if uganda was eligible to vote in our recent election, i can assure you it would have been a deep, dark blue on cnn's electoral map tuesday night. the idea that an african man could be freely elected to what is arguably the highest office in the world simply boggles their collective mind. every ugandan i have seen since the results were announced on wednesday morning greets me, not by asking "how are you" but instead "how is obama?" they love hearing americans talk about how happy they are just as much as they love obama himself.there are many, many reasons that americans should be proud of who they are and where they come from. but i don't think i need to explain how difficult it has been to feel that way in the last 7 years. when our small group of nine volunteers gathered on tuesday night to grill up a bunch of cheeseburgers, bake some delicious apple crisp, and wait patiently on fake leather couches at a nearby hotel for the votes to be counted, there was a growing sense that it was all about to change. swing state after swing state was called for obama and we began doing the math, guarding our optimism carefully. the announcement finally came at around 7am local time, sparking several hours of cheers, high-fives, hugs, tears, and flat out astonishment. as much as we all had hoped this would happen, i don't think anyone was fully prepared for the happiness that comes with knowing we no longer have to use disclaimers or make excuses or feel embarrased to say we're american. we can simply feel proud.
i'm not naive enough to believe that this one election, this one man, will fix all the problems currently facing our nation and the world. but i do believe that this election of this man has changed the course of history. this was an enormous accomplishment and i could not be happier that i was a small part of it.
3 comments:
It really is amazing...and since I'll never run for office, I can definitively say that this is the first time in my adult life that I've been proud of my country. Of course, that was mildly crushed by the passage of Prop 8 in CA, but I am just amazed at the prospect of having a president whom I find intelligent, inspiring, and - dare I say - someone to look up to. It's incredible, and I'm so excited. And it was wonderful to hear from you when the results were announced. :)
I also am cautiously optimistic... I couldn't let myself celebrate until McCain actually conceded. I am a little annoyed at myself for being so cynical, but, like Lisa said, this is the first time in my voting career that I am optimistic about our president. I find it interesting that so many of us have such similar feelings...
thanks for sharing, guys. it is indeed interesting the number of people who are not only satisfied with the outcome of the election, but excited, inspired, and optimistic. let's hope it's not all for nothing...
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