History in the Making ....

45 years ago, Martin Luther King stood at the Lincoln Memorial and delivered one of the greatest speeches of our time. In that speech he said:

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency
of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take
the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the
promises of democracy.

How synchronistic is it that today Barack Obama, the first African-American with a legitimate chance to become President, will deliver his acceptance speech for the Democratic party's nomination? WOW! The now-ness and the urgency he felt so many years ago is exactly the way I feel today. I feel like I am watching history and in November, I with my fellow Americans will participate in history by voting in the most watched American election ever.

I always had an affinity for American history and politics. I love the democrat process we as Americans are granted. I celebrate patriotic holidays with vigor and pride. I wholeheartedly believe ever American should know the songs that built our country and sing them with pride. I relate to the red, white and blue even when the red signifies the blood and strife of my forefathers that were slaves. I stand for each and every civil liberty we have (yes I make a point to tell the airline officials I do not agree with their policies EVERYtime). And today these fundamental things that make me feel so connected with the pride of being an American reach a pinnacle.

There have been many a great political leader I have admired and truly loved. My affection for all things Kennedy have been evident since what feels like birth. Presidents Jimmy Carter and William Jefferson Clinton have made huge impressions on my life and the way I am as a citizen. Even Ronald Reagan has made me feel proud to be an American but there is something different and more akin with me and Mr. Obama.

If you think it is because we are both Black, that would be the obvious choice but that would also be incorrect. The thing about Barack Obama is his earnest belief in the power and responsibility of each and every individual to contribute to the positive change of our communities. It is the fact that he stands in the face of criticism, cynicism and ridicule with pride and honor. His belief in hope and positivity are shown not only through his eloquent speeches, but more so in the way he has lived his life. He is an example of the type of American I want to be. He is the man I want to lead my country to the tenants it was founded on and today he is one step closer to that. Barack Obama is the leader that can get us closer to the freedom Dr. King so visioned 45 years ago ...

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!