A Letter To President Obama

Dear Mr. President,

This isn’t an easy statement to make.   My esteem for you is so clouded by pain and frustration for present circumstances.   I want to thank you for many things, but I wish my statement was on behalf of a greater portion of the country.  I wish more people understood you, and felt your genuine desire to serve the entire country.  It’s an unfortunate reality that our own vitriol has turned your eight years of sacrifice into such a thankless job, and that so many will have missed the opportunity to recognize you for the decent man of character that you proved yourself to be, for the true patriot that you are, for the thoughtful, compassionate diplomat you are, for the earnest, if not audacious leader that you are, and for everything else good that you have represented since you took the reins of this country.

As for me…well…I recognize those things, and more, and I thank you Mr. President.

I thank you for your willingness to serve, to attempt to improve an imperfect way of governing, to offer yourself as a leader of those who want to see government work for the people, and to help everyone, even those who stand against you.

I thank you for your efforts in creating the Affordable Care Act,  for striving to build a system that could treat millions who have for years suffered and been unable to get the help they need, for taking a label meant as an insult and turning it into a source of pride for thoughtful progressives who recognized Obamacare as a turning point in the direction of a healthier nation.

I thank you for all you did to strengthen our economy and create an atmosphere that would allow for steady job creation for eight years, for the longest sustained era of job growth in modern history, for leading us back from the brink of the next depression, for advocating for  those who have to get up and work hard everyday just to scrape by, for fighting for those who live paycheck to paycheck and don’t experience the same advancement as the wealthiest among us.

I thank you for treating the office with respect, for representing the United States with dignity and honor, for exhibiting tremendous character in the face of the most reckless, immature, petty, feckless opposition in Congress, for running a scandal free administration that all Americans can be proud of.

I thank you for the inspiration you provided to young black boys and young black men, by being a man of great intellect and faith, a servant and a leader, both tough and compassionate, honest, genuine and sincere. You inspired a generation of young men to lead, to speak up, and most importantly, to believe in their power and their might and in the power of the community, and in the importance of hope.

I thank you for allowing us to share in the beauty of your family, for letting us see you love your wife and take care of your daughters, and to still be a husband and father everyday, to allow us to feel the warmth of the smiles that you and your bride shared with each other, for letting us capture just a glimpse of your love and support for each other, as an example for all black couples who have to endure one another’s struggle and pain together.  I thank you for sharing your wife with the country, for supporting her efforts, for letting our wives and sisters and daughters see such a beautiful, inspiring queen to admire.

I thank you for the way you sought to protect our country, while teaching us how to respect those abroad, by thinking and caring everyday about our servicemen and women, for never putting our troops in harm’s way in vain, and for never letting us ever forget the sacrifices of our veterans.

I thank you for the losing battles that you believed were worth fighting for anyway.

I thank you for being willing to speak the truth about race, about the realities that black Americans still face, the truths that so many refuse to reconcile, and by standing tall in the face of an unprecedented amount of racism unseen since the 1960’s.   For being a voice of comfort in Charleston, for seeing the humanity of Trayvon, for mourning with a community of officers in Dallas, and for believing that black lives do matter.

I thank you for teaching and demonstrating tolerance, for refusing to prejudicially mislabel an entire community of faith, for protecting the religious freedoms of all Americans, and for exhibiting the love of Christ through your love of others.

I thank you for being an ally to the LGBTQ community, for championing an atmosphere of tolerance in the face of oppression, anger, and resistance.

I thank you for being a calming voice in times of our nation’s grief, for standing in the gap for the families in Sandy Hook, and Orlando, in Arizona and San Bernadino, New York, and at the epicenter of all of the most heinous attacks against Americans.

I thank you for being an example in the last three months, when we wanted to react in anger, and you showed us a better way.   For turning the other cheek to those who have truly persecuted you, for putting the country above your party and yourself, for extending a hand in order to preserve the peace, and for offering wisdom and advice to your unprepared successor.

I thank you for enduring the hate that most of us would not have been strong enough to endure, for bearing the burden of our own ignorance, and for refusing to let the bigotry of a few define the entire country.

I thank you for making me want to be a better man, to serve my community, to be an advocate, and to lead.

I thank you inspiring a generation, reigniting the hope in millions, for motivating an entire generation to believe that together, we can.

You leave behind a legacy that is both remarkable, and unfinished.  This means there is still much work to be done.   So thank you for reminding us that we, as citizens, have both the capability and responsibility to pick up where you have left off.

And in case you’re wondering…Yes, Mr. President, we will.

With Many More Thanks,

Jonah