Obama Wins Big! History Is Made!
By Gary A. Johnson
I have never witnessed anything like this in my lifetime. Talk about you magic moments. I just watched President-Elect Barack Obama give his victory speech to a crowd of approximately 100,000 people in Grant Park in Chicago, IL. Change has come to America!
It is extremely difficult to put this night into perspective. Barack Obama is the president-elect of the United States of America. He will be the 44th president of this country. There are a lot of factors that one can identify as the reasons for this historic accomplishment. Looking back, I think Barack Obama’s judgment, political skills, his ability to raise money and his campaign infrastructure made the difference in winning this presidential race. Perhaps Barack Obama’s skills as a “community organizer” was the “difference maker” in this election.
History is likely to reflect that Barack Obama put together the most effective campaign in all of politics. His use of the digital technology (the Internet, cellular phones, e-mail) and the campaign’s ability to raise money via the Internet where the average contribution was $15.00 was brilliant. The Obama campaign shattered all fund raising records. In the end, America made a very clear choice and the chose the candidate of “inclusion.” People from all walks of life want to be included in the political process–and their vote for Barack Obama is a signal that they believe he is the best person to heal this country and bring people together.
I stood in line for almost 3 hours in the rain to cast my vote. I was prepared to stand in line for 8 hours to vote. This election is that important. While standing in line I felt a sense of community. People were supportive and excited to be a part of history. I saw young people helping senior citizens, I saw parents with the children. I did not hear one complaint. The entire experience was heartwarming. I’ve talked to about a dozen people today about their voting experience and they all have shared similar positive experiences.
It feels different to be an American tonight! It just feels good!
Take a look at the next First Family in America. These little girls will finally get a puppy that their father promised them after the election.
How do you feel about the results of this election? What was your voting experience?
Photos courtesy NBC News
Black Men In America 
November 5, 2008 at 8:20, am
I feel very proud to be an American. I think many of us can say that and mean the same thing that whites traditionally mean by that. This is truly a great day
November 5, 2008 at 10:21, am
With a collective breath we all held together, we woke up to see and hear how November 4, 2008 would end, for one of the most historic days of American History. Along with the joy and jubilation, there are many like myself who have tears in their eyes for those who are not here to share and see. We are all so proud of what has happened and I have that, pinch me please feeling, and did this really happen. I am awake the next day and all the networks that I watch, are so continuous of what has happened to all of America. Yes I say to myself “It is a brand new day”. A grateful thinking for those who were the soldiers of the struggle in our African American history should be deeply reflected upon, thought of and never forgotten by the lot of us here. The American people will have a lot to be proud of and grateful for with the new chapter now begining to be written. Peace and blessings to all, for our new future.
nuff said Mr. Bromont
November 6, 2008 at 7:53, am
Folks are searching for words, terms, vocabulary, verbage, cliches, analogies . . . STOP!!!! What was denied us as a people brought to these shores in the 1600s and subjected us to the systemic torture of nearly 500 years defies words, vocabulary, terms. Much of what we experienced over the years fail to be encapulized in words the devastation upon generation to generation. Words??? There aren’t words so stop trying to find them. What we are as a people, what we do comes from feelings, rthym, beat, emotions that’s where the courage of a Harriet Tubman came from, anger. what the drives a Carter G. Woodson, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Debois, hope. What motivated George Washington Carver, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Duke Ellington, joy. What spurred on Doug Williams, Michael Jordon, Dr. J. Wilma Rudolph, determination. Not words.
We are a feeling people, a relationship people, a people of spirit. Words, psst, no words right now, not good enough. Just feel it, see it, hear it, smell it, taste it. Take a moment and think about it, conceptualize it, remember it. Words??? naaa. Give me the ability to imagine the faces of the elders, the people in your family and my family, the slave ships, auction blocks, shackles, whips, slave huts, white only signs, lynchings, and then close your eyes and feel this day.
There are no words.
November 14, 2008 at 11:31, am
My expressions, this is history making and life changing for those of us who will live in the 21st century and our future generations in the centuries beyond.
I went back and read excerpts for a most eloquent acceptance speech by Nelson Mandela when he accepted South Africa’s presidency. One line was bold and powerful beyond his views on race and apartheid “I must express that you were poor before the election and you will be poor the day after the election:” yet there is hope for a better life. I feel we should understand no matter how good or not so good our life is, before the election, the day and days before the new presidency will be the same.
We must strive to make a difference in each and every thing that we do from this day forward (I would add; so help us GOD).
We must strive to stem the economic currents that others are stirring. We must make our lives better, the lives of our family and those who can not fend for themselves; the poor, the discriminated, the sick, the imprisoned and the outcast. Unless we look at a change for all, the individual change that we gain for ourselves will not have a value to GOD, and this is what counts.