This Historic Moment

Barack Obama's victory in winning enough delegates to secure the Democratic presidential nomination against Hillary Clinton is undeniably a watershed moment in the history of the United States of America. As a schoolboy, I grew up hearing that the promise of America was that it was the land of opportunity, that through hard work and dedication one's dreams could be realized, and that, yes, one could even aspire to become president of these United States. Of course, I soon realized as a black child growing up in Virginia in the fifties and sixties, those sentiments, while noble and idealistic, did not necessarily apply to me. And that makes Obama's seemingly improbable victory all the more special for it goes without saying that I never thought I would live to see the day that an individual whose skin color resembles my own would represent one of the major political parties in an election to determine the presidency of this nation.