First thoughts on Roswell
November 6, 2008
The ten day period culminating in November 4, 2008, is one of the two most profound episodes in my life. The other was a trip of about the same length to Kenya in 1994.
What I got to see in 1994 was an example of the results of nineteenth century European imperial colonization of sub-Saharan Africa: the destruction of much of its environment, overpopulation and squalor, and the elimination of who knows how many indigenous cultures.
From October 26 through election day, I had the privilege of working with a group of like-minded people in Roswell, New Mexico, to help in the effort to elect Barack Obama president of the United States. What I learned from my experiences there will take more than 30 words to relate. But I’ve got to start somewhere or not at all.
Perhaps one of the most meaningful aspects of the experience was working with a group of people from Austin, El Paso, New York, Kansas and California that included entrepreneurs, electrical engineers, nurses and lawyers who were more than willing to work in the trenches. We canvassed door to door day after day and made phone calls seeking support for Obama. Volunteer groups with similar makeups were doing the same thing in all battleground states for weeks before the election.
This type of work is not fun. We gave of our time doing things we did not enjoy doing for a cause we strongly felt was in the best interest not only of our country, but of all living things on our Mama Earth.
But each day, we had good feelings when we talked to people who were going to vote or already had voted for Obama. At that instant, there was a connection and warm feelings between strangers.
I heard no rhetorical questions like “why don’t the locals do all this volunteer work?” I discovered a long time ago that a very small percentage of the population gets involved in political campaigns. 2004 was my first time and because of that unpleasant experience, I thought at the time it would be my last.
But Obama came along and I knew after reading Dreams from My Father that I would help in his campaign for as long as he was in the running. Growing up in Indonesia and visiting his siblings in Kenya provided Barack with a world view essential to deal effectively with the challenges we now face.
And then we won. That’s the way Obama would put it. It’s about us and not Obama. It’s about all of us. He made that clear Tuesday night when he said that he would be the president not only for his supporters but also those who did not vote for him.
Abraham Lincoln was the white man who emancipated our African American slaves. We now have an African American president who hopefully will lead us all to freedom from the bondage of our arrogance, hubris and greed.
There is nothing providential about the United States or its people. All that defines us as citizens are having been born within its geographical borders or becoming such by a naturalization process. We have no god given right to our parasitic way of life, and the rest of the world has no obligation to provide it to us. Nor do we have the right to dictate how the rest of the world should live or govern themselves, or to assume the role of the world’s police force.
My hope is that we Americans regain some humility (if we ever had any) and accept the reality of our limits. We are not exceptional, and the pretense we are has resulted in the economic crisis and a planet in peril.
There is no free lunch. The many we thought were free were on credit which has now come due.
A great thing happened to me today. My good friend and law school buddy Don Cuba practicing in San Antonio called me this afternoon with one thing on his mind which we finally got to after an hour. The first hour we talked about the election and where things were headed.
Don was a Hillary supporter while Don’s wife Nan, who is also a great friend of mine, was for Obama all the way. Like so many Hillary supporters, Don came on board the Obama bandwagon.
I was telling Don about going to Roswell to work. Don, who is very much self deprecating while lavishing praise on others, told me he rented a bus Tuesday and drove over 400 people to vote. Don and Nan got 100 percent bang for the buck. It made me fell great that they had participated in this way and to have them as my friends.
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November 10th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Reading this brought back the joy I have felt ever since President-Elect Barack Obama won a hard-fought election.
I grew up in Texas during the 50s and 60s. These decades were not pride-inducing times for my hometown of Ft. Worth. Racism was rampant. I took for granted that blacks were segregated from us in just about every way: buses, restaurants, movie theaters, restrooms, even water fountains. The irony that the same people who never questioned the fairness of these mores were more than happy to turn over the care of their children to women of color every day didn’t hit me until later. They cooked our food but didn’t share our tables. They were “The Other.”
It wasn’t until my early twenties when I read Five Smooth Stones by Ann Fairbairn that I awakened to the morass and ugliness of racism that I, sadly, accepted as a fact of life as a young Texan. This was a tender, heartbreaking book about love between a black man and a white woman and the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement. I was a romantic young woman, and this book touched me like no other article or speech could. It was one of many epiphanies in my life.
The moment Barack Obama came onto the scene as a candidate for President of the United States, I was thrilled. His persona was one of hope, acceptance, courage, love, and fairness. He knows who he is. People can and have called him terrible names, accused him of being a terrorist, and have expressed fear for the future of our country if he is elected. He hasn’t seemed to be affected by the taunts and threats (though as a husband and father I’m sure he has been). I believe he has been able to avoid knee-jerk reactions is because he knows who he is. Well, he has been elected. I, for one, am very excited to see what he can do once he takes office. His road will be harder than any president has had to travel in modern times. He has said that he can’t do it alone, that we all need to work together. We will all need to sacrifice. Let it begin!
Kudos to Ridge and his compadres who went to New Mexico and helped turn a red state into a blue one. And to his friends Don and Nan Cuba for providing a bus to aid 400 people to vote. These folks are examples of what Obama meant when he said that “WE” won. And WE did win, but we have a long haul ahead of us.