Barack Obama Spoke in San Francisco Today

I saw Barack Obama speak today in San Francisco ~~ only a couple of weeks ago, Susie Tomkins Buell organized this fund-raiser and I was fortunate enough to volunteer at the luncheon. As I drove to the City, I thought to myself, how is it that we are having a fund-raiser in San Francisco for some guy in Illinois running for the U.S. Senate? And it struck me, with a dash of hopeful idealism, of how connected and united people are feeling across the country ~~ how we are discovering that the common thread that links so many of us is indeed a desire to revive traditional Democratic ideals.......and this became clearer to me when I heard Barack speak today.

As Barack was walking over to the dining room from the VIP reception, he made it a point to stop and thank us, the volunteers working at the registration table. He shook my hand, looked me straight in the eye and thanked me after I told him what an honor it was to volunteer for his event. He took a picture with all of us and I'll post it up here later. I have volunteered at a lot of political events, and I can tell you, not everyone stops to thank their volunteers. It matters. And this was just the beginning of my personal introduction to Barack Obama ~~ the man many say will be our first African-American President.

At the podium, Barack joked with the crowd of several hundred people: "Face it, 18 months ago, you didn't know who I was." And he described to us how unsure people were, even Democrats, that he would win the primary. The way he began his speech today was striking, memorable, and strategic magic ~~ he told us, "People said, well, who is this guy? So, he's brought health care to kids and seniors in Illinois, he's drafted state legislation to make education more affordable, and reformed the death penalty system in Illinois after 18 people on death row were found to be innocent. He has a family, and seems pretty ethical, and has a fancy law degree from Harvard ~~ why's he want to go to the U.S. Senate?" Brilliant. Immediately, he informed the crowd of his accomplishments, his training, his education, his family, and his commitment ~~ nearly redefining what it means to want to be in politics. I was hooked. And then he went on.

Barack explained how "we see politics as a business.......not a mission." And he went on to explain why politics is in fact a mission ~~ a mission to improve our country, a mission to nurture a feeling of connection between people who seemingly have nothing in common. And I thought about that. I mean, what do I ~ a single, Latina, law graduate who rents an apartment in Oakland ~ have in common with an elderly widower who owns his home in suburban Chicago? As Barack describes, when that senior citizen has to decide each month between paying for groceries or paying for his prescription medication, well, that makes my life a little poorer. When a child across the street or across the country can't read, that makes my future a little bleaker. Barack explained that some ideals are not amenable to legislation ~ the idea of hard work, self-respect, and a feeling of security ~ but some are: the idea that people who want to work hard should be able to do so at a living wage, the idea that our parents can age with dignity, the idea that education for all is vital......these are the consistent values that come up when you talk to people, one-on-one, no matter how different they appear ~~ and this discovery was a consequence of that hopefulness that emerged when Barack won the primary. He went on to tell us about several of the individuals he has met along the campaign trail ~~ families, and working parents, and unemployed individuals, and children, and senior citizens ~~ many of whom couldn't even say his name a few months ago.

Barack took this hopefulness to the Democratic National Convention. He described how nervous he was before his speech, mentioning, "Bill Clinton spoke the night before I did......he was pretty good." As we laughed, he told us how his nervousness disappeared up at the podium at the Convention ~~ because all he was doing was transmitting the stories he had been hearing for the past 18 months...."the cumulative effect of these stories, the aggregate effect, is that what's going on is unacceptable ~ it's un-American ~~ a world that is a little meaner, a little poorer, is unacceptable to pass on to our children." Barack has two kids, two young girls ~ and he told us more about how his children, how his family, and how being a father impacts his passion for politics ~ his mission of political change.

Barack told us the story of how he went to speak at an event in August, next door to the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. You may remember that on September 15, 1963, eighteen days after the March on Washington, several Ku Klux Klan members planted a bomb in the Church ~~ four little girls who were changing into their choir robes in the basement were killed in the explosion, which also injured 20 people. Barack told us what it was like to be in that Church.....he told us, he is "standing on the shoulders of those four little girls, brick-by-brick, building a bridge that is directly connected to these four little girls." As a father, he could feel the profound anguish that those families must have felt at the loss of their children. And he remembered also the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, when African-Americans in Montgomery, Alabama boycotted the segregated city buses, and women would walk miles to get home after spending all day cleaning someone else's house. Barack told us these stories to illustrate that "our sacrifices, in comparison, are small ~~ which means we have to be joyful in our work....when we compare what we have to give up to what has been given to us, we should be joyful;" although I add that it's a bittersweet feeling in that the struggles continue, nearly a half-century later.

Barack then told us a funny quip about his opponent, Alan Keyes ~~ when Keyes said that Jesus would not vote for Barack, Barack wanted to ask Keyes for the name of that pollster ~~ Barack has a host of more important questions to ask Jesus than who He's going to vote for.

And so Barack ended on a funny, and hopeful note. Then, he quoted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and said:

Let us realize that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

But Barack reminded us that the arc does not bend by itself ~~ it bends because we bend it, because we pull on it, because we insist that it bend in the direction of justice. And so I, too, want to keep tugging at that arc. Later, when I got home, I looked up that quote and found that it is from Dr. King's final address to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, on August 16, 1967. The speech was entitled, "Where Do We Go From Here?" ~~ and Dr. King's final book, published the year before his death, was entitled, "Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?"

Clearly, the question remains. Where are we going? Where do we want to go? How? The crowd ~ inspired by Barack's words, optimism, hope, and challenge ~ milled around after he left, discussing these issues. Sometimes, I feel terrified walking up to people and introducing myself, attempting to discuss politics ~ because it's a very personal discussion, revealing your values, goals, morals, and deepest desires for our country. But, like Barack, that fear and nervousness utterly disappear when the conversation begins ~ because all I am doing is connecting one-on-one with an individual, sharing stories ~ the fact that we happen to deconstruct national and global issues is a hopeful consequence of our private connection. So, I met Cliff who works in computer sales in Silicon Valley and is going to telephone 50 college swing voters; I spoke with a couple of women who want to join the East Bay for Kerry carpools that go up to Reno every weekend to register voters; I bumped into my Con Law professor from law school, who mentioned he is friends with Barack and had already held a fundraiser for him last month, and plans to keep donating to progressive candidates ~~ and I snagged his email address so I can tell him about "Emerge" later; I saw Robert Mailer Anderson, the San Francisco author and artist, and I was surprised he remembered me ~~ you may recall I blogged about Robert and his cousin, Zack, a few months ago when they designed the "Got Democracy?" posters ~~ Robert told me that he and Zack rarely "do this sort of thing," i.e., attend political fund raisers, and that they are registered Greens ~ but Robert and his wife just had their third child, and they feel a compelling need to get involved in this election ~~ I told him to volunteer anywhere and everywhere he can, but if he can't, to keep donating money to progressive candidates; Robert is working on another novel and was on his way to The Magic Theater to discuss his first play, which he just finished; then I chatted with Robin Williams for a bit. Yep, you read that right: Robin Williams. Before the luncheon, I was at the registration table when Williams walked up; my heart was racing when I saw him; I was nervous and didn't want to say or do the wrong thing ~~ but he is so soft-spoken and genial and unassuming! He had registered under another name and so no one knew he was coming; he was not seated at the "VIP" table but at table 11 ~ where I ended up! I checked him in, and he made a point to look at my name tag and thank me by my name; when I asked him if he wanted me to show him to the VIP Reception, he politely declined, and just wandered in, alone, into the main dining room. Later, after the luncheon, I joined a conversation that one of my fellow "Emerge" graduates, and one of the co-founders of "Emerge," was having with Williams ~~ about women in politics, and Margaret Thatcher, and how tough women have to be in effecting political change.

I mean, can you believe my day?

And the point is, what do I have in common with computer sales guys in the South Bay, or artists and writers in San Francisco, or celebrity comedians, or a legal genius who clerked for the U.S. Supreme Court, or even some guy from Illinois?

Passion.
For.
Change.
and
Politics.
and
Democratic Ideals.
and
a Return to Real Traditional Values ~
compassion, community, civil liberties.

So, my plans continue for my own mission ~ working in Nevada on a campaign, and working to Get Out The Vote to win Nevada's 5 electoral votes. Finances may prevent me from committing full-time to the campaign, but I hope I work that out soon. For now, here is a photo of our volunteer group with Barack ~ that's me in blue right next to Barack! ~ :)

Comments

[Catherine]

I support Barack Obama and was sorry to miss him in San Francisco. I will be one of his volunteers in the near future. I need to know what his plans are for New Orleans and the Gulf Coast area. I brought my 97 year old mother here to the Bay Area after she lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. The area still is a disaster. I believe alot can and must be done to rebuild that wonderful city with its amazing culture and food and people. We must be in this together.

[elenamary]

he is so wonderful. I'd love to shake his hand. He is right 18 months ago I hadn't heard of him but I did write about him on my blog 3-4months before the DNC convention. I am jealous you have a photo with him.

[cindylu]

everytime i hear anyone speak/write about barack obama it's always with such optimism, almost as if he/she were on a high. change is coming, right? well, i think we have to make it come. great post.