At both conventions, I assisted with further production of a documentary called “Seriously Green” and in fact, ended up getting into Invesco Field to see Obama speak because we shot footage of Obama's acceptance speech.
After a fun-filled summer, I struggled to stay focused on school throughout the fall semester. Compelled to write articles and focus on politics, I spent most of the semester giving class less attention than class deserved.
The 2008 election had me fully engaged. I spent much of the final months arguing in favor of third party candidates like Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney. (I will forever be proud of the interview I got with Vice-Presidential candidate Matt Gonzalez days before Election Day.)
I saw firsthand (again) how the peace movement was in ruin as Chicagoan activists organized a successful but small protest and march in the Pakistani community in Chicago. Everyone spoke out against Obama’s suggestion that he would go after terrorists and wage war in Pakistan. The event was empowering especially as the media drowned and washed people in false hope and change but only a few hundred showed up when we held the protest/march in October.
My media reform group at Columbia College held a film festival throughout the four weeks before Election Day. We showed Free for All, American Blackout, and An Unreasonable Man to bring attention to two candidates for president and voting irregularities that were being ignored by the media. The final event, the An Unreasonable Man screening, featured Ashley Sanders, the youth spokesperson for the Nader/Gonzalez campaign.
In the first presidential election that I could legally vote in, I voted for Nader/Gonzalez. Obama did not side with the people enough and in fact, primarily sided with government and corporations instead. (I also voted for all Green Party candidates.)
I was lucky enough to be able to get tickets to go see Obama give his victory speech in Grant Park and attended the event with a couple friends. It brought back memories of Invesco Field.
I spent the final month of the semester distracted and unable to focus on my work. While the election had come to an end, ever since the Wall Street bailout I had been transfixed by the downward spiraling economy and was following it on a daily basis. I also was very into the Obama transition and prepared for the worst.
Christmas Day with my family was surprising because between my grandma and my uncle (who has family in Detroit) we talked about how Americans are living beyond their means cannot live like that any longer. We talked about corporations and their “good ol’ boy network” and how everyday Americans do not have a seat at the table.
Christmas had never featured talk like this before.
No matter what, Americans will not be able to live in 2009 the way they lived in 2008.
As Americans coast into 2009 happy to see Bush leave and ready to relish the presence of Obama, I am not so dazzled by the prospects of hope and change Obama puts before us because I do not know what effect Obama will have on the American people.
If Obama is not a challenging or transformative personality that takes on the white power structure in America, the American empire will crumble further in 2009.
If Obama does not ask us to do more than consume, troubling times will continue.
If Obama does not restore the rule of law, end the wars, or consult science instead of faith when making policy, Americans and others around the world will continue to suffer.
In order to quell the uncertainty I have within me, I write. I find through my writing a means of therapy which turns the dreadful and inexcusable into an example of why we must fight and struggle with others for a better world.
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