TERROD SWANN
The $200 Winner of the
2007 BACK2SKOOL Essay Contest
Who should be the next President of our Nation and why?
As the year 2008 swiftly approaches the air has changed. Any one who has been paying attention since the clock struck midnight, December 31, 1999, can feel it. The past seven years have whipped by, stronger than the Tsunami waters, with no signs of slowing down. Millenium madness is no longer a feeling, it has developed into an actual behavior. Perfect timing! Scientist have dubbed this passing decade (2000-2010) as "the behavior era", proven with too many media driven examples of how to "behave", and too few explanations of why. Why? Why are so many extremely young black males, in the heart of my Baltimore city, joining the red and blue gangs for reasons like separation anxiety, a need for classification, and weakness? With such reckless behavior spawning at the near end of this era, what really can be the future of black men and their people? The growth of gang members among our culture is a prime example of "behavior modification", although far less radical and efficient, this happening is not entirely different from the Black Panthers decades ago. The difference is the Black Panthers stood tall in the name of equality, self-suffiency, and freedom, whereas the newbies, from a certain standpoint, stand firmly in well... the simple fact that they are able to stand freely. But freedom, in anything, more or less, is a gift you work for, not a right. Like most desires in life, if you do not work to sustain, the Gods will take them away. We as a people are not working hard enough to sustain our positions, and in turn we are overworking our leaders, our fighters. Before we know it we will have lost our freedom, again. And we will be forced to fight, again, for what we should have been working to sustain.
Enter, Barack Obama. Obama, an eloquent, attractive and extremely charming front-runner for, 2008's Presidential election, is "fired up" as the headlines say. But what fire is he actually adding fuel to?
Seemingly, our only hope for a better tomorrow, Barack Obama, is the current media darling, ( and we all know the media's game) electoral for next fall's Presidency race, and with good reason. Obama advocates a new way forward, devoid of hyper-partisanship and red versus blue states (oh, the irony of red vs. blue), all of which is needed by all races. With a push from Oprah, whose word nowadays is the end-all, he may succeed off that alone. Albeit he's "fired up" is he fired up to help us, or them? It's the 1960s Civil War all over!
Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has "I can help you" written all over her plain face. Nothing more or less. We know her, we still love her and her husband, and we have a sense of what she is capable of, although she hasn't had an exact opportunity to showcase leadership. Neither has Obama. Clinton promises better days and living, with better centrist policies. Who can you trust?
Empty promises and broken dreams go hand in hand. Either way we are taking a chance, as we always have. Just as most did with Sheila Dixon, yesterday. Time will always tell.
George W. Bush is.....well.... let us not waste time!
So who should lead us? Typically, people want to be led by a man. Strike one, Hillary. The outnumbering voters, want to be led by a white man. Strike one, Obama. Barack's eloquence and attractiveness, will win many over, while worrying his superiors, and they will use his glamour against him as an accusation for lack of substance. Strike two, Obama. Added, it seems his ability to communicate screams there's a potentially strong leader there, and America seems more than ready and willing to listen, to what he has to say. Strike two, Hillary.
I can attest that this forthcoming Presidential race will be most exciting and adventurous for all who take interest. And it will not be a contest determined by charisma or persona, or lack thereof. It will be about the people. Finally! The people who need leadership most. When the war in Iraq ends the next will begin, and it will be an internal war, to break down, and build-up, this world, that's spinning out of control, and simultaneously not changing at all. Now more than ever, we need modification. We need this man to change what he said he will, for his troubled race and gender, mostly. We also need this woman to take us back to the era of Bill Clinton's promising reign, without actually taking us backwards.
So who should lead us?
For one, it may be too early to decide, or even have an idea of WHO. Let's not set our views in a biased position so suddenly, we've got a whole year to go, with lots more problems to address.
Besides, neither of the aforementioned has shown a desire to spend their significant capital risks to, for instance, confront entrenched power or highlight taboo issues like economic inequality. Another reason, is that, even with both them running, these candidates are front-runners now, but there is still a very real, and interesting opening for an outsider canditate, the underdog, to come in and move the people. One of the most exciting aspects, of the Presidential races. So let's not decide on a leader so soon. Let us start now, to make our own personal list of hopes, goals, and dreams for our future. With Barack Obama's promise, somewhere at the top of that list.
