Tomorrow will be a day that will live in lore forever. It will open a door that Americans, particularly African Americans have waited for a long time. This will begin a journey that will change our society forever. It will officially announce to America and the world a change has taken place. However, tomorrow will also bring into full focus the great challenges the incoming President will be facing.
On January 20, 2009, millions will be gathered in Washington, DC, as well as those that like myself that will be watching on television to see the swearing in of the 44th President of the United States, and it’s first African American - Barack Obama.
On Tuesday, the country will see the swearing in of a person we will entrust to end two wars abroad, to fix a crippled economy, homeowners are losing their homes in record numbers. Those that still own their homes are having trouble heating them and keeping food on the table. Families cannot send their children to higher education because they don’t know if they will have a job. People are resorting to working two part-time jobs to keep their heads above water.
Besides the loss of jobs, the crippling economy, the confidence of the American people must be restored.
What the last eight years has taught us more than anything is how disgruntled, angry and disgusted Americans feel about how their government. For many, government was supposed to be a place where we could look to for hope, opportunity and chance. What the election as a whole has shown us; is that we cannot look to government alone for confidence and hope. They can be a guiding force, but we as a people we have to do what it takes to improve our lives.
It is going to be up to the American people to bring our country back, we did not get into this situation over night and we will not get out of it overnight. But by rolling up our sleeves and backing our new President we will bring America back. By becoming better parents, neighbors, students -we can do it.
On Nov. 4, 2008. When I went to vote on that morning, In my nine years of voting, I actually had to wait in line to cast my vote. This time, I had to line up at 5 a.m. and the poll was packed. This signaled to me the importance of this day.
I saw 15 of my former classmates and peers I went to school with cast their vote. As we stood in line, we both reminisced about back when we were in school together and how life has changed. Back when we were in school, we were always taught that we could be anything we wanted to be, if we were dedicated to the task. If we took pride in being great everyday. This was a day that really brought what we learned in school full circle.
That day also brought something even more important into focus that I learned about later that day. While many I know did vote for our soon to be 44th President, many did not vote for the State and local candidates who were running that day. What this highlighted for me was the disconnect that many have with government. Yes we have an African American that will be sitting in the White House. Yes we will have someone who is ready to lead us to better days, but in order for things to be taken care of at the national level, we must also take care of home by electing good people on the local level.
I remember something that the Director of Human Resources of Town of Hempstead and co-chairman of the Hempstead Republican Committee told me about former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Thomas Phillip “Tip” O’Neill, Jr. (D-MA) preaches a line that O’Neill said he learned as a senior at Boston College, when he ran for a seat on the Cambridge City Council and suffered his first and only electoral loss. The line he said and the one Mr. Salmon always said, was “All politics is local.”
Let us remember, it was not that long ago that Obama was a community organizer in the toughest of neighborhoods in Chicago and it is because of his commitment to make that community better and those that he worked with came together and worked their tails off to make the community better.
This work ethic allowed him to become a United States Senator and in less than 24 hours the leader of a world that is need of a steady hand.
It is true that tomorrow will bring a tremendous amount of joy, invigoration, love, pride and appreciation. What America has to understand is that this is not the end, it is only the beginning. We have an economy that must be repaired. Americans who need to be put back to work. An education system that must be revised. Above all , we as a nation must come together. It is time for us to become a nation that will take the steps to end racism.
After all the confetti has been dropped, all the champagne has been drank at the parties, the music concludes and the parades have stopped, the real works begins.
Obama knew this coming in. That is why he gave the keys to the security of our nation to his rival former New York Senator Hillary Clinton as our new Secretary of State. He also will host a luncheon honoring Sen. John McCain, his political rival.
If anyone has any questions about Obama’s readiness to take on these tremendous challenges that our nation and world will face. Just look at his cabinet, this tells the story about how ready he is.
So if you are not going to work tomorrow, while watching the Inauguration, think about how you can do your part to full fill President Obama agenda of getting America back on track.
“Tip O’Neill” quote is courtesy of www.en.wikipedia.org
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