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Oct. 29th, 2008
Young and Caring
Oct. 29th, 2008 11:49 pmSo, I'm neither black nor living in America. I've never known what it's like to want a representative just like myself in office, nor to be a minority in a predominantly white-washed society (Malaysia is quite well integrated in that sense that you can't go ANYWHERE without seeing different races unless you're in the ghetto, and even then...). I've been following this year's US elections with interest, starting with Hilary Clinton. I still follow it because, well, the blogs I read talk about it, and it seems really insane down there in the States right now.
I remember when I was younger, I wanted to be Prime Minister in Malaysia. I was dissuaded from it, because to be Prime Minister, apparently the best way in is to be Minister of Education. And that post is always given to a Malay. This was a fact and could not be debunked, not for my 15-yr-old self.
So Feministe had a link to Elle PhD, the blog of a black woman telling stories of her life as a black mother raising black children. I don't normally read this sort of stuff, because it's not something I can easily relate to nor understand, and sometimes I feel like I'm intruding on these spaces, somehow.
But there was the link about Elle PhD talking about what this year's elections mean, particularly for young black boys like her son:
First, a few days ago, I was trying to decide what clips from the The Murder of Emmitt Till I would show in my African American History class. My son saw parts of it and asked for the back story--he knows a bit about Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement already, but we've always discussed "And black people could be killed for..." in an abstract sense. But here was the story of a boy, only a few years older than he, who'd been savagely murdered. That troubled him enough.
But when I told him the murderers got away with it, he got visibly angry. "Wait til Obama is president," he said. "Racism-"
"Will still be here," I interrupted him. "Baby, Barack Obama being president will not fix all of the things we've talked about."
He nodded, but I know, in his heart, he thinks an Obama presidency will rectify so much of what is wrong.
Then, he came home Wednesday, sort of pissed, because his friend's mom had a "Nobama" sticker on her car.
He thought aloud about the likelihood of the friendhsip being able to continue. I scolded him for that and told him that not everyone has to agree with him politically. He just looked at me because he's still self-centered enough to think that everyone ought to see things the way he does.
And so she shared some pictures from Yes We Can (hold babies), a site showcasing pictures of Barack (and sometimes Michelle) Obama holding babies, or children showing support for Obama. Most of the pictures she posted are of young black boys with Obama. The expression on their faces are simply indescribable. I mean, kids are usually excited to meet famous people, that's pretty much a given. But for a moment I want to pause and consider what it must feel like to have an actual role model - a person who actually looks like you - in what is one of the top leading positions of the world. Particularly for a community that's stereotypically filled with troubles, associated with predatory, aggressive, antisocial behaviour... being a child from that community to suddenly have a role model one could actually imagine being like someday.
I can't place it. I can't think about this subject without crying and being filled with this feeling that is wonderful, but being unable to describe why.
Looking through the picture site some more, I found more pictures. It's not just the black boys . Not just the black children. Certainly not just the minorities.
This election is fascinating, because of the young. For all their youth, they give a damn. They are watching. Like that song from Into the Woods, children will listen. And not only will they listen, they also have a brain in their heads, and thoughts in those brains. We may think they're silent vessels waiting for us to pour the wisdom of the old into them, but that's a fallacy.
My gosh.
I remember when I was younger, I wanted to be Prime Minister in Malaysia. I was dissuaded from it, because to be Prime Minister, apparently the best way in is to be Minister of Education. And that post is always given to a Malay. This was a fact and could not be debunked, not for my 15-yr-old self.
So Feministe had a link to Elle PhD, the blog of a black woman telling stories of her life as a black mother raising black children. I don't normally read this sort of stuff, because it's not something I can easily relate to nor understand, and sometimes I feel like I'm intruding on these spaces, somehow.
But there was the link about Elle PhD talking about what this year's elections mean, particularly for young black boys like her son:
First, a few days ago, I was trying to decide what clips from the The Murder of Emmitt Till I would show in my African American History class. My son saw parts of it and asked for the back story--he knows a bit about Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement already, but we've always discussed "And black people could be killed for..." in an abstract sense. But here was the story of a boy, only a few years older than he, who'd been savagely murdered. That troubled him enough.
But when I told him the murderers got away with it, he got visibly angry. "Wait til Obama is president," he said. "Racism-"
"Will still be here," I interrupted him. "Baby, Barack Obama being president will not fix all of the things we've talked about."
He nodded, but I know, in his heart, he thinks an Obama presidency will rectify so much of what is wrong.
Then, he came home Wednesday, sort of pissed, because his friend's mom had a "Nobama" sticker on her car.
He thought aloud about the likelihood of the friendhsip being able to continue. I scolded him for that and told him that not everyone has to agree with him politically. He just looked at me because he's still self-centered enough to think that everyone ought to see things the way he does.
And so she shared some pictures from Yes We Can (hold babies), a site showcasing pictures of Barack (and sometimes Michelle) Obama holding babies, or children showing support for Obama. Most of the pictures she posted are of young black boys with Obama. The expression on their faces are simply indescribable. I mean, kids are usually excited to meet famous people, that's pretty much a given. But for a moment I want to pause and consider what it must feel like to have an actual role model - a person who actually looks like you - in what is one of the top leading positions of the world. Particularly for a community that's stereotypically filled with troubles, associated with predatory, aggressive, antisocial behaviour... being a child from that community to suddenly have a role model one could actually imagine being like someday.
I can't place it. I can't think about this subject without crying and being filled with this feeling that is wonderful, but being unable to describe why.
Looking through the picture site some more, I found more pictures. It's not just the black boys . Not just the black children. Certainly not just the minorities.
This election is fascinating, because of the young. For all their youth, they give a damn. They are watching. Like that song from Into the Woods, children will listen. And not only will they listen, they also have a brain in their heads, and thoughts in those brains. We may think they're silent vessels waiting for us to pour the wisdom of the old into them, but that's a fallacy.
My gosh.