Many years ago I was told a story of a heroic woman named Sojourner Truth. A black woman, born in 1797 as a slave in upstate New York, originally named Isabella changed the course of history. As I recall the story I find it remarkable on so many levels. Not only was she a slave who eventually found freedom, in later years she was both an abolitionist and a suffragist fighting for women’s rights.
As the story goes God would periodically speak to Isabella. One of the first things She told her was to change her name to Sojourner Truth. She traveling the Underground Railroad to the South leading runaway slaves to freedom. Every time she made another perilous trip she would pick up a new baby, raising it above her head to the heavens and ask, “Is you the one? Is you the one”…to lead us to freedom?
Well, it’s been one hundred twenty-six plus years since Sojourner’s death and in that time many African Americans have asked the question, Who will lead us to the next chapter in our country’s history? When will we, as African Americans, be totally free in the eyes of this country and its citizens. We have had many, many civil rights, political, religious and spiritual leaders over the last century who helped us traverse the defeats, the challenges, the hatred, the discrimination, and the victories. There were the Martin Luther King’s and the Malcolm X’s, who had great exposure, and were well known for their contributions, but there were even more of the William Huffs who were little know, but made a big impact on many lives throughout the country in their own way. Each taking us a step forward in our quest for eqality.
Less than four years ago a young junior Senator for Illinois made a keynote speech for the Democratic National Convention and we all asked, “Who is this young man, Barack Obama?
Today Barack Obama was sworn in as our 44th president of these United States. He “Is the One” we have been waiting for. The one person who could not only unify the races, but unified a nation. This nation has had a celebration like no other. We have been able to elect a man for the “content of his character rather that the color of his skin…”, as described in Martin Luther King’s historic “I Had a Dream” speech.
This dream was not reached by any one person, but all of us,back to Sojourner Truth. He is the one, but all of us can also be “the one.” There is so much work to be done, by all of us. but at the end of this night we can all take a collective sigh and bast in the knowledge that we have found “the one”.
Namaste’
