San Mateo County blacks amazed, proud that Obama nominated for

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Aug 28, 2008 | by Michael Manekin

On the day Barack Obama told a roaring crowd in Denver that he would accept the Democratic party's nomination for president, African-Americans on the Peninsula could barely contain their enthusiasm. A black man has become the presidential candidate of a major party, and African Americans of every generation could barely contain their pride.

"I just think it's unbelievable because I really did not think in my lifetime that I would ever see this happen -- it just means so much for African-Americans," said Carolyn Hoskins, of Belmont, an amateur historian who curates an annual exhibit during Black History Month to commemorate the contributions of her community.

"You have not seen this much energy and people getting involved in something positive since Kennedy," she added. "People that never thought about voting are this time going to vote."

The uncommon excitement for politics which many Americans experienced during the contentious Democratic primary season may have dampened in recent months, but the African-American community's euphoria over Obama's candidacy has inspired a surging interest in the presidential election this year.

Mignon Page-Broughton, a 35-year-old county probation officer, said that Obama has not only inspired an unfamiliar hope in her community but also created a new generation of political junkies.

Obama has gripped the imaginations of her two children and the televised Democratic National Convention became a family event.

Page-Broughton's nine-year-old son has even begged her to stay up past his bedtime to watch the speeches.

"My son says, '(Obama) looks like me. He can be president of the United States and he looks like me,' " she said.

Months after Obama bested Hillary Clinton in the Iowa primaries and blazed his trail toward the Democratic nomination, the possibility that an African-American could become president of the United States still strikes many in the Peninsula's black community as a revolutionary object lesson for children.

"We raise children saying to them, 'You can be anything you want to be, including the president of the United States' and never before has it been a reality for my minority students," said Sharifa Williams, the former mayor of East Palo Alto.

Williams, who now mentors low-income high school students in East Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Redwood City, said she "absolutely believes that people in this country are ready for an African- American president" because "Obama did not get where he is today off of the African-American vote and I think that speaks volumes."

Claire Mack, former mayor of San Mateo and the first publicly- elected African-American official in San Mateo County, said that Obama has her vote "not because he's a black man "... (but) because he's a good man."

"Let Martin Luther King's dream be true, that we aren't judging anyone by the color of their skin, but let us judge them by their character," Mack said, tearing at the thought of Obama's nomination. "Some of my best friends are white men, but they're not the only ones who can lead. There are good brains in Asians, in Latinos, in women."

Dr. Larry Wayne Ellis, a pastor at Pilgrim Baptist Church in San Mateo, said he thinks it is very significant that Obama's acceptance speech fell on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. The senator's nomination is a sign of hope for anyone who falls into a category "other than majority culture," he said.

Mildred Swann, the 76-year-old clerk at Pilgrim Baptist Church, said of her wish to see Obama become president: "We want this to happen "... with every limb in my body and every thought in my mind, trusting that this is possible, that's how badly we want it."

She and Joanne Griffin, 62, the church administrator, said they would be glued to the television for Obama's public address.

"I just want him to give the speech of his lifetime," Griffin said, adding that he must address American's concerns about the economy, health care and other meat and potatoes issues to convince swing voters that his policies make sense.

"I personally want him to do a great job so that people believe what he says," Swann said. "I have no doubt in my mind that he will go down as one of the greatest presidents who ever lived and that's what I want to see happen."

There is also anxiety in the African-American community. Everyone interviewed for this story expressed fear for Obama's life, and many who worried over future assassination attempts against the Democratic nominee also worried whether their candidate would betray his promises for change if elected to office.

"There's always that fear of being let down," said 17 year old Akala Francis, a high school senior in East Palo Alto who has walked door-to-door campaigning for Obama in recent months. "But I truly believe what he's saying, so I hope he does what he says he can do."

Whatever becomes of Obama's quest for the presidency and his promises of change and hope, it's clear that African-Americans in San Mateo County are gratified that the United States has shed enough of its past to open a future to all races and ethnicities.