It's official: Barack Obama is running for president. I couldn't turn to any newspaper or any news channel that wasn't covering or rehashing his official candidacy speech delivered on Saturday in Springfield, Ill.
This overwhelming coverage comes as no surprise for three reasons - the obvious being that any person who throws his or her hat into the presidential ring will get attention simply because the U.S. presidency is the top position in the free world. Another reason is that whoever wins next year's election will be the new - and much welcomed - face to replace "Dubya."
Perhaps the most dominant reason that Obama is receiving so much attention - the reason dominating the headline of every news analysis and op-ed piece - is because if he wins, he will be the first black president of the United States of America.
Obviously, this is huge. We live in a country whose history bears the ugly scars of slavery, Jim Crow laws, and racism toward those of non-Anglo-Saxon descent.
For these people, the American dream of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" came at a hefty price, and unfortunately for some, it still does. We also live in a country where the power has rested predominantly in the hands of white males, not those of color or females.
This is why even the mere possibility of having a person of color in the Oval Office is causing such a stir. In many ways, Obama embodies the true American dream. It's the dream of having the opportunities to overcome all obstacles with hard work and perseverance regardless of the cards you've been dealt.
Some say that all the focus on Obama's skin color and ancestry is foolish because he was born in Hawaii to a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. As such, his ancestors probably weren't subject to American slavery, and subsequently he can't identify with the same African-American experience of racism. Some even claim that he may not be "black enough."
Why, then, all the attention that he would be the first black president if he isn't black in the "traditional" sense? "I think … if you look African American in this society, you're treated as an African American," said Obama in his 60 Minutes interview yesterday in response to whether growing up in a white neighborhood prompted him to identify with his black side.
This is evident if you read his memoir, Dreams from My Father, in which he recounts his daily struggles with reconciling two identities that have historically been at odds with each other.
I am a firm believer, however, that race is not and should not be a divisive element, but instead an enriching factor in personality, opinions, and outlook. Instead of asking Obama to choose, we should see his biracial background and struggles with it as a strength due to his desire to unite instead of divide.
Obama knows a house divided will fall; he's experienced it himself. He evoked this spirit in his 2004 Democratic National Convention speech when he said, "There is not a liberal America and a conservative America - there is the United States of America."
He's marketing himself as the face of a new generation, one that believes in the "audacity of hope." In his speech on Saturday, Obama said, "Each and every time, a new generation has risen up and done what's needed to be done."
He also evoked the spirit of Abraham Lincoln by recounting how the president helped create a new America then and how a new America can be created now through working together and believing that change can happen.
While his words call for a better tomorrow - like the words in most presidential candidacy speeches - there's something about it coming from Obama that strikes a different chord. Is it his age? His youth? His charisma?
Perhaps it's because he's giving us the hope to hope, and that whether or not we support him or his political party, he urges us that we have the power to make change should we choose to take it into our hands. It's hard not to get excited about that.
The question is, however, are we ready?
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