Nicholas I work with is a huge Obama fan and an astute observer of American politics. He wrote the following article when President and Mrs. Obama came to Ghana in 2009, which was published in the Daily Graphic, the country's largest newspaper.
Video of Obama's speech to the Ghanaian parliament here.
REFLECTIONS… AS WE WELCOME BARACK OBAMA
In the summer sunshine of August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., the impassioned voice of a young activist was heard –
“… We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality…
We can never be satisfied as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: ‘For Whites Only’…
I have a dream…
I have a dream that one day, on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood…
I have a dream today! ...”
It was Martin Luther King Jnr, speaking out against black segregation, suppression and oppression. Beyond the hearing reach of this cry for emancipation, in far away Hawaii, an innocent two-year old boy played with his mom, completely unaware of the cords of destiny that tied the words of Martin Luther to this boy’s own future. The boy, whose father was a Kenyan immigrant to the United States, would, forty-five years later, deliver an eye-watering speech in Chicago, a speech which would mark a watershed in the presidency of the United States –
“Hello Chicago! If there is anyone out there, who still doubts that America is the place where all things are possible;
Who still wonders if the dream of our Founding Fathers is alive in our time; Who still questions the power of our democracy;
Tonight is your answer!
It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches, in numbers this nation has never seen…
It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, CHANGE has come to America!”
An eagerly watching world went wild with jubilation at the moving words of the new President. A Japanese city, coincidentally called ‘Obama’, became famous overnight. Kenya immediately declared a national holiday, and the Kenyan village of Alego-Kogello, birthplace of the new president’s father was flattered by abundant media attention. Within America itself, African Americans could hardly hold back rolling tears of joy as they savoured the speech. For African Americans and all Africans, this victory naturally had a deeper significance. It would be the first time in forty-four presidencies that the White House would be occupied by a black family.
Black people around the world could now bask in a priceless prize; the pride of knowing that one of their own runs the Oval Office; arguably the most powerful office in the world. At last a more balanced story would be told as global television scenes which have almost succeeded in making the black face a trademark of hunger, poverty and flies begin to showcase this new First Family of the United States.
A black family in the prestigious White House ridicules the very notion that gave birth to apartheid – that blacks are inferior to whites. It makes nonsense of black slavery and gives flesh and blood meaning to black emancipation. It justifies, rewards and pays tribute to the sweat of Presidents Nkrumah and Mandela, Reggae king Bob Marley and civil rights activists Martin Luther, Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey, as well as others who sacrificed immensely, many with their lives, to give the black man a place of dignity in society.
The story of Obama challenges and inspires African Americans and black people from across the globe, who, because of skin colour, have pruned their ambitions or resigned themselves to mediocrity. It provides at least four years of psychological repair to a world that has for so long seen anything black through lens of inferiority.
As overjoyed as many black people were and still are about Obama’s ascendancy to president, many could not even have imagined this outcome from the outset. America’s dark history of racism and Obama’s unusual profile didn’t quite make a presidential click.
Apart from having had a Kenyan for a biological father, Obama’s Arabic middle name was a reminder of Iraq’s notorious dictator who was overthrown by the White House barely five years before the American elections. Another curious handicap was the name ‘Obama’ itself. It bore an uncomfortable resemblance to, and rhymed with the name of America’s most hated enemy. In fact, Microsoft word (2007 Edition) recognizes the word ‘Obama’ as a typographical error for ‘Osama’!
It is for all of these reasons and more that Obama’s story will forever be an inspiring example of how a society can transform its own values. How a society can change. The true genius of America, according to Obama, is that America can change.
While ‘A-me-ri-ca’ may sound like a ‘A mi-ra-cle’ to many, it is nothing more than a people who are committed to prosperity for all their citizenry through growing values of patriotism, democracy, unity, liberty, equality, opportunity, leadership, change and unyielding hope. These are values that are within the reach of any country, values even within the reach of our own beloved Ghana.
As Ghana hosts President Barack Hussein Obama, offspring of the most thriving democracy in the world, it will be worth our while as Ghanaians, to pause for a moment and reflect on our own values as a nation. Let us draw inspiration and begin to dream big dreams for our own Motherland.
Let us live the leadership role in Africa by building a democracy that is truly enviable.
Surely we can break this cycle of vindictiveness that is creeping into our politics and poisoning our democracy. Let us hold our public officials accountable all year through and not be heard chanting accountability only when we change political administration.
Let us move away from excessive partisanship to a greater sense of nationalism, breaking lose the shackles that hold us from criticizing and condemning what we know to be wrong for fear of party disaffection. Let us stop, once and for all, this backwardly immature habit of putting party colours on every voice, article, initiative or individual.
Let us demand that our politicians make responsible utterances – utterances which do not inflame tribal passions and destroy our growing unity – noble utterances which do not betray a desperation to gain or hold on to political office at any cost.
Let us refuse to be held prisoners to our past by using today’s ideals to condemn today’s wrongs instead of trivializing, downplaying or denying what we know to be wrong because the other party supposedly did worse in the past.
Let us unite around a common national education policy, born out of cross-sectoral, cross-party negotiations; a policy that will not be subject to the whims of revolving political administrations. And let us, together, resolve to fight illiteracy with everything we’ve got, remembering that at the dawn of this new century, illiteracy is a terrorist to a country’s democracy and national growth.
We can, and we must, end this needlessly barbaric bloodshed on our roads. Let us begin to give deeper meaning to human life as a nation of God-fearing people. Let us invoke all radical measures to massively cut down our unacceptably high car accident rates.
Working together, we can rid our streets of congestion and filth. Politics should not divide us on this anymore. Let NPP, NDC, CPP etc. realize that the eyesore that meets foreigners who tour our nation is not clothed in party colours. Let us come together as one people to tackle our challenges.
Finally, let all Ghanaians everywhere, home and abroad, remember that government alone cannot solve all our challenges. Let every individual Ghanaian – young or old, male or female, disabled or not-disabled, rich or poor, white-collar worker or blue-collar worker, politician or non-politician – work a little harder and sacrifice just a little bit more for our dear Ghana.
And as we journey on to becoming a beacon for a warm continent, let us remember that difficult times await every march to greatness. And when our hopes seem to give way, and the cloud appears to cover the silver lining, let us remember that two-year old boy who grew up to defy every obstacle in fulfillment of Martin Luther’s dream. Let us recite his last words on that glorious Chicago night –
“… For out of many we are one, while we breathe we hope, and where we are met with cynicism and doubt, and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the Spirit of our people – Yes We Can!”
God bless our Motherland Ghana, and may God bless the ties that bond Ghana and the USA!
Nicholas Ekow Anesi de-Heer
Kumasi
