By YEMI TOURE
The photograph was plain, but powerful.
It showed the face of Vertie Hodge, 74, a Black woman who gathered with friends at a community center in Houston to watch Barack Obama's inauguration.
In the photo, her dark skin was clear, weathered. She was unsmiling, very still, focused. She stared at the TV.
Though she looked calm, a lot seemed to be going on inside of her, because from her right eye, a single tear streamed down her face.
When I came upon that photo, I suddenly stopped. I stared at her as she stared. I too was very still and focused. For a moment, I could not breathe.
Growing up in the country, she had little. "We ate a few peanuts one day," she said.
I imagined that she must have endured years of hard work with little reward. Had few places where her voice was respected. Suffered racism of unimaginable length and breadth.
And now comes this moment.
In Mrs. Hodge, I saw so much of what faith, hope and endurance are all about. And tears streamed down my face.
Back in the day, photos of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy had prominent places in the homes of Black folks across the country, especially in the South. Why? Those two leaders, above all others, embodied the hope that we felt.
We seemed to be saying, "I may not have a voice ... I dont have much money ... I may not run anything ... but I can hope, and you, Dr. King, and President Kennedy, are the embodiment of that hope in me."
So, the "audacity of hope" did not start with Obama. It started with Mrs. Hodge and multitudes like her. They dared to dream, to believe. In this country, yes, but even more so, they believed in the human spirit, in justice, in The Creator. They believed that in this deeply flawed nation, in this deeply flawed world, wrong can be made right, that justice will triumph one day.
That sense of hope is no doubt one of the reasons Mrs. Hodge has lived as long as she has in this racist, sexist, classist country. That sense of hope helped carry her through to this day.
I have little illusion about what Barack Obama can accomplish for women like her. For Black people like her. For poor people like her. He has promised much, and Mrs. Hodge hopes he can deliver.
We have hope through our tears. Obama will not realize all our dreams, but he embodies that hope.
