Did you catch Barack's speech last night, following his overwhelming win in South Carolina? Did you know that he writes his own speeches? Talk about "presidential"! Did you hear him do the Top 10 on David Letterman? I'm with Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg. When were you last so inspired?
I can't help but wonder what Kyle would be thinking about Barak Obama, if he had lived. Gearey said that Kyle got a jury summons recently. That means, I think, that he was registered to vote (I was forever nagging him near election time; he was forever not getting it together). Or it just might mean that his getting a driver's license at age 19 had finally, albeit slowly, connected him to the court summons system.
Kyle knew I was excited about Barack Obama. He chided me for making a huge donation to Barack's campaign back in June, not because Kyle didn't like Obama, but because he knew I should be doing all that I could to save for retirement (all those talks I gave him about the importance of my being financially independent, of being able to take care of myself so I wouldn't have to rely on him and Miranda). Kyle was forever urging me to raise my clients' fees, was very conscientious about his and my spending, and would never hesitate to lecture me about an impulsive--but not necessarily wise--expenditure. Though he was known to do it himself, he didn't always approve of me giving dollars to sad looking souls reaching for a handout.
My fondest political memory of Kyle was during Jesse Jackson's second presidential campaign in 1988. We had a big Jackson sign in our front window. One of the Colinco kids across the street was working for Jackson and they had a big sign on their lawn. Kyle was definitely on board for Jackson, although only 4 years old. His limited political acumen became evident when he asked me, "If Jesse Jackson doesn't win, can Michael Jackson?"
I was running late to the Obama fundraiser, because I had had to go to 2 bookstore to find 2 copies of his book, Audacity of Hope. As I checked in at the table, I pleaded for them to accept the books for my children, as they had started refusing to take any more. At the end of the night both books were returned to me, signed. Kyle never saw his, but knew I had it for him.
So how would Kyle feel about Barack's candidacy? Of course, I can't know. I think he would be pleased. I'm even pretty sure he would vote for Barack (if he ever DID register). But I think he would have injected a note of cynicism in any conversation we would have about it. He would have, in his increasingly growing-up young man way, attempted to temper my enthusiasm with some word of warning (such as "Mom, it just won't happen, so don't get your hopes up"). Not because he'd be against Obama, but because he'd be trying to protect his mother, one more time, from her own exuberance and from potential disappointment.
When I watch Barack Obama, this tall, striking, high cheek-boned, handsome, biracial, African-American man, I also see Kyle. And then I think beyond the physical resemblance and I think of this being a country where an African-American man, like my son, could become president. And I have to admit I am impressed. I know there is no true equity among the races and the classes yet, and heaven knows when that will come to pass, but this is not the same country that I grew up in, rarely seeing a black face on television; this is not the country that we chose NOT to travel across in 1975--going instead through Canada--because we were a black and white couple; this is not even the same city in which I had to look for an apartment with a white male friend, because we had been turned down when Gearey and I went together; nor is it the city where Gearey and I and another bi-racial couple were threatened by rednecks.
No, this is not quite the same country. This is my--our--children's country. And our children are coming of age. And they are registering and voting. And it's time for a president they deserve.
I think Kyle would be--coolly and cautiously--excited.
