As I write this, it is January 20, 2017, and Barack Obama is no longer the President of the United States of America.
It's a shame, and it didn't hit me so heavily until now that he’s leaving. I have never quite looked up to world leader in government in the way I have come to look up to him. For all that he has faced, he has accomplished a great deal, and has remained rectified, eloquent, and forthright. I am continually inspired by his integrity, grace, intelligence, belief in humanity, and his faith in the spirit of democracy and active citizenship.
His oratory skills are resplendent. I do not think my lifetime will bear witness to a more graceful, brave, and inspiring words from a president for a long while to come. Years from this moment, history will validate his struggles against disingenuous forces as well as the rare honest opponent. It will demonstrate the will of a man who beloved and believed in freedom and what it means to enact change in a democratic society.
I say this not as a political statement, but as an observation of a young American who committed to educating himself about our founding fathers and what they thought it means to be free county. I speak as a millennial who developed his own ideas based on the idealism and intelligence inherent in the beginnings of our democracy.
When Barack Obama speaks, he espouses and glorifies ideals - he understands the meaning of democracy as it exists in my heart: it is the power of the people, the strength of community and accepting diversity, the acceptance of the fact that the engine of change is ceaseless and that democracy gives us the tools to change our society to strive as we ride the tides of this evolution.
He possessed a quiet, yet supreme self-confidence. This is a man who walked with grace in the face of incisive criticism, an abundance of it manufactured by men of false bravado and even machismo, willingly ignorant of changing times. His rectitude inspired a generation to take up the reins of patriotism, in the way our Founding Fathers would have encouraged them to: by speaking out, unafraid, and passionate, enraptured in the awareness of our role as the next generation of guardians of our democracy.
His election showed us America had changed from the one in our history books. His presidency, though still plagued by America’s imperial violence, begged us to acknowledge our future lies in the hands of people of all faiths, sexualities and cultures. He urged us to embrace difference and take personal responsibility to make our home a place of inclusivity, community, and justice.
Together we can reach the America expressed in our creed, as Dr. King quoted: “we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal.” Together we can strive to carry on the spirit of loving humanity in the face of adversity, as this President of presidents had done for us. I quietly hope that my generation will carry his spirit with us as we forge on ahead. Whatever awaits us in the near future, I can see a truly united America beyond the amber waves and shining seas across the horizon.
