La Vida Niko: 2008

Rarely do I take the time to journal and reflect – the last time I did this was during my first pregnancy – one of the most life-changing moments I’ve personally had. What I, and we all, experienced the night of November 4th, 2008 was definitely life-changing and the beauty of it is that, like nesting and becoming a new mother, it is all a process by which there are big exhilarating moments, small ones that bring a daily smile, challenges to overcome, but in the end all are part of the natural order and progression of things.

As I’ve reflected on the timeliness of this campaign, of this great new leader, of the state of the nation and world he is stepping in to – it really has all happened at the right place at the right time. And thankfully I was in the right place at the right time when I got the e-mail to RSVP for election night! Within seconds of receiving the mail, I replied, made another donation to the campaign and crossed my fingers I would get the golden ticket.

Sure enough it arrived in my email box on Monday evening. My immediate dilemma – who would possibly want to babysit on Election Night? Thankfully my dear friend, Ivet, recognized what an amazing opportunity this was that she kept on reassuring me, “really, go!”

So we went. We must have passed at least ten street vendors from the train station to Congress Parkway and could not resist picking up some Obama flair, including Obama's face in the colors of the rastafari. Arrived about 3 hours before the doors were scheduled to open at 8:30PM. Much to our surprise and delight, the doors opened shortly after we arrived. Were they anticipating an early call? Not to mention the crowd was already huge and they had to get everyone through the metal detectors.

I love waiting in crowds for big events such as this, the comraderie is infectious. Everyone on their cell phones getting the most up-to-date polling information… “Obama is taking Vermont!”… “Wooooooo!”… A helicopter flies overhead and everyone looks up and waves… “It’s Obama! He can fly!”

Finally passing through the metal detectors we rushed for the field only to find that it was already about 1/3 full and even so, could not get any view of the stage they set so low to the ground, not to mention I’m always the shortest person even on tippy toes.

We found a pleasant spot right outside the porta-potties, where the edges of Grant Park slope uphill. We had a straight view shot of the stage and did not have to bend our necks to see the CNN Jumbotron. It was like watching election night in the comfort of my own home but with tens of thousands of other people.
Except that with my weak eyesight and perhaps the slight delay in sound travel, I always felt a delayed reaction any time a new CNN Projection was announced. “OHIO…!”…. “Wooooo!”…. “FLORIDA….!”….Woooooooooo!”….”PENNSYLVANIA….!!”…..”WOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

I was text messaging my sitter when all of a sudden the crowd roared and all arms were raised…and I immediately stood up, expecting to see another State projection…but read “OBAMA ELECTED PRESIDENT” on the tagline! What??? Really?? So soon?!?!?! Where was the drum roll? Where was the “and here now… Breaking News” intro?? The masses in that park that night, the yells, the screams, the raised arms, the hugs, the tears that flowed. That was my drum roll.

And then came McCain’s concession speech. Really?? Is this really happening? Is this really the end? And the beginning? We all listened intently to McCain’s words of farewell, congratulations, and call for unification. I was appalled by the consistent “Booos” of McCain’s crowd, while our mass remained quiet and respectful, acknowledging his stated commitment to support Obama in bringing relief to our distressed nation. It was only when McCain continued to defend and praise his bombshell running mate, Sarah Palin, that our crowd “booo-ed”, but with a smile and utter relief that she would be nowhere near the White House, and followed up with “Sha-na-na-na… Na-na-na-na… Hey Hey Hey… Good Bye!”

Then we waited… and waited. From what I remember of past year elections, watching them on TV, concession speeches are shortly followed by acceptance speeches. Anticipation, disbelief, awe. Is this really happening? Pockets of people attempted to rile up massive chants of “O-BA-MA! O-BA-MA!”… “YES WE CAN! YES WE CAN!” but they quickly died out, much to my surprise.

Then the program begun. As was with the Obama rally we attended in Highland, IN on Friday before election day, it begins with a prayer. Followed by the pledge of allegiance. And then what was probably the worst American anthem ever belted out. By the end I had balled up napkin in my ears to keep them from ringing. I thought to myself, did “Will.i.am” just not do a holographic interview from Grant Park? Where was Alicia Keys?

And then we waited… and waited. More failed attempts at crowd chanting… really, come on people! I looked around with disbelief at how calm people were. Waiting… patiently. Perhaps it was an overwhelming sense of relief after months and months on the campaign trail that this was all finally coming to an end and everyone in their own quiet way was putting closure to it. The next day I was still a bit confused by the silence when I read this article that summed it up for me:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/05/greene-what-the-silence-said/#more-29410

And then we saw the entourage of cars and police vehicles roll up on Lake Shore Drive, behind the stage. The arrival – he was here! And then we waited some more….until:

“Ladies and gentleman… the next first family of the United States..”… ! Beautiful, beautiful family – fashionable, polished, at the same time, just regular folk like you and I. My first thoughts… of Sasha and Malia moving in to the White House, running through the halls, jumping on all the beds.

And Barack Obama, as he took the podium. Calm, collected, much as he has been through this entire campaign. “HELLO CHICAGO…!” I could not believe all eyes were on Chicago, this same park where I have seen Radiohead (twice) and raved at Lollapalooza like it was 1999. I struggled with my camera to get a focused shot but then quickly gave up realizing that it was taking me away from living in the moment. As if this event wasn’t going to be documented enough by all the international news agencies on site, the thousands of other cameras way better than mine flashing through the audience.

So I stood, tried to hang on to every word and be present, but could not help but let my mind wander to what this life-changing moment really means to me. Parts of his speech that resonated in my thoughts:

“It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.”
My parents. Their journey to this country, from Thailand to NYC’s Hell’s Kitchen. Thank you, thank you for having the ambition and foresight to make a greater opportunity for yourselves and the children that you didn’t know you would have when you arrived. I know my parents have always voted Republican. They are immigrants who never got any help from the government to build their lives here, to achieve their success, meanwhile had to see their tax dollars go to welfare programs which were needed more so in their native country than here. I called my mom on November 3rd to make sure she was going to vote, with the small hope that she was going to vote Democrat for the first time. Now being an Arizona resident, she didn’t vote at all. Oh well, didn’t matter at this point! Will make for interesting Christmas dinner conversation.

“And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of America - that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.”
America. For the first time in my entire life as an American, I am finally proud to be an American. In my travels, in my years of living in abroad in Mexico, China, pre-Bush, and in Germany, I have always hid my nationality, thankful that my physical appearance can be taken for an exotic and friendly Thai, a hipster Japanese, or a cosmopolitan Chinese. I am American, in the same sense that Obama is American. Educated enough to make an informed decision on all things Democratic, diverse enough to appreciate peoples of all cultures, ethnicities, social background, worldly enough to know that America is not necessarily “the best nation in the world” but does have a responsibility to its people and to the citizens of the world to be the best it can be.

The most moving part of Obama’s speech for me was the story of Ann Nixon Cooper, the 106 year-old woman who has seen it all. And lived through many moments of “Yes we can”. The sermon-like delivery of this part of his speech with the crowd returning in unison the Amens of “Yes we can” was a powerful affirmation of each and every one of indeed, “Yes we can”... and “Yes we did”.

And finally:

“America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?”

My Niko. When I was pregnant with Niko in 2005, this was shortly after Bush won re-election and Gabe and I were completely disgusted with America, we were in the middle of our plans of moving to Germany. Life there just made more sense, the welfare system made more sense to us because it changed the priorities of life. Why work two jobs and 80 hours a week when the government is just going to take half of your income? Work what you are minimally required and spend the rest of your time with your family and having actual leisure time. Having family time and time to myself has become such a priority since Niko. Hopefully Barack’s plan to tax the wealthy will have a trickle effect to begin changing the way American families prioritize their time.

Since the campaign started, we made a pact that if McCain was elected, we would do everything in our power to move again. Thank goodness he didn’t, because I really did not want to move again! A young mother of two interviewed a week before the campaign said she is voting for Obama because she is tired of war and her kids, 6 and 8, have been raised only knowing and seeing war. The night we went to our first Obama rally, four days before election in Highland, IN, we taught Niko his first rally song which was easy for him to sing because it went just like one of his favorites, the theme song from “Bob the Builder” (“...can we fix it? Bob the Builder! ...yes we can!”):

“Ba-raaack O-bama! Yes we can!”

And you know when you teach a two year old a new song, they will sing it for days. Such was the spirit in our household, and the spirit with which I am happy my Niko has a leader such as Obama to aspire to.

The walk home on Michigan Avenue was a thrilling continuation of the victory party festivities, a joyous reminder of all other Election night festivities that were transfixed just as we were in the moment and presence of what had just happened. Way more raucous than the unusual quietness we experienced in the rally. The first person I spoke to was my friend Alisa who is living in Kabul, reporting on the plight of women in war-torn Afghanistan and experiencing first-hand the civil casualties of this U.S. led war. It was almost 9:00 AM in Kabul and she had been up all night with fellow ex-pats watching the election. For someone who has been in the trenches of anti-U.S. sentiment and violence, Alisa was completely psyched, and I could feel her excitement from the dusty mountains of Afghanistan.

The second person I spoke to was my Brother, who has been following Barack Obama since his Senate win in 2004, and someone I consider to be a political pundit himself. I still remember the day when he called home to my parents and told them that he was switching his college major from International Relations to Government. "There are no Asians in government!" my parents responded, disapproving of his decision. Exactly, is what I thought. Later that same year, an Asian American was elected Governor of Washington state. I would have expected Nat to be right next to me at the rally, but he was en route to driving a friend to San Francisco and stopped at a truck motel with a six-pack to live down this moment in history. One of the many stories we will tell our grandchildren, “where were you when...?”

Downtown was certainly alive, and not in a way it has been at the Taste of Chicago 4th of July Celebrations, everyone was respectful, beaming, exchanging smiles, jumping, hi-fives all around. Teens and students climbed all over the boulevard midway, perched themselves on top of the Art Institute lions, and unlike other downtown celebrations, the cops let it be, just there to control and traffic the crowd.

By the time we got home, all we wanted to do was watch CNN and see what had gone down elsewhere at this moment when the entire world was transfixed on one man, in one park... where we had just come from!! It was still hard to believe we were actually there. I laid down at 2AM and watched a replay of Obama’s speech, this time clinging on to every word, every gesture, and began letting it all sink in. It wasn’t until this point had I shed my first tear – from where they came from I’m not sure. It was a similar to a mother’s pride I feel when I watch Niko go through milestones, mixed in with anticipation for the road that lies ahead for him, his family, and our lives in the next years. Unlike any other presidency, I feel like we will be there with him, President Obama, every step of the way, putting ourselves in his shoes. For the first time, asking, “what would I do if I were president?”

The next morning was like taking a step out of the door into a new world. My stride was uppity and confident as I locked eyes with all passers-by on the sidewalk to exchange quiet acknowledgements of “yes we did”. It’s now a week later to the day and even though life has pretty much settled back into its norm, without the campaign and election madness, we will continue to watch and learn from our new President and do whatever we can to support his policies of changing this country and undoubtedly the world.

On the walk home from Grant Park that evening, Gabe talked about how for the first time he is inspired to get involved in politics to support Obama in making change. I told him I think the best way to start is getting involved in our community, volunteering, becoming an active participant in social service. There is so much that we complain about and expect others to fix. Obama has made that clear that you can’t expect any one person to fix your problems, ultimately it is up to you. It is this movement in our social consciousness that will ultimately create change, the same way it did in this election. So thank you Obama, and thank you to 53% of America for establishing this foundation for the next generation and hopefully those to come.