Election Night 2008 (yesterday)

Great heroes emerge from great chaos.

Last night, Barack Hussein Obama was elected the next president of the United States of America. (I don't use his middle name to incite fear. I use it because it's his name and I don't there should be any reason for anyone to use it against him.)

On Tuesday morning, I woke up early before at 6AM to place my first vote. On that day, I did not care if I slept 2 hours less than I usually do. One that day, I did not care if I was going to show up late to work (which I didn't). Like many others, I decided that I had to be a part of this potentially historic moment - and I, like MANY Americans, placed our bets on the right guy.

I stayed up and refused to go to bed until Obama finished his speech and Grant Park had begun clearing. It was an awesome experience, even though I basically experienced it myself. Unfortunately, being at my apartment up in the north, away from my South side home, nobody near me was really as excited as I, or any of the people they show on TV, was.

I voted for and believe in Barack Obama for many reasons. He's educated and eloquent - "elite," you would say. And I think it's great. I think he represents -me- and -so- -many- Chicagoans so well. Having established his political career here, I trust that he understands the problems that are plaguing me and people like me. Having gone to Harvard and working hard to get through his college career, I trust that he understands the plight of college students everywhere - that throughout the 4 years of my college career, I saw my grants and aids and scholarships consistently decrease. Coming from a humble home, I trust he understands how it must be to see your parents work harder and longer but make and enjoy less.

Obama understands the ordeals and the motivations that drive a lot of working families - families that have been largely ignored or marginalized by many of the Washington veterans. He gives the thoughts and feelings of so many parents a national audience. What he is telling America is the exact same thing my parents have told me all my life. They work hard to make my life better. To give me the things and the life that they could only dream about. To give me the opportunity to become a better person, a more productive member of society, and a person who through their sweat and blood make them proud. And to best repay their commitment, I can only say I will do that when I am in their place. And this is what us minorities are really about. This is why people from all across the world come to America and this is why they love it here.

This morning, when I woke up, my first instinct was to go online and find "international" stories. I easily found articles on CNN talking about how Obama's victory brought joy and happiness - and a sigh of relief - all across the the globe. I doubt that anyone else could bring about such goodwill and emotion so easily. Obama IS a celebrity. But why is that bad?

All over the news, there's been discussion about what Obama has done for African-Americans across the country. When I was younger, I would often come across a Martin Luther King, Jr. quote. Each time I read his words, I would feel a chill down my spine because his words rang so true, deep, and inspiring to me even though I only considered myself the 3rd person looking in. And oftentimes, while I was...trying to grasp and understand the different socioeconomic conditions of my environment (so to speak), I would often wonder what happened to the movement MLK led? Why is there nobody to continue it? To finish it? Is there no one else besides Jesse Jackson?

In Obama, there is a man who echoes the spirit of MLK. And in that, I feel that the seeds of change have been sowed, and that once again, we can write another chapter in the history books of the future that we can be proud of.