I would like to take some time to reflect on Barack Obama, and the courage and dignity he has shown throughout this arduous process and long road.  It’s no secret that we are possibly on the cusp of history today.  That Obama has become this nation’s first African American president is a simple statistical fact that we are all aware of.  But I have noticed that many people who I have spoken to seem to have a different understanding of just what that means.  While many supporters of Obama understand the social and historical significance of this feat, and are excited at the prospect of it, many people may not fully understand why this possibility was so meaningful, so historic, and so important to people of color.

But those of us of color, whose histories are so deeply rooted in the troubled and complicated institution of slavery, know exactly what this means.  Those of us whose ancestors were stolen from their land and forced into servitude, who were treated like property, worked like dogs and bred like animals, who were denied education, who were told they were only part human, whose families were ripped apart for the sake of of perpetuating the institution of forced servitude, who were beaten and raped… for those of us who have felt the pain of such a history and who carry that pain with us even to this day– we know that this election is more than just “historic.”  It is far, far more significant than that.

Each one of us remembers being called the N-word; each one of us recalls being told we weren’t “as good as…”. Each one of us remembers being underestimated. Each one of us knows the feeling of being glanced at and immediately dismissed because of the assumption that somehow the color of our skin, the texture of our hair or the shape of our features makes us “less than” others.  Each one of us remembers the abbreviated and sugar-coated history lessons that downplayed how tragically our race was ravaged by this country and the same history lessons that minimized our many great contributions to this country.  And because of those experiences, each one of us knows that there were times when we never thought we’d live to see this day arrive.

For those of us who know that struggle, for those of us whose grandparents and/or parents sat us on their knees and told us stories of lynchings and whippings, of being denied proper education, of having to pick cotton, of cleaning someone else’s house for a living, of being unable to vote, of being denied jobs, of being refused decent places to live, of being stripped of opportunities, of being unable to eat, sleep, drink or even urinate at public facilities, of being spit on, cursed at, threatened and intimidated because of the color of our skin- we know the burden that Senator Obama carries on this day.  And we don’t take that burden for granted.

We know that it’s not just his own burden he carries on his shoulders.  We know that it’s not just a private, personal goal of his.  No, we know that he is carrying a heavy load for this entire country; but we also know that he has chosen to carry that load for EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US whose ancestors were either stolen from their homeland or who watched their loved ones as they were carried off by strangers across that Middle Passage.

And what a burden that is to take upon his shoulders in his journey of life.  Can any of us really imagine just how heavy the weight of 400+ years worth of collective oppression, frustration AND hopes are as they rest upon one person’s shoulders?! Or how many people, their ancestors, and their future generations’ hopes are tied to and projected onto this one man? What must that feel like for Barack Obama?  Sometimes the responsibility of that is almost too much for me to think of— and yet, Mr. Obama has fearlessly taken that burden upon his shoulders and walked tall and upright with it, never once faltering, never once stumbling.

And now, sadly, the Obama family has lost its matriarch on the eve of this great election.  What a myriad of emotions this proud shepherd must carry tonight.  That the woman who raised him and loved him, no matter the color of his skin, is not here to see him take this step into the pages of history is not only sad, but strangely ironic.  I can only assume that God felt she could do more for her grandson from above than she could from a sickbed here on earth.

I can’t begin to imagine the mix of pain, elation, fear, excitement and anxiety that he is facing at this moment in time.  Yet he does it with such grace, and with such dignity.

So as we stand on the precipice of history this day, I send my prayers and hopes into the heavens for Barack Obama, for President Obama.  I hope that my future children will grow up knowing that a man whose very name is so undeniably rooted in the land from whence civilization began- in our collective history as members of the African diaspora- was the first African American President of this country.  I can’t describe the swell of pride within my soul on this Election Day.

Barack Obama has made me proud.  He has made my people proud.  He has made Americans proud.  He has given us all hope– regardless of our racial or religious backgrounds.  He has unified so many of us and taught us to dream bigger than we ever imagined, and to reach higher than we ever thought we could.

He will be a source of pride for my children and their children to follow.  I don’t expect him to be perfect- that wouldn’t be fair.  He is, after all, just a man.  But my hope is that he will be a good man, an honest man, and a righteous man who cares for others, his family, the world, and for his country.  A man who places the welfare of others before himself for the greater good.  A man whose leadership can CHANGE us all for the better.

And so this evening, I am praying that God will keep him lifted, keep him strong, and keep him safe; he’s carrying a heavy load right now- his, mine, and ours.  And I thank him from the very depths of my soul for taking up that task.  Because of him, I have witnessed a miracle.  I know that I have found a new hero in my life, and I thank God for the gift of him.

ForBarackObamaOnline.com!