I HAVE A DREAM TODAY!

I have a dream today.

Today I have a dream for Barack Obama. A dream that will forever change all of us, a history making dream, a moment in our lives when we all feel a part of something bigger than all of us, and a dream to progress even further than we have already come.

I have a dream today.

Over the last few days, I have become increasingly emotional about this possibility that our country will elect the first African American president in history. I am anxious, excited, nervous, tearful, and proud that I am able to witness this moment. More importantly, I am happy for my parents, my friend's parents and grandparents who experienced the civil rights movement and struggled for us to have our place in society. Many of them expressing the same exact words, "I NEVER THOUGHT I'D LIVE TO SEE THE DAY." Well fortunately they have lived and the day is here when a black man is on the ballot for the highest office in the nation. And the fact that he is not just any "black man" on the ballot but he is the "right man" on the ballot who just happens to be black is extraordinary. This election has cause many members of the older generation to reminisce on the times when they experienced ultimate hatred and the pains of racism. They also reflected on the unity they once possessed to overcome in a nation that not so long ago seemed unwilling to change. They even looked down at their tired feet that once marched for this victory that we are experiencing today.

I have a dream today.

I woke up this morning shouting to the top of my lungs, "A Change is Going to Come". Then I let Sam Cooke sing it to me and the tears welled up in my eyes. We were finally here and I felt the undeniably overwhelming power of this election day. I put on my BARACK THE VOTE shirt and headed out to work. I must have passed three or four polling centers with lines wrapped around the building...Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians...all the agents of change! I saw the yuppie brought to the neighborhood through gentrification in line to vote and chatting it up with the blue collar brother from down the block who is voting for the first time because he wants to make a difference. The unity of a nation felt alive again as people from all walks of life were in line with a common purpose and goal, CHANGE!

I have a dream today.

I dream that today the words spoken on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial will resound loudly across this nation and in the minds of voters who are still uncertain about voting for a black man. Today I playback in my head the voice of the late Martin Luther King, Jr. who said, "One day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." TODAY WE WILL RISE UP for our future generations, our generation, the generations before ours, and our ancestors who spirits live within all of us. YES WE CAN!

I have a dream today.

My dream is for Barack Obama to be the next president of the United States of America.

STILL NO MATTER WHAT TODAY, WE HAVE FOREVER BEEN CHANGED BY THIS ELECTION!

Rest In Peace, MADELYN DUNHAM!

Today she is one of the many angels watching over him!