November 5th 2008

At 6 am as it does every morning my radio alarm switched on. It is tuned to BBC Radio Four and these days is a DAB model, which gives me crystal clear reception after a fashion. The clock is controlled by a digital signal the famous pips it seems are not, sometimes I hear them some times I don’t. This morning at 6 am I heard the voice of Barack Obama:

“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.”

I held my breath for a few moments until in sunk in that this was a victory speech. Obama’s voice was replaced by that of the BBC ‘Today’ program presenter John Humphrys stating:

“Barack Obama has been elected as the first black president of the United States.”

I felt a great sense of relief and a hope that the future can be better place. We are each of us every day a witness to history, and the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America is a momentous day in history; my hope is that President Obama can create a future history of momentous and positive moments.