Open Letter to President Barack Obama
Dear President Obama,
I am confident that one day I will have the honor of shaking your hand but for now, it’s a pleasure to e-meet you.
My dad immigrated to America from Grenada, West Indies, and met my Puerto Rican mother at a party in Brooklyn. They got married and raised four children in a hard-working blue-collar household that represents the principles by which this nation was founded. An immigrant comes to this country to fulfill his dreams, becomes a citizen, works hard to provide his family with opportunities he never had and raises them to be positive contributors to their communities.
During your historic run for President in 2007, I was a 21-year-old native Brooklynite who was one year removed from graduating from college. I had just begun working for American Express at their global headquarters in lower Manhattan in a marketing role. Admittedly, I was not as involved in our nation's political process until one day my mentor at American Express mentioned a unique name to me. My name is Neville and I took great interest in a fellow brother with a different name like Barack. Initially, I was a little skeptical of the fanfare that surrounded your candidacy so I went out and purchased your book, The Audacity of Hope, and quickly became a huge supporter of you, Michelle, and your daughters run for the White House. I was so inspired by everything that you represented for the future of our nation that when you were inaugurated, I took a bus down to our capital to cheer you on and witness history. Personally, it was a time of unbridled optimism for my own future given that both the CEO of the company of which I was employed and The President of the country I was born in was both successful Black men I aspired to be like.
Working at American Express in lower Manhattan was a daily reminder of the gravity of the issues that our nation faced when you took office. As you know we were in the throes of two wars, in part, as a result of the grave incident that took place at the World Trade Center. Across the street, inside the American Express Tower, my friends and colleagues were directly impacted by layoffs as a result of the global financial crisis. During this time, I had torn my achilles playing basketball and was struggling to pay my medical bills. In short, your initiatives to pull back our involvement in the wars, rebound our nation from the financial crisis, and pass healthcare reform were of the utmost importance to our nation and to me personally.
In part because of my roles at American Express, I have been able to travel to many cities across our nation and I even had the opportunity to live abroad in Singapore and Sydney, Australia. In my travels to different countries, I encountered many people that were eager to discuss their glowing approval of your presidency. These remarks filled me with irrepressible pride to not only be Black but to be an American. Being a first-generation American, this was a new feeling for me.
In the last eight years, I continued to stay engaged in the political process and am passionate about the policies and initiatives your administration set forth. While I disagreed with a few of your decisions, I was overwhelmingly supportive of all you have accomplished both quantitatively and qualitatively. Most importantly, in the face of blatant racism, you always addressed our nation and the world in a thoughtful and measured tone while carrying yourself with grace and class. Under your presidency, I matured from a naive young man to a more well-informed adult. As I write these words, I have tears in my eyes because you have left an indelible impact on my life. For that, I can never thank you enough. I have never written a letter to your office and am not sure if you will ever read this letter but I am writing you today because I am gravely concerned with what is transpiring in our nation. I am shaken to the core that my fellow Americans have elected a brazen bigot to hold the highest office in our nation. To be frank, I am ashamed today to be American and that unbridled optimism that I once had for the future of this nation has been replaced by a dark ominous feeling of uncertainty. That feeling is not because the candidate that I voted for didn’t win; it’s because millions of Americans elected that type of candidate. I stand 6’1 with a muscular build and Donald’s campaign has emboldened racists all over this country to hate people that look like me. I knew that we still had work to do but I thought that in the last eight years we worked to erode the bonds of racism in America. I foolishly bought into the ideal that we were fighting against systemic racism not open racism. More than ever before in my life, I am fearful for my security and the security of those in my community. Maybe the result of growing up under your presidency in a liberal bastion like New York has caused me to have an auspicious view of race relations in our country. Even in the face of murmuring within our own community that you have not done enough for Black folks, I have reminded them that your accomplishments have had a direct impact on us for the better. After all, you are the President for all Americans not just Black Americans.
When you spoke at the Congressional Black Caucus you said, "I will consider it a personal insult -- an insult to my legacy -- if this community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in this election. You want to give me a good sendoff? Go vote.” Well, we didn’t insult your legacy and we went out to the polls to vote for Secretary Clinton to preserve your legacy and all you’ve accomplished. We went out to vote for all the social progress that I thought we’ve made under your presidency and the direction we were heading in as a Republic. What we were met with was an overwhelming wave of support from voters who felt that bigotry and racism is the change we needed. Similar to what Dr. King once wrote in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail my spirit is left broken as I face the reality that mostly white moderates supported bigotry instead of backing the vulnerabilities that face our most marginalized communities. Unfortunately, that feeling of deep betrayal is one that I don’t think will dissipate for some time.
As you prepare to leave office I know that the incoming administration is preparing to diminish the magnitude of your legacy. With most of our Black leaders now dead, no one remains to galvanize, admonish, protect, and fight for our community. I am happy to continue to do my small part to lead but if the last few months are any indication of what is to come, then the next four years will be a covert and overt onslaught against our community. The promise of this becoming a reality only brings about feelings of powerlessness. My ask of you is that as you transition to civilian life that like Dr. King you become the champion of our community. I know that is a lot to ask given that you have just served dutifully for more than eight years but there are dire days ahead and we are going to need someone to lead us from the top. That leader is you.
I hope to someday return to Washington to have the privilege to shake your hand. I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for our nation, for me personally, and for the generations of all Americans to come. I pray rich blessings on you and your entire family.
Cheers,
Neville A. Louison
Founding Silverback, Soulful Silverback
Silverback’s Note: In January 2017, prior to leaving Washington D.C., I received a response letter in the mail from President Obama. Please listen to the President’s words below.