| I am blessed to have an uncle who has truly been a | | | | Obama. |
| father figure in my life. Let me first state I was raised in | | | | I stand between two generations of disillusioned black |
| a two parent home, but both my parents died when I | | | | men. One who experienced a glimpse of the promised |
| was in my twenties, and at that time my uncle stepped | | | | land, and the other one who stands on the cusp, but is |
| up and became more than just my uncle. | | | | still not fully living the dream. |
| He is a son of the south and vividly recalls the sting of | | | | Why is it so hard to believe this in 2008? Is it because |
| segregation. He vividly recalls colored only signs, his | | | | we have become used to seeing black candidates |
| father being called a boy by children his age and the | | | | that were one note "soloists"? These former |
| KKK marching through the streets. He is in his | | | | candidates championed the cause of the poor and the |
| seventies and does not believe he will ever see a | | | | down trodden and, only sought an opportunity to |
| black president in his lifetime. He moved to the North | | | | verbalize societal ills on the big stage of the convention |
| and spent a lifetime working in the steel industry, and | | | | floor? Their voices never truly reflected the concerns |
| retired on a comfortable pension. | | | | of all black Americans. |
| My husband is an Ivy League graduate who | | | | We have longed for a candidate that talked about all |
| possesses an incredible work ethic. He has worked in | | | | the issues. We no longer want a special speech full of |
| corporate America for the past 20 years. He has | | | | rhymes and nonsensical prose. |
| seen progress in race relations, but occasionally he has | | | | I believe that Barack Obama is the candidate that we |
| felt the sting. One incident comes to mind, he was | | | | have longed for and I will spend the next few months |
| working as an account executive for a family owned | | | | trying to convince two black men that Barack Obama |
| business and one of the partners asked him to come | | | | is for real and the time is now. America is ready and |
| to his child's graduation party and act as "security". My | | | | this is not a fairytale as some have said. |
| husband is a tall guy, but the point is this request would | | | | It is a time to write some new American history that |
| never have been made of his white co-worker. In spite | | | | not only reflects the stings of the past, but also reflects |
| of this kind of situation he can still see the progress, but | | | | the vibrant hope for the future. |
| he still can't believe America is actually ready for Sen. | | | | |