To Colin Powell and Barack Obama and Many More

A friend of mine recently applauded Colin Powell's response to the question of whether or not Obama is a Muslim, in which Powell posed the incredibly sensible, laudable, American question: "What if he was?" I've been struck by the integrity, civility, temperance, patience, and strength of so many Black Americans who have remained role models despite the idiocy raging around them. Instead of fearing such men, we should be thanking God for the character they display, so unfortunately forged in pain. There is a special dimension to the greatness that emerges from both Powell and Obama (and from many other Black men of that ilk, the most prominent of whom was, of course, Dr. King) and, surely, it does take shape in the experience of being male and Black in America. That quiet character.. that really deep understanding of freedom and rights and patience and compromise, coupled with incredible strength and persistence ... is striking and awesome. What the heck are we afraid of?