Obama Mama

It was quite inspirational to go to the caucus. I was a precinct captain for Camas, Washington and the turnout was amazing. There were all these Hillary signs and Hillary campaign workers who were very in-the-know and Junior League-ish with pearls and suits and nice flip hairdos. Us Oregonian Obama volunteers were mostly new to the political process and a bit more of the people, if I may say that. But when they counted the votes I was shocked. My precinct went 8-2 for Obama! The Clintonian ladies had given speeches about sexism, etc. and when the Obama voters spoke (some gave short speeches to run for delegates, it was my job to encourage a group of voters to stay and do that) they all spoke of the desire for change and that it was time to end the Bush/Clinton/Bush ruling of our country and that it was okay to have hope.

I am writing an essay on "The Political Education of an Obama Voter," right now. In it, I trace my coming of age during Reagan and my first election in New Hampshire and my disappointment with the Clintons (NAFTA, WTO, Welfare Moms to Work, Don't Ask Don't Tell, the Thong thing). Also, my activism in the Green Party and the Bush regime confirming every thing Noam Chomsky taught me. So many teachers. It's been a bit of joy to go through all that, listening to the Dead Kennedy's again and John Trudell and realizing that those truths they spoke about that enriched my perspective then still apply now.

February 27th is the 35th anniversary of the stand-off at Wounded Knee. I'm thinking about how my parents' generation stood up for Civil Rights in this country even if meant being hit on the head with a baton or being gunned down by the FBI in their houses on the reservation. I owe them a lot. They made my life so much better than it would have been under Jim Crow America.

I saw this post at the Huffington Post. It features Obama's mother and her struggle with cancer. It also includes some audio from "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance". Just think on it she was a white woman who married a black man in the early 60's! It's people like her who are real Americans to me and embody everything that is possible and makes this country great.



Here is the audio from Obama's book "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance":