it was around seven o’clock in the evening on an unusually warm election night in november. polls were going to close soon. still feeling sick, i was sitting on my couch in my office awaiting the results. this historic election was going to be over in just a few hours and i was going to be there watching it on television live…by myself. meanwhile across town in grant park, where Obama was holding his post election party, there were thousands of people gathering to watch this historic event. i wanted to be part of this so i went to my computer, logged onto CNN.com and pulled the live stream of grant park. now i had the coverage of the election on my TV and the live video stream of the huge party in grant park on my computer.
seven twenty rolls by and something is itching at me. am i going to live history and be there or am i going to watch history live on tv? so few times can we ever experience something on such a grand scale as a presidential election, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that i had to be in grant park. sick with a fever the night before, i logged off CNN, shut off my TV, grabbed my iPhone, keys, threw on my shoes and a jacket and drove downtown. i was expecting crazy amounts of traffic, but there were so few people on the road that i was able to make it downtown in just fifteen minutes. great timing.
it’s almost eight o’clock now and as i leave the parking garage and step onto michigan avenue, i see crowds of people walking together towards grant park. it was like lollapalooza all over again, except there were more people and there was a completely different feeling. i thought to myself, there are thousands of people here. they’re all very passionate about Obama. what is it going to be like after the election if he loses?
after arriving to grant park and becoming one of the thousands waiting in anticipation, alongside a very good friend of mine and some of his friends, it felt like i was at a sporting event. cheering and chanting each time Obama won another state. Booing and feeling disappointed each time McCain scored some electoral votes. This game wasn’t close though. Obama was winning and by a large margin. And as soon as Ohio went to Obama, you could feel the excitement grow because this dream, this hope, was about to become a reality!
i remember when CNN came back from their commercial break and and the west coast polls were about to close. they had a countdown that we all counted down and as soon as that ticker reach double zero, it meant that the polls in california, oregon and washington had close, it mean that Obama was now the president elect of our united state of america. and at that time, i just felt myself floating in the air. people carrying me as we all jumped and yelled in unison. it was an amazing feeling. everyone there, cheering and celebrating for the same reason. for hope, for opportunity, for each other, for our futures. this meant so much to all of us.
there was a sea of people around me and camera crews filming us. at one point during this celebratory chaos, i felt an arm wrap around me and pull me in. it was an elderly black couple, man and wife and they were crying as they pulled me in and hugged me. and we lived that moment together, in person, live. not on my couch, in my office, by myself, on two screens. no. i was there.
i was there when Barack Obama became the 44th president of the united states of america.
