Oh What a Night!
Wherever you were….wherever you watched the speech…I’m sure you felt the electricity of this historic event. August 28, 2008 will go down in history as the day a son of America…a son of color….led this country toward a new day.
To quote Governor Kaine (from his speech last night) we ‘told the mountain to MOVE!’ We have truly come this far by faith!
I cried tears of joy last night as Barack Obama became our ‘official’ nominee!
It’s been such a long road….especially for those of us involved in the campaign on a daily basis. I think all would agree that the primary process was long and ‘dramatic’ (to say the least). Last night, many were still on the edge of their seats wondering what the roll call vote would produce. We knew that Obama’s nomination was inevitable, however we have known this for many months and it didn’t seem to make any difference — there was always another hurdle for him to jump over on his way to the nomination.
The real deal—not reported on much—is that the majority of Hillary Clinton delegates are uniting behind Obama at this convention. There are still meetings going on to determine how the roll call vote will go tonight….however, a deal has been made, and all sides ‘should’ be happy.
Finally…I made it inside the Pepsi Center! It is fun meeting new folk from around the country. We are united…regardless of what you are seeing and hearing among some in the press! There are lots of protesters (not sure what they’re protesting), but we just keep moving from event to event. It’s no different than being on a college campus with protesters…. I sort of like it (as long as the protests are non-violent). It reminds us of the freedoms we have in this country.
There is a celebration going on in Denver! African-American attendees, whether they originally supported Obama or Clinton, realize the historic significance of this convention. As we await Obama’s acceptance speech on Thursday, the 45th anniversary of King’s ‘I Have a Dream Speech,’ we can’t help but take stock on just how far we have come. We know this is not the complete fulfillment of Dr. King’s dream– our incarceration, HIV, and dropout rates tell us it is not. However, this must be the beginning of the realization of the dream of equality in America!
And so…we celebrate!