Wednesday, November 5, 2008

American Hero

Part of the Transcript of President Elect Barack Obama's speech last night



OBAMA:This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for
generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her
ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to
make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper
is 106 years old.

"She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no
cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for
two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
"And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in
America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times
we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American
creed: Yes we can.
"At a time when women's voices were silenced and their
hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the
ballot. Yes we can.

"When there was despair in the dust bowl and
depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New
Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can."

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the
world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy
was saved. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in
Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people
that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in
Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.
And this
year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote,
because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of
hours, she knows how America can change.
Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is
so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should
live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long
as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

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