An essential element of learning to live "on the right side of history," as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. challenged us to do, is to open our eyes. When we do this, we then can see the outline of a new and better future waiting to be born.

For some time now, Americans have been opening our eyes to the difficulties and inequitites that we face. It is because of, not despite, these harsh realities, I believe, that this presidential election year can be a transforming moment in our history.

For some time now, I have been deeply involved in the presidential campaign of Illinois Senator Barack Obama, co-chairing his campaign in Maryland. I made this commitment because I am convinced that Sen. Obama can lead us toward the constructive, substantive change that America so desperately needs.

All across this country, Americans are coming together, resolved to take control of our own destiny. As my parents used to say, we are "sick and tired of being sick and tired," and we believe that tens of millions of other Americans feel the same way.

Don't we want and deserve a White House that we can trust? Aren't we ready for a president who will work openly to take on our nation's challenges, one who will tell the whole truth to the Congress, our courts and the people of the United States?

Aren't we sick and tired of witnessing our young people dying in Iraq - and on the streets of America's communities? Aren't we ready to change the educational policies that are failing one-half of our children?

Aren't we appalled by the growing gap between rich and poor in our country and the relentless squeeze on our middle class?

Isn't there something fundamentally wrong with economic policies that deprive hard-working people of the ability to adequately support their families? Don't we support the proposition that health care should be the right of all human beings? Aren't we willing to move beyond government policies that make it extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible, for millions of working Americans to own their own homes?

As we consider all of the compelling issues of generational equity in this country, don't we believe that the people who cared for us in our youth have earned their well-deserved senior years? Are we willing to make hard choices now so that the next generations will not be left with bills that they cannot pay?

Are we prepared to do what is required to preserve our natural heritage for future generations? Do we truly believe that we can halt the degradation that is now widely projected for the world's climate simply by installing energy efficient light bulbs in our homes, or does our duty call for more?

We must allow those better lights to open our eyes, inform our minds and reveal a more equitable and sustainable future. The growing, national effort in support of Barack Obama is resolved to do just that.

This is why our rapidly growing legion of volunteers now includes Americans of every racial background and faith tradition.

Paradoxically, it may be our diversity that has some political commentators shaking their heads in disbelief. They may be finding it hard to understand how a Black man with an unusual name could gain the support and loyalty of so many different Americans in so little time.

What these doubters may not yet realize is that we are a movement for change, not simply another political campaign.

Young and older Americans alike, we have opened our eyes. We realize that what is at stake for America this year is bigger than any of us, bigger even than Sen. Obama himself.

Yet, we also understand that no movement can succeed without leadership, and we are convinced that Sen. Obama is up to that challenge.

We are working to raise up this intelligent, principled leader so that he, in turn, can help us raise up all Americans. Consider this, if you will.

When Barack Obama graduated from Columbia University, he could have taken the good corporate job that he had earned. Instead, he moved to Chicago's South Side and joined the movement there to organize the poor.

After graduating from Harvard Law School as the editor-in-chief of the Harvard Law Review, Barack Obama could have had almost any high-paying legal job in the country. Instead, he decided to do civil rights work for little money, supplementing his income by teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago.

America needs a president who is committed to the welfare of all Americans. We deserve a president who will protect the civil rights and liberties of the American people and a president who will respect and work together with the other, co-equal branches of our government, as our Constitution demands.

This year, we are determined to elect such a leader, a good and brilliant man who will be a president for all Americans.

We are confident that we shall succeed.

We have opened our eyes and seen beyond the daunting challenges of our time. That renewed vision has moved us beyond hope to the uplifting expectation of better days to come.

We are resolved, for we have seen a great nation, once again, marching on the right side of history.

Congressman Elijah E. Cummings represents Maryland's 7th Congressional District.