Re my previous post, several people have not only asked me if I'm going to send a copy of Bo's Arts to 1800 Pennsylvania Ave., but have been shocked when I've said, no, I hadn't planned to. that I'd thought of it but it just feels kind of silly. I mean, how many presents does the first family get a day? Jillions? What are the chances that they'd ever see it, or have the time to bother to really look at it, let alone read it, if they did? Of course, it'd be super swell if Barack, Michelle, and the kids actually got and enjoyed the book and all, but the whole thing just makes me feel silly. Or, maybe it makes me feel small, too, and distant in a way I don’t like from this president, the first ever, whom I feel not just affection for but empathy with. From a president who’s, in some ways, dare I say, my peer.We are worlds apart of course, Barack and I, but we're also not that different in some ways, at least that's how I feel and would like to continue to feel. As I've written before here, the guy only paid off his student loans something like five years ago when his first book came out, and now he’s the “most powerful man in the world,” as the position is oft described. How amazing and relatable is that? Very amazing! All too relatable!
Lately though, I've also been feeling the gulf of curtural and racial difference between Barack and me as I listen to "Dreams from my Father." The last section of the book, as many of you know, is about his visit to Africa, to his father's, his own family. Our president had an African Muslim farmer grandfather, has dirt-poor African siblings and other family. It's the kind of thing I thought could/would never happen in this country; it's the kind of thing that could only happen in this country. (That all said, if anyone knows the best way to send a book to the White House, sure, I’m down, let me know.)
