A Letter To My Daughter

November 6, 2008


Dear Lillian,


First of all, dear, I love you. I want to write this letter so that you will understand what happened in these days and why it was so important. My sincere hope is that what has transpired now will not seem miraculous or abnormal to you in the future, and I want you to know why it was when it happened. I have explained to you now as well as I can and you have shared in the excitement along with us, but your 4-year-old self cannot grasp it all.

Two days ago, Barack Obama was elected the president of the United States of America. Your father and I very much wanted him to win. For the first time we donated money and time to an election campaign. We are confident that he is a great man who can not only inspire, but has the intellect and moral sense to be a truly great president and lead the American people and the world out of a very dark time. What I did not know until he won, and he won by a landslide baby, was that his victory would shake my soul. I am almost as emotional and joyful as I was at your birth. This feels like a birth. It is the birth of hope in me and in many others.

You and your father are the reason why I am so filled with emotion and joy. I don’t think I had admitted that to myself until yesterday. My wonderful brown immigrant husband and my amazing brown daughter are going to be able to live in a country where an intelligent, inspirational brown man is the leader of this country. It is a new day. The marginalized minorities of this country can step forward and know they are being represented too. I hope, for your sake, you are never president, but it makes all the difference in the world for you to know you could be.

I do not want you to think that Obama’s victory is so important because of the color of his skin. I would not have voted for someone based on skin color, just as I could never support Governor Palin based on the fact that she is a woman. It is so important because America finally showed it could see beyond color, beyond political parties, beyond apathy, and reach for hope. Not only are people like your father and I happy about this victory--- so is most of the world. Today has been declared a national holiday in Kenya, the birthplace of Obama’s father. On TV, we have seen people in Australia and Japan jumping up and down for joy. Many in the world sense that this means an America that can be a beacon again.

Our country has been locked in bitter times. The economy has fallen apart, we have spent so much time and energy accumulating wealth and almost none protecting our planet, and the politics of blame and hate have scapegoated and suppressed the poor and immigrants in this country. It is often darkest before the dawn. Bitter, aggressive, and greedy politics and the complacency and apathy of Americans caused a breakdown of such magnitude that it has brought this possibility. Obama and what he stands for would not have been possible unless Americans felt pushed into a corner. This is not just an election, but also a transformation.

Obama has unworldly expectations to live up to, and he won’t be able to deliver on all of them. I honestly believe, however, that his intentions are real and that he will do the best he can. He has awoken the American people and if we keep striving along with him, a lot can get better. We are at a point, as a country, and as an entire global family, where we must change the way we live in order to save life on our planet. I hope that this transformational change is just what we needed in order to reprioritize and make a revolutionary shift in the way we live. Like us, the Obama’s have young daughters. They want their children to have a home that is safe to live in.

I have hope for a post-Obama future as well. The people who made the big difference in this election, were young people and minorities. Millions of them voted for the first time. I helped a man register who said he had never voted before in his life. He has a black man who was in his 40’s. People stood in line for 6, 7, and 8 hours to vote. Obama’s mother was white and his father was a black man from Kenya. He grew up poor. His story and his words and his intentions have raised the expectations of the disenfranchised and the hopeless. My fervent wish is that his presidency will be a permanent shift in how and who we elect as our leaders and that the people who came forward to help this campaign will continue to work and vote and have hope for America. Your generation will grow up with a whole new set of expectations and understanding of how the world works.

Not only did Obama win, but he fought a tight race in the primaries against Hilary Clinton. In this historic and mind-boggling election, the democrats had to actually choose between a well-experienced liberal woman, and an inspirational man of color. What a choice to have. Cornel West, a Princeton scholar, said that what the country needs now is not a Clinton, but a Lincoln. These words ring true to me. Hilary Clinton would have made a good president and her victories in the primary broke barriers for all women, including you, but Obama will be a truly great president and represents a transformation of not only politics, but of the identity of Americans.

Your father came to this country 15 years go in order to have a real chance to make something of his life. Staying in Mexico would have meant spending his life working endless hours doing menial, backbreaking work without the ability to follow his dreams and make his own way. His story is the story of millions. His story is the story of America. Your birthparents had the same story. Your father has built, with my aide, his own independent and very successful business. He took an idea and an opportunity and has worked harder than anyone I have ever known to attain it. He has done it not just for him, but also for us. We have the satisfaction of knowing that despite the hardships it brings, we work for ourselves. Your father is not mistreated in someone else’s kitchen as many immigrants are, and he has created good, stable jobs for 20 more people—immigrants and citizens. His story, our story, is the American story. This country is great and strong because people from all over the world made their dreams into reality and were allowed the opportunity.

So for the first time I can ever remember, my darling daughter, I feel patriotic. I feel like my country lived up to my expectations of what America is supposed to be. I know in my soul now that your father chose the right country, as did your birthparents, and I am lucky to have been born here.

Yesterday, we celebrated. You had school in the morning and your father was at work, but last night we had an election fiesta. We had quintessential American food (and a menu I knew you would love). You enjoyed cheeseburgers, fries, salad, corn on the cob and ice cream sundaes (you were particularly excited about the sprinkles). After dinner and egg gathering, we played soccer with Tinsel and then we came inside and danced in the kitchen to a Dan Zanes CD. We listened to the lyrics: queremos bailar un dia de sonrisas that translates as we want to dance on this day of smiles. That was exactly how joyful we felt on this day of smiles. You even changed into your pink sparkly shoes. When I put you to bed, I told you a brief version of Obama’s life and election. Then I kissed you as you drifted off to sleep in a new world.

I love you,

Mom