Obama!

Today, Barack Obama took the stage and was made the first African-American president of the United States of America.

Congratulations.

When I say that I, of course, mean it towards Obama. He has had such an impact on the U.S.A. and even Canada in the past year and to see him stand before the Whitehouse in Washington was astonashing. In each set of eyes in the audience today and all over the world, there was hope. Everyone, everywhere was gathered. However, congratulations to the U.S.A. for finding the opportunity to change for the better.

From helping to paint walls to fixing our economy, Obama has promised things that will provoke great change for the U.S.A. and for the rest of the world. Since the U.S. is the most powerful country in the world, everyone will be influenced by Obama's presidency and the decisions he makes throughout his journey.

Though his speech was not soulful and proud to be African-American, he did something that the U.S. never seemed to do before. He did not blame the problems that the U.S. is facing on something else or someone else. He said we need to chage and that we need to take action. He is taking responsibility for taking his country back to the drawing world. Everyone's counting on Obama.

I'm counting on him to help the economy. I know it won't be fixed in a week or a month, but there is potential and room for change and growth.

I am Canadian. I was born and raised in Canada but today when I watched the inuaguration of Barack Obama I felt more connected to him and to his words than I ever have to any Canadian Prime Minister. I do not mean that offensively, but I mean it as Canada is a proud supporter.

Today I saw countless numbers of students with Barack Obama shirts, Obama quotes in their Facebook statuses, and a number of students with smiles on their faces. Maybe their mother, boyfriend, or cousin made them smile but the fact is that today I saw more smiles than I had yesterday.

Haven't you ever heard "a smile takes a second but the memory of it lasts a lifetime?" Well if you haven't, there you go. Obama made history today, whether you're black, white, or purple; whether you're a Canadian, an African, or an American, today is the day that the world changed.

"Yeah Obama for real, they gotta put your face on the $5000.00 bill" sings Young Jeezy and Nas in their single "My President is Black." Even though this may make you chuckle or make your roll your eyes, the point is that there is no one like Obama right now. There is no other African-American president in the world. He made Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream come true.

Cheers to solutions.
Cheers to change.
Cheers to new life.