To all my friends.

Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so our children could fly.

I send this via BCC to keep your emails private, but I wanted to share this truly historic and momentous occasion with friends. Some of you may have received this via email, sorry, but not everyone I know reads the bowl.

This moment transcends your party affiliation, vote, race, creed, nationality, religion, political perspectives (thanks gbarberi), or any other bond you use to separate yourself from others.  This day is the true realization of our Founding Father’s America; a successful result of a grand democratic experiment we call the United States of America.

America began in 1776 with the philosophies of individual rights and the right of revolution to “institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness“.   In December 1865 it evolved further when Abraham Lincoln ended slavery and the words “All men are created equal…” became more pronounced and true.  America further manifested its destiny in 1920 with women’s suffrage which shed the confines of what “men” means under the law and country.

It wasn’t until December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks decided that no one was above her, white or black,  so that she would have to give up her seat and not rest her tired feet.  From that time till the march on Washington that Rev Martin Luther King Jr. laid out his vision for America, where a man would be judged, not by the color of his skin, but the content of his character.  A man’s character has been put on the national stage, judged, and passed.

On the eve of November 4th, 2008 we have reached another milestone in this country’s rich history. We have reached a point that should show everyone that its not the color of our skin that binds and defines us, but our flag and our founding principles.

I hope this helps us shed our prejudices and reins in a new era of equality of the likes we haven’t seen since the great Martin Luther King promoted on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. I hope that any racial preconceptions and vices we’ve harbored for the last 40 years can be cast away, and our country can progress in its principles to bring people from all walks of life, international origin , and religion together for the betterment of us all.

My friends, we have witnessed change. For better or worse, regardless of this president elect’s future record, on November 5th you have woken up into a new country; a better country.  This is a country I’ve been waiting for and one I was unsure if I would see in my lifetime. A point where anyone in this great country can really and truly be who they set out to be.

It is truly an honor to share this moment in history with you all (even those who did not vote for Obama).  It is a great thing to share this moment of unity that has not been preceded by tragedy (e.g 9/11).  WE came out in record numbers to vote; all of us.  And for those who were ineligible to vote, your thoughts and hopes were not in vain.

Brian.

P.S. Excuse the grammatical errors, but I’ve been celebrating.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.