super tuesday from durban.

writing from durban, south africa tonight. a storm passes through after a day of hot, humid 35˚C temperatures: thunder, lightning, hail even, fantastic, catharsis.

there are many things to say about my time in durban, but tonight i write this blog entry in support of senator obama on the eve of super tuesday. each evening, during my stay here, i have been listening to his recorded autobiography, "dreams from my father." (a small aside: the book is read by the author & won him a grammy for best spoken word in 2006!) he tells the story of those things that formed his identity and inspired his work: a kenyan parent and an american parent, childhood years in indonesia, discomfort with racial and cultural categories that might "claim" him, difficulty finding a place in which to root himself, spiritual journeying, time spent working in chicago. personally, these themes touch strangely on themes in my own life and issues about which i am thinking at this time. politically, his story compels me to believe he is the type of person i believe would be able to lead the united states well.

several weeks ago, i spent an evening at obama volunteer headquarters in chicago. the headquarters is housed on the tenth floor of a building across from the sears tower: large rooms almost frantic with activity and energy. the diversity of the many people working there was quite lovely: i observed teenagers, and very elderly folk, college students, and middle-aged professionals: every color skin imaginable. i observed impassioned people, and listened in a little to their articulate telephone conversations with voters from illinois and nevada. early voting in illinois had just opened and the neavada caucuses were just four days away at the time. mayor daley dropped by, thanking the volunteers for their work. i made a few phone calls myself. I, who often balks at phone-calling, actually enjoyed those that i had with perfect strangers whose telephone numbers appeared on a list handed to me when i walked in the door. i thought much of the evening --- mostly strangers, talking to one another, organizing support around someone they believed might bring good change: democracy at its best. i should have done more!

during this u.s. primary campaign, even though at this time I sit an ocean away, i find myself caring quite a great deal more than usual about casting my vote where my vote counts. regardless of the fact that my birthplace is a mission hospital in a small town on the edge of the rift valley in kenya, and that i lived almost 2/3 of my life in that place , i do carry a united states passport. senator obama, for many reasons, is a candidate in whom i quite firmly believe.