A Historic Night: Barack Obama Is Elected The 44th President Of The United States

The scene at Grant Park in Chicago last night was amazing. Sixty thousand people came out to see Barack Obama, the new presidential elect give a rousing yet realistic speech about his historic win, working to get those who didn't vote for him to side with his policies and letting the onlookers as well as the millions watching at home know that their job was far from over.

The crowd had so many great images in it. Jesse Jackson, the influential activist and once presidential nominee himself was shown with tears in his eyes. Oprah Winfrey a devout Obama supporter from day one gushed and smiled. White, Black, Asian and Latino folks all stood together last night, side by side and cheered. Many raised their hands in victorious glee as they chanted "yes we can!". It was truly a remarkable thing.

It seems that America for the first time ever in politics had actually put aside the issue of race, saw right through the cheap and nasty tactics of the RNC and put the best man for the job in office. I'm proud to say that my state; Colorado, a traditionally staunch red territory during presidential elections, went blue and gave Obama the 1.1 million some odd votes he needed to win it. I'm proud to say that my vote was apart of those 1.1 million people who said enough is enough, what's right is right and it's time for a change. Of course some of us here have been yelling those things much longer than others.

There was indeed a flip side of the coin last night as well however, and a defeated John McCain took the stump in Arizona and tried to give as gracious a concedence speech as he could. Although the people in the crowd booed viciously when Obama's name was mentioned and Sarah Palin looked like she wanted to break down right there on the stage, McCain managed to seem somewhat like a good sport and even said he hoped that Obama and him could work together.

So here we are The Obama Revolution has inevitably begun. It might sound strange that I'm writing about this on a Hip-hop blog, but all the real heads know that this is a great moment for our culture too. Somewhere last night one had to imagine that Chuck D was smiling, maybe even close to tears. That people like Common, Krs-One, The Last Poets, Black Thought, Nas, Mos Def, Talib Kweli and a myriad of other conscious emcee's who always let their feelings concerning politics's be known were watching while true history was made. The road ahead for Obama will be tough, no doubt there, and many pundits have already starting speaking on how difficult his job will be. Obama is no doubt prepared and already moving to make sure that he tackles this job correctly. Only time will tell if he can un-fuck what George W. Bush has done, but I'm definitely up for re-electing him if he needs 2 terms to do so!

-BIG D O