Yesterday the people of the United States elected Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States. He becomes the first African- American to be elected President and he won in a landslide. As I watched the election results and the scenes of people gathering in Grant Park in Chicago, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, in Harlem, and outside the gates of the White House, I had to think of my old neighbor in the unit block of East Pastorius Street, Mrs. Rivers. Mrs Rivers and her husband lived in the house which shared a common wall, three bricks wide, with our house. In short we heard their arguments and they heard ours.
Once when I was in her house I noticed she had three pictures hanging on the wall above the mantel. In order, they were Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy. When I asked why she had pictures of those three men, she looked at me and said something like, "They helped give me my freedom and dignity and I want to think of them everyday."
I don't know if Mrs. Rivers is still living or not but if she is I would bet that there is a fourth picture hanging on her wall today. I'm certain she would have a picture of Obama displayed and that she would be praying for him everday.
I hope Obama does well and that he has a successful presidency. As one of the pundits said last night, "he doesn't have a hard act to follow."
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