How It Is! - Not How It Might Be!

Last night I witnessed an event that I had thought would never happen in my lifetime! I knew it would happen eventually but I was certain I wouldn’t be around to see it. Last night the America people made a bold statement and overwhelmingly chose Barack Obama to be the 44th President of The United States. Clearly his message of hope and inclusion inspired and galvanized the American public.

We were ready for a change and together we spoke with vigor against the status quo. I am prideful yet humbled to be blessed to be alive to see this historic event. It has made me even more determined to clear a path for my children. I will not be able to become President but now my son and daughter will have a fair shot at the job should they choose to pursue that goal.

Although we each have our individual pursuits we knew a change needed to be made, we knew we could not endure four more years of the last eight years! We spoke loudly and we spoke clearly - We don’t want the same old Washington partisanship, we don’t want  these protracted wars continued, we don’t want to be fearful about the economy, we don’t want to be afraid of losing our homes, we don’t want to have unaffordable health care, we don’t want to be scared of anyone who doesn’t share our skin color and we don’t want our children to be denied proper education! So we mobilized in vast numbers, we went out to our polling stations, we voted in unison, we said we needed a change and our collective voices were heard.

This not just a change for African-Americans, this is not just a change for our political establishment, this is a change for the world. We need to show the world that we are a civilized nation that is evolving and overcoming our racial prejudices. Last night I believe we elected the best man for the job and now we all have to put on our hard hats and get to work restoring this country to prominence.

Once again, Obama’s speech set the right tone, we should recognize that this was a once in a lifetime moment that we all shared. He reached across party lines, racial lines and cultural lines and offered a message of hope. His enthusiam was rightly tempered because this is no time to bask in victory, this is time to get the job done. Like he said he can’t do it alone we have to stand with him as a nation and we will get there together.

As President - Elect Obama stated ”this is a defining moment” and “change has come to America“. We must continue to forge ahead in this new direction and follow our words with actions. If we want change to stay in America we all have to be prepared to put our old ways aside and look toward the greater good. We all must realize that this is the UNITED STATES of AMERICA and we must now show the world that our actions are synonymous with our name.