We have been asked to pause for a reality check. We have been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything "false" about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds, and are 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 the people: yes we can.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation. Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights. Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out for distant shores, and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness. Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier, and a king who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land: yes we can.
Yes we can for justice and equality.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world.
-- Barack Obama, New Hampshire, January 8, 2008
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything "false" about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds, and are 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 the people: yes we can.
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation. Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights. Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out for distant shores, and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness. Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier, and a king who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land: yes we can.
Yes we can for justice and equality.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world.
-- Barack Obama, New Hampshire, January 8, 2008
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