Barack Obama Wins: President Elect Speech Yes we did!

Hello, Chicago.
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.
We are, and always will be, the United States of America.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.
And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.
Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.


This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• 11/04/08
• Barack
• Obama
• Wins
• bob
• marley
• natural
• mystic
• change
• hope

[vehiclespa]

In 1984, at the age of 5 I was told I could not enter a public swimming pool in Houston Texas because of the color of my skin. If nothing else changes, I now feel safe and sure that this will NEVER happen to another child in America again

[dem4life79]

God has blessed America with President Elect Barack Obama. Thank You All who voted for change! This is a new day and a new chapter in American history, thank goodness!

[cardcollector6794]

how many people voted for Obama because of his color? to not be considered racist? okay we have had a black president, don't get me wrong I am all in favor of another one.. but lets vote out of stances on issues, not appearance/religion/gender. Look at candidates on paper on their stance on issues and decide. Look where all this "change" got us..

[88Sublime96]

This is about the only good cause of his presidency

[poxflaza]

@dem4life79 Since the birth of our nation the U.S there has been a white man running the country. Now when the people had enough and want change in the system all of the sudden they bring a black man into the white house? so now everybody is happy thinking we all have a chance. sorry US government im not falling for it.

[4QBUD]

Two years later… Do you still feel the same about this guy? It's funny to look back now and hear his plagiarize Bob the Builder line over and over and over of "Yes We Can" Look at the statistics of who voted for this person and then listen to him almost come right out and say he was elected solely by minorities in America. We all wanted change from the crap Washington was giving us only we idiots didn't actually listen to what he was promising and voted for what we felt he SHOULD have said.

[vgcq02]

@findingabesnephew A lot has been accomplished. He defeated the pirates, passed the recovery act, passed Wall Street reform, passed the manufacturing act, pulled combat troops from Iraq, put more focus in Afghanistan, signed the order to ban gifts from lobbyists, amplified protection to gays from hate crimes, etc..etc. and the biggest was health-care reform. Do you want more?

[findingabesnephew]

@vgcq02

We have seen the results.

We have seen what he could do, but in the past 2 years, little has been acomplished.

[OBAMAisHalfCaste]

Obama the first half-caste biracial mixed-race president not black.

[vgcq02]

The results of Obama's actions will not be seen overnight. The results will come late in 2011 and 2012. Be patient.