President Obama!

So, he won. Wow! I never thought I would see a brown president in my lifetime. No matter who you voted for or what political party you belong to, one thing is certain....Mr. Obama gives hope to minorities, bi-racial children, and children of single mothers.

As a minority woman, I grew up without seeing very many successful brown faces. Occasionally, I would meet a Mexican doctor or a Filipino nurse. But, on the whole, successful minorities were hard to find in my neck of the woods. So, it was difficult to conceive that I could truly become whatever I wanted. I know for white people, this probably isn't the case or you can't understand what I'm saying, maybe. But, it's hard to be something if you've never seen anyone who looks like you become it. But, as I grew older, more minorities were becoming educated and prospering. But, as a child the only successful brown face I ever saw was Oprah and Bill Cosby. If I saw a Hispanic person on TV, they were portrayed as a drug dealer or a "bad" guy. There was little or no brown successful people to look up to- plain and simple.

Just five years ago, when I moved to North Texas. I met tons of young Hispanic and African Americans who had never seen a college graduate Hispanic girl before. In fact, when I was taking some post baccalaureate classes at the local university, I met a girl who had never met a Hispanic person that spoke English. She was confused by me and thought all Hispanic people spoke Spanish and ate Mexican food for every meal. She had never met a college educated Hispanic person like myself.

So, to me, Obama offers young minorities hope. He offers the hope that you truly can be anything you want. And, you can earn it through hard work, education and persistence. You can truly achieve all your goals and anything is possible. For that, I'm a grateful to Obama. He will give little brown faces a positive role model to look up to, I hope--that's assuming he doesn't do something stupid while in the White House like Bill did. I didn't really have that kind of "hope" when I was a child. But, I'm glad my bi-racial son will.

So, regardless of who you voted for, please understand that Obama does offer hope to some. Even if you disagree with everything he stands for, you must understand that he is the new face of hope, especially to brown little faces. By seeing an educated, successful, well spoken brown man lead our county, he's making it possible for minorities to no longer make excuses. We have seen what is possible, and now we can strive for it, too. Again, it's hard to be something when you've never seen someone like you become it. But, now with this brown, bi-racial, man from a single mother, living in the White House, he will change what is expected of people who look like him or who have a similar back ground. He has changed the face of success! Thanks Mr. Obama for having a dream and working hard to achieve it!

He gives me hope!

(I bet you are surprised to know that I didn't particularly like either candidate. In fact, McCain was more my style. I know, you are probably crapping in your pants to think that someone as liberal as myself could ever vote for someone like McCain. But, again, it doesn't matter who you voted for. We are all Americans (unless you are Japanese), and we should stand behind our new President!)