However, during that Thanksgiving visit I’d felt a seismic shift. During the previous year, much of the press appeared to have rediscovered the independent workings of its hind legs. Ordinary Americans had begun bridling at the Bush administration’s gross hypocrisies, ham-fisted actions and cavalier attitudes to the welfare, physical and social, of all beyond their intimate circle. The Democrats had won majorities in both Houses of Congress; I could hold open conversations about political change with people around whom I’d been circumspect since the World Trade Centre attack; and already there was a real sense of urgency to a presidential campaign that was two years away.I wanted to believe that the Democrats would somehow manage to get their act together this time, but I wasn’t excited about the candidates with which I was familiar. In the past, I’d resigned myself to voting for Hillary Clinton, but with her ever wider steps to the right, her support of the Iraq war, her incessant pandering for votes … this was feeling more and more distasteful. Would 2008 be yet another year to vote against someone rather than for?Folks were talking about the junior senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, but I didn’t think he had a chance in hell. Young, African-American, Senate rookie, with no money? Forget about it. Folks were talking about his books, a memoir, Dreams from My Father, and a political precis, The Audacity of Hope, with enthusiasm. Word was that Obama was a rising star. Now wasn’t his time, but it would come before too long.A very close African-American friend thought I ought to give the memoir a try. “It reads like a novel,” she said. “I really think you’ll like it.” I completed Dreams from My Father’s 442 pages in a trice. Yes, Obama could write - the extraordinarily well-crafted fluidity of his style was more than a pleasure - but it was the man’s profound humanity that pierced me to my core. Here was a man of earth and experience and empathy and at the precocious (for a man) age of 33. When he described his personal epiphany upon hearing a sermon entitled The Audacity of Hope, I too experienced a long-dormant elation. In subsequently reading the eponymous political precis that spoke of America’s promise to all her people and how this must and could be reignited, I felt flames of pride and possibility of belief in the country of which I’d despaired reignite as well. Here, after years and years of technocrat venality, was a leader to believe in.I called my aunt. At 83 she is still an active participant in New York’s theatre world and continues to be politically active as well. She was also extremely impressed with Obama, but as much as she believed in him, she hoped that he wouldn’t run. Like Colin Powell’s wife, Alma, my aunt believed that any black man with a serious chance at the office of president was bound to be gunned down by some race-mad cracker. I told her that I’d agreed that there had been good reason for fear during the time of Powell’s consideration, but I felt that things had changed in the intervening years. Americans were so sick of being lied to and stolen from by their government and disrespected - if not hated - in the world, so discouraged by the lack of decency, let alone higher values, in public life that the chances were they wouldn’t be so trigger-happy. My aunt, like many of her generation since, countered that it only took one.I saw her point, but my decision was made. Barack Obama was my candidate.On February 10 2007, while waiting for the announcement of his candidacy, I spent a good deal of time staring at a full-frontal portrait of Obama and realised that not only did I want him to be president of the United States but that, though I hadn’t been an active political participant since the back-in-the-day black student revolution of the late 60s and early 70s, I could not sit this one out. If this man was not elected it wouldn’t be because of something I didn’t do.That day I jumped in, began contacting people, first as a renegade freelance and then as a member of Americans Abroad for Obama. In February last year I’d told myself that I was not going to go back to the US to make phone calls and knock on doors; but for six days in early January of this year I did just that. Raising money, sending emails, writing commentary wasn’t enough. I contacted the extraordinarily well-organised central office in Chicago and got assigned to the small town of Peterborough, New Hampshire, where, sometimes in temperatures of -15C, I experienced up close and personal how deeply this improbable candidate, this no longer impossible dream, was igniting hundreds of thousands of Americans on all sides of all spectrums.For me, and for many I’ve worked with or spoken to, it’s not so much the specifics of the man’s programmes that have garnered our profound support. Obama is a very smart man who has spent much time specifically considering the challenges that afflict us: foreign policy, healthcare, education, social security. It is his willingness and proven ability to work with all parties to solve even the most intractable problems, his “naive” determination to speak with our enemies as well as our friends, with those who fervently disagree with him on domestic matters, as well as those who share his approach, that fuels our drive to make this happen. As the man says, “More light, less fight” - and thus an end to the intractable polarisation that has been blighting our political system for at least 20 years.And, too, the consistency of his character, his refusal to shape-shift when so many “authorities” were saying he must for any chance at victory, fills my own soul with joy. Part of this consistency is his refusal to be cowed by those who proclaim hope to be naive, foolish and downright false. Obama’s hope, our hope, isn’t a passive thing but the strongest motivation for progress throughout our history and has inspired collective endeavour unknown in the US for a good deal more than 30 years, a movement in fact.was wrapped up in blankets in my chilly Peterborough hotel room when the Iowa results came in. Elation? Absolutely. We’d done it! We’d proven that the Obama campaign had votes as well as hearts, legs, money and hope. For the millions of African-Americans who doubted that white folks would ever vote for a black man, the all-important proof that this, too, was no impossible dream; but with the euphoria, a nagging wonder: could it really be this easy? A mighty wind, yes, but was the Clinton organisation and the Democratic establishment really so flimsy as it was appearing?The answer, of course, was no. For all the pundit and poll nonsense, for all our concentrated and exuberant efforts, the result in New Hampshire was not what we wanted, and we saw what we’ve always known, that any status quo does not concede its hegemony without a knockdown, drag-out fight which, in the past week, has become very, very nasty.When I first heard of Hillary Clinton’s comment that “Dr King’s dream began to be realised when President Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act. It took a president to get it done”, I thought that extreme desire for victory had caused the woman to lose not only her moral compass but her mind as well. Just as, no matter how hip or intimate they are with black folk, no white person can use the N-word with impunity, so, no matter what the politics of your black audience, you don’t trivialise the work and legacy of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. And Clinton knows this. The implication that King, after years of galvanising and moral leadership, despite innumerable beatings, jailings and government disinformation campaigns, was but a minimal factor in this history was beyond wrong.Folks on all sides went into an uproar, myself included, and then I came to recognise these remarks as being as cynical as the woman’s New Hampshire tears. Obama’s success and appeal comes in no small part from his promise of a post-racial politics, something that has produced a mix of ambivalence, pride and downright resentment among black folk; but every black person knows that the one sure way to discomfort white people is to turn the spotlight on our blackness. Now the Clintons have brought race to the front and centre and had the cheek to say that it was the Obama campaign playing the race card, all just in time for the South Carolina and Super Tuesday contests.With characteristic dignity and discipline, Barack moved quickly to damp down what could have become the Clinton-desired conflagration, but black folk are as elephants. We never forget. For many, this and other slights - the implication from the Clinton camp that Barack had sold drugs, Bill Clinton’s suggestions that his campaign was a “fairytale”, Andrew Cuomo’s racist reference to “shucking and jiving” - will linger in their consciousness. Survival has always necessitated a wary eye towards history.Last week, I wrote to my historian cousin in Atlanta and asked how things were looking. “Things are thick and shifting every damn minute in Atlanta. But Obama fever is on the rise,” she replied. “My last call to a potential voter turned out to be a black man who said he was 75 years old. I asked him if he minded telling me who he planned to vote for. He said, ‘Come on now, you don’t even need to ask! You know it’s Obama!’” This cousin, Joy, later had a tearful moment in her car missing Dr King, who started young and died too soon. “Then I thought of Barack Obama”, she wrote, “[and] my favourite quote from ML: ‘Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.’ “Bonnie Greer {playwright and critic}In 2008, America is still deeply racist. In many parts of the nation, there is still a deeply held belief that black people are not quite fully fledged and functioning human beings. And there are black people who will vote for anyone, as long as the person is black.Forget about the African-American millionaires and billionaires; the movie stars; the rap artists. Think instead of the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, and mainly black people pleading for help with the American flag spread out on the ground beside them. Think of the sub-prime catastrophe, a scam that sucked in mainly black Americans unable to get credit in any normal way and desperate to have a part of the American dream.In a country that believes in the Dream, many Americans are dreaming now that the young black man with the powerful voice and blinding charisma, the brilliant junior senator from my home state of Illinois, will somehow take them out of the morass of our history. Many Americans are dreaming that the young man who wants to lead them is somehow not black. This may sound retrograde, old-school and just plain wrong: Barack Obama is not perceived as “black”. Not in the way that Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton or I am. And he knows it.One of my brothers said the other day that if Obama and Clinton were smart, they’d flip a coin and see who should run for president and who should run for vice-president, then get together and wipe the Republicans out.I agree. If “the Dreamer” and “the Schemer” could get together, fascism could be driven out of the White House and democracy restored to America. But we’re talking about two alpha people toning down their game. Forget that.The truth is that I can’t warm to Obama. Maybe I’m just too working-class, too old-school, to trust black people who look that slick outside of showbusiness or the church. Maybe I distrust someone who allows others to compare him to JFK or even MLK. I was around when they were alive. He’s not them.There is the whiff of tragedy about the whole Obama/Clinton thing, though. Not that I think somebody will get killed, it’s just that it’s turning into a nasty mess, and we don’t have time for that.Obama talks dreams and I want to yell: “Stop dreaming! Wake up!” Clinton talks experience and I want to yell: “So go save Merrill Lynch! We’re talking about running a country here.”There’s just too much money, too much bullshit, involved in both camps. Both of them will owe too many people. And the people they owe won’t be the poor, the ex-soldiers struggling to live back home; the disenfranchised; the people who will have to rent rooms because their houses are gone.If Obama allows his wife and supporters to play the race card, he’s doomed. If Clinton tries to ignore race as a pivotal factor in this contest, she’s doomed.Me? I’ll vote for whoever the Democrats throw up at their convention. American presidential politics has long past stopped being for real. Chris Rock {comedian} I like Barack. He’s black, and he’s a leader. I think he’s like a world leader. History will tell if Obama is that. But what he’s trying to do is lead the world, and that’s good.Do I support him over Hillary Clinton? Oh yeah, totally. It’s weird, cos I’m friends with Bill, but in baseball there’s a rule that the tie goes with the runner. You hit the ball to first base. If the ball gets there first you are out, if you get there first you are safe, but if it’s a tie, it goes to the runner.That’s how I feel about race. If both people are qualified I’ve got to go with my guy.”Linn Washington {journalist} Obama’s refusal to raise uncomfortable truths, while tactically sound for his political positioning among whites, is pushing many blacks, Latinos and progressive whites away, or at least into a wait-and- see stance. Blacks are tired of having themselves and their issues pushed to the “back of the bus”. Obama certainly has the rhetoric down - he talks change and that is a reason he can garner white folks because many, many Americans want change. But many blacks want to hear more than safe-and-shallow political rhetoric.”%26#183; Linn Washington is journalism professor at Temple University and columnist for the Philadelphia Tribune, America’s oldest African-American-owned newspaper.Oprah Winfrey {broadcaster}His sense of hope and optimism for this country and what is possible for the United States is the kind of thing that I would like to get behind. It’s the kind of the thing that if I were ever gonna run myself, he says all the things that I would want to say for this country. I think he has the capability, certainly the potential, to be a great leader.Angela Davis {activist and academic} He is being consumed as the embodiment of colour-blindness. It’s the notion that we have moved beyond racism by not taking race into account. That’s what makes him conceivable as a presidential candidate. He has become the model of diversity in this period, and what is interesting about his campaign is that it has not sought to invoke engagements with race other than those that have already existed.This Republican administration is the most diverse in history. But when the inclusion of black people into the machine of oppression is designed to make that machine work more efficiently, then it does not represent progress at all. We have more black people in more visible and powerful positions. But then we have far more black people who have been pushed down to the bottom of the ladder. When people call for diversity and link it to justice and equality, that’s fine. But there’s a model of diversity as the difference that makes no difference, the change that brings about no change.Barbara Heineback {consultant} I have not been involved with politics for many years, but Obama has excited me again. He is a man of vision, of hope, and he’s very capable. We concentrate on his domestic policy but I think he can help correct some of our international problems. He has a certain gravitas and understanding of culture that means he can mend fences. He has a better understanding of the world than his peers because he has been privy to other cultures.Bill Clinton was a man of intelligence and ability, but he got bogged down in nonsense. And his wife is not cut from the same cloth. It comes down to the fact that the country needs leadership. And it doesn’t matter that Obama is black - there is only one colour that matters and that is USA.%26#183; Barbara Heineback, in her 40s, is a consultant in Frederick, Maryland.ZZ Packer {author} One cannot deny that Barack Obama is eloquent, intelligent, accomplished, inspiring and black - in every way a sort of photonegative of George Bush. When Obama says that he stands for “change”, he doesn’t actually have to say it - he is it. He himself is a signifier that a certain era - the era in which a president, de facto, was a white male - is over. Also gone is the era of a particular type of black statesman - the preacher-turned- politico whose booming voice and fondness for alliteration and rhyme earned hosannas from the black congregations but left many whites feeling castigated, as though they were being flogged for the sins of the father.Obama, on the other hand, does not admonish whites for slavery, Jim Crow, ghettos, redlining, white-flight, unequal hiring practices, inferior schools or a host of other ills that have played a role in the continued blighting of many African-American communities. Nor does he draw from the conservative playbook and lay blame squarely with blacks themselves, but insists, rather, that we are bigger than race - a stance sadly absent from the national dialogue.Most Americans would love to work toward making race irrelevant, as long as they do not have to actually work to make it happen. Conservatives regularly twist Martin Luther King’s vision of a society in which we are judged by “the content of our character, not the colour of our skin” as a sort of paean to a colourblind society, and conveniently invoke this line when battling affirmative-action programmes or explaining why they should be able to dismiss the concerns of poor blacks. What MLK actually meant was that we should be able to see the person beyond his colour, not merely in spite of it.Often this is lost on even black leaders themselves. Men such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton sometimes strike the same chord so often that even when making cogent points they manage to sound as if they care about nothing but race - a chord that falls on deaf ears in this new, post-PC era, in which even leftist commentators adopt the language and framework of the right’s policies. What was long missing from the dialogue - or rather shouting match - was a sort of interlocutor from outside the arena; someone invested in the stakes, but no so much so that he could not recognise useless scorekeeping and the absurd cul-de-sacs we drive ourselves into when discussing race. We needed someone who could not only see the big picture, but the whole picture.Enter Barack Obama.I first heard him while covering the National Democratic convention in Boston in 2004. He gave the keynote address - a dazzler that left people cheering and weeping. The very first thought that entered my head upon hearing him speak was that if there was to be a black president in my lifetime, he would be it. Stylistically, he was perfect. There was just the right amount of righteous thunder in his voice while remaining self-effacing. Substantively he was perfect as well, at each point offering a narrative of how divided we had become as a nation and what means we must adopt to heal.On hearing Obama’s victory in the Iowa caucuses I was shocked, delighted and chagrined all at once. I never thought a state so overwhelmingly white as Iowa (96%) would turn out and vote for a black candidate. After eight years of being alternately disgusted and depressed by half of America for letting Bush hijack the country and plunge us into an unnecessary war, my cynicism was at an all-time high, but those Iowans voting for Obama realised King’s dream: that of being judged by the content of one’s character, and that Americans had begun to see beyond colour.The icy seas of our hearts are now broken open. No matter whether he goes on to win the nomination and the presidency or returns to his Illinois senate seat, none of us will forget the moment when black children all over the country saw that they, too, could afford to dream of one day becoming president.Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope? I am not talking about blind optimism here - the almost wilful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don’t think about it, or the healthcare crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. I am talking about something more substantial. It is the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong delta; the hope of a millworker’s son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes America has a place for him, too.%26#183; ZZ Packer is an author living in Pacifica, California.Phillip E Walker {finance company owner} Obama’s principles simply do not lie with mine. It does not matter to me whether he is black, white, green, purple or yellow. I am not at all torn in saying I won’t be voting for him - I govern my life according to Republican principles. I honour those principles and I trust that the person I vote for, if they are a Republican, will honour them too.It is nothing personal against Senator Obama, but I hope that whoever is elected will make a difference to everyone’s lives, not just black people. It should not be a colour issue; colour should not play into it as much as it does.%26#183; Phillip E Walker, 54, runs his own financial services company in Lakeland, Florida.Mumia Abu-Jamal {former black panther} I haven’t heard anything he has talked about that has touched on the lives of black people in this country. If we are going to get Clinton in blackface, why not just get Clinton?Obama didn’t support the war, but he was only in the Illinois Senate - he didn’t have influence. [Obama was not elected to the US Senate until November 2004; the Iraq war began in March 2003.] He probably would have [supported the war] if he’d been in the Senate.%26#183; Mumia Abu-Jamal is a former Black Panther activist who has been on death row in Pennsylvania for 25 years.Patrice Evans {writer} I am not normally very engaged with the political scene; count me in the camp that prefers artists to politicians. But this political season feels like the kickoff for some superstar musician’s world tour, or the unveiling of some grand exhibit; the anticipation is palpable. The moment feels important.A black man! A woman! At the same time! No matter who wins, it will be an epic moment. And that context seems to be giving our typical smug, listless voter participation a jolt.The buzz heading into South Carolina feels almost like American Idol; the conversation is more impassioned, everyone is invested in the outcome.While I marvel at the historical importance of both candidates, as a young black man, Obama carries more personal significance for me. It doesn’t guarantee my vote, but I’m invested in how he’s bringing race conversations to the forefront. The way Obama is being received seems to tap into a collective, but underground, belief that of all the marginalised minority groups in America, young black males have the most disconcerting statistics. We drop out of school, we populate the jails, we kill each other the most; a trifecta for trouble if ever there was one. Maybe it’s not the best reason to cast your vote, but if any group needed a symbolic carrot to boost their spirits . . . hey, why not us?Perhaps more than anything actually progressive, Obama’s charismatic presence, and invigorating talk of dreams and the future, remind us of the leadership void in the black community since the days of Martin and Malcolm. He stands in such stark contrast to the young black male community he represents (at least as a demographic). Black people are in dire need of a great leader; now we have produced one.Yet I am aware, with all the rhetoric, that Obama’s victory could easily become a curse. A beacon that everyone else points out to demonstrate that things are OK for black people, even though the problems in the community will surely outlast the term of the next president, no matter who it is. So while there is no question that Barack is currently a galvanising symbol of change, until he manifests and enacts that change I think black folks are advised to hedge their bets a little. We don’t want him to be our black Band-Aid for wounds that require much more serious treatment.%26#183; Patrice Evans is a writer and blogger on the Assimilated Negro.Betty Johnny {receptionist} Obama would be an excellent president, and I would definitely vote for him if he was the Democratic candidate. I have followed him since he became a senator here in Chicago, and I voted for him then too. He is young, which makes him different from the other candidates, and that means he has different views about things and would make changes. I have a 13-year-old and I feel that Obama is the best man to ensure the best education and future for all of our children.If he was president, black Americans might get a fairer shout - I don’t think it’s unfair now, but we would get more consideration.%26#183; Betty Johnny, 33, is a receptionist at South Shore Eye Centre, Chicago, Illinois.Dawn Sherwood {teacher} I would consider voting for him, but it is still early in the race. I enjoy seeing fresh faces on the political scene. And by that I don’t mean just a black face - Hillary also deserves credit for getting this far.Whatever happens, we definitely have a historic election process - and as someone who teaches American history, it is especially nice to be around for it. It is great to be able to use it in class and see the kids making connections between books and real life.The pupils in my school are predominantly African-Americans and Latino kids. There may be one white kid whom I have missed, but I don’t think so. Some can vote and most are for Obama or Clinton.As for race - it’s a heavy weight to lay down at Obama’s door. If Mitt Romney or John Edwards won, we would not be asking what it would mean to white people. Lots would love to see a black president in the White House, but we are also dealing with a little bit of political naivety in terms of where the power lies. We see the president as someone who can change the world with the sweep of a pen, but there are some powerful forces that still call the shots - Edwards is right about the corporations. Anyone who thinks they can get into the Oval Office and still be their own person is a little naive.%26#183; Dawn Sherwood, 56, is a history teacher at Hempstead High School, Long Island, New York.Fanshen Cox {broadcaster} Obama clearly considers himself a black presidential candidate, as opposed to a bi-racial or mixed presidential candidate. I don’t fault him for having done that. I think, politically, it’s the wise choice. The country needs a black president, and if that’s all we get out of it, that’s OK with me. But I will spend the next few months wishing he could talk about the complexity of his mixed identity and the strength it gives you.%26#183; Fanshen Cox is co-host of Mixed Chicks, a weekly podcast about being racially and culturally mixed.Halle Berry {actor} After I won the Oscar, there were people in the black community who said: “She is not the first African-American to win the best-actress award because she is half white.” I think that is what Obama is dealing with now. He won’t be “the first black to become president” [to such people] because he is not fully black. I think that’s BS, because Barack and I both walk in the skin of a black person. When we walk down the street no one says, “They aren’t black, they are half white.” We have faced every injustice and discrimination because of the colour of our skin. The fact that one of our parents is not black has not influenced our black experience in one way, ever. So I think it’s insane for them to say that about him because he is very much a black man, as I am a black woman, and that is who I identify with - and I think he feels the same.Boyd Field {Wal-Mart employee} Lots of young people like him, and lots of black people like him, but I think he’s just the same as all the other politicians. I didn’t vote in 2004, and I’m not sure who I’ll vote for this time. If he becomes president, what is he going to do that everyone else hasn’t tried? Obama doesn’t have any magic wand or pill that’s going to make everything better.My family are all Democrats but I think that they are more likely to vote for Clinton. She’s got the experience and she’s been there before.%26#183; Boyd Field, 24, works at Wal-Mart, Amarillo, Texas. Boyd Field is a pseudonym. Kip Banks {pastor} I think that Obama is a breath of fresh air and that we absolutely need him. Before becoming a pastor I worked on Capitol Hill for four years as a senior aide to the US senate budget committee and I can tell you he is very different from other senators. He is very humble and very genuine. He brings a sense of the concerns of ordinary Americans to the table that most politicians are far removed from. I have also heard him addressing ministers, and I think that they were reassured to hear he is a follower of Jesus Christ.When you look at America, it is the internal problems as much as the external threat of terrorism that matter. It is inequality, poverty and the economy that are in trouble and he has worked in community projects; he knows about these problems. He has experience, but more importantly, he is a leader. He is also someone who unites. America is very divided - by race, by generation, by economics - and he can overcome that. He is the one person who can perhaps get us beyond race and get the country behind the issues that matter.%26#183; Kip Banks, 42, is pastor of East Washington Heights Baptist church, Washington, DC.Janet Knowles {cleaner}I suppose I trust Obama more than the others. His father was an immigrant like I am, so I feel he understands how people like us live and the problems we face. I hope he’ll end all this nonsense about stopping immigration and building walls and kicking people out and not giving some people driving licences. We’ve had enough rich white people as presidents. I don’t know if having a black man would change anything, but it’s worth a try.%26#183; Janet Knowles, 41, lives in Manhattan.Kori Newkirk {artist}Obama addresses supporters during the run-up to the New Hampshire primary Photograph Shannon Stapleton/ReutersI am pro-Obama, but I’m also pro-Hillary. You have got the race issue thrown up against the gender issue. It is a balance at the moment, and I am not sure which way I will fall. I watched Obama’s speech at the Democratic convention and thought “Wow”, and then all of a sudden he pops up as a presidential candidate.Race is a prickly, unresolved issue in the US. Obama cannot change his skin colour, and it is interesting to see how everyone dances around the issue. It is the great unmentionable, and I don’t think Americans will be ready to discuss it properly, even if we have a black man in the White House. What is really interesting is whether the Asian and Hispanic communities will be inspired by him.%26#183; Kori Newkirk is a 37-year-old artist living in Los Angeles.%26#183; Interviews by Ravi Somaiya, Laura Smith, Gary Younge, Ed Pilkington. Additional quotes from the Georgia Straight and the Chicago Sun-Times
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