A Lesson in Leadership:

Why Obama Won the People, the Presidency, and the Prize

It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day…For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime — two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem…But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice…And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Barack Obama on Election Night

After my first campaign event in Iowa, I said to myself, “There is no way any decent, regular person who wants a better world for their children could hear this man and turn a deaf ear. His only problem is getting enough people to hear him.”

Little did I know, he, David Plouffe, and David Axelrod already had that covered. The Obama Campaign would take us to the smallest of towns, the most rural areas having only a single road, and the biggest of cities. Young people of all races and backgrounds, in each of these stops, refused to be shackled by the hang-ups of their parents and would become so energized that they immediately reported for duty.

Plouffe, a serious strategist, and Barack, the brainy leader, laid out the goal of the campaign and how each person could help. And no matter what anyone thinks, Barack was nobody’s puppet. He called the shots. Nevertheless, he spent a lot of time with his volunteers and made it clear that the race and possible presidency would be an uphill battle. And he warned that once in office, the battle to make change would be even harder. He was bucking a system that has been ruled by power and corruption and that has crushed millions of people.

During his talks, he was also inspiring new political leaders who would be bred under his philosophy and over time, Change would finally come to America’s political system. Whatever he could not accomplish while in office, he was raising new leaders to see it through. His platform has also become the criterion that his supporters use in judging political races in their home districts. If the candidate isn’t “talking Obama” then “we don’t want them.”

We were a silent, hidden thought in the folds of oblivion, and we have become a voice that causes the heavens to tremble...Time has been transformed, and we have changed; it has advanced and set us in motion; it has unveiled its face, inspiring us with bewilderment and exhilaration. Khalil Gibran

The volunteers, including me, stuck by him even during the most controversial times and used all of our resources and energy to keep the wind at his back. Money? Here. More volunteers? No problem. House meetings? Sure. Knock on some doors? Got it.

This is politics we’re talking about! Who, in their right mind, would go all out for a politician? As a rule, I usually stay as far away from them as possible but, there I was, on somebody’s bandwagon putting my own credibility on the line to help their campaign. What was I doing! Secretly, like Michael Jackson sang, “I couldn’t help it if I wanted to, wouldn’t help it even if I could.”

I was too young to vote for Harold Washington but when I became of age, I had a recurring debate with a friend, who is a few years older, on why I didn’t vote. She would rant about how people died for the right to vote and get so upset that it was my pleasure to say, “People died for the right to vote for some lying, two-faced ***hole who gets money under the table and makes back-room deals? And don’t talk to me about Black politicians. From where I sit, most of them have been compromised in one way or another. Don’t be mad at me. Be mad at the ones cheapening our right to vote by being criminals. I’d rather hold my vote than cast it for a crook. I don’t condone unlawful activity. ”

So, what was/is it about Barack that makes the most distrustful and cynical people of all races and backgrounds throw caution to the wind and ride the wave?

Inspired Vision.

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Proverbs 29:18

Barack Obama’s vision for America resonated with a global population who wanted to change a corrupt and oppressive political system. A population who wants a better world for their children. Although, many thought the movement to get him elected was Biblical, politics is an unlikely arena to find the Lord. At least, it is unlikely to find anyone in politics not opposing the Lord. Many prominent people were caught off guard and seemed to not realize what was happening. Some never recovered and went totally mad or lost all credibility.

When people questioned my support of him, I said, “Listen, I am riding this wave and will do everything I can to get him elected. You can stand there waving your finger all you want to but we’re about to drown out all the haters on November 4th and I guarantee, there will be a line of them trying to get an invite to the White House come January.”

But what does Almighty God have to do with it? Barack’s vision touched the higher values and desires of life that are alive in every person. These values reside in the most intimate places of the human body; the mind and heart. Who are we to tell God to stay in the church, mosque, and synagogue and leave the rest to us?

These intimate places are the reservoirs of the Creator and are not “of the flesh.” And once you open and win the heart and mind of a person, they will stand with you through many raging battles. That is, as long as you remain loyal to the values and desires you touched.

Until and unless Barack suddenly flips for the other side, he will have thousands of supporters ready to do his bidding. His supporters have already been warned of the tough times ahead, the false starts, and the stumbles. And despite all of that, they will continue to back him. This is what defines true leadership.

First Barber Zariff & the Prez...Photo: Courtesy of Zariff

Obama has, as President, created a new climate in international politics. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future. Norwegian Nobel Committee

Some do not believe the President is due such an honor. I disagree.

Not only has his vision captivated the entire world, the current political climate makes delaying this distinctive honor a potential blemish on the Norwegian Nobel Committee. A great error was made in the past: they waited too long to honor Mahatma Gandhi and it is rumored that they planned to award Gandhi the Peace Prize the same year he was assassinated. And because they do not give posthumous awards, no Peace Prize was presented in 1948 and it has become a stain on their esteemed record. The Nobel Committee is aware that there are people trying their best to see our President meet such a cruel fate. And after their unhurried pace with Gandhi, better safe than sorry.

Still, it’s an exciting time and we won’t give in to the Politics of Fear.

New leaders with inspired vision are emerging and the younger generation is taking control of their lives and surroundings. People are releasing the trepidation and doubt of their predecessors and are forging ahead to make a new reality.

“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” Barack Obama

Sadly, established Black Leadership don’t seem to get it. Their disconnectedness could be generational but, I believe it is spiritual. Healthy challenge and debate is good but their constant bickering and opposition to Barack is conflicting with a larger truth and a great number of us who are pushing his platform of Change.

And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness. Numbers 14

Is Barack the Messiah? Of course, not.

But nothing and no one will stop Almighty God from establishing His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Why do we think His Kingdom would only be inside our head? Or church? Or home? When I think Kingdom, I think every aspect of human existence will be governed by His Law.

Good must triumph over evil…even in politics. Metropolis

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