THE LEGACY OF GREATNESS: 

How Will History Preserve the Presidency of Barack Obama?

If the years which follow 2017 should be memorialized as interesting years then it is our responsibility to fashion them into greatness and hand them over to the judgement of progeny. The philosophy and essential beauty which is so very much the creative, driving spirit of this or any time is most richly understood by who live it into existence. To live in the know is to live in the very moment.

The magical and rarefied moment of our existence is personified as the fabric of civilization. Our civilization is different from the one our fathers and grandfathers perceived. Perception of civilization requires us to press-together what appears to be unrelated elements into a massive generic blob of phenomenological clay but to this clay we must necessarily add the spiritual, ethical, moral and other more abstract dynamics which also shape perception. What matters most to perception of civilization is the recognizable form. Human civilization can be observed as a finite evolution of distinctive forms or shapes that crystallize into the icons which define every age.

Perhaps the biggest shape/form of the early twenty-first century is being molded at the conclusion of the second term of the first Black-American president of the United States of America. By this I mean that the impact of his legacy on the course of American history will greatly be defined in the years to come. On a holistic, cultural level Obama's journey has had the same relevance as that of Nelson Mandela since both men rose to power in countries which had historically oppressed black peoples. The historical marker they have set into the continuum of human history can easily be connected to the rise of Black American politicians during the Post-American Civil War reconstruction. The dynamic pattern they have created should lead to more frequent instances which will ultimately define a distinctive period in history when black men established themselves as statesmen. In a future time when a black president is no longer extraordinary the pioneering era in which we live will become a cultural icon defining our age.

A BLACK AMERICAN CONGRESSMAN DURING THE AMERICAN RECONSTRUCTION

Whether we live to reflect upon the ways in which the future shall opine on the legacy of Obama is far less relevant than the vigour with which we breathe life into these remaining minutes of our existence... for the moment it is we who breathe life into his legacy. Many Black Americans have adopted a mission to cultivate future generations of black presidents but obviously not for the sake of just having a president who is black. These Black Americans strive to prepare young black men and women to aspire to the presidency as a means of balancing the history of America forging a cultural shape as an offering for history to memorialize as cultural icon.

Obama is a man who served all people’s, he was everyman’s man. Obama favored the American people and his policies sought to help those Americans in greatest need. I am certain that he understands a good and a humble man so great that others would seek to erase him should not fear the future. As long as some men live who have wisdom Barack Obama’s deeds will be magnified and passed down the centuries.  The toughest lesson for those who seek to obscure the legacy of Obama will be learned as they realize that the human spirit cannot be legislated away!

FIN

Written by BIGDADDY BLUES