YES WE CAN!

Oh my god, did anyone else see The Speech last night?? Man, I am on such an Obama high this morning--it was that great.

I let Mark stay up late to watch it with my mom and I (I taped it, since he spoke during dinner). Mark didn't really understand the importance of it all, so I explained it to him. Before the speech, I told him that this was a first, an African-American man being nominated as a presidential candidate. I told him how amazing that fact alone was; but even better, the last man standing in the campaign against him for the Democratic nomination wasn't even a MAN--it was Hillary! A woman! (I love this country...)

Mark didn't get the significance of either point, to which I say--HOORAY! He'll grow up thinking it's completely normal for ANYONE, including a woman or a minority, to hold the highest office in the country.

But after the speech, I pounded another point into him. What felt historical to me about the speech was not the color of Barack Obama's skin, but the grace and humility of his character. We listened raptly, the three of us, cheering and calling out to the T.V., "That's right!" We felt like we were watching one of our own--someone who grew up in the real world, not another privileged politician with a silver spoon and a sense of entitlement. I was cheering for him not because of what he looked like, but because of what he felt, and thought. I was cheering for what he offered--hope and change--because both are in short supply these days. And I was grateful for what he was NOT selling--fear and scare-tactics.

All politics aside, I will say this: tonight an extremely smart, articulate, thoughtful man showed my son that with hard work and dedication, you really CAN become anything you want to become. Nothing can limit you, least of all the color of your skin.

So today, as a mother; as a minority; as a woman; as an aunt to little girls and little boys, who are also minorities; today, I say to them that if you think you can become anything you want to, well, you're right--YES, YOU CAN!!