The American people have spoken in a resounding voice, “YES WE CAN!” and with that refrain echoing into the night history was made as Senator Barack Hussein Obama was elected to serve as the next president of the United States. Senator Obama’s election as the first African American president illustrates that the politics of hope can trump the politics of fear, that every vote can and does count, that the youth of this nation are not a group of apathetic hedonists, and that the promise of peace is stronger than the prospect of war.

Americans turned out in record numbers to sweep the Republicans out of office and at the end of the day more votes had been cast for Senator Obama than for any other presidential candidate in the history of this country. Senator Obama’s resounding victory will not change America overnight. African American and Latino youth will continue to be carted off to jails and prisons in numbers tremendously disproportionate to their percentage in the overall population, people whose homes are on the verge of foreclosure will find little immediate relief from the president-elect and his yet to be assembled team, and the war profiteers will continue to make money hand over fist as the misadventures in both Iraq and Afghanistan drag on.

However, the coalition of forces that has come together to guarantee Senator Obama’s victory represents a powerful realignment in American politics; sincere whites who were feed up with the corruption, venality, and mendacity of the cabal in Washington, young people of all ages and races (the hip hop generation), a re-energized African American electorate, progressive Latinos, particularly in Florida and the Southwest of the country, and Muslims, yes Muslims, many of whom worked just as doggedly as Senator Obama’s other supporters, despite the stigmatizing of their faith and themselves in many instances.

It is the promise that this new coalition represents as much as the inspiring leadership of Senator Obama that in the long run will translate the prospect of change that drove so many during the long electoral campaign into the reality of change. The heavy lifting that will be required to make the sacrifices necessary to usher in a new day in American society will be undertaken, on the ground, by members of this coalition. The continued mobilization of the members of the communities that this coalition represents will be critical to the implementation of Senator Obama’s agenda. At the end of the day, for those who would take note, Senator Obama’s election demonstrates once again the truth of the old adage, “All politics are local.”

Senator Obama’s election also opens a new door for Muslims in America. Although his campaign wisely distanced itself from any overt public identification with Muslims, considering the reality of the negative public perception of Islam and Muslims in some quarters, it is quite clear that Senator Obama valued the support he received from the Muslim community. He appointed a liaison to the Muslim community, high ranking members of his team met with Muslim delegations, and his campaign was supportive of Muslim grassroots efforts such as “Muslims for Obama.”

The fact that Senator Obama was able to win such a resounding victory, despite the fact that his middle name is Hussein, and despite the fact that there was a concerted and well-funded effort undertaken via both the internet, and the “Obsession” propaganda campaign to smear him as a Muslim, indicates that the majority of the American people are prepared to judge people on their merits and to look beyond the scare-tactics that proved so fruitful for the Republicans throughout the post-9/11 era.

The nature of Senator Obama’s victory opens up a tremendous door of opportunity for Muslims. Now is the time for us to unify our ranks and to take advantage of the spirit of change that has dominated this electoral season to work for meaningful change in the policies of this country towards both the Muslim world and the developing world in general. If we can organize our community, harness the creative power and intellect of our youth, end the historical tendency of our community to shy away from public service, and create a viable agenda that moves away from the zero-sum, seemingly escapist political ranting that so many of us have inclined towards in the past, then perhaps we will begin as American Muslims to make our own history, in a constructive way, as opposed to sitting passively on the sidelines as others make their history and create painful facts that are so detrimental to our interests and the lives of our coreligionists and other oppressed people both here and abroad.