on belief: we're all as lonely as we wanted to be

i will follow in a long line of bloggers, reporters, and friends to (belatedly) relay the sense of hope i felt listening to barack obama's victory speech. i felt myself compelled, of course, by the election of our first black or mixed-race president, by the symbolic potential of such an event, and by the seeming empowerment of the disenfranchised in his election. but i also felt overwhelmed by an absolute belief. watching obama speak - seeing people reverant, overjoyed, crying - i was reminded of important visionaries like mlk jr or malcolm x or yuri kochiyama. and while i recognize the differences (and the potential violences of such a comparison) i think what ultimately stirred in me was the ability to believe in someone, to be inspired by a leader to believe in our collective potential to effect social change.

of course, thinking before and after the election, i inevitably return to a critical examination of the (race-related) implications of obama's presidency and the reality of what obama may or may not stand for.

but for that moment i felt...inspired.

and in that inspiration, i suddenly understood through a different perspective one reality of our generation: a tendancy towards cynicism, a cynicism that may or may not suggest knowledge but certainly (i've discovered) suggests a painful lack. this, i know, has a historical explanation awaiting exploration but for this moment, this once, i want to dwell on its loneliness.

belief is needed. important. and perhaps the silver lining of cynicism is a refusal to believe just anything --- at some point, though, i hope we each find something to believe in.