In the aftermath of Tuesday’s extraordinary election, blinded by the lights and confetti at Chicago’s Grant Park, amidst the cheering thousands who one day will tell their children, and their children’s children, “I was there,” it is easy to forget the challenges a President Obama will face come Jan. 20 in the White House. The fight is not over.The election of Barack Obama is a historic one, and one to celebrate. One, indeed, to tell the grandchildren about: “I was there. I saw it happen.” Last night, the United States redeemed itself on the brightest of world stages, proving once again that this is a country of opportunity for all those who believe in its promise.

Obama’s election to America’s highest office will not undo the unforgivable slavery and segregation scarring our young history, but it will go a long way toward removing the albatross of racial inequality from our national conscience. Now is a time of great polarity in American politics, but on this day after the election, let us pause so as to forever remember the moment at which we accepted the call of the late Martin Luther King, Jr., and truly “let freedom ring.”

Yet let us also remember that the fight does not stop here. Like “the shot heard ‘round the world” fired in a small Massachusetts town in 1775, let us recognize this moment as the beginning, and not the end, of a campaign. A campaign that began with the minutemen on Concord green, with the abolitionists in the village square, the suffragists on the picket lines, and the unionists on strike. Let us remember also the marchers in Birmingham, the students at Kent State, and the untold millions who, at various points in history, have descended on Washington in support of freedom, equality and democracy.

Our democracy is indeed great, but it is also imperfect. Its success - and thus our freedom - is dependent upon our own vigilance. That our government’s power is derived from the people is as much a blessing as it is a curse.

Although we have succeeded in electing the first African-American to the presidency in history, we must be cautious to avoid exaggerated self-congratulations. Now that so much is symbolically accomplished, above all we must not become complacent. There is, as the aforementioned crises suggest, much work to be done.

The damage inflicted on our international reputation over the past eight years is staggering, and yet we must resist the temptation to withdraw into the mythical safety of isolationism. On the contrary, the incoming Obama administration should pursue a proactive policy of engagement with the world. It’s no joke to say that a goodwill tour of some kind is in order. Obama’s election proved the United States capable of acting on its pledge of equality and justice for all, and now is the time for evangelism, however in a less aggressive form than the outgoing neoconservatives would likely prefer.

History was made last night, but it wasn’t changed. There is no changing the terrible and many sins our nation has committed in the name of God and Country over the past two and a half centuries. We can neither undo the racism that marrs our past nor can we bring back the thousands lost in Iraq and Afghanistan. What we can do, however, is move forward reaffirmed in the knowledge that the American promise remains relevant in the 21st century - and more achievable than ever.

When you recall what happened last night, many years from now, I hope you will tell your children, or your children’s children, “I was there. I was part of it.” But afterward, I hope you and I will be able to smile and also say, “That was just the beginning.”