bonjour
So, I have a really hard time accepting and appreciating a lot of forms of authority. I'm always suspicious of intent and that was sort of been the basis of my self-discovery as a kid. When the whole Obama thing was happening, I thought he was fascinating as a person, but I would not allow myself to be swept in by the hype surrounding him as an individual. I was excited by the social significance of what it meant for Obama, a Left-leaning, mixed-race, child of a single family household, to win office. It was exciting and made America seem much more hopeful.
But, despite my efforts of checking myself, deep down he fascinated me as a person, too. I was still totally leery of his motivations--he's arrogant enough to run for president after all--but he was so intriguing. I joked that it was only because he has great taste in music.
I've finally come around to accepting my fascination, and have started reading Dreams from my Father. I'm quite moved. This dude is for real and his book reads like any of the zillions of feminist theory books I read in college and beyond. I'm not even half-way through the book, but there have been so many moments that are speaking to me and are relatable as thoughts and experiences of my friends and myself. And it's so honest. He deals with the duality of many facets of his existence--black/white, disadvantaged/privileged, organizer/politician--trying to discover and accept who he is, and what he wants to be. So far, the book reads as his raging against being fragmented and forcing coalitions between the pieces of his character that are commonly at war with each other. Isn't that exactly what we need in a leader, if we need a centralized leader at all? I think so. He's so much of what we were taught being American is all about.
I know this is all sill. We all love Obama. But I've been plowing through this book the past hour or two and it's charmed me. It really is a revelation and a great feeling to like my president. I've never experienced that before. If I can't have Willie, I'll gladly settle for Barack.
But, despite my efforts of checking myself, deep down he fascinated me as a person, too. I was still totally leery of his motivations--he's arrogant enough to run for president after all--but he was so intriguing. I joked that it was only because he has great taste in music.
I've finally come around to accepting my fascination, and have started reading Dreams from my Father. I'm quite moved. This dude is for real and his book reads like any of the zillions of feminist theory books I read in college and beyond. I'm not even half-way through the book, but there have been so many moments that are speaking to me and are relatable as thoughts and experiences of my friends and myself. And it's so honest. He deals with the duality of many facets of his existence--black/white, disadvantaged/privileged, organizer/politician--trying to discover and accept who he is, and what he wants to be. So far, the book reads as his raging against being fragmented and forcing coalitions between the pieces of his character that are commonly at war with each other. Isn't that exactly what we need in a leader, if we need a centralized leader at all? I think so. He's so much of what we were taught being American is all about.
I know this is all sill. We all love Obama. But I've been plowing through this book the past hour or two and it's charmed me. It really is a revelation and a great feeling to like my president. I've never experienced that before. If I can't have Willie, I'll gladly settle for Barack.