The 44 Magnum

And now we have read a page in history that just a few years ago would have been considered not only unlikely, but by most accounts, impossible. A president of color with a charm and charisma that we have seen in too few politicians over the past many decades. As I watch and read the many accounts of this young man’s rise to the presidency, there is an interesting coincidence that bears review.

In the history of our country, at every juncture where a person of mixed race or color has had to rise up to achieve greatness, there have always been roadblocks put in their path. Rarely are these easily overcome and only the strongest and most dedicated rise to the occasion. Events of great importance come to mind. Whether you consider Jackie Robinson’s entry into professional baseball, the Tuskegee Airmen’s flying accomplishments during the 2nd World War, Martin Luther Kings winning of the Nobel Peace Prize or the many similar achievements by persons of color, each and every one has been a road of great difficulty and challenge.

Perhaps this is the underlying reason for this man at this time. With our economy in shambles, the image of America so tarnished across the globe, wars that seem to be stalled and no way out, and the trust and faith of the American people so diminished and so untrusting of the very government they have elected … certainly this will be the new presidents impossible challenge. The words of an old neighbor of mine, spoken to a nice young black boyhood friend of mine, “here boy, you so damn smart, let’s see you make this dead crow fly”. It was one of my first experiences of witnessing first hand the very raciest attitudes I would later find were prevalent in my own neighborhood. “Boy, crow” … I had much to learn and the journey has been a long one.

So now, we have elected this dynamic young person of color, as if to challenge him and say “here boy, see if you can make this dead economy fly, and solve a few more complex problems in the mean time … if you dare!”. One thing is for sure; we would have been hard pressed to pick a better man to take on this challenge. All we have to do is look at some of the shots taken at him during his campaign and envy the man that managed to maintain his composure in the face of immense controversy, and still manage to also turn it into a history and civics lesson for us all.

Yes, this fourty-forth president will indeed need to bring that magnum personality to bear on so many of these problems, and no doubt, he’ll do so his own way, in his own style, and if my guess is right … like so many of his race, he’ll find a way to do so with a measured amount of humility, compassion, and leadership that any of us would like to see in our children.

If only John, Bobby, Martin, and my father could have lived to see this day …