.....

I hate to be so political everyday but... 

On Saturday I was sitting outside of the Roscoe's on Pico for an extended period of time (I don't feel like getting into that story). While I was there I somehow got engaged in an interesting discussion with one of the young men selling Obama t-shirts out there.

He was trying to get people to buy the shirts, so he could meet his quota and go home. He wasn't too pushy but what was most interesting to me was that when disinterested people passed him by he'd call out to them, "Don't forget to go vote!" 

In keeping with my vow I asked him if he was in fact registered. He told me that he was, that it was going to be his first time voting, and that he was excited. He told me that if this happens for Barack, then there would be no excuses left, that no one would be able to say something is impossible. If he becomes the next president of the United States he'll somehow prove that anything is possible. 

It was inspiring to hear this come from him and you know I prodded further... 

We ended up talking about me and my career and then his goals... He said that he was going to Santa Monica College. I asked why so far? He said that he lived near Pico (SMC is on Pico) so he just took the bus. He said he was planning on transferring out in a year. Imagine his surprise when I told him that I went to SMC as well, that I rode that same 7 Blue Bus down Pico to SMC, and that I transferred to UCLA. 

I told him how school isn't hard at all, how all three of the colleges I attended were just as hard/easy as the last, how he couldn't let any situation intimidate him, and how he should never let anyone tell him he can't do something- which is a lesson I fortunately learned from my father earlier on but now, I realize, is a much needed lesson that many African Americans are learning for the first time through Sen. Barack Obama. 

I was touched because I found a young black man who's inspired to move in a positive direction and he let me know that it was inspiring to see someone (me) who was living the dream that he was working toward. It's not just Barack, there are plenty of people doing big things in everyday life too. 

This conversation would've never happened 2 years ago. I think that was the first day I ever really sat back and absorbed the impact that Obama is having on people's lives all over the country. Like Wendy Williams said this morning "Win, lose, or draw, Obama is changing the face of this nation."