I say, it’s in the click of my heels, The bend of my hair, the palm of my hand, The need for my care. ‘Cause I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me.” Maya Angelou
President Obama’s legacy will not be fully realized for another generation or two, it is only then that America will realize that many of his programs were that of a visionary, but then again I am much too hopeful, most Americans forget. They will soon forget, not only because they’re prone to, but because most of Obama’s legacy is about to be gutted by an Orange Ogre that drains the swamps, defends Putin and tweets a lot.
Good luck with that! Farewell President Obama. I know they’re going to miss you.
PS, I still haven’t seen that pardon for my hero Marcus Mosiah Garvey. Very disappointed!
