I never would have wanted to carry around the crappy American flags provided by the Ambassador's Residence before.
Seeing Obama elected was one of the best moments of my life. I was part of a group invited to watch the election results come in at the Ambassador's Residence. This was seriously amazing. I'm bad at estimating numbers because counting is icky and for boys, but I'd guess there were around 750 people there, Americans and Kenyans, and virtually everyone was for Obama. We got there at 5 AM to watch the results come in -- Pennsylvania had just been called before we left, so the mood was positive but uncertain.
Erin and I made good choices and chose front row seats for the huge TV showing CNN. We didn't realize that everyone and their mom and every news station and it's mom was going to crowd around that area later.
I didn't think it would happen. I really didn't. I didn't trust our democratic process, I didn't trust Americans, and I didn't trust the establishment -- if Obama was to be president, I really thought it would be a drawn-out thing where Florida would fuck it up, McCain would be a whiny bitch about it, it'd go to our biased Supreme Court and we'd be crossing our fingers for days.
I wish I could re-live the moment when I saw the words "BARACK OBAMA ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES" again and again and again. I expected to be excited but didn't foresee how moved I would be -- it was indescribable. I started crying as soon as I read those words -- just crying tears of joy and disbelief and joy and disbelief. Everyone was hugging and jumping and cheering and crying, and every time I read those words I would cry again. I couldn't stop. In fact, Kenyan TV interviewed me and The Standard kept snapping pictures of me because I couldn't stop crying.
I always thought that I was proud to be an American despite all the things I disliked about the Bush Administration, but now I'm realizing that I don't think I've ever been proud to be an American as much as grateful for being an American. I've always recognized the privilege and the opportunities being an American provides and I respect our history and ideals, but my entire political consciousness since I was 12 years old has been hating -- literally, hating -- my government. Maybe this is an outdated way to think about it, but I seriously think Cheney and Rove are straight up evil. There is something sinister, truly sinister, about them. Obviously some politicians are better than others, but I've basically come to the conclusion that they're all full of shit and stopped caring.
I never considered what it meant that I took it for granted that I hated my government. I never thought of it in terms of stress or state of mind or anything like that.
And now, for the first time, I realize that that's because I never knew what I was missing. It feels so amazing to be proud to be American, to feel faith in my political system, to feel like something big and positive is happening in my country. My country. A country that I want to belong to, that I want other people to know I belong to.
I never would have had the faintest desire to take a crappy plastic American flag from the Ambassador. But I took the flag, put it in my hair and paraded it around Nairobi. Because I wanted people to know that I'm American, I wanted them to see me as an American before they saw anything else about me.
I actually believe that Obama will do good for the world. I don't think he's the messiah and I do think he'll do things I don't like and he'll make mistakes and etc., but he is a force for good and that's enough for me.
Appropriately, we went out in red, white and blue and partied at a club called "Changes." I enjoy this because it was themed! Kenya is a good place to be right now because essentially everyone is for Obama, so you don't need to be sensitive about McCain supporters. I enjoy being insensitive and parading my love of Obama. Thanks Nairobi!
So I'm not worried about being disappointed by Obama. I am, however, concerned about Kenya's behavior. I can't even describe the Obama fervor that's been here in Kenya since I landed. In the US there's a vague awareness that Obama's half Kenyan. Here, people are literally like "Obama is Kenyan," "Obama is Africa's Son," and, since he's been elected, "Obama is our president." The front page news of The Standard and The Nation, Kenya's main newspapers, has been Obama-related every day since I've been here. A reggae song about Obama plays like 24/7 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPIMkDjzAlc), and some people just yell "OBAMA" to any white person who walks by. If you bargain correctly, sometimes you get the Obama Discount. Today (which Kibaki declared yesterday is a NATIONAL HOLIDAY in honor of Obama), every open restaurant had the "Obama Special." Shit's crazy!
The thing is that Kenya's government like...doesn't really work. It's all based on ethnic lines and power patronage. If the president's a Kikuyu, basically all Kikuyus support him regardless of his political agenda and the civil service will be all Kikuyu. And since the post-election violence last year, Kenyans have a lot to learn about the success of American democracy.
The ambassador and the Kenyan liason to the US tried to make this point, highlighting how McCain gracefully accepted his defeat and pledged to work with the winner. I love McCain's speech, btw, it made me cry along with everything else. Anyways, the lesson should be that, you know, peaceful elections are possible and such and that if Kenyans want democracy, they should follow the US example.
But no. My friend heard an announcement on the radio by a Luo leader predicting that Obama is going to give all Luos "electricity and green cards" since Obama is a Luo. A Kenyan speaker got up right after that and said that Kenyans should try to marry Americans. A lot of Kenyans seriously think that Kenya will be Obama's #1 foreign policy priority and that he's going to turn around and give Kenya a shit ton of money and/or let them all come to the US like his first second in office, if not sooner (we've been asked why we're waiting till January 20th).
This attitude is honestly harmful. I'm thrilled that Obama is an inspiration to Kenyans and to Africans in general -- that's great. He should be. And I get being extra stoked since he's half Kenyan. But Kenyans need to internalize the message that it's "yes we can," not, you know, "yes, Obama can...give you mad free shit and solve all your problems."
Also, Kenyans legit have no idea and/or don't care what Obama's policies are...even a little bit. When he said "gay and straight" in his speech, Kenyans giggled. That's right, we were not in a middle school, yet the word "gay" merited giggles by many, many people. Kenyans are generally homophobic and anti-abortion (it's illegal here), but I'm pretty sure nothing Obama says could tarnish their image of him.
Anyways, I really wish Kenyans would be inspired by Obama and see him as a reason for them to work within their system rather than a potential escape route to money and the states.
Last but not least...today when I got off the bus at town, I saw a friend from USIU who said there was a picture of me in the paper. I thought that was pretty cool, but expected that that meant I was, you know, in the crowd or something. So imagine my surprise when I saw this on page 2:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123447&l=52a95&id=7411495
Look at that awesome view of the inside of my mouth!
You can't read it, but the caption definitely says "Ecstasy. Relief. Disbelief. Call it what you may, but this woman's reaction to the news Barack Obama had won the US election speaks volumes about his ability to inspire."
So basically, it's saying "It's unclear what the crap is going on with this woman. But it's something positive. We think."
I'm getting this shit laminated!
Peace,
Mzungu Fleits
