As the whole world witnessed, we have made history with the swearing in of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States of America. But this election was about more than the significant and historic act of electing the first African American to the highest office of the land. It was about average citizens taking back the political process from the Washington elites. It was about changing the way that America operates so that we can make progress for our children. It was about hope for a better tomorrow.
Now it is up to us to seize this momentum and take our nation to the next level – and the tool that will take us there is technology. By providing every man, woman and child with access to technology and the knowledge to use it, we can transform our nation in ways that we never thought possible. Technology can make our healthcare system accessible to all and more affordable to the masses. It can provide every child in America with access to a quality education. It can allow underserved communities to empower themselves to promote jobs and economic development. Most of all, technology can bring the voiceless together to be a powerful voice in our political process — a voice that will bring change to government.
This is the tomorrow that we are working to build.
To accomplish these goals, the Ministerial Alliance Against the Digital Divide (MAADD) will partner with the Obama administration and legislators at the federal, state and local levels to make sure that every citizen and every community in our nation has access to state-of-the-art technology and the knowledge to use it. We will work tirelessly to promote the use of technology to better our nation's healthcare, to expand quality education to every citizen, to advance economic development and to propel civic participation. And we will tear down anything that impedes this progress from being made.
As President Obama said, "This is our time. This is our moment." This monumental effort will not be easy and will require Americans from all corners of the country to rally together to make this dream a reality. But MAADD is up to the task to do the hard work that will change our nation for the future of our children. We all have a role to play in making change happen. We hope that we can count on each and every person to assist in this critical time for our country.
James L. Demus III is founder and co-director of the Ministerial Alliance Against the Digital Divide in Chicago. Find out more at www.maadd.org
