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VIEWPOINT -
DRISS TEMSAMANI
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 Dedicated to Barack Husain Obama, the 44th President of the United States of AmericaAs I turned my head back for the last time, I felt a breeze of hope on my face.
It was the final hour.
Last call for the same but there was no one to order.
The road was long.
The sky was gray.
It felt like the stars had left and the moon was too sad to cast its shadow on what became the bay of tears.
They stood side by side.
A long line as far as the mind can understand. Head down they had left everything behind. Their dreams, ambitions, memories and smiles of the past. But like in fairytales, when all was lost. When people got tired to ask and forgot how to speak. When life lost its meaning by loosing its color. They turned their head for the last time. They wanted to freeze that final moment. They wanted to capture the eternal second. That's when they felt the breeze of hope. A breeze of words spoken by a man that ignited the crippled candle inside each broken sole of this nation.
Tonight, so many of us cried and grabbed our faces with both hands to hug our bruised smiles. Tonight, when all was lost, one man stood to renew our hope. One man glued back the shuddered glass and filled it with dreams of tomorrow. One man and a nation joined hands tonight to plant the seed in the final hour. Tonight we cried tears of joy and watered the seed knowing it will grow tall and strong. Like in the glorious past the tree will rise to the highest sky. Like a beacon, the tree will bring back the moon and the stars that had left in that final hour.
Tonight, let those who are present tell the absents. Let the story of tonight be written on napkins in small restaurants across this country. Let the story of tonight be forever stored in blogs and decorate web pages across the world. Let the story of the one man and the nation who said "Yes we can" be remembered forever. Let the story of the son of the African immigrant and the nation of blacks, whites, Arabs, Asians and Latinos be remembered by all. Let the story of the man who united Christians, Muslims, Jews and all of those that said "I believe", be told.
Every now and then history is made. Monuments, towers and bridges are forged from earth to bare witness to the greatness of the moment. Tonight, the story of one man and the nation who raised their head and marched for a better future will be one of those moments.
As I turned my head and looked back for the last time, my eyes were blinded by the light. A light so pure caused by a smile. A smile of a man and a nation that finally regained their desire to dream of a better tomorrow. Today, I renew my hope for a better future. Today, I join the ranks with so many others who believe in change. As many before us have, we will stand behind the man who told us to believe and rebuild our broken dreams.
Generations to come will remember us as the brave souls of the bay of tears. The brave souls of the nation that came together to make history. A nation that shouted "Yes we can" on a night like no other.
Driss R. Temsamani
author@drisstemsamani
www.drisstemsamani.com
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