Images are tattooed in our memories like the information on a computer’s motherboard. Some images in our minds will never go away. The image of President Obama will forever exist — his looks, his walk, his beautiful wife, his dignity and his intelligence. The image of his opponent’s hysteria and disbelief that a man with African blood could lead the greatest nation on earth, was absolutely an amazing image tattooed in my mind. Why would his opponents and others alike have such beliefs in the first place? Some of them were called obstructionists and at every level they fought against President Obama. Yet, President Obama was an excellent politician and an intellectual master. We will forever have Mr. and Mrs. Obama’s superior integrity as they were insulted time after time. The way they handled the vile insults, was as if they were a King and Queen. Black America has had Kings and Queens but many of the kings have been killed or harassed in the battle for justice and image representation. Some images run deep, unconsciously employing subliminal messages.
When I was seven years old I saw my first black Santa Claus and I was mad. I thought the black man beat up the white man and took his the toys and the Santa suit. I didn’t want to sit on the new Santa’s lap. To me, he represented a lie, a fraud, and a thief — and he had nothing good for me. Why would I, at that age, think that about a black man dressed like Santa Claus? The image of the black man is sometimes equated to the broadcasted stereotype. I was watching the movie, The Alamo the other day. It was an epic based on American history. John Wayne directed and starred in the movie. He played the Tennessean Davy Crockett. This movie set in 1836 was about war in Texas and portrayed such men as General Sam Houston, General Santa Anna, Commander William Travis and James “Jim” Bowie. What caught my attention was Jethro, a black servant. The night before the final great battle, James Bowie signed and handed Jethro freedom papers. Jethro thought about it and then said “no”. The next day, when Santa Anna troops stormed the Alamo Mission and got to Jim Bowie, Jethro jumped in front of Jim to take the deathblow. Now why would Jethro sacrifice his life for a man that has enslaved him? This is an image black people have had for more than two hundred years. We need a fresh perspective. I am looking for the black Alexandria the Great or a black George Washington – it has to be one.
Growing up in Washington, D.C. in the height of the drug wars, I became a teenage dad, like many other teens in my community. Watching the fathers die, go to jail and leave their children was a penetrating image that was sickening at the core, and it forced me to take a vow of commitment and do my best to focus on my children. Death was almost every day and watching us rotate in and out of the court system was hard, but I was blessed and raised in a strong family. One day, my son and I were walking to our local liquor store — chips for him and beer for me. Right in front of us was a poster that read “Kings and Queens of Africa”. The poster represented a program sponsored by Anheuser-Busch the makers of Budweiser. The King and Queen were Akhenaten and Nefertiti. During that time, I was becoming increasingly aware of image and the presentation of history and its value. Here, we have all the drugs, all the guns, many liquor stores, two baby mommas, and no representation of our ancestors before the plantation; yet all I had to do was walk in a liquor store, and my real education began.
I was furious. I went and got a pen and pad, and wrote a letter to Courtland Milloy of the Washington Post. I posed the question, “How is it that we have a series of African Kings and Queens in the local liquor stores but not in our schools?” I ached for a gallant positive historical image that was not killed for one reason or another. A black Batman or black Superman…give me something. Everything about Ham’s children isn’t about being a liar, a thief, a weakling, and a servant who jumps in front of his master to take a deathblow. If it is true that you emulate what you see, then, we thank God for Barack and Michelle Obama.
Even in a world that still holds onto falsehoods and loves the pit of darkness, Mr. and Mrs. Obama were a shining light to millions of children and adults. The image of grace under fire will never fade when we reflect on Mrs. Obama’s words, “When they go low, we go high”. Many years of servitude with strength are images we know very well. We call on our names received from the plantation with honor. Black America would have been happy with a black president whose name was Johnson, Jackson or Smith. Yet, the Lord gave us Obama. To the indifference of what we like or know, our ancestors came to America and helped build this great nation. They came here loving their children, loving their husbands and wives. Then no more, did they cling to their family or their language, and with their strong arms and legs they worked like cattle and were sold on the auction block.
What an honor to the African-Bantu Diaspora, their ancestors, and those forgotten ones who screamed at night for their children. Those who couldn’t imagine a future that one of their children would ever be the leader of the free world and will be considered one of the best presidents ever. When they read the scroll of the American Presidents and get to #44, it will ring Obama! This is a name from the Bantu family of languages, a language that black America’s ancestors spoke. For so many years of slavery, you would’ve thought it would have been a black person with a plantation name. No, it was not, and we thank God for a reminder that he made us who we are. Without them there is no us.
I thank President Obama, for he was the most powerful man in the world who maintained intellectual strength and personal dignity, which will forever be a shining light to black America and the entire world. We must represent the quality of that image in our presentation, whether on the block in our neighborhoods or in a million dollar Hollywood movie. In honor of those who have represented our authentic culture appropriately, let’s commit to maintaining the pursuit of freedom, mind and body…image wise.
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