The Editor, Sir:

"Not in my life time". These are the words on the lips of those who witnessed or kept in mind the words of King when 40 years ago he predicted the events of November 4. King is now seen as the old man dreaming dreams and Barack Obama, only seven years of age when he would have heard the old man dream dreams. This dream led the young Obama to acquire the vision of becoming the commander-in-chief of earth's most powerful nation. King was right when he said, he King may not get there, meaning in his lifetime, but he hoped for his children to be witnesses of the dream. They have, King.

The man who knew that this day resulted from his own strength in believing that the dream would be written down in history as the Audacity of Hope is now the president-elect of the former slave state, The United States of America.

Private property

Lest we forget, we must remember that when a black man called Dred Scott sued for his freedom, the United States Supreme Court in 1857 ruled that the likes of Obama could not be a citizen, had no right to property or freedom. Chief Justice Roger Taney boldly ruled that African-Americans were the objects of private property and the white owners of slaves could not be denied their rights to own them. He concluded that the American Constitution protected the private property of white men of which the slaves were.

McCain being age 72 did witness the slaughter of King because he dared to speak up and take action. That is why his memorable speech, conceding to Obama, recognised that which he could not before: African-Americans deserved to be given leadership for the first time at last!

Historic event

Obama has shown that notwithstanding the experience of a broken home, a missing father, the loss of a mother to cancer and all the other setbacks he has had to face daily being a black man living in America, he can garner the strength to become law professor, senator and now commander-in-Chief.

I got a text message on the night of the elections which sums up our emotions regarding this historic event, it read thus - "Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk, Martin walked so Obama could run, Obama is running so our children can fly." O yes, they can!

I am, etc.,

BERT S. SAMUELS

bert.samuels@gamil.com

Attorney At Law

4 Duke Street

Kingston