That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part.
-Thomas Jefferson
If there is anything that a man can do well, I say let him do it. Give him a chance.
-Abraham Lincoln
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
– Barack Obama
I whooped it up with the rest of the people who voted for Obama last night, because I believe that his spirit of optimism, his call to service for all Americans, and his ability to inspire people are all going to make a difference in how the rest of the world views America and we as Americans view ourselves as a people. But until I watched Obama’s acceptance speech, the full impact of what it means that a man of African-American descent has been elected to the highest office in our country didn’t really sink in.
It hit me when I saw Jesse Jackson weeping:
Barack Obama’s win is proof that devoting one’s life to the cause of equal rights has made a difference in our country. Jesse Jackson hasn’t always been popular, and sure he’s made some mistakes, and maybe he wasn’t the right guy for the job when he ran for the Democratic nomination a few decades ago…but even if I can’t understand personally what it’s like to be African-American, or have first-hand knowledge of how the civil rights movement changed our country back in the 60s, I could see from the tears of joy on his face that it was literally his dream come true to see enough change in his lifetime that Barack Obama could be elected President.
Not because he’s African-American…but simply because he’s the right guy for the job.
MY COOL JOB 