by Morgan Johnson

Created on: January 21, 2009

The world she is a changing. For this moment the world has paused, caught its collective breath . . . not for the rumble of cannons or the brilliant flash of nuclear fire . . . the whole world pauses in this moment to hear one man speak.

"I, Barak Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear . . ."

One man, standing on the podium of history, taking an oath of office to serve and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. One man bearing the greatest burden in the world speaks now.

Today Barak Obama becomes the forty-fourth President of the United States. His ascension into office marks a turning point in the course of American history. His arrival in Washington D.C. marks not just the shift from one party to the next but the shift of one race to the next and from one generation to the next.

America has been led by a prominent white man since the beginning. It has been generous to all and a protector of the weak. It has sacrificed blood, young people and treasures uncounted in the defense of freedom all over the world. Now the Great Nation steps up once again to lead the way.

Now America tells the world that the blessings of the modern world belong to all of us, regardless of color or faith. It does so not with the booming force of arms but the collective whisper of the vote. America has elected a black man president.

I have once said that there is a new breed of American coming into power. I called them Americans v4.0. Like the latest upgrade of a computer program, this new wave of power and influence builds on the strength of the generations that came before and corrects the flaws that could be seen. These New Americans replace the Baby Boomers who have dominated the culture since they started arriving just after the Second World War.

Barak Obama presidency isn't the end of the old era; it makes the beginning of the new. He is a man savvy in the technology of today. A president who knows the meaning of YouTube and MySpace is something new to the White House. Unlike his opponent, John McCain who said he would need help with email. Obama managed his own email accounts. Unlike Bill Clinton, Obama knows the internet provides much more than twenty-four hour access to porn.

Obama knows that the spirit, wit and ignorance of the entire world flow across the web all day, every day without stop. Advisors can bring him polls, but he knows he can hear our voices online. That might make all the difference when his burden gets too heavy.

Obama is president. Martin Luther King, Jr. did not live to see this day. Our ancestors who toiled as slaves did not live long enough. Black soldiers who fought in all of our wars since the birth of our country died too often and too young.

Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights Movement stood unarmed and shaking in fear, but stood nonetheless in the face of advancing police men, horses and dogs . . . many of them are here today.

Our black predecessors who prayed in the darkest night on bloody knees through broken teeth "Oh Lord, how long?"

Today, we have our answer.

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