Rallying with President Barack Obama

Rallying with President Barack Obama is a historic event. One of approximately
9500 people, I waited nearly four hours for Vice-President Joe Biden's ten minute
introduction and President Obama's twenty minute speech.

The Dayton 2012 Rally with the President and Vice-President was an unexpected
surprise. It was President Obama first Dayton campaign visit and his first Ohio
visit with Vice-President Biden. First Lady Michelle Obama had made an earlier
visit in July at the Dayton Convention Center. Vice-President Biden had visited
Wright State University, September 12th. Ohio is considered an important swing
state to win in the upcoming Presidential Election.

It was a gorgeous autumn day, 78 degress, in beautiful Triangle Park. The mood
and atmosphere of the crowd was upbeat, exhilarating, full of positive energy of
hope and faith, and love for the President. I have seen three previous U.S. Presidents
(Carter, Clinton, George W. Bush), but to see an African-American President is
perhaps a once in a life time experience.

My red ticket allowed me to enter easily, avoid the long lines. I sat in the ADA
seating section. I observed the Paramedics attending a number of people, throughout
the wait, who were standing in a gated section directly in front of me. I was favored
with a ride and pick up at the Park's entrance by my friend, Gwen, avoiding the
long walk where the car was parked.

The day before, I spent three and a half hours helping pass out Rally tickets at the
Trotwood Obama Office, Organizing for America, 4815 Salem Avenue, the old
Rex Appliances location.

The Presient defended his presidential record with barbs and zingers about his
presidential challenger, Governor Mitt Romney.  Good News Ohio! I have
saved the Auto Industry, 1 out of 8 Ohio jobs, eliminated pre-existent conditions
for health insurance. My goal is to keep the American people safe: decimated
Al Qaeda, brought Osama Ben Laden to justice, ending the war in Afghanistan
and nation building in Ohio. Cut taxes for the middle class and small businesses,
repealed Don't ask, Don't tell. Our stock market is on the rebound. Our heroes
are coming home.

I would like to hear both candidate' s plans to address the issue of poverty and
inequality. Many are quite concerned about the latest 7.8% unemployment rate
report. The unemployment rate for African-American males is 14.2%. Poverty
diminishes the person and lack of a meaningful job leads to a breakdown in the
moral and social fabric of the community. Leadership and advocacy voices on
this issue have been muted.

In 2008, I volunteered for neighborhood and telephone canvassing prospective
voters through the Trotwood Democratic Club Office. Since August 29, 2012
I have volunteered at the Organizing for America Office  on Mondays.
My duties have included telephone canvassing and recruitment
calls for volunteers. When I learned there was a need for "Beds for Barack,"
I recruited  friends and fellow church members to provide housing for volunteers
coming to Dayton to Get Out The Vote. I was pleased when a fellow church
member housed two young people from Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.,
Washington, D.C. Office. I have been impressed with the young people who
staffed the Organizing for America Office, Shanika, Steven, Monica, Hamidi.

The American Dream

The 2012 Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention showcased
speaker after speaker who recounted and celebrated their American Dream. Their inspiring
stories prompted me to reflect on my family American Dream.

The American Dream is about liberty, inalienable rights, the pursuit of happiness. "If you were
white willing to work, you stood a chance of transcending the circumstances of your father
and his father." The status of your birth did not determine your future.

My parents were ordinary people. My mother was eighteen when I was born; my father
twenty-one. It was the middle of the Great Depression. Neither had a high school education.
They were tenant farmers. They were young, optimistic, resilient, and hardworking in
the face of extraordinary obstacles of Jim Crow. Everyone did not get a fair chance. Neither
were the rules fair, especially for African-Americans. It would take the Civil Rights Revolution
to improve opportunities, justice, and a chance for the American Dream.

My parents became part of the labor class of World War II. My mother worked as a munitions
handler at the Pine Bluff Army Arsenal (bomb assembly). My father laid railroad tires
at the same facility before going to work thirty years as a stowman for the St Louis
Southwestern Railway, the Cotton Belt.

My parents' American Dream was to see an end to Jim Crow, a living wage job to take
care of their family, an education for their daughter, a home of their own, and an
automobile.

My parents were extraordinary in their sacrifice for an education for me. They valued
education, believed it was the pathway to a better life, and held intrinsic attributes,
something no one could take away from you. In the fourth grade they enrolled me in
in St. Peter's Catholic School. They paid tuition and bought books for two daughters.
At seventeen, I graduated from J. C. Corbin High School, the laborotory school of
AM&N College, and entered A.M&N (now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff).
My parents paid all tuition, collegiate fees, and books. For four years, I drove their car
five days a week to commute to campus. They provided the gas, maintenance and a
daily monetary allowance while providing for my basic needs, food, housing, clothing,
and health care. They paid the fees for me to join a sorority.

At the time, there were no Pell Grants or Federal Student Loan Program. My parents
were committed to my college education "as long as she wants to go." They expected
me to do my part. I was diligent in my studies, not to disappoint or let them down. I
graduated in four years with a BA degree in Sociology in 1957. That same year, I
received a Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation grant to pursue the Master of Social
Work degree at Atlanta University (now Whitney M. Young, Jr. School of Social Work).

I am forever grateful for my parents' sacrifices for the gift of a college education that
put me on the pathway to my American Dream. I am forever grateful for the government's
investment in my graduate education which enabled my professional education as a social
worker to be realized.

I am forever grateful to the change agents, the Civil Rights warriors, known and unknown,
who believed that the chance for the American Dream should be extended to all Americans.

Source:
Gladys Turner Finney Recollections
The History Of The American Dream: Is it still real? Time Magazine, June 2, 2012.