Hail The Coach !

President Barack Obama

The re-election of President Barack Obama is certainly a major political feat. While we do not wish to pour cold water on this astonishing achievement, we must address his presidency as it relates to Afro Americans.

President Obama is a very honest and sincere politician, who has never fooled anybody that he was an activist fighting any particular cause. In other words, he is a politician and like all good politicians, his talents would have been just as welcome were he a republican. Think Colin Powell. Think Condoleezza Rice. Think Marco Rubio.

We remain very steadfast in our view that his ascendancy to the presidency is of significant importance to Black Americans and it connects to the dreams of Martin Luther King and all civil rights leaders. He has clearly demonstrated that: “You are not better than a man until you beat him at his own game”. Let’s face it, President Obama has beaten the republicans at their own game and they will probably never recover from it.

The question is: Will America recover? We know that the republicans and their sorry assortment of right wing hate mongers are not going to rest until they succeed in doing what nobody has ever done: turn back the hands of the clock. They want an America where labor is cheap, and there is a controlled poverty via socio-economic engineering, that keeps the poor in their place. They consider President Obama more a social aberration than an ideological foe. That’s their problem.

President Obama’s major gift to his black brothers and sisters is one wrapped up in hope, planning, vision and the strong medicine of believing in oneself. In other words they should see in him not only the political possibilities but the possibilities of a solid education, community work and focus, and being good fathers. They should see in him that they can’t all make it on the basketball court, the football/baseball field or on the entertainment stage. Be whatever you want to be by having the “audacity of hope”.

At the end of the day, the strategists such as David Axelrod would be heralded as skillful political/campaign managers. Bill Clinton had some and George Bush had Karl Rove. Unfortunately only a few of us can afford such services and servants. Don’t forget it took millions of dollars to get Presidents Obama’s political skills into the Oval Office.

Black Americans have a golden opportunity, to see President Obama as their personal coach and they too will realize that dreams can come true. Do not be too hard on Tavis Smiley and the Dr.Cornell West because we are all in this together. Keep your eyes on the prize and you will all sit in your own Oval offices and it would not have cost you millions. Just pay attention. Learn to beat the man at his own game and you shall overcome. You have a great coach. Remember Martin and what a fine coach he was. He coached Obama!