I could not have been happier when Senator Obama became President Elect Obama. His election brought me to tears and stirred a sense of pride in our great people that I have not felt in a long time. But now I am concerned.

I am not concerned that President Elect Obama won't do the things he said he will do. I have confidence that he will work hard and surround himself with people of excellence in order to reach the goals he has set for our nation. My concern is about us.

I am concerned that we have forgotten what it means to work and sacrifice to make things happen. I am afraid we have such faith and hope in Barack Obama that we think we can just sit back and let him take care of things. Let me tell you, that was not my intention when I pulled the lever next to his name.

During the Civil Rights Movement people did not sit back and let Martin Luther King handle it. They took to the streets and protested. They walked instead of riding the bus. They endured fire hoses and police dogs and beatings. They understood that they needed to make sacrifices in order to achieve change. King said

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom.

We cannot just sit back now and think everything is going to be fine and wonder in four years why we haven't seen the change we expected. We need to get up and work for it. President Elect Obama said it himself in his victory speech on Nov. 4th;

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.
It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.

He is our leader, but he is not our savior. He will call us to service in the name of change. We need to be ready to answer that call. But we also need to get up and create our own calls. Volunteer. Become a community organizer. Make phone calls and campaign for initiatives that are important. Keep working for change you believe our country needs. Don't leave it to others.

Let us not forget that despite the overwhelming victory we experienced, three states voted to officially institute discrimination by actively outlawing same sex marriage. Is that the change we're looking for? Not me.

Let's also not forget about the hungry, the homeless, the sick and dying, the mentally ill, the still disenfranchised minorities. All of those people that are treated as less than whole human beings. We must work for change for them.

If your mortgage is restructured so you don't get foreclosed on, don't forget about the millions who never had a house to call their own. If you find you are suddenly able to afford medication you never could before, remember those that never got a diagnosis because they couldn't see a doctor. Enjoy your freedom, but remember those that have lost theirs without trial because they fit a profile.

There are lots of changes to be made and not even a fraction of them will be done in the next four years. Don't lose your hope because it's not happening fast enough. Keep working and remember we have started down a long road. But it is a better road as long as we keep working on it.