Say It Loud...

Tuesday night was a lot of things. It was monumental. It was historical. It was a defining. It was redefining. Yes, as Barack Obama became the first African-American Democratic nominee for President, Tuesday night indeed proved to be all of the aforementioned. But it also proved to be something more. Something that an American president has never been. Something that the white house, by sheer definition of its name, could never be. Tuesday night was black. As Barack and Michelle Obama embraced  each other on stage at the Excel Center in St. Paul, Minnesota to announce their hard-fought victory, they practiced what I like to call a "code" interaction. That's right- they did some shit that only other black people would understand. They dapped each other up. While many may have recognized the exchange, the meaning of that dap at that moment can only be understood within a specific cultural context. I absolutely loved it.

The thing that I love even more, the thing that completely and utterly thrills me is the medias attempt to describe the gesture, calling it a "fist bump" or a "closed hand high-five." Think The 6th Sense when only the little boy could see Bruce Willis, but less morbid- only black people could see and understand the true immensity of that interaction. The dap reminded me of a speech of Obama's that I watched on television a while back. As Obama entered the auditorium, embracing fans as he made his way to the stage, someone yelled out "I LOVE YOU OBAMA!" 

What made this moment in his campaign so substantial was not the fact that he has a prince-like ability to make women scream "I LOVE YOU" and subsequently throw their panties on the stage -instead it was Barack's response which was simply "and I love you back." Now to the untrained ear, this response is nothing more than Obama's way of establishing a good rapport with his followers. For black people however, this response meant not only was Barack black, but he was black for real for real. This response meant that at some point in his life, Obama has watched Martin Lawrence's You So Crazy- one of the most popular comedic stand ups in black culture.  That's right, for once there is an African-American running for public office that is not trying to pass- and it tickles me so. As I wait intently, patiently for November 2008, Obama has surely got me invoking the Godfather of soul- singing off key, but with pride "SAY IT LOUD, IM BLACK AND I'M PROUD!"