I don't have anything poignant to say, I'm not that kind of writer. Whenever I try, it comes out sounding either corny or negative. And I don't want to be negative on a day thousands of volunteers and I worked so hard to make happen.
But, it's a great day to be American.
We turned Florida blue! We elected "that one!"
America's new first family.
I'm so proud to have been a part of it all. To have been part of such a positive and inclusive campaign for change!
Barrack Obama is our nation's first Biracial President. And as someone who is also biracial, I have felt a personal connection and drive to elect someone, not who I want to have a beer with, or who's "like me", but someone first and foremost qualified AND knows what it's like to be me. Someone who looks out not just for their own, but will look out for all of us. It is my belief and hope that we have elected(no pun intended again) that one. In my conversations with fellow children who are products of mixed marriages, the topic that comes up so often is our sometimes feeling of invisibility. We can either be one or the other ethnicity, not both. I have always felt like an American and have always loved my country with the devotion of a veteran's daughter who pretty much grew up on a military base. But always within a culture that tells you to check the box, are you white or Asian? You can't be both. I always felt like I was never enough of one or the other for either culture. I sometimes describe myself as a chameleon,fitting in everywhere and no where, but doing my best to create my own identity while at the same time embracing and celebrating both parts of myself. And identity is something that many biracial kids in my generation still struggle with. I could never be white enough to be considered white or Asian enough to be considered Asian; living in a "check the box" culture. We begin to feel invisible sometimes because up until maybe a few years ago, there was no "box" for people like us. I've heard the word Hapa, used to describe people like me with mixed Asian backgrounds, someone even wrote a book featuring us a few years back. I picked up that book and saw my face on every page. In 2004 I watched a self described,"skinny kid with a funny name," speak to America and something in my heart burst. I was not only, no longer invisible, but I was now a "skinny kid with a funny name" too. Living in such a red state and having had the words "unAmerican" pressed upon people like me with unapologetic liberal leanings, listening to this unknown state senator speak about America and Americans with inclusion as the defining message, I felt like someone had given my beloved flag back to me when Karl Rove-ian divisive politics tried to take it away from me and bully me. So while we're celebrating America's first African American President, many of us "hapas" feel some small ownership in celebrating a bi-ethnic President who struggled with identity in a similar way we did. We are happy for our African American brothers and sisters, and we can celebrate ourselves as well. Because an African American President named Barack Hussein Obama can possibly open the doors for us too. I cried like one of my own had won last night. Because he is one of our own in a really special way that all of us who are of mixed heritage can claim.
And by the way I just want to call it- I told everyone I knew after that beautiful 2004 key note speech that someday he was going to be president. Most people said,"WHOOO? What the hell kind of name is that, sounds weird!" And now anyone who remembers me saying that are eating their words. So I just had to brag about that too and rub it in- oh I love being right. :O)
I canvassed til an hour before the polls closed last night. I felt like I contributed to my country just by participating. I said to myself, whatever the outcome, I will never have to say that I didn't do my best so if my party doesn't win, I would at least not have any regrets. When I attended my first meeting back in June and heard our county coordinator talk numbers and say that we could really turn Florida blue, I thought,"Yeah right. Ok." But I hoped. And we did! And I was part of it! So tonight at our party I want to relish in that. But I look forward to working with my new found blue friends in finding some small ways to be purple because everyone who I spoke with when I phonebanked and canvassed: Republican, Democrat, Green, Independents said the same thing. That they were sick and tired of the divided atmosphere we're living in.
I don't need to tell anyone who doesn't live under a rock what day today is. I have been canvassing my behind off and you don't need to guess for whom. Yesterday I got maybe 3 hours of sleep and didn't think I was going to be able to do it one more day. I thought maybe if I'm so exhausted, I'll just phone bank for an hour until I'm tired. But after attending a rally with thousands of people giving positive vibes to each other, praying together, dancing together, and singing our National Anthem together, then hearing one of the best pep talks I could have ever been given, I was on a high energy for the rest of the day and was able to muster the power to keep the wheels turning. You can see from this picture what a great view I got to have and how close my position was from the podium.
Yesterday I showed up at my team leader's house expecting to canvass. She told me I was the only who wanted to and everyone else wanted to phone bank. I said, "I'll stick around and make calls with you guys in case anyone else shows up that I can convince to come with me because I don't like and won't canvass alone. I was by myself yesterday and I didn't feel safe." A man sitting on the couch looked up and said, "If you need a partner, I suppose I can go with you." Then he stood up. And he was frikin' 6'9", OK? Yeah. I'm 4'11". Obviously I felt safe. What a sight we were walking through our town. People opened their doors when we knocked and for a second just looked at us like we were from the circus or some kind of Halloween comedy group. But it made it easier for us to talk to people because they seemed to want to know how in the world we even knew each other. So if anyone happened to look out their windows yesterday and noticed a freakishly tall man walking around with a freakishly small woman carrying a clipboard and waving to people, that was us.
I know I brag all the time about my freakish strength that enables me to pick up my tall 6'2" husband and carry him around for a few minutes. No way in hell I could have picked up this guy. Not even on steroids.
Today I am exhausted from all my canvassing and need a big rest. I feel guilty about it as it is crunch time but I'm dead tired in my bones. I feel like I've walked a million miles. I'll be back on the trail tomorrow, so again guys, if I knock on your door, be nice. Offer me some Gatorade. Or some painkillers. Whatever.
I voted today!
I felt all "historical" so I had to make a video. I ended up having to do another take when I realized I was holding my camera the wrong way. Typical....
Here is my message(s) to the world:
Oops. Take two:
And here is my ballot. I encourage everyone to do the same whoever you vote for.
Saturday I went canvassing for the very first time. I had shied away from volunteering to canvass because I live in the darkest, blood Red section of Florida. In fact I was actually a little scared of my safety when I saw how nasty, and ok I'll just say it right out, RACIST supporters seem to be comfortable enough to get lately.(It's actually worse than what's been shown on CNN-don't believe me, just look on youtube) When I heard that someone had yelled,"Kill him," at a rally in Florida, I wanted to apologize on behalf of the state of Florida. I had visions of some crazy person chasing me down with a pitch fork because I was campaigning for "that one." Mind you, I have nothing against republicans, in fact, my whole family and one of my closest friend have Rs on their voter registration card. And I'm in NO way saying that republicans are racist, of course they aren't. Racists are racist, it's a simple as that. (I never heard anyone yell death threats at the Obama rally that I went to a few weeks ago. ) But I grew up in the South. Biracial, in the South. And I love the South and I love Southerners but as a woman, who's half Asian, I can tell you guys some stories about some of the stuff I had/still have to put up with. So it would be safe to assume that an Asian girl canvassing on behalf of "that(black) one" whatever the political affiliation, might be a little nervous. At any rate any Democrat would not be very enthusiastic about canvassing in Republican territory. I did it anyway. Actually my team leader told me that we outnumber Republicans in my county but we've just not been as vocal until recently. Whatever the outcome, I'd like for all of us in my community to just accept the fact that we don't all agree on everything, and there's nothing wrong with that.
So you guys would be happy to know that my experience was a really good one. Just about every door we knocked on was happy to see us and those who were not, didn't chase us away with pitchforks. And the people who were happy to see us acted as if they had been in hiding and were happy to be discovered. It was as if they were being intimidated by their neighbors to just shut up and take it because they were outnumbered, actually no it wasn't as if, it was. So they were all so excited to see friendly faces. Most of our house calls were senior citizens(it is Florida) and wanted to talk issues with us but spoke in hushed voices. When they did this I told them loudly,"No. Let your voice be heard, this is your community too. You're not a second class citizen just because you're blue in the red zone. You would be surprised how many of us there are, I have 7 pages here full of people to visit, almost all Democrats. There's no reason we should all remain quiet. " One lady wanted to make copies so that she could make some new friends but of course I can't disturb anyone's privacy. One old guy raised his fist when we told him who we were and said,"Yeah!!Yeah!! Go young people!" Some couples offered us cookies and told us they were proud of us. Another was worried about us and said,"Don't let anyone see what you're doing, you guys are gonna get yelled at or something. We had our signs run over." I said,"Let them see us. I want them to know we're here. And I will smile at them and flirt and win them over too." They liked that. One lady expressed concern over his middle name being Hussein because she really liked his ideas before that. I told her my middle name was Marie but that didn't make me the Virgin Mary, she laughed at that and asked for a ride to the polls. Another couple was still in their bathrobes and was embarrassed about the fact that they slept so late(it was only 10:30) but they had just started taking a dance class the night before. How cute is that? I thought about my Grandparents a lot. I don't even know what their party affiliation was, I know my Grandma was a huge fan of Reagan. Huge. I wonder if they would approve of my volunteering and if they would be proud of me.
The next day, I went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. On my way in, some guy made a smartass comment about my Obama teeshirt. Honestly I can't even tell you what he said, I wasn't even paying attention because I was thinking about all those people whose homes I visited and again understood why they felt the way they did. As I was standing in line, an old lady, who had heard, whispered to me,"I see you're wearing the right shirt." I said, "Say it louder ma'am, don't be shy. You're among friends here even if you didn't know it. I'm one of 90 volunteers." So she did and her husband did too. And they told me they already voted by absentee ballot. I told them I would be waving signs near the library and all over the beach next week so if they see me, to beep.
Phone banking, I'll still do, especially since the people I called yesterday didn't even know and never heard of early voting. But the human connection was better. It's nicer to see a smiling face knocking on your door than to hear your phone ring during dinner time, I think. And like I said, whatever happens in this election, I hope I have contributed in some small way to opening a dialogue or at least gave a feeling of belonging to the people I met who felt like outsiders in their own neighborhood. Needless to say, that night I called my team leader and told her to count me in to canvass at every date we have left.
And that's all I need to say.
