It'll Never Happen

When the slaves were first brought to this country, they were denied their freedom.

Everyone from the ship's captain to its deckhands said, "They ain't gonna be free. It'll never happen!" And for the next two hundred years we weren't.

We did and said as "Massah" bellowed and barked.

Then along came abolitionists and those who would help be free. People like Sojourner Truth and Harriett Tubman. They led us through long dark tunnels. Behind bushes and through low lying river beds, many found the freedom some had only dared to dream of.

While enslaved, we were told, "they'll never learn nothin'!" "It'll never happen! "

They saw to it that we had no access to school and books. That was until some of their families and those who thought otherwise, began teaching us to read and write. Using the word of God, we could communicate with each other as never before.

Once reading and writing were accomplished, and we could express our thoughts, they denied us the right to vote. The very right to speak with our minds in the electoral process this country was founded upon.

Jim Crow laws prevented us from being and acting like "the rest of them".

They said, "They'll never get to vote. They'll never be a part of our system. It'll never happen!"

That was until men named Ralph Abernathy, John Lewis, and the greatest man of all - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Black preacher from the south, stood up and spoke for us when we were afraid to speak for ourselves and our rights. He marched and preached, and preached and marched until the right to vote was extended to all people - regardless of color.

In 1983, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, a man named Harold Washington ran for the office of Mayor. He was the first Black man to ever do so. He fought against what was called "the Machine", a political stronghold in the City Council that dated back to the early 60's. They were run then by the late Mayor Richard J. Daley.

It was a predominantly white council that would say, along with much of the city and nation; they'll never elect a Black man in charge of that city. It's too prejudiced, always has been - always will be. It'll never happen!"

On February 22, 1983 Harold Washington was elected Mayor in a landslide versus incumbent mayor Jayne Byrne and upstart challenger, Richard M. Daley, son of late Richard J. Daley.

"It'll never happen! "

We have, as a Black people, been told the lie many came to believe.

The lies that have kept us from aspiring to the greatness for which we were created.

The lie many more of us refused to allow into our spirits.

We can do ANYTHING. We can be ANYTHING. We can achieve GREATNESS!

To prove it, God created a man-child named Barack Hussein Obama.

Barack did not believe the lies. He believed he could do whatever he set forth to do.

Throughout his life he strove for the best he could be.

As an adult, he worked, studied and became a remarkable leader. He ran for and won the offices of Illinois Senator, then United States Senator.

But it was on a cold spring day in January, on the steps of the State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois, he declared his candidacy. Never before had a Black man run for the office of the President of the United States of America and have such a groundswell of support.

He had a chance. There was hope.

Finally, on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, at approximately 9:40 p.m. Chicago time, the latest Electoral College votes were announced - "With 333 Electoral Votes, Barack Obama is now the President of the United States of America!"

They said, "It'll never happen".

THEY WERE WRONG!

Let the success of President Obama be the beacon of light to show the way to your success. Know that it won't come easy, nor will it be swift, but if you stand steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58), IT CAN HAPPEN!