The 21st Century began today.
On the day I was born, Martin Luther King delivered his famous "I Have A Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Today, forty-five years later, the dream took a huge step forward when a black man took the oath of office to become President of the United States of America.
And not just any black man... but a black man with the name of -- not John Smith or Richard Jones or some other innocuous-seeming name, but Barack Hussein Obama.
The Neocon Right trumpeted over and over the past eight years that they alone were the Real Patriots, that they were the True America. I say No. I say that this man, this multi-racial son of a Kenyan black father and a Kansan white mother, this man and all the people who elected him and support him represent the Real America. And now this man will represent all of us. This is what America is all about.
For the first time this century I can say that I am truly proud to be an American.
"The term 'leader' is often a misnomer; leaders are almost always following in the footsteps of others who sacrificed and trod before them. Great leaders understand where and how to follow, and how to bring others along as they build on the work of those who came before them. What I hope and what I think will make Obama a great leader is that he understands this and comprehends that he labors in the shadows of others; he builds rather than destroys.
Let’s just hope he can build. And that he inspires a generation of Americans to do the same."