The Work is Yet to Come

I am as excited, have been as numb-struck with emotion, have celebrated and prayed with my fellow citizens of the world. I am proud to be an American. I am proud to be a part of the generation that has made it possible for us to now give the title President-Elect to Barack Obama.

I also know that while I never have been before and perhaps never will again be so supportive of a candidate, this candidate will also let me down from time to time. There are a lot of reasons I voted for Mr. Obama, a lot of reasons to support him. Yet there are also some policies I am sure he will implement that I do not like. I suppose the only way for that to cease to be true, is to run for office myself (and even then I am not sure).

One thing we MUST do is continue to be active. To call attention to things that are important to us, to continue letting him know what really matters to us. We did this by the millions during the election, and we need to continue this activism well into his term.

President-Elect Obama has spoken out against injustice. One of the greatest injustices of the world is to strip someone of their humanity. In the US, we are guilty of doing this. We implement the death penalty, we refuse to give persons a fair trial, we use torture tactics on our enemies. The list is endless.

One way to help assure President-Elect Obama will take proper steps in continuing our fight for justice is to support Amnesty International. Their website is full of rich resources and information if you are looking to learn more about a given topic or to find out the most recent proceedings in an area of interest. They are also a great organization that helps us to pool our resources and work together for a greater good. Right now, they are calling on Obama to make human rights central to his new administration's work. They are looking for your support in calling him to take action during his first 100 days in office.

To read more, visit Amnesty International USA's website. To read and sign the 100 Days Petition, you may follow this link.