Make a Difference in the World Daily
The Dream Fulfilled
I had a dream.
I had a dream that one day this country would unite behind a person that would lead it to its full potential.
I had a dream that one day there would be a black president. Not for the sake of there being a black president, but for what it would represent -- that America was truly ready to put the past aside and embrace all of its people. ALL of its people.
Yesterday that dream was fulfilled. Not only was a black president elected, but we can all rejoice in knowing that he is both black and white. He is us, and we are him.
I must confess. I had doubts as to whether I'd see that dream come true in my lifetime. I've seen so much racism in this country. I have felt its sting too many times. So much so that I've often wondered if the land of the free would ever truly be free. I hoped only that my daughter would see it happen in her lifetime. And I prayed daily for the strength to be a force of change, just like those before me had been through the civil rights movement and so many other struggles.
My grandfather stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. I was born two weeks later. I'm sure that as my grandfather listened to Dr. King, he was hoping that I'd see the dream fulfilled in my lifetime. Sadly, it didn't happen in his lifetime, nor my father's or my brother's. They were all viewing the events of yesterday from heaven. When I went into the voting booth yesterday, I took them with me in spirit. I voted for myself, my ancestors and my daughter -- and it counted! Every vote counted, from every one of us. Black and white and everything in between. We all came together to fulfill the dream.
Yesterday we truly became the United States of America. After eight years of failed and flailing economic, foreign and domestic policies; after more than 220 years of segregationist policies; after more than 400 years of oppression, hatred and racism; we can all exhale and say we are all free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last!
The Dream is fulfilled.
May God Bless America.
I had a dream that one day this country would unite behind a person that would lead it to its full potential.
I had a dream that one day there would be a black president. Not for the sake of there being a black president, but for what it would represent -- that America was truly ready to put the past aside and embrace all of its people. ALL of its people.
Yesterday that dream was fulfilled. Not only was a black president elected, but we can all rejoice in knowing that he is both black and white. He is us, and we are him.
I must confess. I had doubts as to whether I'd see that dream come true in my lifetime. I've seen so much racism in this country. I have felt its sting too many times. So much so that I've often wondered if the land of the free would ever truly be free. I hoped only that my daughter would see it happen in her lifetime. And I prayed daily for the strength to be a force of change, just like those before me had been through the civil rights movement and so many other struggles.
My grandfather stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. I was born two weeks later. I'm sure that as my grandfather listened to Dr. King, he was hoping that I'd see the dream fulfilled in my lifetime. Sadly, it didn't happen in his lifetime, nor my father's or my brother's. They were all viewing the events of yesterday from heaven. When I went into the voting booth yesterday, I took them with me in spirit. I voted for myself, my ancestors and my daughter -- and it counted! Every vote counted, from every one of us. Black and white and everything in between. We all came together to fulfill the dream.
Yesterday we truly became the United States of America. After eight years of failed and flailing economic, foreign and domestic policies; after more than 220 years of segregationist policies; after more than 400 years of oppression, hatred and racism; we can all exhale and say we are all free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, we are free at last!
The Dream is fulfilled.
May God Bless America.
Comment
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Comment by Jane Ali on November 6, 2008 at 7:54am
- Awesome, very well said!
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