Yes We Can?

Tonight was a pretty big night for me. I got to see Obama live and in person...well not too personal, it was in a huge room with hundreds of other people. Still it was my first time seeing a president speak. I mean I've seen Bill Clinton a few times, but that was post-presidency. And if I ever saw George W. Bush, I probably would have lobbed a shoe at him and been tackled pronto.

Oh Bush, I still rage at you with my loafer

But back to Obama. I had mixed feelings about seeing him. When he first came into office, I remember watching his victory on TV in San Bernardino, CA with my father. I kept jumping up and down shrieking like a pre-teen boy band fan in excitement as his win became imminent. When Obama stood with his family and waved to the crowd after he won the election, my father, a 5o+ something Bangladeshi immigrant, started waving back at the TV. It still strikes me deep in my heart when I think of this moment, and what it meant to us.

Fast forward to tonight. Honestly part of me didn't feel so enthusiastic about attending. Although I was happy with many of the major reforms he was able to put forth, I was sorely disappointed about his stances (or lack thereof) on immigration issues, on the cuts to planned parenthood as the rights of women are in danger of being rolled back (particularly the rights of low income women) and how economic issues are being handled. Regardless, I still support him in a mopey way, so off to the Masonic Temple in San Francisco I went, along with my good friend Nwe Oo and my new friend Deborah Matthews.


Goapele, the neo-soul songstress from Oakland, performed before his speech and she was absolutely riveting. She sang Sam Cooke's " A Change is Gonna come" and it just sent chills down my back. The music in the auditorium before Goapele and after was funky. I was surprised to hear House of Pain and Montell Jordan, but hey, what other politician besides Obama can get away with playing that stuff?

Goapele being her usual breathtaking self

Oh and I got to shake Lietenant Governor and Former SF Mayor Gavin Newsom's hand, and I told him that I expected him to run for governor in four years. He laughed. The man looks like a ken doll and he's like 7 feet tall (at least to me he was).

Obama's speech was nice, I mean the guy speaks eloquently. What impacted me more than the speech was the way he admitted to the problems that were out there, and how more work needs to be done. He even jokingly called out the audience saying that he knew the "armchair political consultants" were out there. He pointed out the successes on health care reform, repealing "don't ask don't tell", and working to pull the economy out of recession. He did also admit to work that needs to be done to stop tax cuts to the wealthy (he included himself within this classificaton) and women's rights issues, among others.

We did...now what?

More than Obama himself, my attention was drawn to the crowd. It was very diverse, with faces of all colors, ages, fashion styles and yes, even economic backgrounds. I saw kids from YMCA programs attending and just a sea of colors around me. Yes it's San Francisco, but the variety of people that came out for a political event really made an impression on me. As I watched Obama speak, I looked at Nwe sitting beside me, who came to the US 5 years ago as a refugee. She was so excited to see him speak that you could just see the happiness radiating from her face when she listened to his words. The reaction, smiles and laughter of the crowd in support of our president was really what impressed me, and I hope that Mr. Obama saw the same spirit in the crowd that I did.

I'll end this entry with a quote of his from the night that I thought really rang true
"Everybody likes change in its abstract form, but change in the concrete is difficult"

It is hard Mr. President, but here's to hoping that there's more of it as your administration goes onto and hopefully beyond 2012.