An Open Letter to our New President

Dear President-Elect Obama,
I celebrate with the country the tremendous milestone your election represents for our nation. There are peoples around the world that have had hope rekindled because in America we have elected our first President from the African-American peoples.

I want to pass on to you some simple requests that will make a historic election a historic time in America.

Given so many in America are disillusioned with leadership and with Washington leadership, perhaps you can lead us from that to a renewal of respect. How?

Be the man of faith. Your faith is obviously real and personal and it often seems that you lean to the position of it being a private matter. It is, but men of genuine faith live differently for different reasons than men and women of unbridled ambition and greed. Live out your faith!

Be the father/husband your family needs. While you hold a vital place in the affairs of the world, to children and wives, absence is absence. One of the great arena's of leadership you can provide for American families is to make room for the family and let us see some of that. Too little value is placed on parenting our children in the midst of hectic, demanding days. I don't remember when it dawned on me that if I died doing my job, I could and would be quickly replaced. No so for my place in my family. There will be more presidents, there will not be another dad like you for your family.

Be the African-American man of our time. In the prison where I work, far too many of the offenders are African-American. Too many cannot read. Too many are without any reasonable hope of a meaningful future. I believe you can make a difference for Black America. You can stand as the abiding reminder that in an imperfect society with imperfect justice for all, that people of color can still aspire and achieve and lead the nation. I believe this is a day when a vital part of our shared life needs to be inspired to not throw away their lives on the more available temptations leading to destruction.

Finally, Just be our Commander in Chief with dignity and grace. These are days when partisanship gridlock is hurting the nation in every way a nation can be hurt. The powerless are pushed down by the monied and influential lobbies/lobbiests pushing their own agendas. Government must first protect those who are most vulnerable. Far too many children of every color go to bed terrified each night, often without enough food; without enough medical care; and without enough healthy adults in their lives to make sure they are safe and secure. There is no lobby for these folks. Rather, the gun lobby, the pharmaceutical lobby, the oil lobby, the farm lobby, etc, all have their spokemen. We need to think about the least of these in our midst.

We have also graduated to providing Wall Street welfare to the engineers of this financial debacle. We have moved from Welfare Cadillacs to Welfare Rolls-Royces and Mercedes. All the while, the government does not have the money or the will to help the elderly or the underprivileged child.

I know that I have no idea what kind of burden awaits you as our President. However, our nation is a praying nation. And the one thing every believer owes you our leader is our prayers and our support.

I pray you will soar on wings of Eagles. I pray that as you do, the hope and vision of many might be kindled and the sagging faith of many might be renewed. May the days of Obama be the beginning of new hopes and dreams for millions around the world.

If you attempt these as you govern, these will be days of renewed grace for the United States.