My New President
I remember reading US history. I thought it was boring. Lots of facts. Lots of dates. Lots of names. Lots of maps. I liked the pictures. That was about it.
We had to take a Constitution test. I failed it. I didn’t know which was which. I mixed up the executive branch and the legislative branch. I knew what the judicial branch did. It’s got part of the word “judge” in it. So I knew it was about judging. I knew that the President was the head of the executive branch. But I didn’t know what he did. It took me three times to pass that exam.
Then this year I paid attention. There was an election. I was proud. Someone like me was running for President. I didn’t think he would be elected, though. I couldn’t imagine that I could be President. There never was an African-American President.
My mother said, “Don’t be too sure. It could happen. We once elected an African-American mayor of Chicago.”
I thought about that. But I didn’t expect Barack Obama would win. I hoped he would.
My mother said, “Nothing happens if you do nothing. Why don’t you help with the election.” I said, “How can I help? I am only 14.”
“You can help get people registered to vote. You can help his campaign office. Go and ask.”
So I did. I went to downtown Chicago that Saturday. The only other time I had been there was to go to museums or Niketown. This time I went to a building where there was a big office. It was very open, lots of people at desks on the phone. I said, “Can I help?”
A young man at the front desk said, “Yes you can, can you start now?” I said, sure.
So he asked me to help with mailings. I put letters into envelopes. I must have stuffed at least 300 envelopes by the end of that day.
I went downtown every Saturday after that. I made phone calls. They showed me how to use the Internet. I logged emails. That means counting how many come in from different people.
I also watched the news and read the newspaper. I read about the election. I read what Barack Obama said. I went to a speech
he gave in Chicago. I figured out that the Executive Branch does a lot. They are in charge of the army. They are in charge of a lot.
I got hopeful. I kept saying, “Yes we can” to myself. And we did. Now the head of the Executive Branch is My President. I am part of US history.
