The moment has passed. The choice is known. Now what?
Last night the unprecedented happened. America was driven out of their homes, out of their daily routines and in masses unseen before, make their choice known. Apathy was overcome.
Two incredible men stood a chance to lead an ailing country back into superpower status.
Only one man won.
Regardless of whether your candidate won, whether your issues were supported and whether you feel satisfied with the results, the majority spoke, a leader was elected, and democracy prevails.
Now what? Now comes the hard part. Can you put your differences aside and work to make this country better than it was before? Can you put your prejudices aside and support the man that the majority has chosen and all of us, together, create a better future?
Barack Obama is only one man, he cannot do it all. It will be up to you to do what is necessary to get this country from its current situation to be, once again, the greatest nation in the world.
Mr. Obama’s race, youth, experience and supporters had nothing to do with the reason he was elected. He spoke and touched the heart of his voters and persuaded them to join him as he led us out of these chaotic times and into a better future for our children.
Can you do as he has done? As many have done? Can you put race aside? Can you put your ageist attitudes aside? Can you put all of those things aside and believe in the abilities of this man to inspire millions to get involved?
If you cannot, then we are all doomed.
If this elections have shown us anything is that truly in the United States of America anything can be done. WE can recover. WE can work side by side with our neighbors and rebuild this nation with a stronger foundation than ever before. Chalk aside the previous ways, if WE are to prevail and lead once again, WE have to create ourselves anew.
But WE have to do it together. United we Stand, WE the People. All of the phrases that have been coined became clichés because there is truth to them. WE have to do it together.
As our nation faces turmoil that threatens our livelihood, it won’t take one black man from Chicago to fix it all. It will take the farmer from Iowa, the teacher from California, the nurse from Texas and even the homeless from New York. Not one of us is excluded from this mission. From all corners of this nation, we have to come together and stand together and strong and make the decisions and choices that will empower the next generations.
These changes are not for you and me, they are not even for those that came before us, they are for those that will inherit this world from us. If we cannot learn to love and accept our neighbor, how do we teach it to our children?
As stewards of this planet we have failed. As protectors of our youth and future generations we have failed. As Americans, we have failed in teaching our children the meaning of the basic principles that this land was founded on.
So as we begin a new chapter in our history, what part will YOU play in it? Will you care enough to get involved? Will you let go of your political party, your race, your generation, your background and take a stand to make this a better place?
Change will not come about from just one person; it will not come from a group of people. WE have to consciously and purposefully make that choice. All of us, as one nation.
We stand against our greatest enemy. Ourselves. It won’t be another country that will take down this country; it won’t be special interests, crazed dictators, or any outside threat. It will be brother turning against brother, neighbor against neighbor, idea against idea. This country made up of so many of us, is great because of our diversity and our varied experiences. We have exceeded because of our different backgrounds, our different histories.
Can we take our histories and our experiences and create a common future? Can we stop being a race, a generation and just be people? Can we let go of our prejudices and embrace the tenets and the core principles of this country and let go of everything we have ever been before and be just Americans? Shoulder to shoulder, side by side, making this, yet again, the greatest nation in the world?
WE CANNOT DO IT WITHOUT YOU. YOU MUST MAKE A STAND.
All of us together. Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, European. Young, old, rich, poor.
Together we can make this country better.
Together we can make our world great.
Together we can reach new heights.
Together we can make a new stand.
UNITED WE STAND.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Counting your blessings
How do people count their blessings? Many people count them by the number of dollars in their bank account. Others think of them as their name on a wooden plaque on their door displaying a title and some even think about them as a sum of their possessions. Blessings come in many shapes and sizes; they depend on your age, your background, and even your gender. Mine come in smiles.
I sit across from my living room while my son and his dad sit down and watch a movie about superheroes and I realize that to my boy, his father is his hero. Damian and his father have a particular relationship. They sit in front of the TV and not say a word to each other but every few minutes you see them looking at each other, smiling in complicity.
During summertime, they go outside and work together on the yard and talk about any thing and everything. Damian asks his dad questions as if his dad had all of the answers in the world and Tony tries to explain to his son the world as he sees it and in doing so, lays down the path for his son to walk through later on in life.
They play video games together, they color and paint together. They are a wonder in the kitchen as father brings down the whole spice rack, not an easy feat, and introduces his son to the millions of combinations and together, they discover the joy of concocting their own moments.
When Tony hits the road, Damian comes home and calls his dad to tell him about something exciting about school and to ask when he will be home. Damian makes sure that he calls his dad to say good night and is the first one to check on the weather to make sure that his dad’s path is clear (Hey! He had to get something from me…)
Tony talks to his son about animals and Damian thinks about a father and son team that will travel the country treating animals in their mobile vet hospital. They talk about train sets and swing sets, cars and boats and together they build projects and dreams that transcend reality and still create the cohesiveness of a father and son relationship.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, he loves his girls. Victoria is a source of pride and a buddy to gang up on mom with and Gabriela is, well, Gabriela is the sweetie. He would do anything and everything for his girls and is extremely protective of them. But like every other man, he realizes that they are little women and that women in general are to be loved but not necessarily understood.
But Damian is different. When Damian was a baby and he was more of a mommy’s boy, there was still an understanding that the minor interactions between them were the groundwork for when they reached this level of their relationship. As Damian grew, he gravitated more towards his dad and now I am happy to say that he will run after his dad and involve him in projects of cars, farms and life in general and leave me behind with a kiss and assurance that he loves me but wants to “hang out” with dad.
The role of a father in a child’s life is paramount. In our society a father is often looked at as an assistant’s role to the mother’s and the bond is not encouraged and nurtured. What must it feel like for a father to know that his son grows up without him, without the advice that he wishes his father had given him? We know that all too well. Many men deal with being absent from their children’s life, many men deal with being away because of location, legalities or pride and misunderstandings. Regardless of the reasons why, as a society, we fail to understand that children need that love and interaction that is so unique to a father. We fail to honor the role of a father and therefore we raise our children without teaching them the true value of a paternal figure.
As a I sit at my computer desk and I look out to the couch and I see my son look up at his dad and smile , I realize that my son will learn and accept his father as a man, I see that my husband will learn to see himself with compassion through his son’s eyes and I see that together, they will build a friendship that is everlasting. I count my blessings in smiles.
I sit across from my living room while my son and his dad sit down and watch a movie about superheroes and I realize that to my boy, his father is his hero. Damian and his father have a particular relationship. They sit in front of the TV and not say a word to each other but every few minutes you see them looking at each other, smiling in complicity.
During summertime, they go outside and work together on the yard and talk about any thing and everything. Damian asks his dad questions as if his dad had all of the answers in the world and Tony tries to explain to his son the world as he sees it and in doing so, lays down the path for his son to walk through later on in life.
They play video games together, they color and paint together. They are a wonder in the kitchen as father brings down the whole spice rack, not an easy feat, and introduces his son to the millions of combinations and together, they discover the joy of concocting their own moments.
When Tony hits the road, Damian comes home and calls his dad to tell him about something exciting about school and to ask when he will be home. Damian makes sure that he calls his dad to say good night and is the first one to check on the weather to make sure that his dad’s path is clear (Hey! He had to get something from me…)
Tony talks to his son about animals and Damian thinks about a father and son team that will travel the country treating animals in their mobile vet hospital. They talk about train sets and swing sets, cars and boats and together they build projects and dreams that transcend reality and still create the cohesiveness of a father and son relationship.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, he loves his girls. Victoria is a source of pride and a buddy to gang up on mom with and Gabriela is, well, Gabriela is the sweetie. He would do anything and everything for his girls and is extremely protective of them. But like every other man, he realizes that they are little women and that women in general are to be loved but not necessarily understood.
But Damian is different. When Damian was a baby and he was more of a mommy’s boy, there was still an understanding that the minor interactions between them were the groundwork for when they reached this level of their relationship. As Damian grew, he gravitated more towards his dad and now I am happy to say that he will run after his dad and involve him in projects of cars, farms and life in general and leave me behind with a kiss and assurance that he loves me but wants to “hang out” with dad.
The role of a father in a child’s life is paramount. In our society a father is often looked at as an assistant’s role to the mother’s and the bond is not encouraged and nurtured. What must it feel like for a father to know that his son grows up without him, without the advice that he wishes his father had given him? We know that all too well. Many men deal with being absent from their children’s life, many men deal with being away because of location, legalities or pride and misunderstandings. Regardless of the reasons why, as a society, we fail to understand that children need that love and interaction that is so unique to a father. We fail to honor the role of a father and therefore we raise our children without teaching them the true value of a paternal figure.
As a I sit at my computer desk and I look out to the couch and I see my son look up at his dad and smile , I realize that my son will learn and accept his father as a man, I see that my husband will learn to see himself with compassion through his son’s eyes and I see that together, they will build a friendship that is everlasting. I count my blessings in smiles.
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