Tonight was a little emotional for me, partly because this is so personal. Twice while I was in middle school, Craig Robinson was the Ivy League Player of the Year for the Princeton Tigers. He was the best player on outstanding teams led by my hometown legend, coach Petey Carill. I was an enormous fan of Craig Robinson and he was a player of extraordinary talent, grace, and intelligence. I used to watch him play at Jadwin Gym and I used to share the court with him at Dillon Gym, where I would win three junior league championships. Craig Robinson, the older brother of Michelle Obama, introduced his sister tonight.
Whenever I went over to my best friend’s house I was likely to ride my bike by the Third World Center on Prospect Avenue, where Michelle Obama would spend so much time during her time as an undergrad. She graduated from Princeton my sophomore year in high school. Michelle and I probably crossed paths many times without me taking any special notice.
It may seem like a small thing, or even silly, but personal connections like that made tonight seem like some kind of personal victory. It’s as if people that share my experiences and my values are finally being respected and finally being entrusted to lead this great nation.
Of course, it doesn’t stop there. Not by a long shot. I share Barack Obama’s history of working with Project Vote and with community organizing in the inner city. His victory feels like my victory. And it feels like a victory for every person I ever empowered to get involved in community service, and for all the people they served.
And watching a convention (on CSPAN) that was totally unapologetic and unembarrassed to display its liberal, urban, progressive, and, yes, African-American roots and culture? Damn that felt good to watch. From the music selections to the speakers to the issues (Katrina, Health Care) to the faces in the crowd to the celebration of Teddy Kennedy…it all felt good. For once we we’re not shy, we were not hidden, we were not ashamed. It wasn’t in-your-face. It was self-confident…for once.
There is a lot at stake. But anyone that can’t recognize the progressive revolution, the sea-change in culture, expressed in the first night of this convention has just set their standards too high.
And Michelle Obama!! What can I say? She was spectacular.
