Yes We Can!

Change. It was on everyone's mind that fateful night one year ago when Barack Obama took to the stage in Chicago and graciously accepted his new Presidential title. Though he has had his fair share of naysayers throughout the year, Obama still projects the image that, "Yes, we can!"

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer."

It was these powerful words that began President Barack Obama's acceptance speech on Nov. 4, 2008, in Grant Park in Chicago. It was these words that not only kept the pace of his campaign, but that set the tone for the future of the nation: "Yes, we can!" Throughout his speech, the president reinstated the idea that America has never been and will never be just a group of democrats and republicans, America will never be just a collection of different races. President Obama believes that we, as Americans, are united through good and bad, and that we can continue to change and evolve.

As an testimony to our changing nation, the president used Atlanta citizen Ann Nixon Cooper, age 106. "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," he said, "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" Those three words resonated throughout the speech: Yes we can.

Indeed, the thought that we as a nation can pull together and face any hardship that comes our way was the greatest underlying message of President Obama's speech. He acknowledged how difficult a road we have in front of us. He, as well as every American citizen, knows that we face monumental enviormental, financial, and internatational challeges that could take years to overcome. However, he also knows that we are in America, and we will unite to survive.

Yes, we can.