While talking with some fellow journalists about Barack Obama the other day, we each started coming up with Blacks that were qualified for the presidency prior to his ascendancy to the position.  However, their timing was not right. Popping the glass ceiling ain't easy.   As Barack takes the highest office in this land and one of the most influential positions in the world, a few names came to mind.  Benjamin Banneker, Hiram Revels, John Hanson, Booker T. (Taliaferro) Washington, Frederick Douglass, A. Philip Randolph, Adam Clayton Powell Sr. and Jr., Ralph Bunch, Malcolm X, Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., Shirley Chisholm, Angela Davis, Barbara Jordan, Jesse Jackson Sr. and possibly Jr., Colin Powell, Ron Brown, Ron Dellums; the list goes on.  I'm sure you can think of more.

Someone said, "Timing is everything" and Brother Barack certainly has that; the right man for the right time for the right reason.  His appeal is beyond the U.S.  When I was in Europe last year as soon as anyone found out I was from the U.S. they immediately would express their love for Obama.

One of the key elements to the Barack's "right time" is the Internet.  Given the media free for all with the Dr. Jeremiah Wright red herring and other media machanations, Barack's candidacy would have spiral down and out of control, if it had not been for the Internet.  The Internet allowed him to tell the "I-Story"--the first person from the heart.  The people in the U.S. and around the world were able to get a more definitive look at Barack instead of through the prism of media darkened by various contrived agendas.

At first I was so-so about Barack, only because I had seen other well-qualified Blacks run for President and not be seriously considered by even their own people.  You may recall that Ron Dellums and Willie Brown Jr. turned their support from "Unbought and Unbossed" Shirley Chisholm in the '72 presidential race for a candidate that "could win" (George McGovern was the Democratic Nominee).  But finally, when one of my fellow journalists made me sit down and listen to one of Barack's speeches I became a believer.  My personal motto became "Barack and Jacques, to the top."  That's something Barack inspires.  He gets people to believe they are part of his team.   There was still some concern for me about whether people of other cultures would vote for him, right up to his election.  His election showed me that things have changed or should I say are changing?

With trouble in the Middle East and around the world, plus the murder of another Black man by police in Oakland captured on video and other atrocities that go on around the world unnoticed because they were not captured on camera, there is undeniable evidence that much more change needs to come.  Oh yes, it does.

Recently I was covering both "Voice Con" which is the leading conference for enterprise IP Telephony, Converged Networks and Unified Communications in North America and the "NewTeeVee Live" conference in San Francisco that focused on TV, film and other media on the Internet.   I was slightly surprised to be one of a few Blacks at "Voice Con" and the only Black person at New TV composed of Lucus Films, producers for NBC's Heroes and some new companies.  It was very disheartening when I was treated rudely at both events by Asians, one from Microsoft and the other from the Gigaom Network host of the "NewTeeVee Live" conference.   Basically, what I saw was new technology and the same old racist content; "nothing new here," but the machines.  It's the same old "Groupthink" with new toys.  I'm sure most of the attendees did not see it that way since they probably voted for Obama.

Voting for Obama is not the panacea for all racist actions, old and new.   I can see it coming now, like the old adage, "Some of my best friends are Black;" "Well, we voted for Barack," will be the new saying.  The more things change the more they are the same.  Too often the anomaly because it is very visible, in this case a "Black President," is considered the norm when it is far from the case.

I salute the country faced with dire straights for its courage to try out a "Black President" and symbolically living up to the written tenets of this country that "All men are created equal."  At the same time, I remain vigilant of a country that voted 52-48% for change, although the electoral vote 349-163 reflected a larger difference.  The margin of the popular vote is too close to ignore and its time to acknowledge that the change is far over due and there are many men and women of color who were denied the opportunity to lead this country to higher heights.  The glass ceiling has been cracked, but there are still too many on the ground floor that are being held back in their spheres of influence because of the color of their skin with no consideration of their character and talent.

We can pat ourselves on the back for voting for the "First Black President," but let us not make the mistake of so many who have made strides who become "the first and only."  Let's pay tribute to all who were worthy to be president before Barack, Native Americans, descendants of former slaves, Latinos, Asians, Women, Eskimos, etc. and pull down that cracked ceiling for unlimited possibilities for those of character and talent who follow Barack Obama.  Let's hope its true, "when you go Black, you don't go back."  Let's move forward with opportunity for all as we work our country's foundational tenets "Liberty and Justice for All" in the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave."



A. Jacquie Taliaferro is a journalist and filmmaker based in San Francisco. 
Check out www.lahitz.com.