Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Even weeks after the historic election, I occasionally awaken in the morning shaking off the final dregs of sleep with the question, “Did it really happen?”  Reluctantly arising from bed (I am not a morning person), I see the words “Obama – Believe” … printed on my nightshirt reflected in the dresser mirror.  The truth dawns again, new and freshly astonishing, as a smile spreads across the horizon of my face like a sun that cannot help but rise - Yes it did – or more to the point, “Yes, we did!” 

Regardless of political affiliation, race, creed or nationality, Barack Obama’s victory has touched people everywhere as an event of historic proportions, the results of which have rocked the world, changed the political landscape, and will hopefully benefit everyone, John McCain supporters included.   I know that I am not alone in the fact that it is taking time for this new reality to settle in as fact.  For even as the word “Believe” was an essential slogan used in his campaign, I can’t quite shake off the sense of disbelief that an African-American Christian with a Muslim name who lived across many continents and came from such humble beginnings will be the new President of the United States.  More incredible is that fact that Barack Obama did not win because of the color of his skin, nor in spite of it.  Dr. King’s dream that people be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character came true - at least in this instance, on an occasion witnessed and celebrated by people the world over. 

My fear that experiencing this election in Canada, my home of the last two years, would be somewhat hampered or diminished proved to be totally unfounded.  The Obama/McCain debate was as alive, well and animated here in Winnipeg as anywhere I traveled within the U.S. for the past many months.  Likewise, I would venture that the results and their implications were felt as deeply here as in any American city.  In fact, the day after the election I had lunch with a friend who, with tears streaming down her face, quoted an Aboriginal elder from a local radio program that morning, “Obama’s victory is a victory for us all – now my grandchildren will know that they have as much a right to dream as any other children in our nation.”  I doubt that we can even begin to fathom how deeply and profoundly the results of this election have been celebrated by families and communities around the world.

And yet, for all its significance, November 4th did not just herald the victory of Barack Obama - his election was a testament to the power of will and hope on behalf of a people!  He won because, at a very difficult and precarious time in our country, more people than in any other previous election spoke up, organized, raised funds, held rallies, knocked on doors, and stood in long lines in order to vote on behalf of change.  Among the enduring lessons of this election, we are reminded of the privilege and responsibility that marks a democracy, and with it, the recognition that, perhaps, we are the ones we’ve been waiting for!   As Obama acknowledged in his acceptance speech, “I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to – it belongs to you.”

Just as the victory belongs to us all, so does the long road ahead!  As the world watches with baited breath, hopes are high and expectations are enormous that a new chapter is about to be written in the history of the world.  But as Obama asserted to the crowd of thousands gathered to celebrate his victory that night, “I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years – block by block, brick by brick, callused hand by callused hand… What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night.  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 cannot happen without you.”   

John McCain invoked a similar message in his concession speech, “I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president.  And I call on all Americans, as if have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe always, in the in the promise and greatness of our country, because nothing is inevitable here.  We never quit, we never surrender.  We never hide from history.  We make history.” 

What a concept - we make history – the next page cannot be turned without us.  I have been asking myself what that will mean to me personally.  What new choices will I be asked to consider as a consumer, as a member of a community or a neighborhood, and as a citizen of the world? What will that mean to us as families, as workplaces, and as a nation?  Are we prepared to rally our best spirit and resources to meet the challenge put forth to us by John Kennedy: “Ask not what our country (or our next president) can do for us, but what we can do for our country (and for our next president)?”  Are we mature enough? Are the problems we face urgent enough?  Is our love and connection to the earth and to our fellow humanity deep enough? Are we committed enough to the values, principles and ideals espoused during the campaign?

For better or for worse, I believe our answers to these questions will speak to the quality and depth of success that this president will be able to achieve or fail to achieve.  The future of our country, much like the results of the election, lies in our hands.   As Nancy Gibbs writes in an article in this week’s issue of Time magazine, “We get the leaders we deserve.  And if we lift them up and then cut them off, refuse to follow unless they are taking us to Disneyland, then no President, however eloquent, however historic his mandate, or piercing his sense of what needs to be done, can take us where we refuse to go.  This did not end on Election Day, Obama said again and again as he talked about the possibility of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. We are merely at the end of the beginning.”  

It is in that spirit that I chose this month’s Poem of the Month, “The Call to Everyday Leadership”.  I wrote this poem a month ago, on the heels of having put together a keynote speech and workshop on “Unleashing the Potential of Everyday Leadership”.  While I did not have Obama’s victory and the challenges we face as a country in mind when I wrote this, it feels most timely and appropriate to share with you now, in the wake of this great moment.  I would like to dedicate it to Obama’s grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, who raised him, helped shape him, and died on the eve of his victory. 

Here’s to the many things we have to be thankful for at this time – among them the power to believe, the potential to lead, and the audacity to hope!

~ Denise

Read Denise's previous (October 2008) newsletter...

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