What Barack Obama Means To Me

Feature Story by Cedrick Alexander, Birmingham View

It is hard to put into words the magnitude of what happened last November. Barack Obama has become a social figure in this country. His face is on everything from shirts to shoes, and his name has been used in all modes of pop culture. It is hard to believe, that this time last year no one gave the senator from Illinois a chance to be where he is today, only two days from his inauguration as the 44^th President of the United States, the first of African American descent. The right-wing pundits targeted his lack of experience, his youth, and his “shady” affiliations. They accused him of being socialist, communist, a terrorist, and even sought to bring those around him down to get to him.

Yet, Barack Hussein Obama prevailed. He succeeded thru it all and got where he is today sitting in a position only days away from becoming the most powerful man in the free world.

Can you believe it? It is still surreal even to me.

Sitting from where I sit, it is still hard to fathom. I am a junior at the University of Alabama; a 20-year-old journalism major from Atlanta, Georgia watching all this unfurl from the confines of my dorm room. I consider myself fairly liberal, but even if you were to have told me in 2007 that we would have a black president, I would laugh at the idea myself.

But there was nothing funny about Obama’s campaign. There was no comedy in his plans to change the economy, the healthcare system, the way the United States was going as a whole. There was nothing comical about Obama’s chances of becoming the next president of the United States. Throughout his campaign, there was not much laughter. Even his fundraising, and grassroots politics upbringing, though unorthodox, worked. It worked because Obama would not allow it to fail. Failure was not an option.

Imagine my excitement, not knowing what the future holds for this trailblazer of politics. I tuned into politics fervently, not missing a single debate, tuning into every CNN and FOX News story about the presidential race. It was amazing watching it take place. I have never been involved in something so much in my life. Debates on campus arose around the presidential race, and all conversations seemed to center around politics in some capacity. It was amazing, the intellectual fortitude that we as collegians in a whole began to show for ourselves. We finally had more to offer than Alabama football and parties. We wanted to talk about the issues: the real issues that would affect our future and our children’s future.

We, African Americans, had finally gotten what we had been asking for for years. Barack Obama was a political figure that represented us in the light that we wanted- a candidate that spoke so eloquently when he opened his mouth, was manner able in all cases (even when he was attacked), that understood our condition as a people, and embodied the role model of what black people really are in this country. It was unbelievable watching him work; his surgical precision of the issues in his debates made him superhero-esque. He would not be rattled. He was focused. He was driven. He would not be denied his goal.

And this inspired us, as a people. Watching him inspired us to go out to the polls. Watching Obama caused the largest youth vote and African American vote in this nation’s history to go out and vote. We were in turn motivated by a man that was motivated! Personally, this inspired me to do better. To be better. Barack Obama has

singlehandedly made me realize that nothing is impossible. We can do anything if we work hard and are focused. People may laugh at your ideas and your goals. But there is nothing as strong as the determined spirit. Imagine the criticism Obama had to face once he declared to be considered in the running for US president. But Obama never questioned himself. Moreover, he knew he was destined for something greater. Why couldn’t he be the next president? It never occurred to him that he could not. He was qualified, and he went at his goals with everything he had. That is why Barack Obama is my role model. He embodies the type of person I want to be in my life. Barack Obama has accomplished what many thought was the impossible. And now I realize that nothing is impossible. Thank you Barack Obama.

About the Author

Cedrick Alexander is a contributing writer for Birmingham View, the Tuscaloosa News, BAMAlog, and the Crimson White. He is journalism major at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, AL originally from Atlanta, Georgia. The older of two, Cedrick lists his interests as everything from politics to pop culture to sports.

Cedrick served as an intern for Radio One Atlanta with his summer in 2008, and served as an intern for the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue in 2007. Cedrick also is a radio personality for the student radio station WVUA90.7.

For any questions or comments, please contact him at Alexander.cedrick@gmail.com, or cedrickjalexander@yahoo.com.