Born in 1961, Barack Hussein Obama was raised like anyone of us. His grandparents living from payday to payday, expecting his father once a month and his mother raising him with his sister. Then what makes Obama be the first African-American to be President of the United States?

Obama is a leader with strong ethics and a charismatic personality that captivate anyone who listen to him. This maybe because of his hard childhood, his parents divorce during his early years, only having the opportunity to know his father once in 1971 before he died in a car accident. Also struggling to be the best in a school with only three black students, where he graduated with honors. And many other events in his live who marked his incredible and emotive cause to help others. Obama decided to turn all those negative events into productive seeds to form the person that he is today.

He wasn’t raised in a religious home, but joined the Trinity United Church of Christ during his youth. This is why most people doesn’t consider him Christian, because his point of views are for all Americans, as he said in one of his campaign videos: “Patriots that believe in war and patriots who doesn’t”. His political standards are base in the need of the Americans who work hard day by day to put dinner in their homes.

Obama worked with both Democrats and Republicans in drafting legislation on ethics, expanded health care services and early childhood education programs for the poor. He also created a state earned-income tax credit for the working poor. And after a number of inmates on death row were found innocent, Obama worked with law enforcement officials to require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.

After the 9/11 event, he opposed to the call for war from president George W. Bush because, as he said: “I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.” He believe that Saddam Hussein was a bad man and that Iraq would be better without him, but he knew Saddam wasn’t a threat to the United States or his neighbors, as he explained in a press conference.

In a video he presents in http://www.myspace.com/barackobama he said that he saw his mother angry once: “when she saw cruelty, when she was somebody being bullied or somebody being treated differently because of who they were”, is when she taught him a lesson he never forgot: “Imagine standing in that person shoes, How would that makes you feel?”. This value follow him in all his career, was the strength of his campaign and is the force that move his heart, to make everyone being treated equally and with respect.

Meanwhile many of his college graduated classmates went to Law Firms, he decided to serve others. Her wife thought he was crazy, and she asked: “Why you doing that?” and he answered: “If there is any unjustice someone will need to fix it”.
If you are going to review or measure a person, as a Child of the Kingdom of God, because of your believes then you have to reconsidered again. All for what Obama fight for was for justice, he works for the poor and for the needy. He stands for what he believes is right and for the truth. This qualities are the qualities that God looks in those He chooses to be leaders and kings. Personally I voted for the other candidate, but as a Christian I prayed before process my vote and said: “God, you are who gives and who chooses our leaders, please let it be your will to guide in this elections and I will be agreed with you, Amen”.

Even though I voted against Obama I’m proud for him and proud for my country. This is really the land of the free. In November the 4th of 2008, history was made, it was the day the First African American President went elected.

Congratulation Barack H. Obama! God Bless you and God Bless America and the World!

©2008 Rafael Vilá for GTFN.org

References:

http://www.biografy.com

http://www.myspace.com/barackobama