Barack Goes to DC
M. O. ENÉ
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
It
started in 1961, August 4th to be accurate.
It was a regular day of the year at any rate
When Mrs. Ann Dunham-Obama of Wichita
Entered Honolulu Queen’s Medical Center
And was delivered of a bouncing baby boy;
So special was he his ears opened like a buoy.
His caramel complexion blended from parents:
A perfect tan for the tropical islands’ scents;
Thus, he was born in Hawaii without fanfare.
The Pacific breeze did not miss its usual flair.
Born of a father from Kenya, Africa
And a mother from Kansas, America.
They named him Barack meaning “blessed,”
For he is a blessing to two people blessed.
His father left when he was just two;
His dear mother with him left too
To Indonesia with stepfather Soetoro,
Where he got stepsister Maya Soetoro.
He returned to Hawaii to school.
He attended Punahoe Prep School.
He went to college in California, out west;
From there he went to Colombia, out east.
Colombia University is in New York City.
On graduation from college, he left the City.
He moved to the crossroads of the nation,
To Illinois, where he set up a new station.
He found his feet on the streets of Chicago
Dedicated to a vision that started long ago:
To grow up and serve the people of the nation
With humility and courage without pretension.
Then he proceeded to Harvard to study law,
Law being a career that to politics is like lore.
He returned to Chicago to resume the vision,
The vision to unite the peoples of a nation.
He organized the people of the Southside,
Worked as a civil rights attorney on the side,
He did public good and taught at university,
A law university right there in Chicago city.
Then he met his angel, an angel called Michelle,
Ms. Robinson he met in Chicago is a bombshell.
They married and got Malia and Sasha in the field.
He became a state senator and went to Springfield
Representing a district on Chicago's Southside
To protect the working people, all on his side.
Thanks to his passed Papa and Mama,
In 2004, the nation came to know Obama
At the Democratic Convention in Boston
The echo was heard loudly in Houston
He spoke on behalf of his great Illinois State
He raised the roof and cleaned the slate:
“There's not a liberal America
and a conservative America;
there's the United States of America.
There's not a black America
and white America
and Latino America
and Asian America;
there's the United States of America.”
He preached one America:
A color-blind America.
Like Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. before,
He brought content of character to the fore
From the great land of Lincoln with a vision
Of bringing together the people of this nation,
People listened and searched their conscience.
Illinois voted its conscience, not its fears.
Barack went to Washington, not in tears.
On a cold 2007 day of February 10,
It was midwinter and very cold then,
He announced his candidacy to lead America
For the presidency of United States of America.
The people applauded loudly with their soul
Because it was news for America as a whole.
He was against war in Iraq, Iran, or Pakistan.
He wanted defeat for terrorists in Afghanistan.
They said he was not black enough.
They said he was not white enough.
They said he offered too many details,
That there was too much in all his tales.
They said he offered hope as relief.
They said he was naïve to believe.
They said he inspires too much,
That there was no hope in such.
They said that he is slim.
They said he is a Muslim,
As if another religion is a crime.
They used photos as if it is a crime
To wear other folk’s cultural attires,
Something simple etiquette requires.
They said he attends Black Churches.
They followed anything he touches.
With winter 2008 and the cold pain,
He went to Iowa State to campaign
In the heartland of American world.
Many people waited across the world.
He won hearts and Iowans voted.
He won and New Hampshire noted.
Yes we can!
Yes we can!
Onto Super Tuesday sailed the big liner.
He moved to Nevada and South Carolina.
Momentum builds beyond expectations.
It was amazing and it met his aspirations.
Ten State in a row under his belt,
The ripples were seen and felt
By those who have and those who want.
The entire nation stood up to chant:
Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!
Money and votes filled his can
From the West Coast
To the Gulf Coast;
From the North to the East
From the South to the West
Across the heartlands to the hilltop,
Down the valleys and up to Maintop,
From Louisiana to Nebraska
From Arizona to Alaska
From Virgin Islands to New Mexico
From Virginia to Puerto Rico
The mud kept coming to Obama
From the Dakotas to Alabama.
It did not shake his faith
Because he knows his fate.
They said his middle name is a problem
They said his last name is a problem
Hussein means good, handsome person
A prominent person and a royal person
People hoped for change
Obama promised change
“Change we can believe in”
Change that he believes in
To the candidate who is Barack Obama
Sang Mariachi band ‘Amigos de Obama’
Rapper Will I. Am turned the slogan
“Yes we can” into a popular song
He followed with “We are the ones”
Yes, we are the ones…
The one we have been waiting for
Is the one we have seen before….
Obama!
Obama!
Your America
Tu America
My America
Mia America.
This is our America…
Este nostra America
Change is good hope
He represents hope
The audacity of hope
Is the ability to cope
With the trials of life
And all its endless strife
For to trust is to hope
To believe is also to hope
Hope that there is goodness
Hope that leads to happiness
For all those who believe
That it is possible to receive
As long as we work hard
In this world’s backyard
Blessings come when we least expect
As Barack comes when we least expect.
Oh, what a good lesson to learn
What an experience to earn
That those whom God has blessed
Cannot be embarrassed or harassed
Those whom God has ordained
After all odds must be retained;
That those whom God has anointed
After all odds must be appointed
For the great honor of victory
We give God the glory.
© MOE, 2009