Barack Obama

Today of all days, and this hour of all hours, noon in the USA on 20th January, 5 p.m. in the UK, the time of the inaugural presidential speech in Washington DC, I would like to welcome the presidency of Barack Obama in the USA. It will be good to have a world leader who appreciates and treasures words, and reads. Also who cares.

Obama has a big job. The USA is in a mess, in crisis, and therefore the world is in trouble. Today, the USA is a little less divided about skin colour, but the gulf between rich and poor remains cavernous. The USA today renews its vows with democracy, we hope sincerely. In Britain, we pride ourselves about our openness, but we are not unprejudiced ourselves. Prejudice and discrimination remain, and scratch the surface a little, people and institutions are happy to connive. Our poor need opportunities too, and our helpless need support. The time for complacency is not yet. We are all at the beginning of a long and winding road, on which we will struggle to go uphill, and hope our brakes work on tight downhill corners. And there will be bandits. A door has been opened, but paradise is not yet.

Today is a threshold, a turning point. Endless possibilities lie ahead, so long as we have the vision and wisdom to see them.

The speech (click for full text).

...For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

...Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

I discover this below from the Illinois Center for the Book, and am pleased with the accidental congruence of the words with my ambitions with this blog:

The Hall Branch Library, located in historic Bronzeville, was named in honor of Dr. George Cleveland Hall, a renowned surgeon, social activist and civic leader who was the second African American to serve on the Chicago Public Library Board of Directors. Dr. Hall played a vital role in connecting the African-American community with resources needed to learn, live, thrive and work by convincing a generous philanthropist to support the library by donating funds to purchase the property for a proposed library to serve a predominately large African-American community located on the south side of Chicago. The Hall Branch opened to the public on January 18, 1932, under the direction of Vivian Harsh, the first African American librarian in the Chicago Public Library. During the 1930's and 40's Hall Branch served as a meeting place for young writers such as Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Arna Bontemps, Zora Neale Hurston and Claude McKay. FOLUSA and Illinois Center for the Book designated the library a literary landmark because of its close association with distinguished African-American authors and writers.