Warning...this may get a little long

Forgive me for being a little euphoric this morning, I generally am when cynicism is defeated (even my own in this case). For those of you who have been hiding under a rock last night there was an election and somebody won...did I mention he was black...like African American Black.

On of my favorite artists John Mayer (who seems to still be capable of being thoughtful put it so eloquently in a blog he posted on The Huffington Post Website that hope doesn't have to be a buzzword, that we could possibly turn things around and I truly believe that there are a lot of happy white, hispanic, asian and middle eastern people out there (shit look at the votes tabulated) but what happened last night holds a special significance to African Americans and as an African American Man it holds a special significance to me.

Growing up there weren't many black men to look up to that weren't honored for their physical prowess. As a kid more known for brains than brawn I was always drawn to people like Joe Montana, no cool black Pro Wrestlers so I became a Hulkamaniac, no Superheroes so I read Superman and Batman Comics. These are people/characters that always seemed to do the right thing, use their gifts for the right reasons, or triumph over adversity even when the day seemed bleek and every once in a while you'd see them waving an american flag. So it's safe to say I grew up believing in America as a great country where I could be anything I wanted. I even had an american flag I'd wave around the house.

Fast forward to 1998 I'm in the tenth grade and receive my first reality check. I was in a social science class and our teacher told us to stand up she was gonna tell us which of us in the room could actually be President and the first thign she said was "If you're black sit down" thiniing us all out until you got to a White Protestant male. I refer to that moment as the end of my innocence I would forever know that there would be things that I would never be able to do because of the color of my skin, because my ancestors were slaves. Encounters with certains types of people even some of my expereinces playing rock and roll (especially the one when I was told to start rapping if I wanted a record deal)  showed me that I would forever be viewed a certain way because of the color of my skin, because my ancestors were slaves. Not  to mention people telling me I couldn't do things because I was short, skinny, geeky, not good looking enough, etc. these thigns would make anyone a tad cynical about the world we live in.

In 2000 I didn't turn 18 in time enough to vote for Al Gore...Bush won. In 2004 I voted for Howard Dean, he lost to Kerry, then Bush beat Kerry and I left the Democratic party. The Religious Right made it hard to be a Christian in my circles (Bleeding heart Liberals have this habit of lumping people together) taking things and turning America into a place that I believe that Christ wouldn't be all that happy about. I honestly didn't believe the democratic party could win an election, they didn't get it, being correct was never gonna be enough.

Then Barack Obama announces his canadacy. I thought this guy could win 4-8 years from now, but not in 2008, I knew very little about him other than his personal story and his ability to make a great speech, my thought was "he's not ready, he can't win, Hillary's too strong. Then he won Iowa and he had my attention. I watched him beat Hillary Clintion and I'm like "maybe he can do this"

Then McCain picks Sarah Palin. My thought was "People were silly enough to vote for George Bush, this might work."  Thank God she opened her mouth.

After the first debate it was clear to me Obama was the best candidate, I've never seen such a gifted politician, the way he ran his campiagn and the money he raised was astounding. Still I thought that they would find a way to steal it away like I believe they did from Gore. Even with the economic collapse I was hesitant to believe that a large enough percentage of White America would actually pull the lever for a black candidate. Many of my friends asked how I felt and I said I was cautiously optimistic. The race tightend towards the end and McCain finally seemed to find his voice wasn't going down without a fight.

Then last night at 11pm he won, not only did he win, he knocked him out, he put him away early. No hanging chads, no recounts, no concession speeches the next day. This thing was over  What should have happened actually happened. The right guy won.

Sure many will view this as an indictment of a Republican Party that's clearly lost its way, that the economy is so screwed up, that our foreign policy is out of whack, and that people just wanted change. Doesn't take away from the fact that the guy that ran the best campaign, had the best message, put together some of the best ads I've ever seen, the guy that did just about everything right won for a change.     

I'm euphoric not just because Obama won, not just because of what it means for our country (because we still have a loooong way to go in terms of the race problems we have in America) and the way the world will view us for the next four years. I'm euphoric because the six year old black kid waving the American flag was finally proven right. I can look at the President Elect and see myself in him.

Even though I still may have to fight harder and be ten times better than the white guy standing next to me, I now live in an America where I can do anything. The mountains to climb are still there, but climbing them is possible.

To me that means an awful lot