nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change

today i woke up in a new America.

today i woke up with a feeling of pride, relief, and hope.
hope that the future will be better. hope that we can change tomorrow. hope that we will change the world.

today i woke up and wore my Barack Obama t-shirt with pride.
i was proud when an African-American man on the street corner and I shared a smile. knowing that, together, we had made history. a smile of hope for a better tomorrow for both of us.
i was proud when a fellow supporter, also wearing a t-shirt, said good morning to me. a stranger to me. but we both knew it was a good morning. it was a new morning.


as a twenty-year-old American, i have grown up in a world of cynicism, doubt, and hate.
cynicism about the world. doubt that it will ever change. and hatred of our government.
since i was twelve years old, i have lived under the presidency of George W. Bush. in all the time that i have actually followed, understood, and held an opinion about politics, i have been under the failed policies of President Bush.
i have been told my entire life, by a middle-to-upper-class, middle-aged, white man...that i can be anything i want to be. i can achieve anything i put my mind to. i have been told by the person who always has the upper hand, that opportunity is always there.

last night, for the first time, i believed it all.
last night, history changed.
last night, the one without the opportunities, money, and privileged upbringing prevailed.

we CAN do anything that we believe.
we CAN change history.
we CAN change the world.
YES. WE. CAN.

Thank you, President-Elect Barack Obama. You have instilled a sense of pride, hope, and belief in me. Something that should have come long ago.

Today, I woke up in a new America.