speech

On the television the crowd is immense. The screen cuts away to a video, framed by the station’s brand.

It’s cheesy, filled with token photographs deep in thought and glowing testimonials. Even trite and sappy, it’s effective. It sets a tone. It’s an introduction. It builds momentum.

The screen cuts back to the massive crowd surrounding an empty podium. It’s red, rimmed with white, standing atop a circular stage, ringed with stairs. There’s a raised walkway from the podium to the entrance. The entrance is built into a large display, flanked by giant screens and Greek columns.

He walks out. The camera jumps closer. He’s smiles broadly, waving casually. He strolls confidently toward the waiting microphone. Before reaching it, he turns around in a slow circle. He waves to every corner of the stadium, seemingly to every one of the over seventy-five thousand in attendance.

On screen, he’s larger than life. His dark red tie compliments the podium, under a dark suit and white collar. It all drips of overt patriotism. He steps to the podium, smiling in every direction.

Finally, after he laughs quietly at the overwhelming elation, the crowd subsides, settling back to listen intently. He gets directly to the point, to what everyone is there for, why they’re spending their Thursday evening sitting in a stadium on a cool, clear night in Denver.

“...and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation, with profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for presidency of the United States.”

The immensity of the moment is almost palpable. Not since watching two monuments fall on television in an empty dining hall seven years previous have I watched something so historic. A black man has just accepted the candidacy of the United States of America.

The US is a country built on slavery and thriving on the exploitation of the poor. It’s a nation that was a leader in civil rights and prosperity that has fallen to a corporatist agenda. A nation where those same people are disregarded, reduced to a tally on a bar graph of economic progress.

It’s a nation that symbolizes freedom but runs as a surveillance state. The richest nation the world has ever seen has its largest gap between rich and poor since World War II. A nation that strives for equality ignores under-the-breath racist comments and ignorant stereotypes.

He’s more aggressive. He details a new direction for the country. He outlines his goals and ideas. He antagonizes his Republican opponent, attacking his being out of touch, his lack of strong judgment. He discusses how he will lead us to lift up our fellow man, united in making our country better through personal responsibility and accountability.

His record is short but filled with smart judgment and an ability to move people. He speaks to the eighty-some percent of the country that aren’t represented in media. Those that don’t fit in with the extremes of the left or right, that just want national progress and effective government. He speaks to them.

In a media climate rife with sports analogies and reflexive gossip, without the necessary contextual analysis, he is reduced to a myth. He is an idea. He is a symbol of possible change. He is the physical manifestation of the faltering American Dream.

He finishes his speech, waves to the throng, smiles wide and is joined by his wife and daughters on the bright blue stage. Likely, few of the changes he speaks of will come to fruition. The corporate interests are too strong and abundant. His resolve and policies will soften. Still, he’s a voice for change and for that, for the first time, I feel the itch of what could be optimism.

Or maybe hope.