To my daughter on her first Presidential Election

Barack Obama campaigning at UTPA (UTRGV). February 2008. Photo c/o myself.

A,

When you were born, the person who was in office as leader of the United States, a person that theoretically was assumed to represent every single American citizen to the rest of the world, was Barack Obama, the first Black president to ever be elected to hold this position.

Your father and I were on the lawn at the undergraduate university we both attended while he was campaigning back in February of 2008. We listened as he spoke of change, dignity, and honor. We felt proud of the direction this country was going, we felt moved by the notion that finally, nearly 50 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we were finally moving in a direction that said that people of color, not just white people, could do anything. His speech spoke of change, and noted his investment in making higher education an affordable opportunity for all. We chanted with the crowd of nearly 500 people, "Si se puede!", in the hopes that, yes, we can move in a direction of growth and opportunity for all.

Barack Obama campaigning at UTPA (UTRGV). February 2008. Photo c/o myself.

You can then imagine how absolutely floored with emotions we were the night that Barack Obama got elected into office in November of 2008. The results came in late at night and I remember waking up my family to let them know. While sleepiness made them indifferent, I was invigorated. I felt astonished that for the first time in the history of American government, a black person was elected as the leader of the United States of America.

The following 8 years came with many ups and downs. The economy tanked and many Americans lost their homes due to recession. People lost their jobs. This was not a result of the president in office, rather, the unrestricted policies large banks practiced. It's easy to blame the Man In Charge for the destruction of Capitalisms. The government shut down several times. Millions of undocumented immigrants were deported. They called him the "Deporter in Chief". War in Syria surged. Innocent women and children were killed in drone strikes. Guantanamo Bay remained open despite his promise to shut it down year after year. Hundreds of people of color were shot and killed by police officers or died while being detained. There were many things to be sad and angry about. President Barack Obama was not a perfect president.

Nevertheless, there were also many glimmers of shining hope. The economy eventually rose again and nearly 14 million jobs were created. Nearly 17 million people gained health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. He believed in and made it priority to find solutions to Climate Change. The legalization of same-sex marriage was a big winner, as well as repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'. Capturing and killing Osama Bin Laden, the leader and director of the 9/11 attacks that took place during Bush 43's administration.

In any presidency, there are many things to be proud and ashamed of, no matter what party people side on. What tugged most at my heart was his very visible love and admiration for his wife and two daughters. He never missed an opportunity to express his love and respect for his family, treating his wife as an equal, a force to be reckoned with. In all of his criticisms, he was a man who loved his family, loved his country, and tried and tried again to do what was right for the greater good, often met with a wall of NO from Congress.

So much more good *could* have been done, but a "socialist muslim" black man in the White House still enraged the hearts of many crusty, old white men. Racism and discrimination was immediately brought to the forefront of our lives, instead of remaining on the quiet peripherals as it had in the recent passed. Microaggresions became macroaggresions. I had never seen images of people being openly racist and vicious toward minorities except for in history books in the times leading up to the Civil Rights Movement. Now, all of racists were suddenly loud and proud and angry.

He was reelected in 2012 and his second term was coming to an end. In November of 2016, the republican candidate for president (He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named) was elected into office as his successor.