The following is presented here with the express permission of the author, Danae Curtis. She was writing in response to being asked: Why should somebody in Minnesota vote for Barack Obama?
I just wanted to share a little bit about myself with you. I was born in the west bank neighborhood of Minneapolis and attended Hopkins schools K-12. I was raised by my AMAZING white mother and the loving farm family of Wisconsin that didn't disown her for marrying a black man from Texas a few years after they said it was legal.
My family has endured more attacks than time will permit me to comment on. This moment in time has made all of my struggles worth it.
I used to write in my journals as a young girl about how I had a dream. A dream that one day no one would ask me what I was, or accuse me of not being human. (The word mulatto was tokened in slavery days to signify that a child conceived by a black person and a white person would not be human. It would be less than human; less than a donkey; less than a mule; that animal is known as a mulatto. The Spaniards originally used the term upon arrival to the US.)
I was the first black girl to attend public schools in the Hopkins School District in 1981. My mother received hate mail threatening our lives on the playground. I received swastikas on my locker in high school. Because I was not only black (so said the uninformed,) but also poor in a land of affluence during the initial assimilation experiments of the 80s, I was a double threat.
Hopkins built their first brand new low income housing on Main Street in 1980 and we were the second family to move into these "projects in the suburbs."
Not only were we poor, but we were the first family of any color (beyond white) that moved to the city of Hopkins. Then came my close friends from Laos. My friends from Nigeria came next. Many of us who went through these experiences were scarred for life, despite our numerous successes.
The wounds are healing now, thanks to the efforts of Barack and Michelle Obama. The part of my life story that breaks my heart is that I have never been racist; it's not in genes to be able to do so. However, I have constantly been judged, by all sides, be it for my skin color, my hair, or my proper English that the mighty Hopkins School District 270 taught me with flying colors!
If your spouse, or anyone, is still trying to choose among Democrats to vote for in the primaries and in November, please tell them this:
This is not about race. This is not about religion. This is not about political parties. This is not about revenge or grudges. This is about our nation's future. I firmly believe that the next elected leader of our great nation will have the ability to decide the fate of our future.
When the world looks at the United States of America, they should see a leader that represents ALL of us - someone who can stand up to be a true Diplomat of Democracy for the world to follow.
Lastly, please consider this. I know that as the class of 1995, we were not thinking that our 10 year reunion would be spent doing what we've been doing (either out of obligation to the military or out of volunteer relief efforts.) I would rather not let you know the number of people I know that have died since 2000.
You have the opportunity to give us a chance to achieve the goals we once had as high school youth. You have the chance to send us home to be with our families. You have the chance to heal the wounds that have been existent in this nation, and globe, for centuries.
As a member of the International Red Cross and Crescent, an Honorary Member of the League of Women Voters (inducted in 1995), a former mentee of the late, great Senator Paul Wellstone, an alumnus of Hopkins High School, the University of Minnesota, and Camp Wellstone, I am not asking. I am begging. I am crying as I write this. I speak not only for myself and my family, but for THOUSANDS of my enlisted friends. The young kids have humbled our hearts at their enlistment numbers, but they should not have had to do that. We did not want them to have to do that. Give them a chance to come home and live the lives that they dreamed of during junior high. Let all of our families be reunited, as we should have always been, under our nation.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I am currently living downtown Minneapolis in PROUD poverty until this is done. I am tired. I am not only ready, but desperate for change. I am hoping that this great Minnesota is still the Minnesota that, in spite of some unpleasant experiences, is still the most amazing microcosm of the globe in the entire country - the state that welcomed all with open arms; the state that was responsible for starting the Peace Corps from a Minnesota caucus; the state that produced the best music, the best example of unity and diversity, and the best true kindness and respect for all that I once knew.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I am happy to have relocated back to my beloved state after seven years of unspeakable challenges in AZ, Mexico, Jamaica, and the globe. I hope and pray that we all unite in memory of my mentor, your relatives that have passed and helped start this great state, and for the future of this country, to vote for Barack Obama on February 5th. NOW IS THE TIME!
Danae Dawn Curtis Class President Hopkins High School Class of 1995
Ms. Curtis received a full academic Presidential Distinguished Minority Scholarship to attend the University of Minnesota where she triple majored in Life Sciences, Public Health, and Community & Diversity Issues, graduating in 2000. Having served two years of Americorps National Service while in Minneapolis (1995-1997), after graduation she chose to "fill the void left from my generation's call to duty" by teaching and working in the community in Arizona. She has studied at the University of West Indies in Mona, Jamaica, and worked for the Jamaica Aids Task Force where she advocated for women's rights, is a member of Zeta Phi Beta, and a founder of The Depot Coffehouse in Hopkins, MN, a chemical-free, teen and family-friendly coffeehouse in an old train station which she says is "proof that people were, and still are, ready for change."
