Yes We Can...

It has been a week since Barack Hussein Obama took the Presidential Oath of Office less than two miles from my house.

It took me awhile to digest the magnitude of what happened on January 20th, and much like the morning of November 5th, I awoke this morning to the street symphony of Southwest Washington with a smile on my face. The first snow fell on Washington over the night. As I heard the Metro buses, taxis and school kids bustling and sloshing through the snow en route to wherever... I wondered what the Obama's were thinking as they woke up in the White House this morning. Has reality set in for the First Family? Do they realize when they look out their bedroom windows over the South Portico that they aren't guests but residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The media has hyped that Martin Luther King, Jr's dream has been fulfilled... I have even heard Oprah say it on her show last Monday. I totally disagree. Yes Obama has triumphantly broken a glass ceiling but the average black man does not receive the same benefits of life afforded to the average white man. And until that day comes King's dream will still be an aspiration. We have come a long way and I am so proud to live in the US at this time in our history, when a black man can be elected to serve the country and live in a house that was built by slaves, simply because people believe in his ability regardless of his race.

So as I laid in bed this morning watching DC's return to normalcy, I called my grandfather for the first time since the inauguration. While we chatted briefly about family issues... his attention quickly drifted back to where was I a week ago. I could feel the smile through the phone as abruptly he ended the conversation remarking he never imagined he would see it happen... but he had to go and finish cooking breakfast for my grandmother. I guess the normalcy of life is returning everywhere... and we as a country will continue to work towards that dream.