{Sniff.}

As the mother of a non-Caucasian child, Obama's election affects me in a more personal way than it would have a few years ago (pre-Carlos). To know that my child will grow up able to take for granted a person of color's ability to do and be anything he wants - that is a priceless gift.

Two things have made me tear up today. First, this quote - I don't know who said it, but I love it -

"Rosa sat so Martin could walk, Martin walked so Barack could run, and Barack ran so our children could fly."

And second, this photo -

The looks on all three of those faces say more to me than any words ever could.
(Image taken from Yes We Can (hold babies), discovered via elle, phd.)

How sad that the non-white children of our country have had to wait for so long to see this day, and how wonderful that the day has finally arrived.

While I marvel at the historic implications of Obama's success, and find myself intermittently caught up in the euphoria and sense of overwhelming hope that I see on faces all around the world, these moments of happiness are tempered by fear. Fear that the problems are too large, or that Obama, despite his best intentions, is too entrenched in politics-as-usual to effect the kind of massive change we need to turn this country around.

But I'm making a conscious effort to focus on my hope that his election will harness all of this positive energy and give us all a push in the right direction. This is not the end of the struggle - only the beginning - an opportunity to begin to truly effect change. Obama and his budding administration can't do it alone - we all need to stay engaged to push for the changes we so desperately need to turn this country - and this planet - around. If we play our cards right, maybe there's still a chance that the world we pass on to our kids can be a better one than what was left to us. That's something I wasn't so optimistic about a week ago.