blog - gObama 2008
The Dr. M.L. King Debate
Monday, January 14, 2008
(Hudson, New Hampshire - 2 a.m. local time)
The media is full of news reports on Hillary and Obama fighting over the wording of her Dr.M.L.King comments last week. TV channels and corporations seem to play up with media hype to keep the tension between them growing. It is uncertain who will win in Nevada and South Carolina. For all those who are interested in what Obama really stands for they should check his statements on site here: www.issue2008.com
In Reno, Nevada Obama ended the rumors of dissension between Democrats by stating:
“I think that I may disagree with Senator Clinton or Senator Edwards on how to get there, but we share the same goals. We’re all Democrats,” Obama said. “We all believe in civil rights. We all believe in equal rights. We all believe that regardless of race or gender that people should have equal opportunities.” He continued, saying: “They are good people, they are patriots. They are running because they think that they can move this country to a better place.”
I found under the a story that reminds me of my past under: www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local The AMERICAN version of my childhood memories from sunny Florida:
“The new year has barely begun, but things are already getting confusing at the Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Office.
The office sent out more than 2,000 Volusia County absentee ballots with a presidential candidate's name misspelled. Their ballots read "Barak Obama."
As I heard from Obama’s family friends, Barack was once known as Barry among them. The strange white Americana version of the wonderful Muslim name Barack - which comes from Baraka - means blessed by God.
In Germany my first name is often mis-spelled like: “Rahmann” or “Raman” instead of Rahman. Nobody ever corrects the mistake, unless I point it out. Well, cultural ignorance was part of my childhood diet too. My German grandmother would give me her teutonic version of my Arabic name: Ramannel. Only years later, growing up without my father, as a teenager would I learn how it was spoken correctly in Arabic: “Rachman” means merciful and has a strong guttural sound.
The strange twist is, when I entered L.A. International a month ago coming from Berlin, I was picked out by immigration to stand in line with all the other usual suspects. The immigration officer, a mean looking Afro-American (6’6 tall footballer type), pronounced my name correctly in Arabic and then asked me: “Kellem Arabi, suer, suer?”(Do you speak a little Arabic?)
When I said no, he looked suspiciously in my eyes and started to investigate me for half an hour. As you can see I got in, despite being watched closely to bring you this blog. But it makes me feel nothing has changed, I am the odd one in the crowd... Exotic and suspiciously different. A danger to homeland security.
Problem is... living with my complex identities (after 42 years being exposed to our planet) they start to take a life of their own. Sometimes, I start believing I am that guy, special, suspect, undercover brother, you dig?
I remember that I wanted so desperately belong to a group as a kid. We changed our homes every 4 years due to my mother’s work. To compensate for my insecurities, I tried to fit in like a chameleon, by copying local dialects of each community we have ever lived in. It wasn’t exciting as we moved from one provincial town to another... Only in Berlin - a divided city during the eighties, I felt I could fit in somehow into the madness of identity politics. I never imagined that this would game would play itself throughout my life. Yes, all of you watchdogs - I am talkin’ to you guys...
Of course, besides those who wanted to transform me into a Muslim suspect, there are also plenty of those who denied my access to status. Complex identities are in constant flux and are not controllable. Fear and control are the two main sources empires create to impose conflict. Exterior and interior. But although I wouldn’t say I found GOD - its not my insecurity any longer. There is no either - nor dichotomy...its all lies. The quantum leaps happen all at the same time on different levels.
I wonder what would have happened to Obama, if he would have started his own party as an Independent, instead of claiming his democratic heritage. Some questions come to mind:
Would people have stopped him as an Independent or listened?
Is Obama redeeming them from a dull past of failed American Democratic partisanship?
Are people ready to start fresh with an unknown Senator from Chicago who grew up in Hawaii?
Do folks long to continue with Hillary where Bill Clinton left by casting their votes for her in South Carolina?