Wednesday, October 29, 2008

"Rocky Bomma, Mama"

My friend Ashley told me how her 2 year old son pointed out Barack Obama on TV, calling him "Rocky Bomma". All she could do was laugh but at the same time wondered how did he know of this man, someone she had never talked to him about...? Perhaps his babysitter had told him, but in his 2 year old mind, he knows that Rocky Bomma is important. If that is not a testament of his impact that a child of 2 year old can get...can we continue to let fear mongerers distort his image and character?

Tonigt, Obama dominated television with his 30 minute ad, and even my little bourgie baby toddled around and batted at the TV and jibber jabbered and eventually went into a calm as both of her parents were engrossed in this historic moment. Of course, the talking heads will say that he has done all he can as a "Black man" to show that he can be trusted and that he is safe...or the fact that in the background all we saw were presumably "White middle class/working class voters"...or that the entire broadcast was "too polished"...or that his message is too inclusive when Obama states "Hello, America"...or that he didn't look into the camera correctly...or that the office in which he spoke from looked "too presidential"...or that its all just propaganda and that "change" is as superfluous as equality. Give me a break!

What I saw tonight was not about Obama, but about the people who are struggling, like so many of us out there. Yes, I am bourgie enough to keep it real! What really hit home was the elderly couple who are trying to make ends meet when their promise for retirement is not what it should be. These are REAL stories. Even with my mother, I have seen her own struggles to maintain health insurance and deal with a company that is not willing to pay for her basic expenses. And to think that at her age, she would have to go out and find a job in order to make ends meet...that is disturbing but a reality for many.

Here's the full video of tonight's broadcast:

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