Barack the Vote!

President Obama is a Big Deal in my neighborhood.* I've seen his picture (and Michelle and Sasha and Malia) on the buttons that the workers at the Public Library wear on their vests, on hair salons and grocery store windows (often with Spanish captions), and even plastered on a few churches. My cousin told me that on election day people starting lining up outside her polling place at 5 am.

However, I didn't see murals until I went to the East Village:

And they do make me smile. I know President Obama has a lot to prove, and a lot of unpopular decisions ahead of him, but the fact that he means something to many, many people is also a Big Deal to me too.

*and did you see him throw the first pitch at the All-Star Game? The man is hilarious.

ADDITION: today (7/21) while at the Staten Island/Jammers game, two Dominican girls behind me were arguing, and one said, "yeah, well, Barack Obama is my uncle!" and the other said, "Barack Obama is my brother!" Interesting.