Obama about to shatter myths

Dominic Odipo

Most people remember the late Dr Martin Luther King Jr, the American civil rights leader, for the captivating speech he gave in Washington DC towards the end of August, 1963. Today known as the "I Have a Dream" speech, it has hardly ever been matched by any speaker.

But there was another speech King gave in April, 1968, which, in terms of imagery and pathos, was probably more powerful. In that speech, he took an imaginary stroll through history, describing every major epoch and then settling on the America of the early 1960s as the period in which he would most have wished to live if God had given him a choice. It is in that speech that the lines quoted at the beginning of this piece appear.

The following day, just one day after he spoke so hauntingly about not being able to reach the Promised Land, King was struck down by an assassin’s bullet.

Tomorrow morning, millions of Americans of all colours will troop to the polling stations to elect their next president. And at about noon on January 20, 2009, through a formal handshake on the steps of the Capitol Building in Washington DC, American power, in all its majesty and grandeur, will pass from President George W Bush to that man.

If history does not play any dirty tricks on us between now and tomorrow evening, that man will be Barack Obama, whose step-grandmother, black as they come, is living in a tiny rural village in Nyanza Province.

Something sinister could still happen to Obama. Some deranged skinhead could shoot him dead just before or just after the vote, the way Senator Robert Kennedy was struck down just after his California Democratic primary victory in 1968. Or the Republicans could steal the election in one or two swing states as they did in Florida in 2000. But if all goes like most of us expect, it is Obama’s hand that Bush will be shaking shortly after noon on January 20 next year.

To paraphrase King in that haunting 1968 speech, it doesn’t matter what happens to Obama now. He has already led all black people around the world to the top of the mountain. He has shown us the Promised Land and proven that we can get there. Obama has re-enforced the identity and pride of the black man and woman more than any other black man or woman in history. If there have been many great black men and women in our long history, Obama could become the greatest of them all.

If Obama is elected president of the United States tomorrow — as I hope and pray he will — a number of myths will go up in smoke overnight.

The first will be that no black man can be elected president of the US. From Wednesday morning, everybody everywhere will know that any person can rise to the American presidency, the most powerful office on earth.

OBAMA FACTOR

For us here in Kenya, another myth will come crashing down. No serious person will ever say again that a Luo cannot lead this country. If Obama, who by clan line is clearly Luo, can be elected president of the world’s most powerful country, would it make any sense for anyone to say that a Luo cannot rule Kenya?

But this Obama factor will cut much deeper and broader than just legitimising Luo leadership. It will effectively rationalise the leadership of every tribe. If a Luo can lead, then so can a Tugen, Nandi, Luhya, El Molo or Turkana. Obama’s victory is poised to shake, not just the US, but the rest of the world. Even though tomorrow’s election will be taking place thousands of kilometres from our borders, there is a very real sense in which the voting will be taking place right here.

On the highway from Davenport, Iowa to Chicago, Illinois in the US, there is a signpost with the words: "Birthplace of President Ronald Reagan".

With an eye for the tourist dollar, local tourist authorities took full advantage of Reagan’s presidency to hype their little town, even though he had long decamped to California.

On the road from Kisumu to Busia, there isn’t a single sign indicating the real hometown of Senator Obama. Yet billions of shillings are reportedly spent every year by bigwigs pretending to promote tourism!

Obama could not have come this far without the contribution of two former American presidents: Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson. It was Lincoln who formally freed American slaves in 1863 and Johnson who formally gave then the power to vote and run for public office in 1965.

Even as we celebrate Obama, we must not forget how the victory was wrought.

The writer is a lecturer and consultant in Nairobi.

dominicOdipo@yahoo.co.uk

|   |    |    Comments (4) |   Add Comment