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<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt">Yes We Can!</span></strong></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>It’s January and this time we made history! In fact history was made on November 4<sup>th</sup>,  2008 when Senator Barack Obama was elected as the 44<sup>th</sup> President of the United States. It was a memorable day. Grant Park was filled to capacity. People from all walks of life assembled to witness history. On January 20<sup>th</sup> 2009, even more people assembled at the Capitol Mall in Washington DC to witness an even bigger historical moment. America saw its first African American President, Barack Obama take the oath of office! That day, at that moment, we witnessed what America could be. There was joy everywhere. People cried and hugged. We were all one people experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime moment.</strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>What were people thinking as they listened to the President address the nation? Were they thinking about the ground they were standing on? Where our ancestors worked and died? Were people thinking about the thousands, perhaps millions of enslaved Africans toiling to build the Capitol Building? Could people hear the clanging of chains, the hammers hammering, the creaking of wheels on cobble stones? The painful cries of the people? The crack of the whips? The work songs? The mournful work songs? Could they hear the silence? </strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>I reflected on those questions and many more as I listened to President Obama. Like many people, I shed a few tears too. Yes, I shed a few tears of joy for the millions who walked hundreds of miles from Paga and beyond to the forts and castles in West  Africa. For those who perished on the way; in the dungeons; in the bellies of ships, on plantations; during the civil wars and civil strife; and for the President too. For the burden he was about to inherit and carry. Yes, for the hate that was about to visit him. I reflected on how long it would be before the hate would rear its ugly head. The lies…Hateful lies.</strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span> </span>As I stood on the Mall, I wondered what it all meant for our children. What did the election of a person of color mean for Woodlawn children and indeed children like them? What did it mean for racism and racists? Is racism over for the children? Yes, I wondered as I stood on the Capitol Mall. I also thought about the magnificence of ancient Africa on the Mall. Did anyone even notice? Did it matter to them? Did anything matter on that day? Then I heard Rev. Joseph Lowery recite the words of James Weldon Johnson! Then it all came back! …<span>Our weary years…our silent tears…lest our feet stray from the places where we met …lest our hearts…forget…May we forever stand…true to our native land …Where we met…where we met? We were on sacred grounds! Let the tears flow…for the Indigenous Peoples too…the First nations people… </span><span style="font-size: 11pt"></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Was anyone paying attention? Rev. Lowery was reminding us of the second verse of Lift Every Voice and Sing!<span>  </span>The stony road…the bitter chastening rod…hope that had died before it was born. Yet with a steady beat and weary feet we were standing on grounds where our fathers and mothers sighed…and died. We were standing on sacred grounds watered by the blood, sweat and tears of the slaughtered. And yet from that gloomy past here stood at last a gleam of our bright star! President Barack Obama! An African American…Was anyone paying attention? </strong></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>As we celebrate the Virtue of Truth this month, let us remember those who went before us and those who are yet to come and remain true to ourselves and to our native lands. Remember that wherever you are, you are on sacred grounds…on the shoulders of great ones…Therefore, you have no option but to strive for excellence. Yes We Can! Hotep!</strong></p>
<font face="Times New Roman"><strong>Baba Embil, Principal</strong></font>

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