Words cannot express how amazing it is to be alive and able to fully understand the significance of this day
The time is 5:46am and as I sit in the living room of my mother's house in Wilson, NC I can't help but be filled with excitement.
My 86 year old grandmother, Odell Farmer and I, just hung up the phone. She too, is filled with excitement, but of a different kind. She witnessed, first-hand, the time of Martin Luther King, Jr., fought on the frontline of the Civil Rights movement and never, ever thought she would live to see this day.
Our ritual, each election day, is for me to pick her up from home in the rural parts of the county and take her to the polls. I am on the way.
Yesterday evening, when I landed in NC, my dad picked me up from the Raleigh airport and we drove to Charlotte to see Senator Obama speak.
My dad, Congressman G.K. Butterfield and I, had met and seen him speak several times before, but last night was much different.
The resounding sentiment yesterday evening, among the crowd of 25,000 and Senator Obama himself, was that of a job well done. We also discovered yesterday evening that his grandmother had passed away. The tone of his speech was that of sorrow and pride.
Immediately after his speech, I had the opportunity to meet with him briefly and take a picture (the picture is attached - excuse the frizz, it was raining..lol). As we talked, I noticed that his demeanor and temperament was the exact same as it had been when I met him first nearly two years ago and again the evening of the NC primary.
He is the most consistently intelligent, rational and and humble leader I have ever met or witnessed from afar.
The promise that he gives us as Americans is rooted in hard-work, sacrifice and optimism. A gentleman standing with us after the speech said it best, "He did it the old fashion way - he earned it."
There is a saying that luck is defined as when "preparation meets opportunity."
The preparation that has been done over the last 20 plus months has been met with an opportunity that we, Americans, have created for Senator Obama and that Senator Obama has created for himself.
I have traveled with my mentor, Dr. Ben Chavis, to Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina, Indiana and almost every battleground state encouraging young adults to register to vote, and most importantly, turn out to the polls in record numbers.
In North Carolina alone, over 2.6 million people voted early, 28% of whom were African-Americans.
My spirit has always believed that no one's life or death is in vain. Senator Obama's grandmother raised our leader to become who he is today. Many have said over the years that with each passing life - a new life is born. Her passing yesterday evening brings birth to a CHANGE, starting today, in American society.
I thank God for the opportunity to be alive to witness this day.
Please encourage every single person within your reach to vote today. Our present and future depends on it.
Before your celebration tonight, please say a prayer of thanks.
-Valeisha Butterfield
HSAN and WEEN