Watching History from Here...

I stayed up all night watching the US elections. Here in the UK, it was just after 4am when Barack Obama was projected by CNN as the next President of the United States. I lifted my weary head off the couch pillow and watched both John McCain and Barack Obama give great speeches. From across the Atlantic, in a country where I was born but is not my home, I was proud to be an American citizen.

Melia and I both have been Obama supporters. For the first time in our lives, we even made a few donations to the political campaign. By default, Tanner and Konner have been in the Obama camp as well. As they went to bed long before any results came in, I made sure they could appreciate the gravity of the history that was about to be made, no matter what the outcome. An African-American in the White House, or a female Vice-President. Wow. Either way, can we all stop for at least a moment and reflect on what a historic moment Nov 4, 2008 indeed was? This is what I tried to tell my 12 and 8 year old young boys as they drifted off to sleep on what for them was just another day.

It might not matter to you, but I wanted to tell you that the view from most on this side of the Atlantic is hopeful and positive. And I’m not only referring to Obama, though this is certainly the case. The best of the USA was on display last night. The world, deeply divided by conflict, poverty, terrorism, climate change and this economic crisis, still looks westward to a land of opportunity. As they watched a white man concede peacefully and a black man give a determined speech to thousands, what they see indeed reveals the truth. For all its faults, every four years, the USA reveals its true greatness, not in military might but in the power of people deciding themselves who will lead them. The irony is not lost on me that Kenya celebrates while just a year ago it could not do the same in its elections.

I have heard John McCain give two great speeches in the last few weeks. One was at the Al Smith dinner in New York, where Obama was also in attendance. It’s worth a watch on YouTube, in the midst of a heated campaign. The second was last night, in graceful concession. He is a great man. Our country still needs him.

I know he has been a divisive figure, but watching Jesse Jackson in tears last night was quite moving. We forget that Rev. Jackson was there with Martin Luther King, Jr. during the dangerous days of the Civil Rights Movement. He was there on that terrace when MLK, Jr. was shot in Memphis. That famous photograph is not only of Dr. King laying in his own blood, but of Rev. Jackson (and others) pointing towards the roof from whence the shot came. He was there on that fateful day in April, 1968. I wonder what he was thinking last night as Obama became President-elect?

A close friend of mine who did some inner-city work in Memphis, TN years ago tells me a story of an aged African-American woman who marched with Dr. King from Selma to Montgomery. She still speaks of the bricks thrown, the tear gas and the billy clubs used by police, and the amazing verbal hatred hurled at them most every step as they peacefully made their way after three attempts from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. She still works amongst the urban poor in Memphis. I wonder what she was thinking last night? No matter your politics, I sincerely hope you can appreciate the history.

Today, most of us will get up, get our kids ready for school, head to work, and continue to do our best to make this day a little better than yesterday. In that, it would be easy to assume that not much has changed. But change generally doesn’t happen in giant leaps, but in small steps. I don’t know if this election will actually result in anything pragmatic. That remains to be seen. I am obviously hopeful that it will. But I do know that any change I want to see must start with me. I voted, but more importantly, our family has chosen to serve, through teaching children, as Melia does heroically everyday, or through human rights campaigning which I find myself doing literally around the globe these days. We bring change by investing our time in our own children, exposing them to the realities of a harsh world as well as the possibilities that exist alongside those challenges. We bring change when we love our neighbors as ourselves, and when we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. This, I think could work in our neighborhoods, in our cities, and I dare say, it might work in foreign policy. Of course, this is my faulted idealism revealing itself. Trust me, after years of working in poverty and human rights, I’m just glad that idealism is still there. It's taken a real beating the last year or so.

This is not intended to be a political post, just some thoughts as our family watches an historic election from across the water. I hope you read it as such.

Blessing and Peace - Andrew