I remember nothing more clearly than the day Barack Obama was sworn in for his first term as President of the United States. I was in the eighth grade, and our history lesson was cancelled so that we could watch his inauguration. I remember looking up at that tiny television in my homeroom and feeling so proud. I may have been too young to vote, but we had a mock election in school and I had chosen him. More than proud, I was so damn grateful to be alive to see that moment.
The next class period, my substitute teacher said that all of us who voted for Obama were going to burn in hell. Full of resolve, I raced home to steal the front page of the newspaper, and hid it in my closet so I would always remember that day. Because that was the first day that Barack Obama gave me a hope that was stronger than fear.
People called him foreign because he was different. They built towers of opposition to block his every turn. They viewed everything he said or did through the lens of his race. If he tried to make race secondary, he was torn down for racial suppression. They questioned his integrity, his intelligence and his citizenship.
Yet he did not slow or shrink or bend. He patched Charleston’s shattered heart with the sweet melody of Amazing Grace. He made history with a smile on his face and his daughters by his side as they strolled through Cuba. He stoked the true flame of democracy by accepting and listening to differing opinions. Where others clenched a fist, he extended his hand.
The Obama family showed on the world’s largest stage that it is always possible to maintain integrity and decency. President Obama taught me to stand up for my convictions and hold my head high. And more importantly, to look the world in the eye as I apologize for my mistakes. Because his leadership instilled in me the grace to know that sometimes mistakes in good heart will be made, and there’s nothing we can do about that. He gave me the faith that I can, however, control how I respond to those mistakes. He taught me to demand what I deserve, not because I’m entitled to it but because I earned it. President Obama modeled how to take ownership and stay humble.
His affection and respect for Michelle showed us how a husband should treat his wife. Scratch that, how a person should treat their partner. Because our first black president flew a technicolor rainbow across the steps of the White House. He turned it back into our house, as he welcomed all creeds of citizen into his home.
Now one of his loudest opponents is set to be his successor, swearing to tear apart what he built. But we know something he doesn’t, something I’ve known since that day eight years ago: hope feeds where hate destroys. I am so proud to have grown up in Obama’s America. Because that is a place where all of us-regardless of religion or race or gender- can be safe to build a free and honorable life of our choosing. That is the America I believe in. That is a vision I will never lose hope in.