apple juice

About four and a half years ago, I drove down to chicago to help my sister look for an apartment. We were driving all over the north side with this guy from apartment finders who was an absolute riot. Patrick was his name. (“Look dude, Daley is straight gangster” he would be yelling over the roar of the wind in his topless jeep wrangler as we drove obscenely fast through the narrow and car lined streets of various neighborhoods with names that end in the word Park. “You know what he did. He took bulldozers down to meiggs field in the middle of the night and tore up the runway.” Andrea and I exchanged looks. “Straight gangster!”)

Anyway, i’m seeing political signs everywhere. everywhere. it was crazy. OBAMA! they said. “Who’s this Obama guy”, I yelled up to Patrick. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but it was something to the effect of “a black dude who all the rich white college kids are voting for”. “Are you going to vote for him?” , I asked. Something to the effect of “hell yes” floated back over the wind.

I got back home and told a friend of mine, in sort of an off-hand comment, that Obama will be the next President. My friend ticked off various reasons why he would not be the next president. Hilary, his race, his name, being three of them.

We’ll see, I said. Later on that year, after the fateful address at the DNC, I posted here… Obama.

Why do I bring this up? Not to tell everyone how awesome I am. It is to point out how truly awesome this moment is. I think every phrase describing the metoric rise that Obama has made is already cliche, but I was at a conference today for educators in the Upper Midwest. Every single presenter I saw today made reference to Obama’s election as a defining moment in American history. Two grown men said that with tears on their faces they had moments of clarity while watching his acceptance speech.

This is not just a win for liberals, democrats, african-americans, or young people. I really believe that Obama’s election will usher one of those points of singularity in American history. We will re-focus our hopes, dreams and sense of national purpose.