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| OBAMA: LIVING THE AMERICAN DREAM |
2/7/2008 |
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By Gbenga Teejay Okunlola
Senator Obama’s truly living the American Dream. When Barack Obama visited Kenya in 2006, a local beer called Senator instantly became a bestseller.The beer now has become associated with the U.S. presidential contender that visitors sometimes don''t even need to get the name right-just ask at a local bar for a cold Obama and pronto you are served!.Obama is now an inestimable figure in Kenya, where his father, Barack Obama Snr, was born and bred in the tiny village of Kogelo, near Lake Victoria.And even as Kenya''s post-election riots continues to claim lives, the Kenyans at home and in the diasporas are keeping up with the political fortunes of their most illustrious son.They know that he''s keeping up with theirs too.Obama wrote to Odinga-who is protesting the victory claims by incumbent President Mwai Kibaki in an election widely considered irregular-asking Odinga to persuade his supporters to embrace peace instead of violence. Odinga''s response: "I''m doing what I can." Let’s hope and pray Kenya will be Kenya again, Peace will reign again and that Kenya will stand united and tall again.
One of the most remarkable things about Obama’s campaign is the number of young people who have become politically engaged for the first time.The young voters who are making a huge difference in this campaign.And Barack Obama has got that persuasive, motivational and inspirational speech just like John F. Kennedy. Senator Obama''s life story is the quintessential American Dream. It''s nice to know that the dream is alive and well, and that it can still happen, despite everything that''s going on in America and the world.Senator Obama has inspired millions of young Americans and the world at large with his story.Obama’s pursuit brings one down the memory lane of Dr. Marthin Luther King’s famous quote : "I Have a Dream" ;..."We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.We cannot turn back.Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends. And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.etc.... Four decades after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.''s assassination,There’s no doubt that black Americans have made tremendous gains, yet faced an extraordinary amount of hurdles along the way.
America needs real change.Americans should look at what Obama''s got to offer if given the chance to lead USA. I think he should be given a chance to prove that he is the man for the job. It will be a good thing for the ethnic minority to have someone really represent their interests. He''s real and I think will make real change. Mr. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat who was the party’s presidential nominee in 2004, said he was endorsing Mr. Obama’s candidacy because he believed he was uniquely situated to inspire “millions of Americans to join together and come together in a movement” to demand real change in Washington. And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. John F. Kennedy. God Bless America.
Gbenga Teejay Okunlola is The Voice News magazine correspondent in Bulgaria. teejayok@gmail.com
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