Maya Angelou.

I am Maya Angelou.
I'm a poet.
What I am going to say to you now however, is not a poem.
Doesn't pretend to be.
These are ruminations, are reflections upon the event of President Barack Obama.

We needed him.
We, the race, needed him
We, the American population, we needed him
Banks, our mobile companies, and insurance companies, needed him
The stockmarket in Japan, in Germany, in France, in Britain, in China, in New York City, needed him

And out of that great need, I believe, he came
Barack Obama, facing forward
Including everyone, excluding noone
He came with some charm
Not enough to make him seem glib

But what he did is, he brought something we can not live without and that is HOPE.
He brought a possibility that we might see ourselves as we really are, A Great Country
I believe in the secret part of every heart of an American, there is a desire to belong to a great country

President-elect Obama offers us the chance
to have a great president with whom we can identify
Not as a black person
not even as a male
But realy as an American citizen
who will speak for the voiceless
who will not forget the poor black or the poor white
who will remember the out of work Asian
and the dislocated Spanish-speaking person

It is said that to whom much is given, much will be expected
I believe we have been given a great president
I belive he needs us probably more, even then we needed him

I believe that each of us, each American has got to pay back or pay it forward
I think each of us has got to do something to help us to become more than what James Bowman called, tis yet to be UNITED states

I think our new president deserves all our help
I believe we Americans most we can get
I believe we are a great people
And I believe we will have a chance to show it
I will be working alongside, being of use
I hope to see you, being of us

I am Maya Angelou, a poet, American
I'm happy to say, A Citizen.


I saw Maya Angelou recite this on TV this morning. I was so moved, I decided to transcribe it from bbc world news website.