Change is coming....

I've been trying to gather my thoughts to write about Obama's election. There is so much I want to say, its a challenge to get it all out in a somewhat coherant fashion.

I am so proud of my country right now. For the first time in several years, I can look at our flag and feel pride, feel like I, too, have a voice.

The past eight years I have been apalled by the United State's actions around the world and at home. I have been angered and confused at the way our "leaders" (and I use that term loosely) have thrown their weight around in foreign lands like playground bullies, while ignoring the basic needs and basic rights of the people in our own country.

More than anything, I am amazed and thankful that the American people had the courage to elect the right person. Now, I'm not saying that McCain was a bad person, or an evil person (like a certain Mr. Cheney). He just wasn't the right person for this moment in history. We now have a leader who is truly a leader. Who has the capacity to inspire, to lift people up, to compel them to reach out to one another and work together for a common goal. There was a reason why his campaign was successful that had nothing to do with money or political insiders. He moved people. The lady with whom I did leaflet distribution on election day was one of those people. She told me about how she's gone on two road trips to New Mexico to talk to voters, had done hours of voter registration in East Austin, phone banking, you name it, she'd done it. And this was a person who, until this election, had never even been part of the political process. She'd never been involved in politics in any way. The American people have been hungry for a leader to help us find our way back to who we should be. We now have someone in office who says to us that it is our duty to take care of each other, that yes it does matter that people in our community are suffering. That if the least of us is hurting, it hurts all of us. That is huge. And it is that message that has resonated with so many people. It is that message that has mobilzed so many to get out and get involved. It is that message that transcended race and allowed so many people in this country to put aside their racist fears and vote what their conscience was telling them.

I feel there is hope for my children now. If we had lost this important race, how could I have looked them in the eye? How could I have explained to them that their country had failed once again? Now I have hope that they will look at their fellow Americans differently when they grow up. And I know that when a seat opens up for those who have been not invited to the table before, my children will have even more opportunities as well.

I am so proud, and so thankful that maybe everything will be all right after all.