Tuesday Triumph: Obama is an International "Brother"

Last week we saw the photos of President Barack Obama in Europe being feted by all kinds of Kings, Queens, etc.  They showed large crowds of people of every hue and nationality greeting the President with adulation and adoration.  Every public moment was recorded and shown on all the networks and cable channels.  I admit it...I was proud beyond belief.

But then I received a photo in my email that CNN didn't use.  It came from a BROTHER about a BROTHER greeting a BROTHER. 

The gentleman in the photo is what's called a "Bobby"...a british police officer.  He clearly is in a position of trust and honor to be able to get that close to The President of the United States...especially since we know the level of threats President Obama is subjected to on a daily basis.  "Bobbies" are the ultimate professionals.  They are focused on their jobs at all times and tradition holds that they fix their gaze upon the post they are charged with guarding and securing.  Remember they are not supposed to shake hands, but clearly, the two BROTHERS couldn't resist the historic moment. The black royal cop never imagined in his wildest dreams that he would usher a black American president into the British corridors of power.   The officer whose skin is brown no doubt did his job; but in doing so...he acknowledged his own personal triumph:  Shaking the hand of the first African-American President of the United States.  I know that's right my brother.

For every triumph I, as a black woman, felt at the election of an African-American man as President of the United States, there is no comparison to the pure camaraderie a black man must feel when he sees a "brother" take his rightful place in the world.  Does it erase every slight, every injustice, every cab that has passed them by or every job that they have been passed over for?  No, I think not.  But it does give a measure of satisfaction...and triumph.

They were once Kings...and as one of their Queens; I'm happy for them all!

"There is this beacon out there that says if you create a challenging, demanding, yet nurturing and supportive environment, if you show these young men the possibilities and you discipline them to realize those possibilities, you can turn these statistics about black men around."

-Michael Lomax