Finally America!

Finally in America! Senator Barack Obama, the son of black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas, has been officially nominated as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency of the United States! Finally, America!

The convention, moments ago, after many states went through the ritual of the procedural vote, reached a climax when New Mexico yielded to Illinois and Illinois yielded to New York. This all happened while Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton made her way to the delegation. She spoke and called on the "faith in the party" that they suspend the procedural role call and proclaim "Barack Obama as our candidate and he will be our President!" She moved that Senator Obama be made the candidate through acclamation. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accepted this move and called for a second, many came from the floor. The verbal vote was matched with over 2/3rds of the delegation casting their votes for Senator Obama. Finally, America!

It was a historic moment. I wish I was there. There were tears in the eyes of the many people who made this significant event. Finally, in 2008, in America, a black man has been officially nominated as the candidate of a major political party! It has all come to this moment! Hope and the dream that Dr. King spoke about is within reach. A man has been judged by the content of his character and not the color of his skin and he has been deemed the best candidate to lead this country out of the mess left to us by the last eight years.

My father is not alive to see this, nor is my cousin-pops. These two men along with the great cloud of witnesses of the many lives lost in the Middle Passage, the many men hung from trees, the many women raped for the purpose of trade, the many lives shattered, and the many families scattered, finally, America, the great cloud of witnesses is standing up to cheer! First Nation ancestors, Latino ancestors, African ancestors, and yes, some of our European ancestors are cheering from the heavens that this country has made a move to live up to our creed and our hope!

It is a moment I am proud to have witnessed in my Missouri home. It is a moment that will forever be part of the history I share with my children and future grandchildren. Finally, America, there is hope!