And he was the Senator from Illinois

And he was born in the 50th state

And he was of American and of Kenyan blood

And he went to Columbia

And he graduated Harvard Law School Magna cum Laude

And this is what he said:

This is what Barack Obama said:

"For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: ‘Yes we can.’”

(New Hampshire Primary Speech, 2008)

And he was conscious of generations who came before him

And he knew about the Middle Passage

And he knew about the Peculiar Institution

And he knew the fates of Martin and of Malcolm and of Kennedy

And yet he preached, the Audacity of Hope

And this is what he said.

This is what Barack Obama said

“Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it.”

(Iowa Caucus Speech, 2008)

And when it was time, he stood up to fulfill his destiny

And he became the 44th president of the United States

And this is what he said,

“This is the price and the promise of citizenship.   This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed… and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served in a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.  (Inauguration address, 2009)

And this is what was said.  

This is what President Barack Obama said.

And the people celebrated