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Barack obama keynote address 200411/24/2023 That we can have an idea and start our own business without paying a bribe. That we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door. That we can tuck in our children at night and know that they are fed and clothed and safe from harm. That is the true genius of America - a faith in simple dreams, an insistence on small miracles. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. ![]() Our pride is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation - not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy. I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that, in no other country on earth, is my story even possible. I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents’ dreams live on in my two precious daughters. And yet, I know that, on this night, they look down on me with great pride. They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren’t rich, because in a generous America you don’t have to be rich to achieve your potential. They would give me an African name, Barack, or ”blessed,” believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success. My parents shared not only an improbable love, they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. And they, too, had big dreams for their daughter. Bill, bought a house through F.H.A., and later moved west all the way to Hawaii in search of opportunity. Back home, my grandmother raised their baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line. The day after Pearl Harbor my grandfather signed up for duty joined Patton’s army, marched across Europe. Her father worked on oil rigs and farms through most of the Depression. She was born in a town on the other side of the world, in Kansas. While studying here, my father met my mother. Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place, America, that shone as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before. His father - my grandfather - was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.īut my grandfather had larger dreams for his son. He grew up herding goats, went to school in a tin-roof shack. My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. ![]() Tonight is a particular honor for me because - let’s face it - my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely. ![]() On behalf of the great state of Illinois, crossroads of a nation, Land of Lincoln, let me express my deepest gratitude for the privilege of addressing this convention. ![]() Obama, then an Illinois State Senator, easily won his campaign the following November and became the fifth African American to sit in the United States Senate. On JIllinois Senatorial Candidate Barack Obama was propelled onto the national stage when he was chosen to give the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention.
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