Change
Last night, like millions of other Americans, I watched Barack Obama accept the Democratic nomination to become the first black President of the United States.
Change we can believe in, indeed.
On the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech that fateful day in Washington 45 years earlier, I couldn’t help but agree with everyone who was saying that Dr. King’s dream took a giant step forward last night. I was proud to be a part of it. I was inspired to do more. It’s a feeling of political inspiration that I don’t think my generation has truly ever experienced before.
I felt so scorned and betrayed by my country the day that Al Gore admitted defeat to George Bush in the 2000 election. And for the past 8 years, that thief who stole the White House has continued to pick the pockets of hard working Americans every day. No more. Enough. Something has to change.
A lot has happened in my life over the 8 years that Bush has been in office. Upon graduating from college in 2001, I moved to Washington, DC. I was here for only two weeks when the tragedy struck us on September 11. I remember seeing the smoke from the Pentagon. I remember walking from my apartment to my brother’s house on Capitol Hill and passing marines in gas masks. I remember the letters laced with Anthrax that were mailed to the very building where my brother worked. I remember him taking the precautionary antibiotics to keep him from infection – just in case. But we’ve still not captured Osama Bin Laden. We, instead, invaded and occupied a country that we have no business being in. Working down the street from Walter Reed, everyday, I see our soldiers return with missing limbs, after their third or fourth tour in Iraq. And what for? What, can you tell me, has really changed, making this a fight worth fighting for? I often sigh of relief that my husband is now too old for a draft. I fear that day may not be far away. Something has to change.
Speaking of my husband. Over the past 8 years, I found the love of my life. We pursued the American dream by getting married. With hopes of starting a family, we bought a house that we cannot really afford that has now lost value over the past two years since purchasing it. We see neighbors move out in the middle of the night facing foreclosure. We see our paychecks go a little less farther each month as gas prices, and food prices, and day-to-day living expenses increase. We delay our dream of starting a family, worried that this might not be the world we should bring children into. Something has to change.
Change is palpable, though. Isn’t it. As the summer out here begins to wane and the leaves on the trees begin to take on the faintness of fall colors, I can smell the change in the air. I think that feeling can be frightening to some people because there’s uncertainty that goes with it. Not all change is always good.
But I believe in Barack Obama. He truly is change that I can believe in. And the time is now. I am ready for change. I am ready for our generation to finally stand the fuck up and say something. Complacency – the complacency that so many of us have felt over the last 8 years – is deadly. We can not afford it. I cannot afford it. Take a look at your life and see if you are really where you thought you would be 8 years ago and see if you think you can afford another 4 years of the same. John McCain is old. He is out of touch. And he does not represent MY America. He DOES NOT represent change, but rather, deadly complacency. And if you’re one of those people who are still pissed off about Hillary, can you honestly look at the alternative and vote for him from a place that isn’t spiteful? Can you truly get behind his policies?
For me, this election feels very personal. I have never contributed a dollar to any election, but I just made a contribution to Obama’s campaign. And no, we can’t really afford it, but we also can’t afford another 4 years without change. And if you can’t, either, then do what you can. Make a contribution, or volunteer, or just talk about your own experience. Talk about why this election is important. Because the thing is, politics and this election in particular- is personal. And though I’m sure that Washington, DC feels like a place that’s far away and removed from most of you, it really isn’t. What happens here has an impact. But this is YOUR opportunity to have an impact on what happens here.
Vote. Voice yourself. Stand for change.
