Barack Obama: new political star attracts national attention

Ebony, Nov, 2004 by Joy Bennett Kinnon

Obama's memoir, Dreams from My Father, written in 1995, enjoyed a resurgence and top placement on the New York Times book list following his convention triumph. He dealt with many racial issues in the book and says he is clear about who he is. "When I'm catching a cab in Manhattan they don't say, there's a mixed-race guy, I'll go pick him up. Or if I was an armed robber and they flashed my face on television, they'd have no problem labeling me as a Black man," he says. "So if that's my identity when something bad happens, then that's my identity when something good happens as well."

To critics who claim he does not know the uniquely American Black experience, he says we have a set of common experiences that we all share. "All of us had parents or grandparents who were the subject of much greater discrimination. That's true whether they were from the Caribbean, or Africa or Mississippi," he says. "All of us have a shared history of struggle that required great faith, and so it has never made sense to deny this either socially, politically or economically."

In the Senate he plans to focus on the issues he has been raising during the campaign, jobs, health care and education. He says national security will remain a dominant issue, but on the domestic front, "good education, good health care and good jobs are what all Americans, Black, White, Hispanic and Asian are looking for."

Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe is ecstatic about Obama's potential. "Barack is the American dream. As the next junior senator from the great State of Illinois, he is absolutely the best this country has to offer--and that makes the Democratic Party proud."

Working the crowd campaigning in Chicago, Obama is quickly engulfed by supporters, including many children who chant his name. He is gracious but not overly moved by the hoopla, saying that it is not what sustains him. He describes a humbling moment when he visited the Birmingham church where four little girls were killed during the Civil Rights Movement. "As I was in the sanctuary, I was reminded of those four little gifts and all the people who made those sacrifices who never had their moment in the sun and whose courage and strength allowed Michelle and me and all of us to have our opportunity."

It reminded him of why he entered politics. "It's useful to remember that you get involved in this work not for the sake of ambition or vanity, but for service," he says. "And if that remains your focus, then you won't get carried away."

In Obama's convention speech he asked if there is a place in America for a skinny kid with a funny name and a big dream. The answer is yes and the elections of this November and Novembers to come will almost certainly confirm his "audacity of hope."