Thank you, Mr. President.
You’ll be leaving the White House for good this week and it feels a bit like my childhood friend is moving away. That sounds quite ridiculous but you’ve been such a fixture in my life as I’ve grown up that the concept of you not leading the country seems so foreign. You gave us everything you could and I want to thank you for your service.
I had the honor of attending one of your speeches last year. You spoke to the audience members as if we were your equals; your words reached me as if I was the only person in that arena. Despite all the excitement around me I took a moment to bathe in the significance of your accomplishments. A biracial man as the leader of the free world. Such a concept was not possible while my parents and grandparents were growing up, and yet there you were.
Thank you for intelligence, class, compassion, and hard work. For the past eight years the world has looked to you and seen the best parts of America. You have indeed made us proud.
Thank you for never trading in your blackness. It never seemed like you were constantly trying to assimilate into the overwhelming whiteness surrounding you. It felt like you embraced exactly who you were, meaning we could embrace exactly who we were.
Thank you for the way in which you handled unprecedented adversity. They called you racial slurs and compared you to animals. They challenged your birthplace. They attacked your wife and your daughters without reason or provocation. And yet, you never became bitter. You never lashed out the way I know I would have. You continued working to better the lives of all Americans, including those who spoke your name with venom.
Thank you for paving the way for a more progressive America. You declared yourself a feminist in front of the world. You recognized that black lives matter. You defended the right to love who you love. During your tenure the U.S. took major steps toward becoming a country for all us, rather than a few.
I’d like to thank you and your wife for providing the ultimate example of black love. The devoted husband, the loving and successful wife, the smart and beautiful daughters- these were not roles the media often allowed us to play eight years ago. You two changed the game. Representation is so incredibly important, and you showed every little black boy and girl that the world is for the taking.
Of course, I did not always agree with your decisions. There were times when I wish you had fought harder. There are compromises I wish you had not made. But I always, always respected you. I never lost belief that you were looking out for the little guy.
And I’m so sorry. I’m sorry that we failed to elect someone of your stature to take over the White House after you; someone deserving of following in your footsteps. But I promise to keep fighting. They may seek to wash away your accomplishments but I, along with millions of others, will keep your legacy of hope and change alive. We will not forget.
So thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, thank you, thank you.