Yes, we did!
So my Twitters are all out of wack, but that doesn't matter today.
Barack Obama is now the president-elect of the United States of America.
My sister and I were watching the returns at a friend's house. When 10pm rolled around, we started watching Comedy Central's live election coverage and flipped back and forth between that and CNN. At around 10:55 or so, we were watching the show wrap up, and then it happened: they called it for Barack Obama.
We didn't believe it. We thought they were kidding. Then my sister refreshed her NY Times page...
And everyone's cell phones blew up. My mom was on the phone, practically crying. I called a friend and got him right as he was turning on the news, and we cheered for about 30 seconds before his parents called him. I left a breathless and probably unintelligible voice mail on another friend's phone. I tried to call a friend in Chicago...the call wouldn't go through. We jumped and screamed and praised deities, we paused and stared at the tv in utter amazement, we cried, we watched Roland Martin and Jesse Jackson cry, we hyperventilated, and we started repeating what just happened so we could cement it in our brains and have this story to tell our children and great-grandchildren.
The story of the day America elected its first African-American president.
This was an event that I did not expect 4 of my 6 grandparents (2 maternal, 1 paternal, 1 honorary) to see in their lifetime. This was an event that I did not expect my parents to see in their lifetime. This was an event that I hoped to see at some point in my lifetime, but I wouldn't have been surprised if it didn't happen.
But it did. And we all made it happen.
Whether we waited in lines to vote, took someone to the polls, talked to our friends, registered someone to vote, went to a rally, slapped a bumper sticker on a car, made phone calls, knocked on doors, participated in a survey, or just read the news every day...we did it.
Yes, we did.
The magnitude of what happened last night...there are no words.
But remember what I said yesterday about us taking a step in the right direction? We did it.
Yes, we did.
Now I have to start researching what it's going to take to get to Washington DC on January 20th. I was planning on going to Walt Disney World for my birthday, but Barack Obama's inaugration would be way more amazing than Space Mountain.
More to possibly come throughout the day.
Barack Obama is now the president-elect of the United States of America.
My sister and I were watching the returns at a friend's house. When 10pm rolled around, we started watching Comedy Central's live election coverage and flipped back and forth between that and CNN. At around 10:55 or so, we were watching the show wrap up, and then it happened: they called it for Barack Obama.
We didn't believe it. We thought they were kidding. Then my sister refreshed her NY Times page...
And everyone's cell phones blew up. My mom was on the phone, practically crying. I called a friend and got him right as he was turning on the news, and we cheered for about 30 seconds before his parents called him. I left a breathless and probably unintelligible voice mail on another friend's phone. I tried to call a friend in Chicago...the call wouldn't go through. We jumped and screamed and praised deities, we paused and stared at the tv in utter amazement, we cried, we watched Roland Martin and Jesse Jackson cry, we hyperventilated, and we started repeating what just happened so we could cement it in our brains and have this story to tell our children and great-grandchildren.
The story of the day America elected its first African-American president.
This was an event that I did not expect 4 of my 6 grandparents (2 maternal, 1 paternal, 1 honorary) to see in their lifetime. This was an event that I did not expect my parents to see in their lifetime. This was an event that I hoped to see at some point in my lifetime, but I wouldn't have been surprised if it didn't happen.
But it did. And we all made it happen.
Whether we waited in lines to vote, took someone to the polls, talked to our friends, registered someone to vote, went to a rally, slapped a bumper sticker on a car, made phone calls, knocked on doors, participated in a survey, or just read the news every day...we did it.
Yes, we did.
The magnitude of what happened last night...there are no words.
But remember what I said yesterday about us taking a step in the right direction? We did it.
Yes, we did.
Now I have to start researching what it's going to take to get to Washington DC on January 20th. I was planning on going to Walt Disney World for my birthday, but Barack Obama's inaugration would be way more amazing than Space Mountain.
More to possibly come throughout the day.
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