:: F O U R
On November 4th, 2008, Barack Obama won the presidential candidacy. Sweeping the election with 365 electoral votes (leaving only 173 votes to McCain), Barack Obama won with 52.9 percent of the popular vote; becoming, the first man of COLOR, or more specifically, MIXED RACE (half white and half black) man to be elected president. Representing a turning moment in AMERICAN history, Barack Obama restored HOPE in a humanity that was losing faith. Proving, once again, that the plight of the colored man, and in particular, the plight of the BLACK man was not all in vain. And it was on that very historic day in which we — black men, black women, and black children — knew that America was finally beginning to open her arms to us. Though that welcoming embrace was short-lived, it was still quite a time to be alive. To witness the inauguration of Barack Obama into a historical fabric that has been decorated by the faces of only caucasian men for decades was truly awe-inspiring. It was a moment in the history of colored (BLACK) people that will live on forever as one of the many grand strides in the pure acceptance of our race. For once, a great majority of America wanted to see a change — to see a better, or rather, different way. And what better way to see such change other than to indoctrinate not only a different point of view but to allow for that different point of view to be cultivated from the mind of a man of color? Hmmm… Therein lies the beauty of Barack Obama’s presidency. He was the change. He was the new point of view. He. Was. HOPE. The hope America had been losing. The hope America was desperately searching for.
Nonetheless, President Barack Obama ushered in a beautiful moment of boundless hope. He brought light to us, and even in the uphill battle that he has had to face since remaining in office for two terms, President Barack Obama graced America with the power and beauty of a black family in a white house — which, at the end of the day, represents the lives of many black people in a country dominated by whiteness. So, in light of Black History Month, as well as in light of this being the final Black History Month in which President Barack Obama and his family will be in the White House before America welcomes a new president, I wanted to share a song. A song by Will.I.Am featuring many others, titled Yes We Can. As the title of the song suggests, we can, we did, and we are still fighting, working and praying, because the impossible is possible, as Barack Obama's presidency proved, with a little bit of HOPE.
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We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics They will only grow louder and more dissonant We've been asked to pause for a reality check We've been warned against offering The people of this nation false hope
But in the unlikely story that is America There has never been anything false about hope
(Excerpt from President Barack Obama's Inaugural speech, January 2009 — Lyrics used in Will.I.Am's song, Yes We Can).
