What does it mean to see President-Elect Obama to me?

For the Ancestors and People of Freedom and Justice; It was not in vain,
When asked what does it mean to me to see President-Elect Obama, I can only answer that it was not in vain,

To the souls who boarded ships along the ivory coast of Mother Africa and began the journey of the middle passage, their sacrifice was not in vain,

To those same souls who became the culinary delight of the sharks that followed the slave ships, and to this day still trail ships crossing the Atlantic, their sacrifice was not in vain,

To the souls of those who landed on the shores of new world, right there in Carter’s Grove, Virginia, in the Carolinas, in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and were shipped to Illinois, New York and other places, their sacrifice was not in vain,

To the sacrifice of Crispus Attucks, his sacrifice was not in vain,

To the tireless efforts of Isabelle, you know her as Soujourner Truth, her sacrifice was not in vain,

To the strength of tens of thousands Union Soldiers, their sacrifice was not in vain,

To the fidelity of Colonel Chamberlain, his sacrifice was not in vain,

To the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, his sacrifice was not in vain,

To the 9th and 10th U.S. Calvary, Buffalo Soldiers, your valor and fidelity was not in vain,

To the great pathfinder of freedom, Harriet Tubman, her sacrifice was not in vain,

To the loving people of faith, who’s skin is white, who assisted the souls of people yearning to be free along the underground railroad, your sacrifice was not in vain,

To the prophetic writer and thinker W.E.B. DuBois, your sacrifice was not in vain,

To the people who stood up against lynching’s and human brutality, your sacrifice was not in vain,

To the women’s movement and the passing of the 19th Amendment, your sacrifice was not in vain,

To the 101st Airborne at Bastongne, your sacrifice was not in vain,

To the USS Hope, the 555th Parachute Regiment, the Tuskegee Airman, the 761st tank battalion, the 442nd Nisei, your sacrifice was not in vain,

To those who walked the streets rather than ride the bus of iniquity, your sacrifice was not in vain,

To those four little girls who died praising the Savior, their sacrifice was not in vain,

To Fannie Lou Hamer, for the beatings she took in prison for the sake of freedom, her sacrifice was not in vain,

To those on the bridge in Selma, to those on the strong end of fire hoses in Birmingham, your sacrifice was not in vain,

To Emmett Louis Till, his sacrifice was not in vain,

To Cpl. Roman Ducsworth Jr., killed for coming home to see his family from the U.S. Army, his sacrifice was not in vain,

To Rev. Bruce Klunder who gave his life by laying in front of a bulldozer to protest a segregated school’s construction, the Reverend was white, he did it to show that his sermons ought to be his life, his sacrifice was not in vain,

To James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, three young civil rights workers, two white, one black, all killed off Highway 19 in Mississippi for freedom, their sacrifice was not in vain,

To Rev. James Reeb, your sacrifice was not in vain,

To Viola Gregg Liuzzo, a 39 year old white mother from Michigan, killed by Klansmen for assisting in the March to Montgomery and riding with a black male in her green Oldsmobile, your sacrifice was not in vain,

To Mother Rosa, your sacrifice was not in vain,

To Brother Medgar Evers, your sacrifice was not in vain,

To the Freedom Riders and their soul-force to face the evil tyranny of a vicious Jim Crow America, your sacrifice was not in vain,

To Jack Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy, your sacrifice was not in vain,

To Brother Malcolm, your sacrifice was not in vain,

To Brother Martin, your sacrifice was not in vain,

What does it mean to me to see President-Elect Obama? It means that this nation, the nation that I have defended for 20 years of my life with my body as well as with my intellect survived, although not yet conquered, the hate, bigotry and divisiveness that could have torn us apart many, many moons ago. It means that peace loving, faith having and conscientious people sustained us in our darkest days, so that we can have the celebration we saw on November 4th, 2008. It means that we must continue to develop peace loving, faith having and conscientious people for the future if we are to hand our nation over to our children.

Seeing President-Elect Obama, means that their sacrifices were not in vain,

Peace