Chicago...my town

On Nov 4th, 2008, an unusally warm fall evening, I stood in Grant Park with hundreds of thousands of others eagerly awaiting the news. We arrived about 7:30pm. I had found a ticket for myself but not my two friends. We stood in the line with those holding tickets in hopes of someone needing a guest but after an hour determined there would be no luck.

Having moved beyond the disappointment of not getting a ticket, I felt at home amongst strangers huddled around one of the many "megatron" screens set up for those without tickets. I wouldn't dare have left them while I went inside. We ate, perhaps the most expensive slice of pizza (Connie's selling slices for $5 and water for $3), chewing quickly in preparation for the next opportunity to scream and cheer.

With chears coming from the other side of the park, we realized that we were enjoying the same CNN news broadcast as those with tickets. And as we learned of each state won, the cheers roared from both sides of the park. When we learned of Ohio and Pennsylvania, it was just a matter of the newscast proclaiming the verdict....

And finally it came, President Elect Barack Obama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The excitement could only be described as electric....a feeling that you can't put into words only emotions...for me, too exciting to even cry. In honesty, I think I was in shock...to watch this intelligent, articulate, handsome, and worthy man be elected President of this country. For many its just about him being Black. But to me its so much more.

Not only is he a Black man but he chose and kept his Black wife and have little Black children. That may not seem like much to some but as I travel and meet people at various levels of success, I often see successful Black men select White counterparts. While I believe that you love whom you love, more often than not, the underlying reason for their choice is due to the perception that White women are coveted and considered a symbol of "success". Perhaps its psychological on the behalf of some Black men but their arrogance in making such a choice is nauseating...to put it nicely.

But I look forward to seeing African Americans represented positively in the media. Despite not always agreeing with his politics, I believe that the Obama family should definitely serve as an example and role model to all, especially Blacks.