They Are Right Change Has Come

As a young man growing up I have always wanted to be part of the past. Maybe its because of the many historical events. You know the marches, the sit-ins, the great speeches and the preaching of Martin Luther King Jr. Many of my friends say that I was born at the wrong time. Call it what you want but apart from the Gettysburg Address the 60's were the most meaningful and life changing times of American history. Well that is until last night! My desire to be apart of the past because of history has been altered because of history. The United States of America has just elected the first Black man as President.

Yes I said Black. Not African American but Black. Although I am African through decent and American by birth (that's right I am patriotic) I embrace the cultural fact that I am Black. Why? It is the color of my skin that traveled through the Middle Passage. It is the color of my skin that caged me to forced labor. It is the color of my skin that cause lynching's and fire hose attacks. And before last night its is the color of my skin that keeps me from being taken seriously when applying for high leadership positions in unlikely places.

As I woke, it seemed in a way that nothing had changed. I mean I put on the same clothes. I traveled the same roads to work. I even stopped at the same place to grab a bite to eat. But something did change. I woke up today with a sense of pride in my heart. I could feel it in the way I walked. It was a new found confidence. For the first time in my life I held my head up. Now don't get me wrong I have always held my head up but this time it was not forced. In the past I held it up to show circumstances that I am not fazed by the struggle. That I was able to endure it. Today I held it up because we have made it. I held it up on my own. Not because I wanted to prove something but because something has already been proven.

Its true alot of things have and will change for our country with a new President. But the biggest change is what has happened in me! You see last night I watched history. Today I am history!