12:39 pm 05 Nov 2008

That is what time I woke up today. This is not normally an acceptable hour for me, especially when I know that I have a lot to take care in an academical sense and a sanitation one as well. However, the task of yesterday was more important...
Yesterday the group I am studying with threw together a pot luck dinner. The dinner began at 8 pm and immediately after dinner, we turned on CNN.

It seems CNN has gotten a bunch of new gadgets since the last election and last night they were showing them all off. We saw the iphone-esque touch screen map that expanded and shrank in scale. Then the exit polls of what issues mattered-economy was #1. The thing that I found mortifying was the hologram. Is the picture-within-a-picture technology that outmoded? When I first saw it I thought, "Is that Princess Leia? It was distracting. I really wanted to see the interviewer try to walk through the hologram. It didn't happen.

I am currently still interested to see how the California ballot measures pan out and if Franken takes Minnesota. With 99% of precincts reporting the race is at 42/42% with Franken behind by about 760 votes.
It was exciting to watch the polls close and see the numbers as they poured in. New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois... The states in the middle were a hiccup in our celebration, but we expected that. Then when California was about to close it polls, with Obama only needing 50 votes to win we all held our breath. Then a few minutes after 5am Danish time the screen flashed "OBAMA ELECTED." We all looked at each other in disbelief and then exploded into celebration. The day had finally come, we stayed awake all night drinking calimocho and cafe, and it had finally happened. We watched history unfold! It was at that moment that we decided to borrow some Spanish celebration practices that were employed by the fucking spanish the night before. We ran down to the rooms of Que Pasa and Don Carlos and pounded on their doors while shouting at the top of our lungs. Then, we stacked chairs and furniture in front of their door. Lastly, we went outside and threw chairs at their windows while singing our national anthem. America had its revenge for the Monday night Spanish Party and it was good.

We then went upstairs and watched the McCain concession speech, which was a very good one. He conceded with dignity and grace. The Arizona people were not quite as classy but, coming from that state, I did not expect them to be. Then we waited for Obama's acceptance speech. Keep in mind crying was dispersed throughout this process of celebration and champagne was imbibed. We waited and saw seats of the House and Senate turn blue. We may not have the official filibuster-proof number, but we are damn near it!
Then, it was time and all of a sudden there was a shot of jesse jackson with tears in his eyes. He was a man before his time where racism played a role in keeping his presidential dreams from coming to fruition. He is a man that probably thought he would never see an African American elected to presidential office. He is a man who lived to see it happen. Jesse wept.
This was a most important day in American history.
I am not saying that racism is not alive and ill in the United States. This is evident in the incarceration and execution numbers of our nation's black men. I am not saying that the United States will recover from its painful legacy of bigotry overnight. What I will say is that we finally have hope that it WILL happen one day. Race kept Rev.Jackson out of office in 1984 and 1988, but that same hurdle was overcome by an influential young senator from Illinois. The hurdle is still there, but Barack Obama made it evident that We Shall Overcome, Yes We Can!
North Carolina still has not finalized its decision and maybe it never will. However, I can die with a smile on my face, without feeling like the good lord gypped me, because I know we did it.
Si Se Puede!