Our Ah-free-can Ah-merry-can President
Forty something years ago when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was kicking up ah storm in de USA, everybody out here was saying, âMartin Luther foh president.â Even de Mighty Sparrow led dat calm-pain wid ah Kaiso âWe want Martin Luther King foh presidentâ. Ah was so convinced dat ah call me uncle in de States and tell him de USA was about to get its first black president. He laugh and den he said to me âah black president of the USA?{{more}} Dat and God face you and I will never see, not in our life-time.â Ah few weeks after, Dr. King was ass-ass-he-knitted. Ah swore den dat my uncle was ah prophet.
But four years ago, when Obama was de feature speaker at de Democrats Convention, Bob Dole, ah former Republican presidential candidate commented dat Obama was presidential material. Ah couldnât wait to call me uncle who was eighty years and much older then, just to remind him what he once said about King, but dat Obama will prove him wrong. He quietly asked me why ah want to put bad mouth pon Obama and mek dem kill him.
Ah wanted to wake de ole scamp up late on Election night, but ah spare him, ah call him Wednesday morning bright and early; ah ask him if he think ah go see God face now? He calmly replied: âBas boy, wonders never cease. Your man Obama is one in ah hundred millionâ!
Yuh donât have to be ah racket sigh-and-test to detect mystique beaming all over Obama. He is neither black nor white and then he is both. He is colour blind, thru-out his calm-pain he never once singled out on black voters or white voters, he referred to one and all as Americans. Obama doesnât see Red States or Blue States, he speaks about de United States. He is not about I and me, myself, he talks about âour moment, our time, We! Yes We canâ! Just last week Our Prime Minister was reminding de nation dat de teachers are only 1,700 votes. âI got 35, 000 votes in 2005â. But here is Obama, just elected president of the greatest nation in de world, calling foh unity ah de country. He was begging Mc Cainâs Republican voters to put aside difference and let him be their president. âLet us do it for de USAâ. In contrast ah canât get over de sight ah de long line ah heavy equipment driving thru the streets ah Kingstown on de way to de new national Airport site, and what else did we see, Red ULP flags all over de vehicles wid music blasting to de Kaiso âWho E hut E hut! Division times Long Division! Ah still feeling Hut!
Obama is ah selectee, ah seed from Black Afri-Can planted in de soil of ah White Ameri-Can (Yes we Can), ah gift from de Lord sent to de USA on ah mission, and indeed de world. If it was all about power or becoming de president ah de USA, Obama could ah rap up de elections by selecting Mrs. Clinton as his V.P. But dat was not part ah de mission given to Obama. De cupboards wid Bush and Chain-he had to be emptied to make room foh Obama, corruption in de banks, Wall street and de US economy all fall down weeks before election. How do we explain dat? Colin Powel former Republican Secretary of State, came out in support of dis great man. Ah sad point in de calm-pain was Grandma âTootsâ health. One ah Obamaâs hearts greatest desire would ah bin to have de lady who mould and fashion his life around on Tuesday night, but she could wait any longer.
Nations all over will be looking to Obama foh solutions to todayâs multitude ah world problems, not just de USA. People of substance will gravitate towards dis man. Already President Chavez, who mash-up Bush and called him Satan, is ready to establish new relations wid de USA. Chavez feels dat de historic election of Obama, ah descendant of Africans, would symbolize a turning point in relations with both Venezuela and South America. Ah believe dat Obama will change de world by making some very unpopular decisions, starting wid de lifting of sanctions against Cuba. Wonât dat be great foh both countries and even our region?
So much is expected of dis great young man, but much more in de form ah prayers will have to go up to Heavenâs gates on his behalf. We must all pray foh Obama, and de USA and SVG. Yuh know my phone ringing all night, dat Lie-Za wants me to say dat she wants two tings from Obama. One, he and Michelle must mek a lickle Black Obambino while in de White House; and two, if ever he walking down de road in de night, try and mek-out Arm-In Eustace. Not me, ah would never write what dat Lie-Za wants me to. And wid dat, ah gone again.
One Love Bassy
Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.
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