When Joseph A. Berryman heard Barack Obama had entered the presidential race, he had a positive gut feeling about the Illinois senator.
Yet, he still held a few doubts in his mind.
"Different people looked like they were saying, 'I don't know about this guy. He talks a good game but will he be able to do (the job) well?'" Berryman said. "And then I heard Obama speak once or twice, and said he will. I thought to myself that it's a done deal."
Berryman, the president of the Legacy Museum of African American History's board of directors, felt the United States was ready for a change and was glad to see Obama elected.
"I felt our country needed a change and (voters) would accept him; they would think that he would be the one to pull all the different races together."
Berryman does admit some people are still waiting to see if the new president will be able to cure the problems plaguing America. He said some people seemed not so much voting for Obama on Election Day, but voting against John McCain, but Berryman says, "They'll come around."
The nation has evolved its way of thinking about race over many years, Berryman said, culminating with electing the first black president.
"America and Obama are standing on the shoulders of persons who have thought this way," he said. "I think the stream was running in that direction - the unity direction, change direction."
With his inclusive campaign as an example, Berryman believes Obama is capable of pulling the country completely together.
"It's almost together, but I think after a year or two of people seeing what he can do, I think our economy is going to improve," Berryman said. "I think our image across the seas is going to improve."
As far as all those campaign promises, Berryman believes Obama is capable of keeping them.
"I think he's astute enough; I think he's grounded and solemn," Berryman said. "I think his faith is deep enough in Christ that he can swell the tide as well, along with the mere inertia of most of the American people."
Though he admits some members of Congress may be skeptical of the new administration at first, Berryman said Obama is a strong leader.
"(Obama) is going to demonstrate so well that this is the way to go," he said. "I think people are going to follow."
Berryman believes America is ready to examine itself, and says Obama's mind is in the right place for pointing the country in the right direction.
"We need to merge and come together as a nation. And the world will see us and say, now that's America."
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