My voice is horse… I can barely talk or rather croak. I was at the post election celebration organized by the Democratic party in Chicago. It was a historic moment. ~150 thousand people turned up to watch the election results and celebrate the first African American president of the United States of America.. Barack Obama.
I went there with Sri and Hafsa.. It was exciting to watch the results come in real time and with each state that Obama won, the crowd went wild. And we went wild with them :). Hence.. the state of my voice.
I thought John McCain was very gracious in his speech accepting his defeat and congratulating Obama. One could clearly see how much this man loves this country and is a class act.
Barack Obama was thrilling in his acceptance speech. This was my first live speech by Obama. And all I can say is that he is as inspiring in person as he is on TV.
Here’s a quote from his victory speech, that got me close to tears..
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing – Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbour and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that “We Shall Overcome”. Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
Check out the full text of the speech here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7710038.stm)
And for the first time in my life.. I didn’t have a camera with me!!! Aaah.. the irony :).
