The One's We've Been Waiting For

By: Donovan X. Ramsey

On February 5th 2008, a man that very well could be the next President of the United States, stood before a crowd of Americans as diverse as this nation and proclaimed that, “we are the one that we’ve been waiting for.” He could not have been more right. The upcoming Presidential election – in particular the candidacy of Barack Obama- has produced and highlighted many things. It has been a sounding board through which people have had overdue conversations about race and gender in the context of political power. This race has encouraged Black Americans to take stock of our problems, priorities and personal politics. It has brought to light issues and policies that have too long gone ignored by the ruling class and most importantly it has reminded Americans that we do still have a choice. We are reminded that life, like hope, is not some intangible idea or far-off finish line but a choice that we make everyday.

Brothers, there are those who see the electorate that we represent; young, educated and, Black as less than substantial. They believe that having existed so long out of the political processes of this country that we are easily hypnotized by pretty words and lofty promises. Some believe that we do not have the experience to recognize the change that we wish to see, let alone to be it. To them I answer that no generation knows more intimately the crisis that we face. We have never existed in a world where global warming wasn’t a threat. We have never seen a day where suicide bombers didn’t menace the prospect of peace in the Middle East. We have never inhabited a time where weapons of mass destruction didn’t sit poised ready to put an end to this fragile blessing that we call life. I answer that this generation, as much as any other, realizes that we have a loaded gun aimed straight at our future and we are compelled by the mistakes of the past to live in what Dr. King referred to as, “the fierce urgency of now.”

The winds of politics have, and will continue to, tug at the hearts and minds of the American electorate as I have seen them do here, in this microcosm of Morehouse College. I do not in any way claim that one candidate has a monopoly on the hope, will, or the resolve to pull this world out of our “improved means to an unimproved end.” What I do know for sure though is that this nation is starting to feel again. Something is shaking the foundation of this country like it hasn’t in years and we cannot miss our opportunity. The naysayers will always have their mouths full with words of doubt and complacency but what if the time really is now? What if we really are the ones that we’ve been waiting for? I have believe deeply, as Bruce Barton stated that, "Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance." Unequivocally, our circumstances are daunting and the risk is great but in the face of unprecedented adversity, we are the ones that we’ve been waiting for and we must be greater.