Barack Obama: The Dream Continues

By Nick Apata
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
napata@nigeriahorizon.com

Immediately after Super Tuesday, a close friend who resides in Maryland in the U. S. phoned to tell me how phoney Barack Obama is and that his strong showing was just a flash that would soon dissipate. But since then, the Obama wind of change has picked up more momentum and tore through Washington, Louisiana, Nebraska, Maine, Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia with resounding victories. For all the cynics out there, this is a gentle reminder that America is about to witness one of the greatest events in its political history.

This is a terrific moment for a country that’s fighting a losing battle to stave off recession. So instead of being inundated with depressing news of falling stocks, subprime mortgage crisis, and of course an Iraqi war that has become the American albatross, we are now partakers in this political excitement that Barack Obama has brought to the fore. He’s humble, eloquent, oratorical, graceful and charismatic. Some have argued that he’s JFK, MLK, and Ronald Reagan moulded into one. For a government at rock bottom in terms of popularity and for a country that’s loathed around the globe, Obama has become the antidote that America needs.

So will this last? Will the Obama engine lose steam? Or as has been the case with many Presidential aspirants in the past, will he self destruct? All the momentum seems to be on his side at the moment-money, goodwill and good talk. His rock star status because of its suddenness seems too good to be real, yet his support base continues to grow on daily basis. And with Hillary Clinton struggling to regain her poise and focus, the Democratic Primary has become Obama’s to lose.

Thankfully those Black leaders who have complained of Obama not being black enough now realise that opportunities such as this only comes once in a lifetime. The time has come for us to realise that our blackness is not always about how dark we are. It cannot also be confined to a situation whereby both parents are black. It would have been a tragedy of unimaginable proportion if those leaders were allowed to shoot a viable son down because he’s a product of multi racial union. Black leaders must avoid giving the impression that they hate one of theirs based on their own interpretation of who is black and who is not.

In 1996 when Tiger Woods stormed the professional golf scene, he was derided by his fellow Blacks as not being black enough, yet most of the criticisms he had endured on the tour were racist and aimed at his blackness. Tiger has become so dominant in the game of golf that he’s on course to obliterating every record set by golf legends such as Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer. He has diligently ensured that black children benefit most from the millions of dollars he has poured into his many charities as a testimony to his origin. Obviously Tiger Woods does not need a trumpet to proclaim his race; he’s already spending his money in that regard.

Can you start to imagine what an Obama Presidency would look like? The White House may have to change its name to The People’s House; American House; or Presidential Villa; or something like that. America will start back on the road of self- redemption by being respectable around the world again. Black Africans will finally have something to brag about in a world that has been so politically unkind to them. Finally the world will become safer for all humanity again as Al-Qaeda, out of respect for a non white American President will cease all acts of terrorism and embrace peace for the next four years.

March (when the Democratic nomination concludes) is just as far away as November when the Presidential election takes place. Anything can still happen and that’s why I will not even contemplate to dwell in it. All I want to do right now is savour this unfolding glorious political moment. How about you?

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Other articles by Nick Apata:

Ribadu as Scapegoat for a Nation's Failure
The Houses Obasanjo Built
Wanted: A Few Good Men and Women