They were the best of times. They were the worst of times." Or, if you're not down with Charles Dickens, how about Lupe Fiasco: "We came through the storm nooses on our necks/ And a smallpox blanket to keep us warm/ On a 747 on the Pentagon lawn/ Wake up the alarm clock is connected to a bomb."
Both Dickens and Fiasco capture the dual reality of America's present circumstance -- a broken and deteriorating economy, an unwarranted war, a country divided by race and a failing education system. But, on the same token, their sentiments describe a country ripe with promise, one abundantly rich in possibilities that seem limitless.
These are the problems the next president of the United States will have to cope with once in office. These are the problems only someone like Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., can confront head on, not unlike half a century ago.
It was 1957 and the people were poised for change. Never had they seen a leader like him. He was articulate. He was determined. But most of all, he was ready for what was to be. His vision of a united people seemed radical to most, but he was certain that unity was the only way to tackle the great beast of oppression.
On March 6, 1957, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah declared Ghana, then the Gold Coast, "free forever." He was the first African head of state to espouse Pan-Africanism -- an idea intended to unify and uplift both Africans and those of the African diaspora as part of a global African community.
Nkrumah merged the dreams of both Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. Du Bois into the formation of modern-day Ghana. Ghana's principles of freedom and justice, equity and free education for all, irrespective of ethnic background, religion or creed borrow from Nkrumah's implementation of Pan-Africanism.
Much like Ghandi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nkrumah understood he was a part of something great, something so morally righteous only God could've ordained it.
Now, 50 years since Nkrumah's declaration in the streets of Accra, 40 years since King's fervent speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, I have reason to believe that hope will get us through the night.
The night has been long, and we have become weary, but we never stopped believing.
So, as I stood amid the more than 22,000 people Sunday afternoon at the "Road to Change" rally, I realized that Obama's message of hope was the similar to that of Nkrumah's practice of Pan-Africanism.
"If we could just come together, past all the divisions, then there is nothing we couldn't accomplish. We are a decent and generous people, willing to work hard and sacrifice for future generations," Obama said.
Nkrumah was successful in his practice, being able to bring independence to Ghana in addition to serving as a catalyst for other African nations to follow suit long into the latter part of the 20th century.
The defining factor in his success in spreading Pan-Africanism was hope. And I say that today, in an America troubled by division, Obama is our hope factor. Not Sen. Hilary Clinton, D-N.Y., and definitely not Sen. John McCain, D-AZ, but Obama.
"I believe there is such a thing as being too late, and that hour is almost upon us," Obama said Sunday. "We're at a defining moment in our history. We can't afford to wait."
Maybe Obama is right; maybe our commonalties as Americans do eclipse our divisions.
Maybe the "unlikely" journey to change America isn't so unlikely after all.
And maybe, just maybe, through hope I can finally believe Langston Hughes when he writes: "O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath -- America will be!"
