01.02.2009
Dear President Obama;
Congratulations!
I praise you as a guardian leader; you woke up the world with your spirit. I admire you because you inspired the American citizenry. Sitting in my warm room somewhere in Europe and observing the phenomenon that
was your inauguration on TV, I saw your people, huddled on a cold winter day, their eyes glued to the stairs where you stood and talked to them.
I could not stop my tears when I felt the power of your words, Mr. Obama. You gave Black, White, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and nonbeliever the courage to sense a better future in their hearts. You gave them not only “hope”, but also the bravery to work together.
People have always had hope, but there have been politicians and leaders who have destroyed their hopes with “wars”. No single individual, brandishing a single weapon can start a war. People hoped that the First World War was the last, but this was not to be. They hoped again after the Second World War, but then the Vietnam War showed them that their hopes were ridiculous, and the politicians only had empty promises as their true words. People are tired of facing these petty grievances.
I was a child when President Kennedy was shot, but later I had the chance to read the real history, which was written by the people. I have often been disappointed by politicians, leaders and presidents worldwide; not only in my birth country of Iran, but also in the countries where I worked and lived. While I was making two documentary films in Iran during the war between Iraq and Iran, I saw many dead bodies. But I never considered the Iraqi people or soldiers “my enemies”. NO. I still believe that no soldier has ever wished to kill or be killed in the name of “liberty” and “freedom”.
Being a soldier means doing a job to earn your daily bread. Who makes them killers? The politicians are the real enemies who send these innocent soldiers far from home to kill other humans in the name of defending a way of life.
For the first time in my life, I am envious. I envy the American people who had the opportunity to vote for their president when I don’t have the liberty to do the same. But it is of little consequence, I chose to be a world citizen by leaving my motherland and living in Europe for two decades. It made me happy to believe your words when you said “the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness”. I believe only in one God -- my spiritual teacher, leader, and I follow the purity and gifts that God presents to me.
I have been disappointed in world leaders who have never stopped any war just for the sake of the children. When I was a kid, I witnessed many slogans and promises of a better world for the next generation created by heroes in the making. Now I am 53, observing how the world is deteriorating, and nobody is taking even five minutes to think about the
children world. The situation of street kids, refugee kids, child soldiers and child prostitution has never been as tragic as it is now. These children and their families – if they would have any - do not need heroes any more. The hero has been dead for centuries. What they need now is inspiration, the courage to believe in themselves again, and justice.
With your spirit and words you have created a new era, Mr. Obama. This was never more evident than when you said: “… to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.”
I feel that one of my dreams has come true. The dream in which people – worldwide – feel they will be treated fairly without fearing discrimination based on their race, believe and sex. It is not necessary to present more facts and evidence; you know all of them, Mr. Obama. Corruption was never initiated by a man stealing a piece of bread to feed his family. NO. It started when oppressive leaders decided to exert their supremacy and make money with by creating
conflicts between nations. This corruption is masked under the pretense of “human rights” in developed countries.
Dear Mr. Obama, I am not saying that America should solve all of the world’s problems. Your faith and trust gives any nation wings, your spirit stirs the wind, and people have to find the courage within themselves to learn how to fly and eventually, even soar.
There is no need to forward to you the messages I have received from my friends from all of the corners of this world. They all share the same sentiment: we finally know how to achieve life!
I wrote back to all of them: Let us do it together; the love of brotherhood is in the air. We will make it with our passion for love, according God’s will. “Now that you have put away falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his
neighbor, because we are members belonging to one another.” (Eph 4:25)
I feel the same as Ann Nixon Cooper - 107 years old - who said in an interview with CNN, "I was hoping that it would happen in my time…. Our new president means nothing but more freedom as a human being. That's all. That is all it could mean to us. You feel more like a real person."
Today I feel once again that I can trust a president, a leader who extends his hand to connect spiritual values by showing the purity of humankind. Even I feel that I CAN make it after all.
Mr. Obama, please allow me to dedicate my vision of hope to Sasha and Malia. It will be in their world that all of our interpretations of hope will come to define a new reality. I first wrote this idea two years ago when I was in New York. It is my dream to bring this vision into existence, to
create it, and be a part of the new era you have brought into existence..............
God bless you and your family.
Yours truly,
Manouchehr Abrontan
© ABRONTAN February 2009
