Never can say goodbye
No no no no, I
Never can say goodbye

Even though the pain and heartache
Seems to follow me whereever I go
Though I try and try to hide my feelings
They always seem to show
Then you try to say you're leaving me
And I always have to say no...

Tell me why
Is it so

That I
Never can say goodbye
No no no no, I
Never can say goodbye

Took me awhile to write something even in my own personal journal about the influence of Michael Jackson and his passing almost a week ago. Even now I don't know the exact words that are running through my mind. His death weighs heavy on my heart. Michael was like a mythical dream I aspired to. I had the Moonwalker VHS and watched that movie so many times until the tracking wore down on the tape. When we moved and the tape was misplaced, my heart nearly broke. "Moonwalking" was one of those almost other-worldly dances that seemed to take Michael to a place all of his own. A place I watched from the outside while I sat with legs crossed, heads in my hand, singing along to every single word. Every aspect of his career has inspired me.
Michael always said dancers aren't supposed to think but feel. I'm a very emotional person and understand the necessity to move through feeling not just steps. His moves just made you want to be 10x better and work 10x harder at dancing until my feet hurt and were on fire. That slide from "Scream" I used to do ALL THE TIME when I started dancing in college. And that head nod, snap in the beginning of "Bad"!!!! People thought I was crazy but everything was innovating what I saw Michael do.

I get my love of music mainly from my father. I remember stealing his old cassettes and when cassettes evolved into compact discs. "Never Can Say Goodbye" ... my God... I listened to that song so many times as a kid. "ABC" I used to know the whole dance routine. One of my father's favorite CD's was "Dangerous" with the awesome illustration on the cover. Once again Michael surprised me with his vivid imagination and concepts. The music was first and foremost but everything tied in with a concept. "Dangerous" was a roller coaster ride through Michael Jackson's mind and I took my seat every time I heard the album. I remember owning the "Bad" vinyl myself until I sold my vinyl collection. "Off the Wall" with it's slow, sensuous "Can't Help It" made me sing my heart out into the bathroom mirror when no one was around watching. I tried matching my voice to his high tenor and replayed notes over and over until I thought I perfected theme. In my mind, Michael and I had a special connection we shared through lyrics, through time and space. I'm melting like hot candle wax Even in Michael's actions, I identified a piece of myself with his soft spoken, quiet confidence, and empathetic spirit. Unlike today's male artists his music was just limited to the normal qualms about love. Michael sang about spirit, humanity, injustice, peace, change, racism, inequality, pride in self, and so much more. His musical catalog encompasses much more than my young impressionable mind knew I was listening to.

OMG! I remember Michael inspired these red jeans I made when I was in high school. I was always expressing myself through fashion. Military jackets, sequins, high white socks, glitter... I'm sure folks in high school could tell you how crazy I was when I got into making clothes in high school. Michael blurred the lines of what I knew as normal. His fashion wasn't gaudy or even flashy. He was fucking fly! He made bowties so sexy to me. I even had a red bow tie like he wore in the "Billie Jean" video. I love Fedoras because of him and had a white suit jacket from "Smooth Criminal" (the one you probably see in my photo shoot with Nick Zantop) :). Whenever a new Michael video premiered I couldn't wait to see what he was going to wear. I made my own tape of all his videos when they did a special on him at one time. How can we not forget those videos? Michael had incredible vision for his songs giving them a life of his own. "Thriller" Need I say any more?

In the recent media, which makes me sick to my stomach, there seems to be focus on all the unimportant things about Michael's life. Let's remember those good things, let the music stand the test of time. In Michael's passing, I ask that you all honor him by pursuing your dreams and goals with love, humility, a thirst for knowledge and life, and most importantly be the best you can be through whatever circumstances you have been raised in or subjected to. I intend to.

Thanks Michael for sharing your gift with us all. Instead of crying anymore even while typing this, I'll dry my eyes and smile every time I hear your songs, see your videos or your influence on the industry. May you rest in peace with the heavenly father.

Love,
D

A lesson in humility. I went out for dinner, this was about 2 years ago, before I had to fly to Atlanta and shoot, just needed a break in the routine pace of planes and cars and cameras and decided just to have a nice dinner, nothing special. While out for dinner, which hadn't turned out the way I would have liked it to, my friend who I was dining with told me I was too aggressive and needed to learn to pick my battles. Didn't make sense then but makes perfect sense now. I'm a very strong minded (bull headed as my daddy says) person, very opinionated and loves to engage in debate (my 11th grade English teacher recommended I join the team). I realize I do it not so much for the sake of an argument but I like to know the other person's feelings on a subject and WHY they feel the way they do (suprisingly most people never know). Recently, I had to excercise my restraint on my mouth and learn to pick my battles carefully. This was not the right time nor forum for the place of a disagreement, although the words were burning in my mouth. Instead I had to nod knowingly the other party was dead wrong and bite my tongue. Very hard lesson to learn and I didn't pass with flying colors but I admit I'm getting better everyday. Practice makes perfect right?

hey y'all! i know i've been missing pretty much lately but for all good reason. just haven't quite figured out what it is i've wanted to do with my life and where i was going. this weekend i've been sick and it's given me a lot of time to just lounge around in my bed and get caught up on memorizing lines and reading many more plays, short stories and poetry :) I recently delved into Jill Scott's poetry book that was released so long ago but I finally took the time to really wrap my head around. I must say that I am more than happily impressed with the book, Jill has most definitely won me over with not only her music but her poetry. Honesty, brash, around the way spark, diva, sassy, street, raw... I love her musings. If you all haven't gotten the chance to read her words then I advise you all take a moment out to just get alone with yourself and peruse the pages.

speaking of poetry books, I've self published my poetry in two volumes over the years but mainly like most of my other work kept them very close to my heart or only for limited eyes to see. maybe i will submit my poetry to a few outlets or either publish my own work again. since my old PC crashed I haven't gotten any of that old work typed up anymore but I've got tons of journal entries and poetry laying around. gives me something else to look forward to again. who knows what may come of it? i need some sort of creative release and since i've got another 6 months off before I once again start working on my bachelors. I've started getting back into acting, haven't necessarily stopped modeling but just taken a semi-break with school and all, traveling around the world again and letting myself fall in love. Yes, the hopeless romantic back in love again. Nothing new but it's there, makes me laugh, makes me smile, makes me FEEL. Don't want to get my hopes up but it is what it. Life is TOO short you know?

otherwise I'm extremely excited about the opportunities to delve back into my creative side. i've neglected that side of myself for awhile. so i plan on taking this moment to delve back into the acting side, spoken word poetry, dance, musicals, whatever comes my way.

i just want to take the time out to say that i love you all. never forget that. and never neglect the moments to let those in your life know that you love them. :) this life is indeed very short. be all you can be and make the most of your lives.

with love,
michael

Crossroads. Life. Feels like I've been in quite a funk lately, really since december but for now I'm coming out of the funk. Just growing pains I feel. That's why it's called growing PAINS because truly growing up is painful at times. Ha ha. It's been a life lesson every day in every action I've been through lately. Just until recently with the arrival of the sunshine even in my life and here in jacksonville. There have been moments I've just cried days on end, holed up in my room, and just stared at the wall for hours. This year I've definitely been listening more than i've been talking. I have been scaring my parents lately i feel. Maybe just a growing pain as well. Putting the mirror up to my face and truly looking in the mirror and just learning to love each facet every time I look in the mirror. With that comes the fact that I am really ready to move back out on my own. Just a sense of spreading my wings again, finding my own self again. A recurring theme I've been meditating on lately is just where did the dreams go or when did I wake up? It's a question I am still meditating on daily figuring out where did my dreams go, when did I wake up, when did I lose my way? I will find one day.Love. Who doesn't wanna be loved? LOL I think the most important thing about love is making sure that you love yourself first and then love will find you. Cliché but it's true. So many times people look for what they can't find or what they feel they want to find but sometimes we have to have wide open arms and eyes to whatever god places in your life. I'm definitely single LOL nothing new in my love life that I am aware of. Anyone wanna holla let a nigga know. I'm here. I say all this to say that learning to love myself has been an uphill battle for the past say eight years. Maybe within the last five years I feel "in my skin". I feel less detached from my mind, soul, and body. Learning to love first, respect secondly and cherish all of that God has given me.Lessons. In the past two months I've learned so many of the important lessons that anyone could learn. Back to the growing pains theme earlier. Relinquish fear is truly the main lesson I've learned this year. Fear is such an amazing thing that intriques me but in itself scares me. I can't let fear of the unknown control my life. Life is gonna be what it is and sometimes you have to embrace that fear of the unknown. Relinquish fear. That's who I am this year. Since January I've noticed the lack of people in my life that have been around. I can't be afraid of being by myself. I already am able to go to the movies by myself (I cried the first time I did but not anymore) and travel by myself but i'm not gonna be afraid of being alone and surround myself with tons of people because I'm afraid of being by myself.I've already written too much (lmao) but 2009 is gonna be an amazing year. Just can't wait until I get to walk in the steps of my own destiny. Can't wait until I meet you along the way.Love you all :)

remember those walls i built?
baby they're tumbling down
they didn't even put up a fight
they didn't even make the sound...

January is almost over, feel like I'm gonna blink one of these days and February will roll around and I'll be feeling the sun on my face on the sands of Puero Rico in April. Hopefully before then I'll be back in my own place being a key turner again! The excitement right?!

2009 is looking beautiful so far. A lot of really great things have fallen in my lap and fallen just right where they need to be at this moment. Relinquish Fear is the theme of this year. Time to stop being so scary about everything and believing. Sometimes that is what separates those that make it and those that don't. Trust me, no one came and found me and said you can do dance or model or act. I put myself out there for the feedback whether good or bad, took everything to the chin and made it my own my own way. Knowing those little things I have accomplished on my own (but not necessarily entirely because God has blessed me with some amazing people), gives me an even bigger sense of pride and self accomplishment.

I've got a few new projects coming down the pipeline really soon that I'm excited about and can't wait until see fruition. Some I am overly excited about but hey if I don't believe them then who else will believe in them? Self confidence is such a wonderful thing.

gonna find my love...
gonna find my love...
could you be?
could you be
my love?
Brandy ...

Also I must say this year has taught me a lot about myself. Some good, same bad, some areas of improvements, strengths, flaws. The beauty of self discovery :)

Tomorrow is a very busy day, hope I get a chance to breathe. Superbowl next week :) Too bad I didn't get down to Tampa for that but hey there's plenty of other opportunities.

Love y'all
- Ya Boy

You won't be sad or broken tonight
You won't be squealed on, ripped up tonight
You won't be back-stabbed, double cross, face down
Teeth knocked out, lying in a gutter somewhere
So dream on
Robyn- Dream on

2009. A new year of promise, potential, reassurance, hope... Not that 2009 is unlike any other year. I think even now the blessing is even greater that I'm still here in my right state of mind with an African American president (mixed, may have you). The promise of change couldn't be more alive or more resonant in the air. My time for change has come. Finally, right now I'm in between projects, break from school, still working full time, and relaxing more than ever. I enjoy not being in front of the camera every waking moment but I miss the camera more than ever. Recently I was talking to Ethan, awesome, awesome photographer about my tearsheet in M-Mensuel over in France and I think that was a little boost of inspiration as far as modeling goes but I'm enthralled with the arts period. I love art, I love vision, I love sound, I love touch, taste, smell... I love how each of the senses are involved in the arts. I miss being on stage stepping into another character's story, I miss playing dress up and telling a story through my eyes, I miss transforming words on a page to something I'm listening to on a CD while the wind is on my face. I miss walking the streets of NYC seeing so many different, interesting faces, the crowds, the noise, the rush, the hustle and bustle, the grind. There truly is no place in the world like NYC. Not even Miami or LA. Beautiful cities but pale in comparison to the concrete jungle. *slight smile*

Other excitements to me are the Grammy's. I haven't been excited about the Grammy's in a really long time. Quite possibly the lack of great music that holds my attention but next year I'm excited. Jazmine Sullivan is nominated, such an outstanding voice and talent. Janelle Monae, Karina Pasian, Maiysha, all artists that I've grown to love and am glad they are recognized by the Grammys.

I'm sitting outside on my back porch and the sun is shining through the window. I feel blessed just to be able to enjoy the sun's rays. Such a beautiful natural occurence. I challenge everyone to take the time out to just smell the roses, kiss the wind, or feel the sun on your cheek. Imagine if life wasn't full of such technological advances now including the Internet, freeways, fast food chains... What did our ancestors do without these things? They lived, learned, and made the best of what nature provided them. Beautiful to me. Hmm...

I'm ready to grind again folks. 2009 is shaping up to be pretty nice and I definitely can't complain about any of the lessons that I have learned through these past two years being here in Jacksonville, the city I said "fuck you" too before I moved to Tampa, almost to NY, and now I'm back here in the same house growing up as a young man. Life has a funny way of putting that mirror back up to our faces. At the end of the day I only see my face smiling back in that mirror at me. Such complex simplicity.

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will NEVER forget how you made them feel..."
- Maya Angelou

This week has been an unexplainable mix of feelings, some good, some bad, some anxious, some nervous... So many things have happened in 2008 that I'm overwhelmed at times but those are all lessons I've learned. Growing up :) Who ever says its easy is a liar!

Thank God this semester is over... WHOO!!!! Will post more later :) Love you all

One man. Hmph. That I am. Man one, am I. LOL Enough with the wordplay. Guess I was feeling in the vein of Shakespeare with that opening sentence. I can't even begin to believe 2008 is almost over. God, time has flown before my own eyes. I must say though I definitely got a lot accomplished this year in 2008 that I am oh so very proud of and although faced many challenges I'm still here with the ability to smile. 2009 will be an even better year because I'm claiming that for myself already. May not have gotten the opportunity to do all the things I've wanted to in the '08 but in '09 I'm gonna be pushing HARD... HARDER than ever before. So many times I think I've had people around me that have sat and waited for that moment, that chance, that opportunity whereas myself on the other hand constantly had my face out there whether that was flying from NYC to ATL and back to FL in the same weekend or driving just to attend the Clik Honors in ATL for networking to meet some of my heroes. But most importantly when people told me that I couldn't do something, I pushed even HARDER to either find out why or walking away knowing I gave 135% percent and if at possible walked away from the situation even stronger before with lessons under my belt that will stand the test of time. Courage and Confidence ... two amazing traits to have in 2009 people!

Strength. Determination. Motivation. Perseverance. Courage. Confidence. :)

In other news are systems are set for me to move in 2009. Although I have tried to take my present job with me doesn't quite seem like that will work out. If not, then I've got something greater in store for me. Through prayer anything is possible. No need to be afraid but still be cautious.

Love. Sigh. I've been single for a year. :) Do I regret not being with anyone? Nah, not at all. Sometimes I miss waking up and holding a warm body when its cold but if love is meant to be then love will find me. No need for searching, no more searching. lol I'll keep my love locked down! *kanye march*

I wish you all the best and safest holiday season to cap off this year. Cherish all those things near and true to thine own heart. (Thought I got off Shakespeare LOL)

Much Love,
-d

The lies
Things may not always go right, for you
and those times
Just leave it behind
Cause sometimes you gotta play the game
Just to survive
Without losing yourself
Its a fight, its true
It takes time
Dont have all the answers
No matter how hard it gets
Hold on to whats inside

(CHORUS)
Dont ever let nobody break you down girl
Dont ever let nobody tear your world apart
Look in the mirror and see who you are
Beautiful U R

I love the new Deborah Cox song, speaks not only to women but men out there dealing with the same issues of love, mistrust, insecurities that fuel the many actions we either take or do not take. I know I've mentioned it a lot lately but I'm slowly moving in the direction of becoming fearless and relinquishing fear over aspect in my life. Nothing ever grows under a shadow and you can't be fearful of what is to come out of this lifetime. Truth is like light within the darkness and an eye opener. I'm slowly taking those steps to become more truthful and less fearful. God is amazing. :)

Love y'all! Texas on Friday :)

Sunshine. When I was 15 I recorded over 100+ songs about my life. I wrote about falling in love, not feeling loved, growing up, being a man, overcoming obstacles, but most of all finding myself through the darkness and making my way into the sunshine. I called it "Sunshine" and released the album when I was 16- technically not released- but pressed up some copies and let my cousin listen to them. I remember being so shy, so afraid of people's reactions to my work, this was my baby of course, this was my heart, my pain, my struggle, my fears, all out in the open. I remember her locking herself in the bathroom and singing along to one of my songs while I was outside the door banging on the door for her to turn the radio down. I remember the emotions of that day. I remember feeling excited and overjoyed that someone could relate to my music and so relieved that I had gotten the emotions off my chest. Back then I didn't even know the importance that title would have on my life at 22. Sunshine Sunshine is something we all take for granted, we expect the sun to come after the rain, we except to wake up to the sunshine on our face to start our day, we look for that light in times of darkness. God is in the sunshine. Now more than ever I feel sunshine. I feel joy, unexplainable joy... peace, calm... I feel God wrapping his sunshine all around me every single moment of my life. God's sunshine helps me grow for the better, grow to become the man I always knew God intended me to be. I'm thankful everyday for the sunshine literally and metaphorically.

I know it's been awhile since I've had time to sit down and really write a blog on this site. I've had my head in my school books for so long that I have been neglecting my myspace friends. This page needs a make over as well. I've just been focusing on getting out of school and out of Jacksonville as quick as possible. I went to Atlanta last weekend and next weekend i'll be home in Houston for Maxwell & Jazmine Sullivan. Traveling and seeing other places allows me to open my eyes to new cultures, new places, new people but also appreciate the place I call home, both in my heart and my home. I'm ready to find a new home, to branch out, spread my wings and decorate a home again. To hang up artwork, to decorate, to define my space, my existence, my own place of peace. Hmm... the joy...

I'm getting older. I'm 22. I'm growing, I'm changing. I'm becoming something more than I ever expected I would be. I can finally say not only have I modeled and pushed the boundaries and done something people told me I would never been able to do, acted and been successful personally in that field, and now in my life I'm pushing myself to relinquish fear and reach beyond the sky because for the first time in my life I see the sky is not the limit. I plan to be somewhere among the stars by the time I take my last breath.

in love,
d (notice darion and not michael lol)

This song sums up my feelings best right now:

i can see it in his eyes
and he's been avoiding me all day
seems as though he wants to cry
and he's been acting really strange
he starts talking and i tune him out
it doesn't matter anyway
cause i know as soon as i saw that
i knew what he was gonna say

cause when the tears start flowing
and the winds starts blowing
that's how you know it's coming for you

when the rain starts falling
and you feel the pain coming
that's how you know it's coming for you

just like a hurricane
like a hurricane
the way you break everything that comes your way
... the way you broke my heart and now i'm left with the pain

after the hurricane...
Jazmine Sullivan

Thank God none of my family in Houston dead from Hurricane Ike. Some did stand damages to their homes but life is far more precious than any material possession. I'll be home early November and I'm really excited to see my grandma and the rest of my cousins and just everyone else cause it has been a long time since I've seen any of them :)

Check the calendar for other traveling plans coming up :)

would it be feminine of me to look in your eyes and say kissing your lips makes me wanna sway my hips to the drumming beats of your heart? off a beat, as my movements make your heart flutter and skip a beat, every so often. mhmmm... i'd dance to your words... wrap myself in your words to keep me warm on the nights you were missing from my side, taking a respite from our souls being intertwined. if you were to melt in my arms, i'd make sure to lick every single morsel of chocolate off my finger tips and savor you on my tongue. good 'til the last drop. never missing a drop. the beauty of two emerging into one. one love, one heart, beat i sway my hips to on those nights you want my love between your thighs instead of etched on your heart. your eyes flickering like the stars, trembling legs slowly folding around the arch of my back. our moans escaping from the prison of our lips in unison. yours reflecting back into my ear drum as the remnants of fulfilled love making quench the burning desires in us. steps only we enact, beginning with the feel of your lips against mine. skin upon skin. sweat upon chest to chest,. the manifestation of love in a physical, tangible form, in a dance.

TO CHAIRMAN Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation;
With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest - a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton.

To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.

To the love of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia - I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.

Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story - of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

It is that promise that has always set this country apart - that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

That's why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women - students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

We meet at one of those defining moments - a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.

These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W Bush.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.

This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.

This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he's worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.

We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.

Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land - enough! This moment - this election - is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."

Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.

But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance ...

The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisors - the man who wrote his economic plan - was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.

Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?

It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.

For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is - you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps - even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.

Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America.

You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work.

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great - a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.

I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as President of the United States.

What is that promise?

It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.

It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.

Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.

Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.

That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.

That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.
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Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of on Saturday.

I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95 per cent of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.

Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.

As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

America, now is not the time for small plans.

Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American - if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.

Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.

Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime - by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.

And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the essence of America's promise.

And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.

For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.

And on Friday, as the Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration have echoed my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.

That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq. You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice - but it is not the change we need.

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans - have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.

But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.

America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose - our sense of higher purpose. And that's what we have to restore.

We may not agree ..ion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.

And you know what - it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us - that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.

I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it. I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I've seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.

And I've seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead - people of every creed and color, from every walk of life - is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.

"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."

America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.

Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America