While January 20th is more than a month away, it feels as if everyone is scheming for a way to Washington, DC to witness the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. For many, this is about the symbolic journey “from slavery to freedom,” and for others, this is about ousting an ineffective government that has undermined a progressive agenda at almost every turn. However, what is most exciting to me is the directive I see coming from many African American leaders—America, raise your expectations for African American children!

For decades, the low expectations for our children have led many to believe that they couldn’t achieve. But now, we anticipate a new day–a new era along the road we trod. It is all quite interesting, really. Years ago, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois hypothesized that it would take the “Talented Tenth” to lead the elevation of African Americans from second-class status to embrace and achieve upward mobility. It would be through education, DuBois argued, that we would find our way to greatness. Malcolm X made the same argument, saying that “education is the passport to the furture, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.”

It appears that the fierce urgency of now has resulted in a significant improvement in America’s social and political climate. It has opened the doors for a fresh perspective, one led by a highly educated, credentialed and talented man. Talented Tenth, indeed. It has also created an opportunity for African Americans to rise to the phenomenal occasion of being respected as full and equal partners in this Democracy. So what does this all mean?

This means we focus. We apply ourselves. We stop sedating ourselves and we continue to work together to develop new opportunities for our communities to grow and prosper. We support our children. We turn off the television and read to them. We don’t degrade them with dehumanizing names that conjure a history of slavery, but rather, we challenge them to accept their own greatness. We rise!

I’m excited…and if the rising price of hotels and plane tickets into Washington, DC in late January are a sign of the growing demand, I must not be alone!

Copyright 2008 Monique W. Morris