When Obama was first elected, I was working as a reporter at a suburban newspaper in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio. The editor-in-chief asked me to write a column about what Obama's election meant to me, since I was the only African-American writer on staff at the time. I doubted if I was the right person for the assignment.
Sure, I voted for Obama. But I'd supported Hillary Clinton during the primary, remembering how prosperous life seemed in the '90s when I was in college at Ohio State and her husband Bill was president. And I didn't quite grasp why multitudes of people seemed to be so excited by Obama the candidate. Back then, he didn't have a long record that would indicate his ability to pull the nation out of the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. I was skeptical, to put it mildly.
However, I soon realized the enormity of Obama's presidency during his acceptance speech in Grant Park in Chicago on election night 2008. Seeing Jesse Jackson weeping uncontrollably really moved me. It was apparent that Jackson was not only reflecting on his own presidential campaigns, but was also looking back on all the sacrifices that Martin Luther King and so many activists made during the civil rights movement that paved the way for Obama.
The morning after Obama's election, I ran out and bought a copy of my hometown paper, the Columbus Dispatch, heralding the dawn of a new era. It really did feel like the start of a new chapter in American history, that the United States had become a fully modern society.
I didn't, however, buy into the whole "post-racial society" concept that was floated around in the media. I continued to believe that Obama's rise seemed to be a fluke, that he was a shooting star that appeared out of nowhere.
In his inspiring farewell address last night, Obama acknowledged that the "post-racial society" concept was "unrealistic."
"Race remains a potent and divisive force," he said.
It was fitting that Obama gave his farewell address in Chicago, the city that gave birth to his ascendancy to the world stage. Way before Obama was elected, there was a rock star vibe about him.
I met Obama back in March 2005, when he was a presenter at that year's NAACP Image Awards. I covered the red-carpet ceremony for the Call and Post Newspaper, Ohio's oldest and largest African-American newspaper. When the then-senator from Illinois came back to the press room to answer questions, there was an electricity that filled the air. There was a lot of buzz around Obama, and he was still hot after his now-legendary speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
After the formal round of questioning, several of my colleagues swarmed Obama and asked him to sign autographs, and he graciously fulfilled all requests. I don't clearly remember if I actually approached the utterly approachable man from Hawaii for an autograph.
Frankly, at the time I was less concerned with Obama and was instead preoccupied with how to finagle my way backstage to meet Prince, my teen idol. At that year's NAACP Image Awards, His Royal Badness received a lifetime achievement award and performed a medley of his greatest hits, backed up onstage by another idol of mine, Sheila E. (Unfortunately, I wasn't able to meet Prince, but I am fortunate to say I've met Sheila and her close-knit family several times and consider them friends. To read my Prince tribute and how I almost met him at the NAACP Image Awards, click here.)
If I did, indeed, get an autograph from Obama in the press room that evening at the Shrine Auditorium, I carelessly lost whatever scrap of paper I asked him to sign. But it's cool to be able to say that I got that close to the future president, that in a small way I had a brush with greatness.
And in my opinion, Obama has been not only a great president, but a great man. Perhaps because I didn't have the sky-high expectations that my friends, family and other fervent Obama supporters had his during his first presidential campaign, I don't have a laundry list of complaints and disappointments about the job he's done in the Oval Office.
In my view, President Barack Obama has been a model of dignity and grace under pressure, a devoted family man whose administration has been free of personal scandals. Seeing him, First Lady Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia in the White House has been wonderful.
President Obama has set a stellar example for how to treat the most vulnerable among us. He's someone who we all can look to - especially those of us who are African-American - and be proud.
(Chris Bournea is the co-author, with Raymond Lambert, of the book "All Jokes Aside: Standup Comedy Is a Phunny Business.")
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