A Defining Moment In History by Jesse Jackson Jr.

This Is a Defining Moment in History

(Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.) June 4th, 2008

What a defining moment in history for Senator Barack Obama to clinch yesterday the Democratic nomination for President. Senator Obama’s nomination confirms Dr. King’s observation that “the moral arc of the universe” is long, but bends toward freedom and justice.

Senator Obama personifies a uniquely American story born to a mother from Kansas and a father from Kenya. He affirms the motto included in the Great Seal of the United States: E Pluribus Unum Out of Many, One. He also reflects the American Dream ‘a skinny kid with a funny name’ who came to Chicago’s South Side with ‘no money and no connections’ can climb high in this country– even reaching for the Oval Office.

His campaign is just as uniquely American, made possible by the great democratic movements of the 20th Century. People who have dared to dream and to act and to struggle and to come together for a common purpose have opened society and expanded rights, allowing more Americans to participate in and perfect our democracy.

Barack Obama will accept the Democratic nomination for President on August 28th the 45th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech. In many ways, Senator Obama’s nomination as president is a fulfillment of a dream long deferred of a country where people would ‘not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.’

Clearly, Senator Obama has demonstrated his character, conviction and capacity to lead our nation to a more perfect Union. The American people We the People have responded.