King & Obama - A Renewal Of American Pride

U2 - Pride - In The Name Of Love

King & Obama - A Renewal Of American Pride

What an incredible feeling I am having. Monday, January 19th, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
This year there's something special about MLK Day arriving just one day before Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration on January 20th, 2009!

I have Monday (MLK Day) off from work, and wish I could take Tuesday off as well to see the Inauguration on television live, but I can't since the Stock Market is open Tuesday. If we're slow at work, I'll watch some of the ceremony on the Internet from my PC.

History is in the making, and I'm so excited! I've been watching the news coverage today of the Obama-Biden train ride from Philadelphia through Baltimore, and on to Washington D.C. That


Moses and Joshua

Martin Luther King has been likened to Moses for African Americans, but I feel he was an American Moses leading Americans of all races out of a very horrible place and toward a better, and more survivable future. However, this year I can truly see how Martin Luther King Jr. was a Moses for entire world.

In his last speech Dr. King spoke of having reached "the mountain top", just as Moses had, and King spoke of looking out over the promised land, as Moses had been allowed to see it. Both Moses and King had led their people to the very edge of the promised land, allowed to see it, and then denied entry while their people continued on.

Barack Obama refers to his generation as the Joshua generation - the generation that came after the Moses generation. The Joshua generation prospered from the benefits of entry into the promised land, and American blacks, despite continued economic inequalities, are beginning to reap the benefits of their hard fought entry into mainstream America.


Pride Renews

We in America are witnessing the beginning of a new chapter in politics, and history. African American parents can tell their children that if they study hard enough, and work hard enough that they can achieve anything they put their minds to. That is the new reality in America, and people of every race, creed, national origin, ethnicity, and even sexual orientation should take to heart that America is a nation capable of positive change, and inclusion.

We in America have finally realized the promise of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution.

We have a long way to go in making perfect our social compact, but I at this point in my life feel a sense of optimism, and hope for this nation - a sense of pride that is long overdue.