Afro-Latin@ Project - Afro-Latina writes to Obama

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Afro-Latina writes to Obama

Letter to Obama - Read and Pass Along to Those in Doubt!
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2008
Open Letter to Senator Obama

Mr. Barack Obama:

Born in Panama and while still living there, our family achieved American citizenship in 1985. My sisters and I remained there until 1989. Immediately preceding Operation Just Cause, the invasion of Panama by the United States, we were fortunate enough to migrate to the U.S. where we have since lived. Leaving everything behind, we started our life anew. I secured a full scholarship to Claflin, a predominantly Black university in South Carolina , and my mother, absent even a high school diploma, worked a minimum wage job to put my brilliant younger sisters through private school. She did it alone…at one time with government assistance that included food stamps and section eight housing. I remember one Christmas feeling frustrated and upset as a nun from the school they attended came to our home with toy donations for them.

It took my mother almost seventeen years to achieve the “American dream.” Today, she owns a home. My sisters have completed college at PSU and both now boast graduate degrees. One of them currently works at a major television network as a writer/producer/director and is currently applying to school for her PhD. She has worked with some of hollywood ’s most acclaimed celebrities, but the experience she most holds onto is the recent and rare opportunity to spend a day with and film Dr. Cornel West. His spirit, energy and wisdom greatly affected her. Her goal is to work within the media to change the negative portrayal of people of color in film. She has a long road ahead!

Our youngest sister is currently in Zambia . She’s deferred acceptance into NYU’s nursing program, left her comfortable job at a New York not-for-profit where she worked in HIV prevention, and is spending one to two years in Africa where she wants to be a change agent in the war against HIV and AIDS.

I am currently the Vice President of a not-for-profit organization that promotes mentoring of children. Our greatest population is at-risk youth—a group my husband works closely with as well. A native of Nebraska , he is an entrepreneur and artist who owns a music technology and production company that enables him to work with fellow artists. More importantly, he is able to partner with non-profits in creatively integrating music composition and technology within the fabric of education to promote enhanced learning through the arts. He boasts degrees in Marketing and Finance and left a rather lucrative lifestyle to pursue his dream of entrepreneurship. We have two sons—a four year-old and a six month-old. Almost a decade later, we are also achieving the elusive “American dream.”

I share this with you, Mr. Obama, because our very personal stories reflect those of many in this country. Our family is a blend of naturalized Afro-Latino migrants and American-born citizens. Issues like immigration and healthcare (as you are well aware, small business owners STRUGGLE to find affordable healthcare) are intimately familiar to us. Race relations are critical factors in our lives as we enjoy the benefits and burdens of being proud Black people with diverse cultural backgrounds (Panamanian, Costa Rican, Jamaican, etc.). Having two children in daycare, my husband and I struggle with an economy that borders on depression. We face the economic landscape on a daily basis as we try to create a balanced life for our children. My well-educated sisters face astounding student loans—the cost of learning in this country is steep.

Where my mother, sisters and I come from, voting isn’t a right and an option, it’s an obligation. We understand its importance and look forward to participating in this process here. And when we do, we will vote for you and we will trumpet your CALL for CHANGE because we KNOW you best understand and appreciate our struggles and successes. Yes, your race is a factor in our decision-making process. We are not embarrassed to be proud of you because you are a Black man. We refuse to allow the media to undermine the historic relevance of this fact. However, and more importantly, we will vote for you because we believe you will bring wholeness to a political process long broken by greed and corruption. We will vote for you because of the EXPERIENCE you DO have and the innovation you bring to an antiquated system. Because you have managed to galvanize the you th—a group that must be better engaged in order for this country to reclaim its standing in the world. We believe in you because you believe in crossing cultural, racial, economic and political divides. We believe in you because more than speeches, you bring character to this process. What you exhude can’t be manufactured by a campaign think-tank or scripted or achieved by resorting to well-timed tears or the power of a well-oiled machine. What you bring is authenticity and the audacity of hope. What you bring is an innate integrity we have long forgotten is the core moral obligation of any official elected to represent us. Thank you, Senator Obama, for reminding us that we should and will and can become better, more united, more effective, more productive, more humane citizens. We should and will and can. Yes, we can….YES WE CAN!

In love and light,
Uva C. Coles
Pennsylvania