Since I heard the words, "Barack Obama will be our 44th President," I have been going through a tidal wave of emotions. At first I screamed and yelled to express how extremely happy I was. The morning after, I was pretty quiet. I was pretty much speechless the whole day as I tried to take in the events from the night before. Yesterday, I sat teary eyed as I thought about how hard Obama fought for this and how hard many African Americans fought for all of us through history. This is truly a remarkable time in history for us as a people. I am so proud of Barack Obama and his beautiful family. I am grateful for people like him, people like Dr. King, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman.
When I was younger, my father often told me, that I could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up. He told me that being black and being a woman wouldn't stop me from doing anything that I was really passionate about. However, I remember having a different history book in each grade and in each book there was a list of all American Presidents. I remember looking at those photos thinking about how, not one of those presidents were black or female. No matter what my parents said, I always believed that White America would never let a black person become president. In the same way, I always figured that a women couldn't be President either. This election has changed that for me.
What means so much to me right now, is that when I tell my son or my daughter, that they can be anything they want to be, including President of the United States of America, they can actually see that. They can look at the photos in the back of their history book and see a black face. They can see a black name and they can know that it is possible to achieve any dream if you just believe in yourself, if you work hard and if you have hope.
When I was younger, my father often told me, that I could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up. He told me that being black and being a woman wouldn't stop me from doing anything that I was really passionate about. However, I remember having a different history book in each grade and in each book there was a list of all American Presidents. I remember looking at those photos thinking about how, not one of those presidents were black or female. No matter what my parents said, I always believed that White America would never let a black person become president. In the same way, I always figured that a women couldn't be President either. This election has changed that for me.
What means so much to me right now, is that when I tell my son or my daughter, that they can be anything they want to be, including President of the United States of America, they can actually see that. They can look at the photos in the back of their history book and see a black face. They can see a black name and they can know that it is possible to achieve any dream if you just believe in yourself, if you work hard and if you have hope.
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