Ten Thousand Things
Multicultural Webfinds

"Ten Thousand Things" is a Buddhist expression representing the dynamic interconnection and simultaneous unity and diversity of everything in the universe.

OUR COMMON PLANET: Obama, Japan & Moneygall, Ireland celebrates election of BARACK O'BAMA – "One of Our Own"

Is there anyplace in the world where people aren't celebrating the election of President-elect Barack Obama?

This past summer, Karsten Voigt, of Germany's Foreign Office, said that Germans see Obama as a mixture of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr – an American president whom Germans respect not because he represents a world power – but whom Germans can "identify and can love."

Latin Americans intently followed Obama's campaign, and his election has especially inspired Afro-Brazilians, an historically discriminated group, demonstrated by Brazil's dearth of elected Black politicians.

Just before the election, American comedian Sarah Silverman stressed Obama's linkages to Judaism, explaining that his first name, Barack (which undoubtedly will change from an obscure to popular baby name in the next few years), is an Africanized version of the Hebrew name, Baruch, that means "blessed."

How has Obama tapped into and unleashed a powerful sense of shared commonalities and shared planetary future?

Tara Bray Smith suggests that Obama's multicultural and hapa background reflects the best of America:

Obama embodies America at its best: a country where the concepts of native and foreigner, “pure” and “mixed,” black and white, hapa and hundred per cent are so complex that the claim of belonging because of blood quantum or family tree must be set against the argument that what defines an American is not the place or the circumstances of his birth but his allegiance to his country’s laws and ideals. Hawaii, by virtue of its exceptionally diverse population, is a place where these questions are explicit. I am consistently heartened by Obama’s hope for union in the face of seemingly irreconcilable differences, and his deep belief in the human capacity for change.

This great article by Pico Iyer, "My Close Encounter With Obama in Hawaii," insightfully explores similar ideas on a global level:

The best way to begin to correct it is to show the world a leader who can't really say how much he's African or Asian or American or just a product of their mixing in Hawaii. The point is not just that Obama will bring globalism to America; in his name, his face and his issues, he'll bring America back to the globe.

And back to the celebration...

Besides Germany and Kenya, two other places – Obama, Japan and Moneygall, Ireland – have long claimed Obama as their own throughout his campaign...

The OBAMA GIRLS have been dancing Hawaiian hulas on behalf of Obama for the past year...

After the election, American Obama supporters from across Japan joined Obama, Japan residents in celebratory rounds of the O-B-A-M-A (san) song....

Eric Johnston describes more of the applause in this Japan Times article that cites Obama's profound sense of connection with his excited Japanese supporters, written to the mayor of the city:

I understand Obama is a city of rich culture, deep traditions and natural beauty. We share more than a common name. We share a common planet and common responsibilities...

AND from Moneygall, Ireland, (home of an Irish-American immigrant ancestor of Obama), the spirited band members of HARDY DREW AND THE NANCY GIRLS have released this catchy song on YouTube – "There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama."

"O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara, There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama...
"He's Hawaiian, and Kenyan, and American, too..
The Irish in Kenya and in Yokohoma are cheering for President Barack O'Bama..."

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