When I was on the other side of the gender fence, there were many discussions conducted with Da Fellas in which the concept of being cool was discussed. You got just as many arguments amongst Black men as to who was cool and who wasn't.Deborah Gregory in this BlackAmerica.web story touched upon it earlier in the campaign. EBONY magazine, one of our publishing icons put together their list of the 25 coolest brothers of all time that is still being debated within the African-American community.
Whatever you call it, having flava, being cool, it's obvious Sen. Obama has it. In addition to being probably the most eloquent substantive brother since Dr. King, Sen. Obama is agonizingly close to accomplishing a long cherished historic milestone in our tumultuous 400 year history as African descended people in North America.
While I wish that Sen. Obama had the type of America that George W. Bush walked into in 2001, to me the fracked up one he'll get on January 20, 2009 is more of a test of his abilities. If he can clean up this mess, it will ensure that the pool of potential presidents in future election cycles won't be just white males.
The nation (and the world) are about to get an 'ejumacation' in how grossly off the mark their perceptions of African descended people are and what we're capable of doing.
Best of all, he is an educated brother. He is a source of pride to young Black boys growing up and young Black men trying to do the right thing and get their education. In him they have visual proof of the rewards of getting advanced degrees.They also see him standing tall, nattily dressed, calmly laying out his programs, speaking eloquently at rallies in which hundreds of thousands of people attend, thoughtfully answering questions, verbally laying the smackdown on people and looking coolly presidential all the way while doing it.
The other thing that is so cool about him is that he has a beautiful educated sistah standing proudly by his side as his wife that it's obvious he's still in love with with two adorable kids. But it's that cool factor that enhances his thoughtful intelligence. There's a lot of things we have said about George W. Bush in the last eight years and cool is not one of them.
Coolness under pressure is one quality that is sorely needed when you deal with the tough job of being president.
For a nation desperately hungry for a leader that we can be proud of, Barack Obama is proving to be for those of us in the reality based world, 'That One'.
