Here are a few thoughts from a wonderful trip to Delaware to campaign for Barack Obama.See also a few pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/23261742@N06/sets/72157603862543554
Saturday Feb 2ndJust a quick note. It was a really good first day in Delaware, albeit not the homey community that I found in SC. I’ve not got long, so I’ll just mention a few high points.
1) I had two riders up to Wilmington. One was a 25ish woman who is a research assistant for a Homeland Security committee on the hill. The other, Menal, is an 18 year old high school senior who has gotten excited about Obama and leads an effort at her school. She shocked her Indian parents by asking to go to SC, which they reluctantly agreed to. She has a great time and is now spending 4 days in DE. Elyse went back last night, but Menal and I are sleeping with about 8 other volunteers in the basement of a downtown Wilmington church.
2) We spent much of the day canvassing in a lower income neighborhood. Only 10-20% of people were home, many undecided and not willing to talk. But I have some lovely images of others. Onr image is of a young woman on her porch with her 2 yo and her dog. Genuinely undecided and eager to talk about Obama policies on family development (improving parenting skills). Another image is of an older guy working in his garage, who wasn’t on my “turf” sheet, but who I approached and was eager to talk. A third, was of a young African American family who was SO excited to hear that Barack Obama was going to
3) A number of us slept in sleeping bags in the basement of a local church
Sunday Feb 3th Amazing time this morning at the “Wings of Faith” church at 91 Christiana Rd in New Castle DE. My participation evolved from a phone call to one of the other Obama volunteers the evening before, asking if they wanted to participate in the “Faith Based out-reach” of the Obama campaign. He is Jewish but passed on the information to me. Fortunately, I had brought some respectable clothes. Menal chose to go with me, because she had never participated in a Christian service. When we showed up at Obama HQ at 9AM, a group of about 50 people were assembling of people with very mixed ethnic backgrounds, ages and origins. After being instructed, we were given a packet which included a letter from Obama to the churches, which we might be asked to read. My assignment (with Menal) was to the “Wings of Faith” church in New Castle DE. It proved to be a young church which had started with 4 members 4 years before and now had a membership of 200. They worshipped in a non-descript rectangular building in a warehouse area, but inside was a simple but beautiful worship hall capable of seating perhaps 300. The pastor, Bishop Watson, was about 40 years old. He was not sophisticated in a worldly sense, but proved to be an earnest, insightful and deeply spiritual man. He met with us for a few minutes, welcomed us, and by his own admission was sizing us up, as he expected the congregation to also do. He decided to read the letter himself (since it was just words), and invited me to say a few words thereafter which would allow his congregants to judge for themselves.
As the service started, there were about 100 African Americans, old and young. He chose to address the political issue at the beginning of the service, so it would not interfere with the worship that followed. First, he fiercely admonished his congregants to vote, “since people had died to that you can vote”. Second, he urged them to decide their own vote from their conscience, not anyone else’s. Third, he told them how he had been undecided until 3 days before, when he had met and heard Michelle Obama. He was deeply impressed by her genuineness and honesty. Forth he read the letter from Obama to the congregation. His attention was grabbed by a phrase in the letter to the effect that in these troubled times, “ordinary people can do extraordinary things”. He paused and repeated that for emphasis (and latter worked beautifully wove that phrase into his sermon about the people of Israel in Egypt). Fourth, he asked me to speak. I did so, not eloquently but from my heart – outlining my conviction that Obama’s integrity, authenticity (illustrated by his days of community organizing in Chicago) and ability to bring people together set him apart. Thereafter Bishop Watson oversaw an intense, beautiful and lengthy worship service. I was deeply impressed by him, and by his congregation. They were mostly welcoming to us, both in the service and afterwards. Truly a wonderful experience.
Due to timing, we only got to the fringe of the Obama rally of about 20,000 people for the last few minutes of Barack’s speech. What a site on a lovely Sunday afternoon. Thereafter we want canvassing in a lower class neighborhood, most of which had not been to the rally, were not very attuned to the political process and many were undecided. But quite a few were eager to learn. A few images linger powerfully in my mind. A very young mother with a 2yo and 5yo playing on a bed in the small living room. A elderly black man who stepped outside for a long conversation, fearful of Obama’s assignation. A carful of 5 young black men that I chatted up on the roadside, who seemed to be listening much more than I might have expected.
That night, a retired grandmother welcomed us into her home for much needed rest after a long day.
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