SAM COOKE WAS RIGHT

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUT1WgHat6I[/youtube]

Yes we did. Oh yes we did America.

I was riding over the bridge this morning on the subway and saw the American flag on top of the Brooklyn Bridge and felt different.

My sister quoted to me a great statement from President Elect Barack Hussein Obama, during the campaign. To paraphrase, she said that someone had asked him who Dr. King would have endorsed in this election. And he said that Dr. King wouldn’t have endorsed anyone, he would have put together a movement to pressure whoever took power. I agree. As Barack said, this is not the change that we have been waiting for, but an opportunity for it.

And yes I’m sure all my radical friends will have many things to say to deflate some of our euphoria at this. But to see Obama carry Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico… The southern states alone, for a black candidate for the most powerful office in the land to win in the former confederacy, with many individuals who sat in at lunch counters, rode buses and faced death against segregation and jim crow looking on, in their lifetimes, the mind just boggles. John Lewis was on MSNBC talking right after the win and he just looked, for lack of a better word, thunder-struck. Having not lived through those times I can only imagine what it must mean to have experienced the segregated south first hand, and then watch pieces of it vote for a black president.

“I just don’t know how to express myself.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo-ijYnzn1w[/youtube]

And make no mistake about it, it was NOT the black vote which elected President Elect Obama (I just love writing that). There are not enough black people in this country to do it. Millions of white voters looked at him and saw, if not themselves, someone they could trust with their security, prosperity and future. Even if we call it purely symbolic, it is a massive, awesome event.

And I’ll put on my critical hat, and watch every move he makes to see if he fulfills his tremendous promise, tomorrow. But today…. Man. I’m so happy.

6 Comments

  1. Walking down Myrtle Ave & seeing everyone dancing & shouting was one of the finest & happiest moments of my life. It’s almost too much to believe that this shit is real!

  3. i’m from VA and i’m feeling how sweet this is.
    i put the damn flag out in front of my building this morning.
    and i don’t do that.

    Richmond VA, capitol of the Confederacy(!!!), was FOR Obama.

    i will not accept cynicism (or romanticism…two sides of the same coin) from my radical friends. cynicism, and it’s flip, are the language of oppression.

    i will accept being told this is not and end but a beginning, that this means it’s ON now.

  4. Dammit Mateo! That video made me cry, I know I’m late but I hadn’t seen John Lewis and Jesse – sniff sniff, what overwhelming emotion, those brothers dealt with some real shit

  5. I’m quoting a friend of mine in DC here:

    “I think Obama can thank David Palmer for this election. My guess is that dealing with Russia will have him back on the smokes in no time.”

    He inherited one hell of a mess.

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