Obama: History in the making, first black nominee

Obama will accept his nomination as the first black person to head a major party ticket, on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Junior's "I have a dream" speech

By: AP | WSLS
Published: August 28, 2008

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DENVER (AP) - Martin Luther King III says Barack Obama's nomination "is a monumental moment in our nation's history" and will become even greater "if he's elected."

Obama will accept his nomination as the first black person to head a major party ticket, on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Junior's "I have a dream" speech.

He becomes a huge name in the history of the country that includes slavery, emancipation, lynchings, Jim Crow, lunch counter bigotry, voting rights, integration, oratory, intermarriage, black pride, assassination, riots -- and now a nomination.

Edwin David, who served with the famed World War II unit of black fighters known as the Tuskegee Airmen is 83 now and pleads: "Just let me live 'til voting time in November. In my lifetime, we just might get to see the first African-American president."