A letter to our son

Dear Baby Boy,

Last night was an amazing night. With friends surrounding us at home, we celebrated the victory of Barack Obama as our next President. When you enter this world, we will have our first black president, and a man of many backgrounds to lead our nation forward into this increasingly small global community. We know that the challenges that face us as a country are huge and daunting, but we believe and hope that his message of change and unity will once again bring out the best in our citizens, and lead us to an era of cooperation and innovation. We thought he ran a fantastic campaign, and managed his army of staff and volunteers brilliantly. Since he ran his campaign so well, we believe that he has the potential to do the same with our country.

I get choked up knowing that you will emerge into an America that has once again shown the world that there is still truth in the creed "Only in America could this happen." Your dad and I are proud to have been a part of a "movement," the first one in our lifetimes, that has inspired millions of people to get engaged and participate. The other first in almost our whole lives, is the changing of guard from a Clinton or Bush being in the White House, and we truly believed it was time for a change of power. We don't expect the world to change overnight, nor do we believe that Obama has a "magic wand" to change our problems, but we do believe that someone who inspires the masses to participate is one of the most significant steps we can take towards growth and problem-solving. We are proud to once again have a president who is intelligent, educated, sensitive, charismatic, steady, and willing to reason. There are so many mistakes we feel our country has made in the last 8 years, and until now we felt that we couldn't challenge the power at hand, and we felt hopeless watching our country barreling down a path in the wrong direction. We finally feel a sense of relief knowing that we will finally get a change in vision and policies. He won not as a black American, but as a qualified candidate who happens to be black. We are proud with our democracy for seeing past his color and choosing to elect the best candidate.

"This sends a powerful message to the rest of the world about the need for diversity and building bridges, values that are at the core of any efforts to create a world at peace with itself."
-By Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General, IAEA

Baby boy, I am so proud that this will be happening at the beginning of your life. There will always be fear and intolerance, war and injustice, poverty and inequality, but for a time, even if for only a brief time, your dad and I will have a sense of deep satisfaction that the world can indeed change for the better, and that America can once again be a guiding light for positive leadership. This is a moment that will live in history, and we can say, "We were there and we were a part of it."

Love,
Mom