The night of November 4 of 2009, our country elected the first African American President of the United States. I admit, once it was official, I cried hysterically.... no.... seriously.... I BALLED my eyes out. The tears couldn't stop flowing, I couldn't catch my breath, I just kept saying (or trying to say), "Oh my God". About a half-hour into my sob-fest (I'm not exaggerating either, I cried for about an hour straight), it hit me:

Those were 400 years of tears I cried. Those were the tears of my ancestors in Africa who were brought here against their will to be slaves. Those were the tears of my ancestors, who once upon the time only counted as 1/8th of a person. Those were the tears of my ancestors who were raped, beaten, lynched, burned, whipped, chained, sprayed with hoses, spit on, maimed and everything else you can think of while living in this country. Those were the tears of my ancestors who walked, marched, and protested for equal rights. Those were the tears of Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, JFK, and Dr. Martin Luther King. Those were the tears of my cousin who was brutally murdered for having a white friend. Those were the tears of my mom and dad, who had rocks thrown at them while pushing me in a stroller walking through a predominately white neighborhood. Those were the tears I cried when I was younger, thinking I was "second best" because of my skin color. Those were the tears I cried when my brother and I were called "niggers" while walking to the library on the corner Denver Street.


January 20th of 2009 is the day Barack Obama will be sworn into office. January 20th of 09 is also my birthday. I am planning on attending the Inaguaration with my best friend. I already know, I will most likely be crying again, but these tears will be a bit different. These are the tears I will cry when I am able to tell my children and my grandchildren "anything's possible". It will truly be the greatest birthday present I could EVER receive: the gift of equality, and the gift of knowing my ancestors did not die in vain.

God bless,
Wu Gambina

Labels: best friend, birthday, obama, politics

Check it out, yesterday was my father's birthday and he came up to Boston from Springfield just to spend it with me! My father is TRULY and inspiration: he had a ROUGH battle with drugs (and is 11 years clean.... thank you very much) and for the most part has been VERY lucky! He's been robbed, shot at, locked up (for petty stuff), and God only knows what else. Again, he is now clean, and is sincerely one of the most amazing, funny, silly, strongest people to grace this planet.

Yesterday, we got our grub on (I had sweet and spicy shrimp with rice and a salad, he had baked haddock with rice and a salad, and we split some shrimp quesadillas), and went bowling. We had so much fun.... he won the first game, I won the second (he wasn't too thrilled with that, lol).

Anyway, here is a playlist I'd like to dedicate to him... it's just a couple songs that are his jams.... check it out, you'd be surprised at some of the stuff he listens to, lol. So folks, get your do-rags, your tims, your bell-bottoms, and kick back and vibe off a few good tunes.

Happy Brithday Daddy! I love you to pieces!

Labels: alexander o'neal, birthday, common, daddy, drugs, george clinton, isaac hayes, james brown, jay-z, kanye west, kool and the gang, music, ohio players, one way, the o'jays, wu tang clan