Why is Barack Obama important to me? This is why.
For the first time in my lifetime,
I can proudly say without any shadow of doubt,
that I am proud of the country I live in.
We have finally done what many have tried to do for hundreds of years in this country.
We have broken the barrier of race, preventing equality in the stake of our country’s future.
For the first time, we have seen that Americans know how to look past race, and to see the person who is truly beneath.
As I write this, I watch Reverend Jesse Jackson, in tears, without words, at what we have accomplished. For what many have said over the years, about equality, and the ultimate goal of abolishing intolerance, Jesse Jackson was at the modern cornerstone of this fight. And tonight, he has achieved what he has worked so hard for, what we have all worked so hard for.
Though we are not without our problems, as a nation, and though we are not without faults,
we can say without a doubt,
that today, we, as America,
are truly a free nation.
So let us mark that November 4th, 2008,
was the day America achieved its dream.
To the great leaders of the past, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, I only wish that you were here tonight to finally see that all of your hard work was not in vain. We owe many great things to you, and this is our way of saying thank you, for believing in what none of us thought was possible.
To Barack Obama’s grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, I must thank you for helping to raise the man that Barack Obama has become. I cannot say how sad it makes me that you were not here tonight to see what he has accomplished. I know you would be proud.
So thank you,
thank you all,
whether you support John McCain or Barack Obama,
we are all Americans.
and we can all take great pride in what we have achieved tonight.
Goodnight, and good work.