The work begins anew. The hope rises again. The dream lives on.

Monday, August 25th, 2008; the first night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention and the first time that many people in America may have seen why I do not only stand behind or for Barack Obama, but why I stand WITH Barack Obama.

First was Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy, the “Lion of the Senate”, the only surviving brother of a family that truly embodied the flaws and greatness of the American people. His niece Caroline first described the campaign of Barack Obama as “never understanding what it felt like to be inspired the way people said my father inspired them… but I do now”. After a video tribute, the Senator himself, recovering from brain surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, appeared in front of the convention to show why and how he served over 45 years in the Senate. He spoke of the torch passing from his brothers’ generation to a new generation. He spoke of his lifelong pursuit of healthcare as a right for all people and not an expensive privilege for the few. He spoke of Barack Obama and America. He ended his speech with soaring rhetoric enough to wake the sleeping giant that is our American spirit:

“There is a new wave of change all around us, and if we set our compass true, we will reach our destination – not merely victory for our party but renewal for our nation. And this November, the torch will be passed again to a new generation of Americans, so with Barack Obama, and for you, and for me, our country will be committed to his cause. The work begins anew. The hope rises again. And the dream lives on.”

And then the headline speaker of the night, Michelle Obama. I will admit, this is the first time I had seen an entire speech of hers. She showed me, along with all America, why she and Barack are together. Her intelligence, her compassion, her fiery passion and love for her family and country were awe-inspiring and humbling. She spoke of her father, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at 30 years of age, who never missed a day of work so that her family had everything they needed. Who gave her the opportunity to go to Princeton, then Harvard, and then enter a life of public service. Her oratory abilities are a match for even her husbands, I include several snippets here that affected me deeply. Please watch the speech to find the ones that speak to you:

“The people gathered together that day were ordinary folks doing the best they could to build a good life. See they were parents trying to get by paycheck to paycheck; grandparents trying to get by on a fixed income; men frustrated that they couldn't support their families after their jobs disappeared. Those folks weren't asking for a handout or a shortcut. See they were ready to work -- they wanted to contribute. They believed -- like you and I believe -- that America should be a place where you can make it if you try. And Barack stood up that day, and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about "The world as it is" and "The world as it should be." And he said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two, and we settle for the world as it is -- even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we also know what our world should look like. He said we know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves -- to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And isn't that the great American story?”

“All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won't do -- that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be.”

“And that is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack's journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope.”

“And in the end, And in the end after all that's happened these past 19 months, the Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago. He's the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital ten years ago this summer, inching along at a snail's pace, peering anxiously at us in the rearview mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give her everything he'd struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her something he never had: the affirming embrace of a father's love.”

“And as I tuck that little girl in and her little sister into bed at night, you see I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own. And one day, they -- and your sons and daughters -- will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They'll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, how this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming. How this time, in this great country -- where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House -- that we committed ourselves, we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be.”

My love to all of you, and as I’ve said before, my friends in Africa said it best:
“Pave the way. Obama is coming.”