History Written

Today, January 20, 2009, I witnessed another great moment in History, a day that many though would never come, a day that almost the entire world anticipated when the results of the last US presidential election was announced. Yes, today I watch Barack Hussein Obama, sworn in as the forty fourth president of the United States of America, a black man sworn in as the Chief of Staff for one of the most powerful countries of the world, a country where blacks were the minority in key political roles. A page of history was written today, history that the whole world stopped to watch.

So many persons made it a point of duty to see US President Barack H. Obama inaugurated as president of the USA and no doubt Jamaica was one of those nations that watched along with the US as he was sworn in. This momentous occasion was not only celebrated as the moment when a black man became president as the United States, but because so much hope of change in our dismal world condition has been placed in the hands of the new president. Many in the world, including the Caribbean and Jamaica are looking on in anticipation and hope that with this new administration, things will get better economically and where international relations are concerned. But despite his admirable and eloquent speeches, his extremely great feat of becoming president, we are still in a world ravaged by a global economic recession, wars, poverty and disease. Therefore, he has a humongous challenge ahead of him to make a change for the better and only time will tell how much he and his administration can do to improve the US and by extension the global community.

However, one thing is for sure, today has been written in the books of history, not for just the United States of America, but for the entire world. We indeed witnessed a change when we first heard the results of the presidential elections and again today when we witness Barack H. Obama take the oath as the President of the United States of America.