Forty years after the below photo was taken, thousands of people assembled in Chicago's Grant Park to celebrate the election of Barack Obama. It was a piece of history that I know all of us, Republicans and Democrats, can step back and recognize.
The great experiment that is America, with all of our various races, religions, and points of view finally turned a corner. We turned the corner of fear and hate towards those who are not quite like us. We turned the corner of apathy regarding a broken, corrupt, inept federal government. We turned the corner of divisive, scare-tactic, rally-the-base politics and said we can do better.So regardless of what you think of the new president elect, we must all realize that our country and our world won’t ever be the same after November 4th 2008. In case you weren’t watching, the below is from Obama’s victory speech on Tuesday. The images from this time around in Chicago were a little different than last time, and I, for one, think that it is a change that could only be for the better.
“America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.”
Si se puede. And we did.
4 comments:
Wow, I am pretty choked up after reading that post. And reading his speech, actually 'seeing' it and not just hearing it, allows me to have it sink in. Obviously for me, words like,
"...And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can..."
mean the world to me and gives me a hope for all my children, most especially for my Presley...
Thank you Rachel, for being one of those people, the more 'people' with those ideas and hopes in their heart, give me a peace of mind about my daughter's future.
HUGS sweet friend, whom one day I hope to meet!
We just sat on our couch and cried like babies during his speech. Thanks for reminding me of that exhilaration and awe!
Wow.
I truly have no idea who these people are, but I thank you for coming onto a blog my wife and I set up for our friends and family to check out pictures of our kid. And to leave a post espousing your personal views, what a treat!
Inspired by your example, I will now surf the blogosphere reaching out to people I have never met and give them a PIECE OF MY MIND!
The most recent post from "rachael" was actually from Chris. Lest his comment be misconstrued, I would like to make it clear that we are not opposed to hearing alternative points of view; many of our closest friends and family members are Republicans and we engage in political discourse with them on a regular basis. We were just a little creeped out about getting a comment from someone we've never heard of.
As for voting for Obama just b/c he's black...that's ridiculous and insulting. His race was the subject of our blog post b/c the election of a black man was worth celebrating...it doesn't mean that it's the reason I voted for him. And as for the condescension contained in the "half white, half black guy" comment...let's just say I'm pretty certain that the 'half-white' part wouldn't have mattered too much in 1860's or the 1960's. No, racism is not over...but we did take a measurable step forward.
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