I'm not married. In fact, I'm 24 years old, and don't intend on getting married or having kids for another couple years at least. But twenty or thirty years down the line, in a time and place none of us can imagine, I want to be able to sit my kids down and talk to them. I want to tell them about a moment in 2008 when it seemed this country could've gone down a dark path and instead chose light. I want to tell them that when we were offered fear-mongering, racism, ignorance and cheap, phony attacks, we chose a different alternative: hope.
I want to tell them that I helped elect President Obama.
I can't imagine that on November 4th, probably some time before or around midnight, there will be many dry eyes in this country.
I want to tell my kids how tens of millions of people in this country and around the world gathered with family members, friends, maybe even complete strangers. All of us watched close to a million people of every color, background, faith and class gathered together in Chicago's Grant Park to hear a man speak.
'One guy?' they would probably ask. And I'd smile and explain.
President-Elect Obama will be the phrase that will be repeated continuously that night but certainly not ad nauseum, for how can one possibly get tired of hearing those words? President-Elect Obama.
I'll try to explain how those three words meant so much to all of us. Three words that millions of people around this country struggled to hear for close to two years. Three words that represented for this nation and the world that lovely, shining word: hope.
It's late and I admit my overt sappiness. I'm not an emotional guy frankly, and certainly not when it comes to politics. I can't even remember the last time I cried. Been years probably.
In all honesty though, I'll be bawling like a baby Tuesday night, watching as a young Baptist preacher's dream comes true. That dream, when it was made 45 years ago, defied the reality of the day, defied the cynicism of the establishment and defied the ingrained wickedness of intolerant prejudice of millions. The cloud of hopelessness that hung over millions was broken and in a single clear moment, they saw justice rolling down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
Who alive in 1963 could have imagined that we would possibly come so close to shattering the last barrier of prejudice in this country's history? Twenty years from now, will anyone understand the magnitude of what this country accomplished? From Jim Crow and segregation to the Oval Office - in 45 years.
Personally, that's a hell of a thing. That's the reality that's gonna put me over the edge and reduce me to a crying wreck.
Tuesday night, I'll ponder the millions who suffered in chains and in fields who couldn't even dream of that moment. I'll remember the hundreds of thousands who died on battlefields throughout this country in the name of justice and equality. I'll think of the President who was killed because of his courage to make good on the promise of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The thousands who risked life, limb and property to shepherd the oppressed to freedom. I'll think of the people who were attacked by dogs, beaten by truncheons, hosed by firefighters and forced to live in graphic indignity, not because of their skin, but because of the ignorant selfishness of others. And I'll think of that young preacher. I'll try to understand how in some God-given miracle, he dreamt of Tuesday, November 4th, 2008.
A black president....wow. The significance of that is not going to lessen with me anytime soon.
I hope my kids will tell me that it's not a big deal anymore. Slavery, injustice, racism, all that stuff is just history. That's my dream.
History calls America. Let's answer it.