I am a native Floridian. My dad, who was president of the local branch of the NAACP, was very involved in the civil rights struggle. He pastored a church in St. Augustine, Florida during the time when there was much unrest. In those days, he would bring students from what was then Florida Normal College in St. Augustine to demonstrate at lunch counters in downtown St. Augustine.

My mother, a public school teacher, lost her job because of my father's (Rev. Thomas A. Wright) civil rights activities. She was blackballed from St. John's County Public School System (St. Augustine) and had to go to the next county to seek employment in Bunnell, Florida.

My Dad refused to stop his activities with the NAACP. The threats got worse and we were told that the Klan was going to wipe out the entire Wright family--the father, mother and all four children. My parents subsequently made the decision to leave St. Augustine after a cross was burned at our home, and the St. Augustine Police Department could not guarantee the safety of our family.

We left St. Augustine by night (2:00 a.m.) hoping that no one would see us. My mother (Affie), made my father promise that he would no longer be the president of the NAACP, because his activities could potentially cost her another job.

We moved to Gainesville, Florida where my father became pastor of Mr. Carmel Baptist Church. My mother began to teach school again. Within six months, my dad was president of the Alachua County Branch of the NAACP. Mother was upset to say the least. Shortly thereafter, my dad was fully engaged and speaking "truth to power."

His first action in Gainesville as president of the NAACP was to sue the Alachua County Public School System for ignoring the desegregation order. At the time, all public schools were still separate and unequal. The lawsuit was won and Alachua County was ordered to integrate the schools.

My dad had difficulty trying to find parents who would allow their children to enroll in the all white Gainesville High School. He was successful at finding a 10th and 11th grader to transfer, but he needed a senior so that it would not take two years before an African American would graduate. I was a senior in 1964 and decided to forego my senior year at the all black Lincoln High School and go to Gainesville High.

It would take too long to really tell you about that year. I am now 60 years old and it is still the worst year of my life. After experiencing so much resistance, evil and hatred, it has taken years to heal and sometimes I believe that I have not reached complete healing and restoration from such an unfortunate experience.

I spent my adult life active in civil rights and working hard for the causes of justice and equality. I got married, had two children and remained active in the political landscape. I worked on campaigns and was devastated by the results of the 2000 election. With the Supreme Court ruling the election for George Bush, I thought I would never live to see Dr. Martin Luther King's dream become a reality.

After four years of George W. Bush, I wanted to see if there was any potential candidate in the Democratic Party that would blossom at the 2004 convention.

My assessment of John Kerry, the presidential nominee, was that he was too much of an elitist to win and was not effective as a campaigner. I volunteered many hours for his cause, but did not feel inspired by him.

It was in 2004 while watching the Democratic National Convention, that I first heard a young senator from Chicago, Illinois named Barack Obama. I screamed, clapped and cried as he spoke. When he finished, I told my husband that he would be the next President of the United States in 2008. My husband called me crazy and said it was not possible. I rushed to my laptop and Googled his name so that I could find out all I could about the young senator from Illinois.

My husband, who is a minister and considers himself a historian, began to tell me why Obama had no chance of winning. P proceeded to tell him that he would run and I would be working as hard as I could to help him make history.

I began to pay close attention to what was happening in the U.S. Senate so that I could focus on what my potential candidate was doing.

In 2006, Senators Barack Obama and Bill Nelson came to Orlando to give a Washington update to the people. I told my husband that we had to go and get there early so that we would have a chance to have some conversation with the next president. We did just that. The meeting was held at a local church. We were able to have a great conversation and have some one-on-one conversation with Obama as well as with Bill Nelson. My husband took a lot of pictures and I told him that I needed him to make copies of the pictures because they would have great meaning in the future. My husband did so to quiet my conversation, not that he had any faith in what I said.

When Barack Obama officially announced his candidacy, I was ecstatic. I rushed on the Internet to see how I could be one of the first to give him a donation. I wanted to make sure that I did all I could to help him win.

I was so confident that he would get the nomination; I told my husband that I was going to the Democratic Convention as a delegate for Barack Obama. I had never gotten involved at the level of wanting to be a delegate. I had to research to process for becoming one.

In my search, I discovered that there were 10 women running for one delegate seat as an Obama delegate. I organized as thought this was a major campaign. I announced my candidacy through You-Tube and sent emails to everyone I knew in my district. I sent out mailers. I had volunteers working with signs, t-shirts and literature. I won convincingly with 78% of the votes cast. I knew then that I was headed to the convention in Denver. Meanwhile, there was a cloud hanging over Florida because our state legislature had moved the Primary Election date so that it would take place before the Iowa Caucus. The Democratic National Convention (DNC) stripped the state of all 212 votes. I knew that before it was all over, the matter would be resolved.

In the interim, I was busy doing my part. I met all the Obama paid and volunteer staff and decided that I needed to work at getting as many people registered as possible. I set a goal of registering 1,000 new voters. No place was off limits. My kids told their friends, "My mother will literally stalk you down for a voter registration application." I would do an absentee ballot request for those I felt would not get to the polls.

As August approached for the convention, I was excited about the experience of being a delegate for Florida. My husband accompanied me to Denver. He, took was excited and now a great Obama supporter!! There was much discussion about Florida. Our vote was restored and we had the best seats in the convention hall. Everyone in authority told us that if Obama wins Florida, he would be the next President of the United States. We knew that the key in Florida would be the Interstate Four (I-4) corridor. I live along the I-4 corridor. Among the Florida delegation, I told them that those of us living along the corridor would deliver, and to make sure that South Florida delivered in big numbers.

The Denver convention was phenomenal. The captivating moments for me were Senator Ted Kennedy's speech and Thursday night's acceptance speech by Barack Obama. I cried at both of the events. Obama's speech was emotional, inspirational and electrifying. I had to pinch myself to make sure it was real. My mind went on re-wind to the bad experiences of St. Augustine and Gainesville High and to see someone of color accept the nomination for the President of the United States was overwhelming, I could not believe it was really happening.

I returned home from the convention energized and determined to do all I could to help deliver the I-4 corridor. Up until October 5th, we were registering voters. I wrote the names and addresses of those I registered and kept it in touch with them--especially those who had completed absentee ballot requests. I described the absentee ballot to them and told them to call me when it arrived, because I would make sure that their absentee ballot vote would count. I was busy going all over the city of Orlando answering questions and picking up absentee ballots. I was a familiar face at the Orange County Supervisor of Elections Office. Everyone knew me by name.

Each night before going to bed, I would go over in my mind, what I did for the campaign on that day, and ask myself, if there was something else that I could do. I would reminiscence about the convention and the promise of delivering the I-4 corridor, and I would tell myself, "Tomorrow, I had to do more.

I made most of the rallies that the Obama team made to Central Florida. By the time November 4th arrived, I was nervous and knew that it was my last day to take persons to the polls or collect any absentee ballots.

I had decided that I would not go to any parties on election night, because I wanted to watch the results at home. I had a knot in the pit of my stomach. I was so nervous. I could not eat or drink anything. I could not sit. I just stood and paced the floor. From the beginning, the results were looking really good. I screamed and hollered when Obama was declared the 44th President of the United States. He won the State of Florida. He won the I-4 corridor. In Orange County (Orlando), in 2004, John Kerry won the county by 1,000 votes. In 2008, Barack Obama won Orlando by 85,000. I was overcome with emotion. My phone began to ring off the hook. Those on the line were crying as I was. The 44th President of the United States would be a person of color…I kept repeating as I cried, the words spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King in his "I Have a Dream" speech… "One day we would be judged by the content of our character and not the color of our skin."

I had made my reservation for inauguration long before Obama won. I knew that if the Lord would allow me to see January 20, 2009, I would wake up in Washington, D.C. to witness the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America.