A Beautiful First Family: Our New Inspiration

By Alexis Garrett Stodghill, BlackVoices.com

I grew up in a single-parent home as a small child, then with a step-father, who I did not like, as a youth. My role model all my life has really been my mother, and more recently my grandmother. The more I get to know both women, the more I admire their pride, their beauty, their tenacity, their intelligence and their class.

The wonderful love we receive from our everyday heroes is great. Yet, we will always need those higher stars and figures in our lives that deeply move us in our souls to really be great. In this new first family, we will finally have living superheroes who look like us, act like us, have been us and understand us.

Historically, young black people have rarely had these types of higher role models to look up to. We have had to create our own hero images for ourselves, to inspire us in unique ways that the mainstream could not have imagined. The TV show 'Perry Mason' inspired my mother to become a lawyer, at a time when her own relatives thought this was impossible. Many aspects of hip hop culture are inspired by, of all things, old cowboy flicks. These films taught troubled youths tough masculine values that, for all their flawed interpretation, gave them the self-esteem to survive in broken environments.

In the absence of idols who looked like us, we did like our people always did, and got "real" creative. We had to make heroes, or adopt strange ones, to wrap our minds in imaginary armor that shielded us from the stereotypes society sought to project onto us. Remaking mainstream hero images into our own worked well for many. In some instances, this necessity became a wellspring of amazing creativity.

Now, in the new millennium, the Obama family represents a plethora of positive images that teach, inspire and give us something to aspire to -- without this mental wrangling. There are almost too many positive role models to choose from:

-A happy black family.
-A loving black relationship.
-Beautiful, respectful and protected young women.
-A strong black woman who knows how to be feminine, and trusts her man.
-And a black man who is compassionate, cultured, intelligent, accomplished, responsible, but still as cool as hell.

No longer will we have to twist and turn cultural images that are inconceivably unlike us into new forms that can inspire us to do well. When I look at this picture I automatically see all the gorgeous grace that a black family can be.

May this new, real and true image inspire you.

Our Lens Sept. 1

Hector Jackson (C), who impersonates the late US pop star Michael Jackson, gestures while he takes part in the "I do dance Thriller" event which attempts to break the Guinness World Record for the biggest mass "Thriller" dance, in Mexico City, on August 29. Up to 15,000 people are expected to take part in a potentially record breaking mass performance of Michael Jackson's famed "Thriller" dance on the day he would have turned 51.

Omar Torres, AFP/ Getty Images

A long line of fire marches west towards the communities of Acton and Sunland-Tujanga on August 31 in Los Angeles, California. At least 18 homes were destroyed and 12,000 more homes and 500 commercial buildings are being threatened in the fire which already took two lives. The wildfire, which broke out Wednesday afternoon near a ranger station and the Angeles Crest Highway above La Canada Flintridge, has forced thousands of evacuations.

Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images

Venus Williams of the United States reaches for a shot against Vera Dushevina of Russia during day one of the 2009 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 31, in Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.

Chris McGrath, Getty Images

A Kenyan Muslim child reads verses from the Quran, Islam's holy book, on the fifth day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in a Madrassa (Religion School), in Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, Aug. 26. Muslims throughout the world are celebrating the holy month of Ramadan, where observants fast from dawn till dusk.

Sayyid Azim, AP

Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off from launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center on August 28, in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Discovery is scheduled for a 13-day mission to the International Space Station.

Joe Raedle, Getty Images

Host Vanessa Williams performs with dancer Gilles Marini onstage at the 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at The Orpheum Theatre on August 30, in Los Angeles, California.

Jesse Grant, WireImage

A girl plays with tomato pulp during the annual "Tomatina" tomato fight fiesta in the village of Bunol, near Valencia, Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 26. Bunol's town hall estimated more than 40,000 people, some from as far away as Japan and Australia, took up arms Wednesday with 100 tons of tomatoes in the yearly food fight known as the 'Tomatina' now in its 64th year.

Alberto Saiz, AP

Tom Wainaina recounts the events that lead to his being burned over most of his upper body August 26 in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Wainaina was burned by a group of men during post-election violence in Kenya's disputed 2007 presidential election. Ethnic-tribal violence left over 1,000 people dead. The non-governmental organization (NGO) Concern, in cooperation with local Kenyan groups, has launched a campaign to provide the urban poor with cash grants to start a business or get back on their feet after suffering disproportionately from post-election violence in 2007. The money is transferred to the recipients via a mobile phone which insures a safe and simple financial transaction to customers who don?t have bank accounts. Wainaina is one of dozens of Kibera residents to receive the assistance of a cash grant. Hairdressers, grocery stores and food vendors are just some of the businesses that have been financed through the program.

Spencer Platt, Getty Images

People standing near the grave of Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY) look at the grave of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) at Arlington National Cemetery August 30, in Arlington, Virginia. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) was buried yesterday next to his brothers President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY) after he died of brain cancer on August 25.

Brendan Smialowski, Getty Images

US President Barack Obama takes out his daughters Malia (R) and Sasha (2nd L) and niece Suhaila Ng (L) to shop in the Alleys general store on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, on August 30, 2009.

Jewel Samad, AFP/ Getty Images

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