By Christopher Punongbayan
As I sit down to write this, Barack Obama has been president for about 60 minutes. I have spent most of this time in alternating states of mild shock and utter excitement. Obama is America’s first president of color! He is the son of an African immigrant! Forty years ago his election was inconceivable. Heck, his election four months ago seemed inconceivable. Progressive Americans are so accustomed to being critical of the federal government, and now we have a community
organizer in the White House!
This momentous victory, however, was not his alone. It was a social movement that brought Obama to office. Millions of Americans used their vote to bring about this peaceful transfer of power. But it is noteworthy that social movements have never been about the glory of one person, let alone one person so enmeshed in the politics of D.C. Social movements have never been so closely linked to partisan politics, but Obama is now the most powerful Democrat in the country.
While Obama is fresh to office, social justice activists must act more concertedly than ever. As people of conscience, we have a responsibility to ensure that President Obama leads our nation to a closer realization of the ideals of liberty and justice for all.
To be sure, the challenges he is facing – including two wars, an overheating planet, and the worst economic crisis in generations – are daunting. Moreover, I doubt that the President’s priorities include authorizing reparations for slavery or granting independence to our territorial holdings or even bringing George W. Bush to account for his role in authorizing the use of torture. But, I think there are other achievements that we can see major progress towards in this term.
The short list includes: a vast expansion of health care for the uninsured, the enshrinement of new civil and human rights protections, the mass creation of living wage jobs, new investment in our public education system, a reversal of policies that have led to global warming, and a humane and just legalization for undocumented immigrants.
These are the battles that the social change movement has been waging for years. They are also issues ripe for Presidential leadership. The arc of history has brought us to this new era, and today we should reflect and celebrate. We have at least four years of work ahead to bring us towards a more perfect union.
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Christopher Punongbayan is Deputy Director at the Asian Law Caucus. He has over a decade of involvement with immigrant communities in New York City, Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Francisco. In that time he has been active on a number of diverse issues including low-wage workers, housing, civil rights, and HIV/AIDS.
