Commander in Chief

Now that the fog of the Presidential electon has cleared, and the President Elect, Mr. Obama from Illinois, is in transition mode, my thought process has found a singular stream that has yet escaped the mainstream media.



Certianly, Mr Obama 's historic win has sent a shock wave through so many aspects of our society- international relations, domestic policy, race relations, electoral politics- that this has clearly been a dream for political pundits, writers, and the deux a machina that make up the political and social mandarins of our time. How to encapsulate the enormity of this event? It cannot be done in one writing.



So focusing in on one aspect of this will be my effort: Commander-in-Chief.



As Mr. Obama assumes the US Presidency, he will assume the aforementioned title along with the other grand titles that have been ascribed to the office: Leader of the Free World, Mr. President, The Great American Father, etc. But none are more telling or more significant than the title of Commander-in-Chief.



The history of the Blacks in the US military is a long and oft forgotten story filled with great aspects of heroism and triumph over tragedies. In the civil disobediance that became the start of the American Revolution, Crispus Attucks, a Black Salior from Massechusetts, was the first person to die for the cause of freedom. The Boston Massacre became the rallying event for the organization of the American revolutionary movement.



As the fighting broke out between the Amrican Minutemen and the British Red Coats, Blacks were among the soldiers who responded to the call, either as Freedmen, or as slaves, serving in place for their owners.