Obama
I admit it, I did not see Obama give his famous speech at the 2004 convention. I was out of the country and I didn’t want to give up a day in London for a late night watching TV. Nonetheless, I chose Obama as “my guy” the day that he announced. I have never regretted that wild-ass guess.
As I watched the returns come in yesterday at the Democratic victory party, I could feel the excitement building as we saw the inevitable coming right at us. We knew it was in the bag before the west coast closed, but we all still kept our fingers crossed. When all 3 west coast states were called for Obama and the number broke the 270 mark and the screen flashed “President-Elect Obama” the place went wild. There were black women screaming with joy and asian women weeping. Generations of tyranny had a blow scored against them in a way that I still cannot comprehend without tearing up a little.
I stood on an elevated platform that afforded me a view of the crowd and of Obama giving his victory speech. He was not boastful but he recognized what impact this election has on this country and some of its most vulnerable minorities. He didn’t say it, but it means a lot to the rest of the world, too. I was moved by the scenes of African villages dancing with joy at the news. Today I saw scenes from countries all over the world. Many of these countries had hidden their flames of hope for America for the past 8 years. Last night, they brought those candles out from the hiding places and showed us that they still hoped for this grand experiment to self-correct and provide a smart and capable leadership model for the entire world.
I stood on the elevated platform with one of my friends, and I tried to put myself in her shoes, as a black woman who has had to fight tooth and nail for everything that she has achieved, and she has done much. Next to her were a few black men that couldn’t take their eyes off of the screen. The crowd had thinned from the peak of the party, but the energy remained.
When I finally packed my stuff and made for my car, I started to let it sink in. As I pulled out onto King St. there were a few young black men standing in the street with huge handmade OBAMA signs, cheering to every car that came out of the parking lot. Two of them were jumping up and down and screaming as 350 years of pent-up racial indignation was finally starting to find an outlet in pure joy. It made me very proud of what we had accomplished.
Tags: Obama, sleepy blogging
Beautifully written. Now I’m bummed I didn’t venture out last night… if only to see those boys with the Obama signs!
I was at the victory party as well. The explosion of emotion that came as the west coast states came in still overwhelms me, I hope it continues to for a good long time. I must say.. I still don’t quite understand what has happened. But unlike everything that has happened in the world in my lifetime that I don’t understand… W being given the election, 9/11, the Katrina response.. i know this is good.. this changes the world significantly…for the better. Nothing will ever be the same after last night, and I say that happily, with tears in my eyes.
I was there as well. I debated going. I wasn’t sure I had the energy. That didn’t turn out to be much of issue. The energy in place easily kept me going.
I left just a bit after the west coast states came in and cnn declared Obama the winner. The energy in the room was just incredible.
As I was pulling up to the booth to pay for the parking, McCain begin his concession. I told the parking attendant that. He looked at me puzzled. I explained. He said “What’s he been waiting for”. Then I pulled past the gentlemen with the home-made signs, and headed home.
I was at the party from 6 until 10. I left because I needed to be alone when the official call came down. I needed to hear Obama’s speech clearly without others distracting me. I guess I knew I would be crying, but I really just wanted to take the moment in by myself.
You’ll want to read the Kristof column in today’s NYTimes. In Switzerland, people are comparing it to the fall of the Berlin wall.
I was at the doubletree until about 11, standing in front of the TV screen, often with my laptop in hand, explaining the results to people and reminding them to wait for the late-reporting urban counties.
And I knew Obama was my guy the day after the party at the Doubletree in 2006.