I got an email from my father today. He asked me to share it because he doesn't know "how to blog." So here goes a deeply personal post. His email is at the end and it's better than my writing, so if you need to, just skip to the last part.
I had the pleasure to meet many of you at Netroots Nation in Austin. My name is Amir, a.k.a. "Texican." I would like to share a personal story that explains my personal connection to this campaign. Why I understand the urgency of now.
Like Barack Obama, I am a multi-ethnic American. My father emigrated to the US from Iran. My mother is 7th generation Texan of Mexican ancestry (Hispanic). My grandfather was a World War II Army vet, who brought me to the American Legion hall meetings where I learned skills that would come in handy when I became a flag bearer in grade school. I am a proud American. I have served my country as a Foreign Affairs Analyst for the State Department and for the Department of Defense.
My time serving in Washington during this administration revealed to me just how much work was needed to get us on the right track again. I decided to return to Texas and help get good Democrats elected in the local races. I learned in DC that when ordinary citizens get involved, we can change things. We are fortunate to live in such a country.
I understand this because my father often reminds me that he had to earn these freedoms and rights. He still believes in the American Dream, but he has told me that he's watched it erode under the current administration.
When I first told him about Barack Obama, he said, "Who?" I explained who he was and why I supported him. He listened and said, "Yes son, but America isn't ready. You know, you experience discrimination." The more he got to know Obama, the more he liked him, but he still held a skepticism that Obama could pull it off. I told him that I would some day like to run for office and serve, and that I had to believe that Barack could do it. I said, "I have a different sounding name, a Muslim father and a Christian mother. If you tell me he can't for those reasons, you're telling me I can't for those reasons." He paused, then said, "I will help you." He has never given money or volunteered before. (Neither had I for that matter.)
Today, I received an email from him that I want to share with the Netroots Community. Please feel free to share this with anyone who doubts that we can make a difference.
Here it is:
Dear friends,
I’m an Iranian immigrant and U.S. citizen that has lived in this country since 1976. I arrived here with $100.00 in my pocket and only in this country, could I make it as far as I have and still can continue to keep going. That is the reason that in our own way, my family of five, we gave three delegates in three different Texas counties to Barack Obama because we believe in him! So, I would like to answer those that question Obama’s experience as I see it:
I’m tired of hearing the same old same old about McCain’s experience and wisdom!
If experience brings us war and dead bodies, we don’t want that!
If experience brings us a runaway deficit and a failed economy, we don’t want that!
If experience brings us failed banks and a lower dollar value, we don’t want that!
If experience brings us bankruptcy and foreclosures, we don’t want that!
If experience brings us a collapsed housing market and homelessness, we don’t want that!
If experience brings us high fuel costs and low income, we don’t want that!
If experience brings us borrowing from China and exporting our jobs to India, we don’t want that!
If experience brings us no access to affordable health care, we don’t want that!
If experience brings us factory closings and unemployment, we don’t want that!
If experience brings us lack of respect by both friendly countries and enemies, we don’t want that!
If experience brings weakness to our military power due to mismanagement, we don’t want that!
If experience brings our war heroes home and leaves them stranded without jobs and health care,
we don’t want that!
What we want are new and fresh ideas to give us hope so we can say, yes we can!
What we want is a new and vision to guide us out of all these failures so we can say, yes we can!
What we want is a new leader to lead us out of war with honor, pride, and dignity, so we can say, yes we can!
We want new and young perspectives to turn around of our failed economy and bring us prosperity and economic growth so we can say, yes we can!
What we want are new fresh ideas to control our runaway deficit and spending so we don’t leave our country’s debt to our children and their children so we can, say yes we can!
What we want is a new 21st Century approach to our energy crisis so we no longer are dependent on oil so we can say, yes we can!
What we need is a new approach to our manufacturing power and ingenuity for new technologies and a safe environment so we can create new jobs at home so we can say, yes we can!
What we need is a young and energetic leader like Barack Obama to unite us as one nation under God, one color, one power as one American nation so we can say, yes we can!
What we don’t need is the same old same old again, and again!
What we need is Barack Obama, so that he can bring fresh wisdom, ideas, judgment and respect to our country! And we can say YES WE CAN!
M.H (Jabi) Samandi