As I was sitting in the beautiful symphony hall of the Strathmore (http://www.strathmore.org/)theatre in Bethesda, Maryland last evening listening to the stirring sounds of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Soulful Symphony, and the Baltimore City College Choir my thoughts wandered to my ancestors.

The program, hosted by the Alpha Kappa Alpha Pearl & Ivy Foundation was a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 80th birthday. The musical selection was profound and moving because it lead the listener from the 1800s to the present day. Most of all the program was taking place on the eve of the swearing in of our nation’s 44th President; our nation’s first African American President.

The music (which was wonderfully conducted by Marin Alsop and others) was deep and transformative. It sparked the imagination, and touched the heart. As the orchestra played “Civil Wars to Civil Rights” and as former NAACP Chairman and Congressman Kweisi Mfume narrated and read Dr. King’s I Have A Dream Speech, I could not help but think of my grandparents (now all but one is deceased), my great grandparents, aunts, uncles, countless cousins and others who came before me in a very different America.

I have been doing our family tree research on ancestry.com and I am awed by what I am learning about my family on both sides. I have been able to view 100+ year old census records, draft cards, social security indices, death records, etc. The ghosts of these people gone by came to my mind countless times as I closed my eyes and listened to the music, and the words that forever changed a nation in 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Then I thought about Barack and Michelle (yes, didn’t you know we are all on a first name basis with them both) Obama, and I thought about Martin and Coretta King. I thought about my maternal grandparents who were married for 54 years before grandpa died in 2001. I thought about the black LOVE that held it all together for the past 300+ years in this place called America. I thought about the struggles that my generation will never understand, and the fact that generations who now come behind us will always take for granted that a black man, or a woman can run for the Presidency of the United States and win.

If you have been to the grocery store lately, you cannot walk two steps toward a check out counter without seeing countless magazine covers featuring our new President & First Lady. I still cry each time I see them on TV together, I never miss an Obama press event, and I think of my own two nieces whenever I see the Obama girls Malia and Sasha waving and smiling. Like all of you I am proud of them–and I am so damned proud to be an American.

However, what continually moves me, and inspires me is the LOVE that is so real and palpable between Barack and Michelle. It’s real folks. It is solid. I don’t know either one of them, but I have now lived long enough to know people. And I can only wish that more young black men and women will decide to model themselves after such a successful couple and marriage.

Barack envelopes himself in his wife when they are together–you can read it in his body language. Michelle is the more dominant personality–by that I mean she is more outgoing in interviews, she speaks more. She is certain. He defers. He is a gentleman. He adores her and it shows in his smile. They snuggle, they hold hands, they touch. It is not contrived or forced as with some couples you see. This man and this woman–love each other–better yet they like each other. They are friends, lovers, and parents. And now, they are the most powerful couple on the face of the planet.

Man, maybe love will have a resurgence in American culture. Wouldn’t that be nice. Yes it would be. As we get ready for the Inauguration of President Barack H. Obama next Tuesday, Jan 20th., I will be thinking a lot about my ancestors and the price they paid so that I could be where I am. So that Barack could be where he is. I will be thinking a lot about the Obama family and praying for them. But most of all I will be thinking about the fierce LOVE that it took for a black people driven from their homes, stripped of their dignity, robbed of their freedom to survive what our ancestors survived.

What I like most about Barack is his smile. It represents hope–ease–warmth–and love. What I love about Michelle is her strength, her presence, her confidence, and her undying love and loyalty to her man and her two babies. They are an American family–in every sense–and they share a great love story like many famous couples before them.

The scripture says that “love is the greatest of these (faith, hope, love)”. On January 20th, we will witness in action–the living history of how the LOVE of our ancestors tore down slavery, Jim crow, racism, hatred, bigotry and inequality. Love does conquer all.

If I Have Not Love, I am Nothing

Sophia