On Barack Obama: The Audacity of Hope

I have been keenly observing his rise to power well before his bid for the White House sounded sane to many. By the time he came to Atlanta for one of his biggest rallies in April 2007, I thought I had heard and read enough about Barack Obama that I was just going to attend his rally to see his face live and nothing else because he was not going to say anything else I had not heard him say before. But on that sunny day in Atlanta I was again wowed by this orator as if I had never heard him before. There was liveliness, an air of sincerity, hope and determination that he did not merely exude but virtually breathed that stunned me about him. Within the midst of a crowd of well over 20, 000 and a coterie of secret service personnel, I funneled my way through for a handshake that I will remember forever.

Given his style, part preacher, part politician, part professor and part town boy, Obama is the ultimate candidate for a time that needs leadership that should bring about not only national but also global healing and reconciliation. He is an embodiment of that healing and reconciliation that the world needs. I need not go into details about that for his two memoirs “Dreams From my Father” and “The audacity of Hope” suffice for the telling of his phenomenal life story. I am yet to read a better description of the Obama phenonmenon than the following lines uttered by MSNBC host Chris Mathews: “I’ve been following politics since I was about 5, I’ve never seen anything like this. This is bigger than Kennedy. [Obama] comes along, and he seems to have the answers. This is the New Testament. This is surprising.”

I signed up earlier on in support of Obama’s presidential dream in spite of the reservations of a close friend of mine who is a seasoned observer of American politics. My friend had every respect for Obama’s multi-faceted genius but concluded that there was no way he could win a democratic nomination process that had Hillary and the great Clinton political machinery in the fray. I remained unswayed in my faith that the audacity of hope can move mountains. My intuition was akin to what a congressman had told Mr. Matthews years earlier: “every so often in life, the galloping horse of history comes by and you have to make a decision. “You have to jump on that horse or you miss your turn. The country is facing that. Do I want to jump on the horse, or not?” I jumped on that horse and in spite of the sometimes daunting challenges facing the Obama campaign as epitomized by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright controversy and Obama’s own bone-headed comment about small town Americans and their clinging to guns and religion, penned my views and hopes in verse:
I dare you to challenge Obama

The world's eighth wonder

Rising from Chicago, nay Kenya

He marches to coronation in mile-high Denver

The hills are shaking

The bills all shrinking

All obstacles are collapsing

His might is so towering

The world awaits in yearning

This great awakening

The triumph of hope and aspiration

Over cynicism and trepidation

Michele's man has proved beyond doubt

That hope and faith, devout

Can surmount any hill no matter the bill

It was a long and hard battle but Obama did win the nomination of the Democratic Party. The impossible has come to be the undeniable; what great triumph for the Audacity of Hope. And after the long and tortuous journey to the DNC convention in Denver, the Democratic Party should heed the Wall street journal’s Peggy Noonan: “Party elders should be coming out on the balcony in full array, in full regalia, and telling the crowd, "Habemus nominatum": "We have a nominee." And the crowd below should be cheering, "Viva Obamus! Viva nominatum!"

And still the skeptics keep asking whether Obama will be able to win the general election; Could he win the presidency without bringing on Hillary as a running mate? I am of the view that Obama must be very careful in selecting a running mate and by all means he should not select Hillary as running mate becuase given her insatiable desire for power and her comments about a possible Robert Kennedy ending for Obama during the heat of the Democratic primary, Hillary in the VP office might just turn out to be a Trojan horse for Obama.
But I was indeed moved by a comment made by my friend Musa while debating my position on a possible Hillary VP role. He made reference to the legendary Ngansu Machine of Cassamance whose story was told by Kora maestro Lalo Kebba Drammeh. Having asked his marabou to advice him about his future as a chief, the marabou told him that he would become a ruler but that he would not live long since his tenure will last only 9 months. The brave hero responded that 9 months would be too long and that even 9 days would be enough for him. So Musa concluded that even if he would be in the White House for only 9 days, let us do everything possible (including bringing Hillary on as running mate) to make sure we have our first black President of the USA.
I may not necessarily agree with Musa but I sure do know he’s got a strong point.

By Momodou Sabally,  author: Secrets of The World Champions

Tribute to the Legendary Aji Awa Jagne Saho - died 7/16/2008

Today not only the family but the nation (Gambia) mourns your death
Hitherto you answered to a call so sudden
Eternally May Allah Bless your beautiful soul

Legendary was the life you lived
Exemplary in character and deeds
Generousity was your household name
Everyone in the Gambia today knows a patriot has died
Notably humble in all dealings with others
Devoted was you in faith, family and country
All have witnessed the kindness you spread
Rays of the divine sun sparkled your beauty
You've touched lives many of whom you don't know (the poor, needy, blind, disabled & women)

Allah knows best the purity of your heart
Jannah His Highest place
Is indeed preserved for you

All are crying, but i have a much bigger reason to cry
We've done so much together, you were my best friend
All the night vigil prayers, the Quranic recitations we did together as roommates
As daughter and mother, mummy this is seems a dream i never want to wake up to its reality

Journey of no return
A route to comfort and peace you took
God the Merciful indeed loves you most
Nearness to Him cannot be calculated
Endeavoured you have throughout your life

Soul so pure, soul so beautiful
Aloft it shall flow along with the blessed
Hall of fame induction shall be your welcoming ceremony in jannah
O' Ya Allah, have mercy on mummy's soul and grant her the highest in Jannah (Ameen)!

By Aisha Saidy, Boston, MA