In honor of this week's primary results and the iminent nomination of Senator Obama as the first black candidate for President from a major party in our nation's history, I feel drawn to Sam Cooke's landmark song,
A Change Is Gonna Come. Though only a modest hit upon its initial release in 1963, the song soon became an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement and has inspired generations of Americans in the years since. Legend has it that Cooke was moved to write the song after hearing Bob Dylan's
Blowin In the Wind and desired to write a song of hope for the ongoing civil rights fight. Indeed, where Dylan's song asks "How many years can some people exist/before they're allowed to be free?", Cooke's song answers "It's been a long, long time coming/but I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will"
I'm sure I'll get much more dramatic and maudlin as we get closer to the Democratic convention and that moment when the first person of color steps up to the podium and accepts his party's nomination for President....for now, these are moments in history that I will treasure for life. I can only look back at the struggles and sacrifices made by those who came before us...and look ahead to a future of true brotherhood and community.
It's been a long, long time coming
But I know a change gonna come....oh yes it will
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