Ah, the fall weather brings a crispness to the air, the changing color of leaves–and a projected Chicago Transit Authority fare hike. Once again, the CTA is saying that it will need extra money from transit patrons to meet its budget, and this time, they are only asking for a quarter.

The results of the Nov. 4 election are reason for jubilation. For the first time in this nation’s history, a Black man has been elected to the highest office in the land. It is a great achievement for Barack Obama, and a testament to his intelligence and the tremendous campaign organization he built and headed.

President Barack Hussein Obama! We have to say it again. President Barack Hussein Obama! It has a nice ring to it. It has a historical ring to it, and a quite satisfying ring. Barack Hussein Obama (yes, that is his middle name and no one should feel constrained about using it, proudly) has been elected President of the United States.

This is the most momentous presidential election in the nation’s history. It is, as Gen. Colin Powell, said, a “transformational” election, one that will change America. Voters have a choice to change it for the better, or to interrupt change and continue along the same ruinous path that has put this great country in serious economic difficulty, mired in two wars, dependent upon foreign oil and deeply split upon racial, social and ideological lines.

African Americans have been faced, throughout the Barack Obama campaign for president, with the presumption that our support for him is due to racial solidarity, rather than his electability, policy stands and, yes, strong, traditional family values.

Sometimes when things are written down and clearly laid out, they appear to be more understandable and stark than verbal appeals, regurgitations and explanations. So hopefully the following facts and figures will remove the greed mote from the Chicago aldermen's eyes and help them to see that not only should they have not voted affirmatively to give themselves a pay raise, now is not the economic time to even broach the subject.

Now that Congress has rejected the massive bailout proposal for the nation's financial system, perhaps some cooler heads can actually take a look at what needs to be fixed, and come up with ways to fix it without rewarding greed and risky investments.

The Bush administration is pushing a plan for a $700 billion bailout of the nation's financial lending system, a system so broken that some were predicting a wholesale collapse of our financial system. Time is of the essence, according to President George Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr., because the situation is so severe.

It is estimated that 8.5 million African Americans voted for Barack Obama during the lengthy primary season. It is a remarkable number, and it contributed greatly to his triumph in several states. But there are 14 million African America registered voters, which means 5.5 million African American registered voters did not cast a vote.

Illinois leaders of the Illinois Faith-Based Emergency Preparedness Initiative continue their humanitarian efforts in what looks to be a new era of always being prepared. Recently, members of the Faith-Based Initiative came to the rescue of 23 New Orleans-based musicians stranded in Chicago after performing at the annual African Festival for the Arts Festival in Washington Park.