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Yeah, I said it. Yes, having a Black candidate is an inspiring moment in this nation’s history, I agree. Yes, his words are optimistic and humanitarian, I agree. But as a person of color who grew up poor, I will not buy into a notion of equality and justice that is still, by and large, contextualized as a very middle of the road, very middle class and very white reality. Come on now, he’s gone on record refusing to recognize the Palestinian people’s right of return on several occasions and has stated, very matter-of-factly, that he favors “unilateral” U.S. military action against other nations. This man who champions his one year of activist work in Chicago, out all places, presently supports free trade and global enterprises that continue to inspire the endless migration of poor people to this land. Yet, simple minds will offer: “He’s black,”  “we need a new face,” and “he understands us.”  Didn’t ya’ll read the Autobiography of Malcolm X?

The fact of the matter is that most of us have grown up in an era of heightened symbolism. The type that makes us like people for their ornamental traits and qualities. Black people used to love Bill Clinton because he would show up at Black churches and kiss Black babies. All the while he was launching missile strikes into Somalia and Afghanistan.

I would like to see Obama in the oval office. But for me, being a priviliged Black man in that position is not enough.  I refuse to settle for the emotional gesture that accompanies a great story about ambition. Yet part of me wishes that he’d win just to see if he has the courage to be about it. I’m not naive to think that somehow he will end poverty, racism, and homophobia in four years. But at least, he better damn try. Getting to the party and being the first one isn’t gonna cut it for justice. Justice people, not symbolism. Akin to what the late Thurogood Marshall did as the first African-American Supreme Court justice. He wasn’t satisfied just getting there; he acted upon his commitment to the truth, and began the slow meticulous road to overturning the racist Jim Crow laws. Let’s see if your boy will do that.

Truth be told, I would pay money to see how Obama handles his first “terror” attack in the Middle East, his first famine crisis in Africa, and his first racial upheaval in any large Black and Latino city. It’s worth the buck. Veramos si se puede.

Holla Barack,

The last commie spik standing,

’87 lay-up kid,

still battling on the dance floor,

never slaving for that dollar though…