Yes, We Can

Ontem (hoje de madrugada para nós), os Estados Unidos mostraram porque, citando aqui as paravras finais do discurso do candidato derrotado John Mc Cain. "Os Americanos nunca se escondem da história. Eles fazem a história."

Barack Obama foi eleito quebrando inúmeros paradigmas ao mesmo tempo. O primeiro Afro-Americano a se tornar presidente, mas com raízes mulçumanas, como o próprio nome do meio entrega, Hussein. Foi eleito com o maior número de votos da história, além da maior porcentagem de votos jovens. Ganhou em estados tradicionalmente Republicanos, como Vírgínia, Iowa, Wisconsin e Minessota.

E acima de tudo, ganhou o apoio da maior parte do mundo, que se viu nos últimos 8 anos em uma crescente antipatia pelo país que a geração passada sempre almeijou ser e admirou. Um país que se isolou de antigos aliados e partiu para decisões inilaterais, como se somente a sua opinião e posição bastasse. Resta agora para Barack Obama o desafio de restaurar esse prestígio perdido, essa economia abalada e esse mundo mais hostil.

Em um discurso para aproximadamente 200 mil pessoas em Chigago, no qual em muitas partes tomou inspiração nos de Martin Luther King, Obama agradeceu aos seus apoiadores e partiu para um tom de conciliação e união, dizendo que será o presidente de todos. Independente de raça, religião ou opiniões. Segue o que eu considero a parte mais forte do discurso:

"The Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends ... though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.

For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

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.

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.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome.” Yes we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.

And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace, to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one, that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:"

"Yes We Can."

Para aqueles que não assistiram, o vídeo do discurso na íntegra:

Tão tá bão e agora resta esperar para ver se realmente essa visão será comprida, e tomara que daqui a 4 anos nós estejamos realmente em um mundo melhor, e quem sabe, menos tenebroso.