YES WE DID!

Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Barack Obama could run. Barack Obama ran (AND WON) so we could fly.


These last 24 hours have been so incredible for me. I still can't believe that this is actually happening... we won. The American people have won. We finally have a president that represents young America. A president that I can look at and feel he lives on the same planet as me. We finally have a president who is smart and brilliant... not just someone you want to have a BBQ with, but an insanely intelligent academic scholar who can properly represent our country to the rest of the world. We have rejected the folksy, backwards anti-intellectualism of Bush and Palin and finally chosen a brilliant mind to lead our country in these dark times. We have chosen to look ahead to the future rather than clinging to the past. We have rejected the policies of fear, hate, and seclusion. We have looked beyond the simple and divisive "red state/blue state" mentality and have chosen the UNITED STATES of America. We have chosen to put our efforts into strengthening this nation from the ground up, rather than hoping that it'll somehow trickle down to the have-nots that are most in need of support.

But mostly importantly for me, I'm so excited about the historical nature of the Obama presidency. As a fervent supporter of civil rights and minorities, I've always been interested in black history and their struggles to overcome the systematic and institutionalized racism that is still so prevalent in this country. Seriously, I could pinpoint my immersion into progressive Democratic politics from reading about black struggles in hip-hop magazines as an impressionable 15 year-old. And I had tears streaming down my face and the widest of grins as I watched President-elect Obama give his victory speech last night. This is such a huge moment for our nations history. From the first slaves coming here in 1660, to our awful history of slavery, to the civil rights struggles of the 60's... this moment has forever changed the game. Now black kids can truly believe that they can accomplish anything they set their mind to. Now these racists have lost their sting and will go into hiding, hopefully not being able to pass on their hatreds to future generations. This can be the beginning of the end of the mental sickness of racism as we know it.

I have witnessed history. I don't remember the last time I've felt such happiness, maybe never. I wanted this Obama presidency so bad, and it's finally happened. The good guy has finally won. After 8 years of awfulness, he will lead us to fulfill our potential as a country and as a people. I will always remember where I was and how I felt last night, and now I truly know that anything can happen. Good can overcome evil. Kindness can overcome hate. America can overcome it's racist past. And Martin Luther King's vision has finally become a reality.