When you constantly tell your child that he can do anything, and that there is nobody like him, he starts believing in himself and living out your expectations. Barack Obama’s family must have said that to him when he was still a nipper. That is why today, he has been elected as the 44th president of USA.
Obama’s victory is being felt all over the world. I believe that the reason for this is due to its many consequences, including:
- People the world over will start believing that dreams do come true. If we aim high and give our all to our heart’s desires, the sky would be our limit. Yes, many will try to knock us down along the way. Many more would try to besmirch our character. But if we keep our eyes on our goals, we will make it.
- There is going to be a paradigm shift, similar to what Oprah called “a shift in consciousness” in black Americans, especially the men. They will be able to walk taller and aspire for greater things, knowing that they are possible, that they can be done. The days are gone when they lived with big chips on their shoulders. Today, those chips will have started to fall off.
- The world will be more united. The young will see Barack as their ideal. Non-Western countries will see him as a brother and work closely with him for the good of the entire world. Older white folks who are still steeped in ignorance and racial bias will be forced to look inwards and hopefully have a change of mind and attitude.
- African leaders will see a child of theirs as the leader of a great nation and work harder not to let him down. This they will do by working harder to uphold the dignity of Africans, which does not seem to be their focus right now.
- His campaign slogan was “CHANGE”. He is not perceived as part of what one would call the ‘establishment. He offers an opportunity to look at many things in a different, fresh way, not through the blurred spectacles of the past, or the status quo. That is one hope that many people have and hope to realize through him. The current world order, including economics, trouble in the Middle East, insecurity of air travel, world-wide ‘terrorism’, vilification of Muslims, or specific nations….these are potentially all up for review and hopefully change for good.
- P Diddy said that growing up; he would have been too embarrassed to say that he would like to be the president of America. But he can now see his children saying and believing that it is possible. Young men and women of all colours, races and religion will relate to this. What a consequence!
Yep, change has come to America. But the change is not only in America. It has come to the world. Way to go Barack! Congratulations and make those who believe in you proud!!
