Yes. We. Did.
"This is for real, this time I mean it..."--Motion City Soundtrack
I said it a little more explicitly on my MySpace and Facebook profiles, but we did it. Barack Obama, an African-American, is our new President. A young man with the blood of the world flowing through his veins, who traced a path through Kansas, Indonesia, Hawaii, Kenya, and Chicago is going to be the leader of the free world, and judging by the reaction of the world, it looks like our friends will be a lot friendlier again, and we probably made some new ones too.
I yelled for joy last night. I jumped up and down and yelled like I'd just won the Stanley Cup. But then I sat down, and it sunk in, and then I cried. For almost five minutes, I cried tears of joy and of relief. From four years ago, when I wrote that:
So of course he announced his run a little over two years after I wrote that, and for two years, I sweated, I prayed, I donated and raised money for the first time in my life, I bugged the crap out of people to get out and vote, I rallied, I blogged, I emailed, I gave up time off to once again run a precinct on Election Day.
But last night, and still some this morning as I read the headlines and see the photos, I cried. We really did it. We really showed that we are a better people and nation, that we took the last step and elected an African-American our president. There was no Bradley Effect, in fact, Obama crushed the hell out of it, and if Georgia and North Carolina finish get their votes finalized, he might have taken four Southern states. Forty years after Dr. King's assassination, and 145 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, who would have imagined that a young black man would get the votes of Southerners in the numbers he did, that Virginia, the heart of the Confederacy, would vote for Barack Obama?
Dr. King had a dream, and tonight, his dream was fulfilled. This is for all who fought, all who died, all who fought against the tide and pushed forward to achieve equality for all. God Bless America, indeed.
I said it a little more explicitly on my MySpace and Facebook profiles, but we did it. Barack Obama, an African-American, is our new President. A young man with the blood of the world flowing through his veins, who traced a path through Kansas, Indonesia, Hawaii, Kenya, and Chicago is going to be the leader of the free world, and judging by the reaction of the world, it looks like our friends will be a lot friendlier again, and we probably made some new ones too.
I yelled for joy last night. I jumped up and down and yelled like I'd just won the Stanley Cup. But then I sat down, and it sunk in, and then I cried. For almost five minutes, I cried tears of joy and of relief. From four years ago, when I wrote that:
In probably 8 to 12 years, this guy could and should run for President. He has presence. He has compassion. He has energy. He has desire. He has the blood of America running through his veins, a mixed-race guy who has been breaking barriers. If there is going to be a black President, it'll be him.
So of course he announced his run a little over two years after I wrote that, and for two years, I sweated, I prayed, I donated and raised money for the first time in my life, I bugged the crap out of people to get out and vote, I rallied, I blogged, I emailed, I gave up time off to once again run a precinct on Election Day.
But last night, and still some this morning as I read the headlines and see the photos, I cried. We really did it. We really showed that we are a better people and nation, that we took the last step and elected an African-American our president. There was no Bradley Effect, in fact, Obama crushed the hell out of it, and if Georgia and North Carolina finish get their votes finalized, he might have taken four Southern states. Forty years after Dr. King's assassination, and 145 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, who would have imagined that a young black man would get the votes of Southerners in the numbers he did, that Virginia, the heart of the Confederacy, would vote for Barack Obama?
Dr. King had a dream, and tonight, his dream was fulfilled. This is for all who fought, all who died, all who fought against the tide and pushed forward to achieve equality for all. God Bless America, indeed.
posted by Thad at 7:39 AM
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