Today, America is better

Barack Obama is the new president of the United States of America, soon to be the 44th man to hold the office, and without a doubt his election is the greatest and most positive even to occur in my lifetime.

Four years and a few months ago, after his star-making speech at the last Democractic National Convention, I wrote that I expected to cast a presidential vote for Barack Obama someday. And, way sooner than I expected, I got that privilege.

This is my president. At 29 years old, I feel more American, more an active and influential part of this tremendous country, than ever before. This is the history I will tell to my children someday, describing how this wave of enthusiasm overcame the country and surge, at the perfect moment, pushing the destructive and depressive Bush years aside in a heartbeat.

Last night at the Marriott, among some 2,500 other joyous folks, I watched as big screen projected Obama's victory speech. Amazing. My friends were the millions around the country watching with pride and a surging sense of possibility in this shared future represented by Barack Obama.


I had plenty of other stuff to do last night, and I slept in, but on my drive to work today, I heard Otis Redding's version of the Sam Cooke classic "A Change Is Gonna Come" on KXCI - and that flood of joy from the night before came back, more real in the bright light of another day than it had been the night before.

So, to celebrate this election, which I cared about and fought and worked for so much these long months, here's two more versions of that classic American song - one from some great friends and one from a legend greater than any other. And somehow this promise of the Obama presidency seems to make it all that much closer to my heart.


DOWNLOAD:
Chango Malo - A Change Is Gonna Come
Bob Dylan - A Change Is Gonna Come