Red Room Where the Writers Are

The road has been long and tense.  Twenty-four months of hard work and the dedication of a nation, by a nation… and for a nation.  A long journey with a promising end and an even brighter future.  Months of volunteer efforts, thousands of endorsements and an overall unification of a nation has brought us to this day.  November 4th marked a new day, a day when one could wake up in Chicago to 78 degree weather in what is usually the bitter of winter and by that night, be able to say, I have a new president… and he's Black.

Many may wonder where I've been.  What has happened to my countdown during the last days of the election?  To those I say, I suspended my blog in order to hit the campaign trails for the Obama camp.  Being involved in this election has truly been an amazing experience, one that I will never forget.

I will never forget any of the people I was blessed with the honor of meeting while on this enlightening campaign trail as I canvassed, made phone calls and stuffed envelopes for the historic campaign.

I will never forget the young 18 year old Black man who stood in line for 5 hours to vote for the first time, only to be turned away and discouraged because of a missing middle initial in the polling stations computer.  I will never forget his grandparent's tenacity and fiery determination when they took him home only to return with the proper verification validating his right to vote.  And getting that vote in for Obama!!!

I will never forget the 40-something year-old White woman who confessed to me that she had never in her life voted before.  Until today.  And that ballot was cast for Barack Obama.

I will never forget the little brothas and sistas no more than 12 years old, on a tour bus as we were headed to hear Obama speak, who were more into politics then I ever dreamed about being at that very same age.  Or the little 5-year old White girl who stood on her front lawn and told me she "voted for Barack Obama"

I will never forget the spirit of Denmark Vessey as he conspired a revolt to end the mistreatment of Black slaves.

I will never forget Jesse Jackson, from Greenville SC, who marched in the '60s alongside Dr. Martin Luther King for freedom and equal rights for Black people as he still does to this day. Encompassing the profound words of Dr. Martin Luther King who said "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

I'll never forget and will always be grateful for Oprah Winfrey who stated, "Even if I lost every sponsor on the show… There's a wonderful bible passage that says, 'what does it do for a man to gain the world and lose his soul?'  and if I had not come out for Barack Obama when I did, I knew I would have lost a piece of my soul."

And I will never forget the late, illustrious, Martin Luther King who said "Being a Negro in America means trying to smile when you want to cry.  It means trying to hold on to physical life amid psychological death.  It means the pain of watching your children grow up with clouds of inferiority in their mental skies.  It means having your legs cut off, and then being condemned for being a cripple. It means seeing your mother and father spiritually murdered by the slings and arrows of daily exploitation, and then being hated for being an orphan. " 

"We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope."

"We must constantly build dykes of courage to hold back the flood of fear."

And it is that courage and the shunning of fear that has brought us to this place in history that will change the world forever.

A new day has dawn.  We are living in that new day, where people of all races have come together to make America and beyond a better place.  A place where we can observe a new look for a president.  A place where we can look and say, anything is possible.  A place where we can thank the people of our past who have fought for our future.  A place where I am proud to be.

Now it's time to get to work.  As President-elect Barack Obama stated:

"This victory alone is not the change we seek.  It is only the chance for us to make that change, and that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can't happen without you; without a new spirit of service a new spirit of sacrifice."

In the great words of Barack Obama… "this is your victory… YES WE CAN!!!"

…And YES WE DID