I don’t have to say how monumental today is…. but I like the idea of hearing and reading it over and over again.
Today, Wednesday 5th Novemeber 2008 is a historical today. Last night the American people voted the first African American to be the new President of the United States of America….
I am a white, lower middle class 27 year old man…. I feel I have a fair education and here in Vermont I have met many like myself. People like me are target demographic for both McCain and Obama. My demographic came out in full force and overwhelmingly voted for Barack Obama. Sadly for me my vote is not counted as I am not an American Citizen, nor do I live in the USA.
This means I have been a bystander, my opinions matter but are not what counted in the end. The little slip of paper counted…. And yesterday record numbers of young people and record numbers of people from minorities believed in the hope. Finally they let their voice be heard.
Democracy was prevalent.
My whole white life I have heard the speeches and seen the truely inspirational things that were acheived my black people in the 1960′s. I remember romantizising about being black in a time that mattered. I am proud to share my second name with Rosa Parks. Sadly it’s true that her name came from her ancestors being in slavery! But now as an older man I know that no matter how great it would have felt to feel the force and see the changes made by Martin Luther King and co, being black, like being gay, female, of another ethnic group or disabled was not easy.
However today I felt that same feeling again. Hearing Obama accept his presidency filled me with the wish that I was black so that I could feel what it was like to know that things have moved on so far. However like the 1960′s, I know that being black, gay, female, from another ethnic group or disabled still in this modern progressive world means that you are going to face extra struggles in life. What makes today different is that, with the election of Barack Obama, hope to change some of these prejudices is alive and burning strong.
Barack Obama does not have the power to change America. American’s have the power to change America and today is the first day in a long time that many people feel a burn of power rushing through their bodies.
Barack Obama has the power to instill hope in people. And hope is enough to will people to do great things.
The war, the bad economy, racism and healthcare will not dissapear overnight. But as long as people believe they can, and fight for their belief, I beleive that everything can change.
So from the outside looking in I ask, Can America Change For The Better?
Yes They Can…..
This was an emotional election. Something we have NEVER had. It was so much more than a Presidential Election, it meant alot to alot of people.
I’m not political but i did keep an eye on this one, well it was pretty hard not to. Unless you lived under a rock. LoL. It was supremely cool to witness Barack win and as i’m from Chicago, it also felt like a victory for my fab home city.
Awesomeness through and through.
I felt one of the greatest rushes when the results were announced yesterday. One which I would like to say and believe was equal to any rush felt by any black American. For me the rush was about democracy occuring to the max. About the human race, regardless of colour, as a whole, moving forward another step. Together.
It’s important to not get carried away with what yesterday meant in terms of solving ‘the earth’, but it is equally important to carry the belief that it will make a difference way on into the next decade. And the one after.
A truly momentous occasion and one I will never forget.
Dunc, huddled round a radio in a far corner of the world.
@Missy, Well done Chicago
. As Republicans and Democrats were both agreeing last night on the TV…. This was a movement for change and belief in change, not a presidential race for Barack Obama. The best thing Barack will do is to give people the gumption to get off their arses and actually go and do something in their local community at very least.
@Dunc, I think you will agree that this is the first US election that has meant so much outside of the US during our lifetimes. When I heard Barack’s speech of acceptance I truely believed the world could change…. That is a power I have not felt in a long long time.
I still can’t believe that the US has a president called Barack…… Makes me smile