Help me write the definitive statement for what today means in America history.
What will this mean to you- what will it say about us?
This is for Emmitt Till, whose face shown like an angel in an open casket in Chicago... whose spirit touches us still
This is for Medgar Evers, whose fire and strength could not be silenced
by a rifle round
This is for those who spoke truth to power and were bitten by dogs, spat
at by hoses, kept impoverished, poor, and hungry
This is for Jackie Robinson who died young to bring America joy and for Hank who never got his due.
This is for the black workers at Smithfield Foods who work like slaves and need to unionize and change the course of their lives.
This is for every kid that needed a role model that didn't rap or sell drugs.
This is for the Buffalo Soldiers, Patton's Army, the Big Red One, my former unit, the Fort Huachuca Honor Guard.
This is for Barack Obama's grandmother... who will not see her special grandson elected President of the United States.
This is the moment in our lives where we might all become color blind. And hopefully, this will be the end of white privilege.
This is a time when all Americans, from all backgrounds can look at a ballot and realize that they are electing one of amongst them and not one of the special few.
This is day one of a browner nation where we look out amongst our peers and in every one of us see a little bit of ourselves
This is for you, Martin...
This is the moment.
When great great grandsons of slavemasters and slaves come together and realize the common shared history of a land of freedom that was built with black and white hands
When a generation of young people motivate a generation of their elders to push that lever and stand up against the echoed voices of a time when a black man could not drink at a white man's fountain.
When the emptiness that defined a generation of culture wars is left to the winds.
When those that have held the bag for so long, yet have not given up on our democracy wait in lines, sacrifice a days' living wages, and say to the world, "we have your back, brother".
When America says to the world, we will end these wars. We will settle our conflicts by engaging those who do not agree with us.
When the republican dogma of being pro-life is transformed into the American ideal of being pro-health for every citizen of this great land.
When the great state of South Carolina realizes its stars and bars flag is out of place in a 21st century America.
When the good people of Appalachia are governed by good people who care about them and salute the President of the United States- even though he is a black man.