In the Air

I was thinking more last night about all the things I have felt over the last few months watching Barack Obama's success in his quest to become the next President of the United States of America. I feel proud of Americans who have been able to look at him and see beyond color. Not to say that people who vote for Hilary automatically have a problem with race. I am sure that most people who vote for her do not.

But even Ed Rendell, the Governor of Pennsylvania said "you've got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate." So clearly, there are some who are running away from Obama simply because he is not white.

There are even websites devoted to trying to prove that he is anti-christ or that he is trying to become President so that he can turn the country over to the blacks, whatever that means. Whenever people say stuff like that I always think they must not know very much about Presidential powers and the roles of the Congress and the Supreme Court. We don't live in a dictatorship.

But there are those who are stepping out and defying the odds. There are those who are listening without prejudice.

The last few months I have been reminded of something Eldridge Cleaver said in "Soul on Ice":

"...America is slowly coming awake. It is not fully awake yet, but there is soul in the air and everywhere I see beauty."

On Obama

I keep thinking about Obama’s speech. I feel as though I want to write something, I want to say something, but really I am just filled with musings and awe. Different thoughts keep going through my head. So I am going to write and hopefully sort some of it out here.

I watched Obama’s speech live Tuesday morning. I am a huge fan, even with my five classes and two kids I did a little campaigning for him before the Arizona primary and I attended his rally. I am beginning to realize why I feel so strongly about Barack Obama. I trust him. Not because he is black. He seems honest and good. He seems slightly naïve in a way that is refreshing in a climate of cynics who don’t know how to hope. He actually seems to believe that all in all Americans are good, that this is a good place and that our wildest dreams can come true. He believes that honesty and transparency are best. Because of this hope, this purity of purpose a black man with a middle name of Hussein is running to be the President of the United State of America. He is bucking the odds and changing the world as I know it.

I think another reason why Obama is important to me is because last semester I spent a lot of time learning more and more about the dark history of hatred towards blacks. I read about men who will not be listed in the history books who died because of honest mistakes that were deemed offensive. Many black men and women lived day in and day out hoping not to get on the wrong side of a white person, because it could cost them their lives.

I learned from my aunt Vera that blacks could not get loans. She explained that this was why Booker worked at Lusco’s for so many years, saving every penny, so that he could open Booker’s Place. How many people today can say that? How many people save every penny to pay cash for anything? How many people have no choice?

One of the ideas that has sort of rocked my foundation is that blacks today are not playing on a level playing field because we come from those who had little opportunity. Maybe I should have gotten this before. But I didn't. I am not looking for a handout or a leg up. I am not hunting for affirmative action to solve all of my problems. I just don’t want to be put down either.

The point I make with all this is that I came into 2008 weighed down by the hate I’d been reading about and the absence of a level playing field. Discouraged about the damage that has been done to the national dialogue on race, I was burnt out and feeling bitter. I found myself seeing racial inequality everywhere, even when maybe something else was at play. I have always been one of those people who never thought that race was a factor if I didn’t get a job or didn’t get invited or wasn’t taken seriously. I never “played the race card”. My research taught me that maybe I had been a little naïve.

I came into 2008 needing something to believe in. I needed to believe that there was hope in our nation’s views and our dialogue on race. Then, on January 3, 2008, Barack Obama won the Iowa Caucus. Iowa. Do they even have black people there? He had to be offering something more than the “color alternative.” I got on the net, started watching the debates, started listening and learning and I realized that I believed in him, more than I could ever believe in Hillary. I realized then what I love the most about him is that I respect him. It is not a stretch to do this; I am not ignoring some obvious flaw. I can believe he is good and that makes my soul smile.

In Malcolm X’s eulogy Ossie Davis refers to Malcolm as “our Prince – our own black shining Prince.” I don’t know if I will always feel this way, but this week, since I heard that speech I realized that Obama embodies this for me. He is the hope that maybe the past is behind us. Maybe we can come together, regardless of color, and work together. He is the hope that whites who only see blacks in the crime section of their local paper will understand that we too can be great and that Oprah is not just a fluke.

The pain is still there. But in pain, we have to work together. Our problems are no longer limited to racial lines. There are whites who have been taken advantage of and who have lost their pensions, their healthcare, and their homes. The story of racism in America was always about power. Whites used to have all the power. Now, corporations and politicians have all the power. Whites, blacks, Mexicans, and all groups of people need to stand together. Our pasts are not the same, but many of our grievances are.

Another Encouraging Day

I finally got ahold of M.W. today, she was Booker's wife when he died and she kept Booker's Place open until last year. She was very kind and wanted to do all that she could to help me. She confirmed the date of his death as 1973. She thinks that the incident when Booker spoke to the news media occurred in either 1964 or 1965. I explained to her about the African American National Biography and how I am trying to get Booker listed. She asked for my number and said that she will ask her daughter if there is any additional information that she can remember about Booker that may be useful to me.

I emailed this info to Donny this morning, he emailed back that he will look for both items on microfilm and will get back to me. He is wonderful. He said that if they are there, he will find them even if it takes him a long time. It is so nice to finally have someone in Greenwood who is taking up this work with me.

Donny also mentioned that he found someone who knows someone who worked for Booker and who knew him. That person is supposed to give Donny a call. It feels as if, finally, the ball is slowly beginning to roll.

March 17

Had two great conversations this afternoon, one with Amy Evans and another with Donny Whitehead. Donny has created a website www.aboutgreenwoodms.com. It has pictures and some interesting information about the town. He had not heard of Booker, but he was sure that he had at least heard of Booker's Place. He acknowledged that many of the things that had to do with black history in Greenwood had not been recorded. He was very interested in Booker's story. He knows a few elderly blacks in the community who he feels should have a recollection of Booker or the establishment.

Donny is also going to search for the news story about Booker's death. I feel excited and a little sad. I still catch myself at times longing to meet Booker, wishing he could have known me. Thinking about his death brings some of this back.

Amy Evans encouraged me to contact Karen Pinkston. I reread some of the interview that Amy did with Karen. It is probably the best lead I have so far about what Booker said to the news program. I am hoping that Karen will be able to get me in contact either with customers who may remember Booker or with people in the community who may have known him. She mentioned that I should speak with Senator Jordan. I shared with her how my first interview with him went and her feedback was helpful and encouraging. She told me that he went to Booker's funeral, this was something I didn't even think to ask the Senator about. So, I am going to be following up with him and asking him as well if he knows of anyone else who can tell me about Booker. I also want to ask him about the funeral, what he remember, who was there, is anyone who was available for me to speak with.

I feel so handicapped here. I wish I was there and that I could just jump into a car and head down to this place or that. Technology is great but it is not the same as being able to look these people in the face and listen with more than just my ears.