Obama Celebration in Brooklyn
Obama Celebration in Brooklyn
A crazed chorus of “Obamaaaaaaaa! Obamaaaaaa! Woooooooo! Screeeetch!” erupted outside my window last night on Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus. The sounds of an impromptu street celebration successfully usurped the quiet of the mild autumn evening. I walked out from my room to see what was going on:
Black girls were jumping up and down screeching, with bright white teeth shinning behind huge smiles; African American boys were shaking their fist in the air in victory; and an all out melee was quickly overtaking the Brooklyn streets. A more genuine excitement I am unsure if I have ever witnessed. These people were happy.
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Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
in Brooklyn, New York City- November 5, 2008
Travelogue -- Travel Photos
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Something was going on here. I have never known a presidential election in the USA to cause this much excitement and an all out show of faith in the system. These people really believed in this stuff. They really believed the ability of their new leader and that he can initiate change and make their lives better.
Symbols can bring hope. If Obama being the president can bring hope to a society that has traditionally felt beaten down, then good on them. Yes, a multi-racial man who has an African father can become president. It has been shown. As I witnessed the joy emitting from the mostly African American crowd in front of me, it was clear that the symbolism of this election meant something real. Something has been changed - at least symbolically - in America.
The USA is one of the least racist country that I have ever been in. I am glad that this has been so thoroughly shown by this election.
The people who crowded in the streets were feeling something that they has long laid dormant: hope. Dekalb Avenue was flooded with people jumping for joy as traffic came to a halt and masses of people swept across Brooklyn in a sea of victory. It was an all out celebration. The people in the streets jumped for joy about the dawning of a new day and the word “Obama” was on everybody’s lips.
"Obammmaaaaaaa!"
Cars were honking, fireworks were going off, and everybody was running wild. I was in the middle of a mirthful riot.
I stood in the crowd and watched as a spectator. I have a really difficult time relating to the people of the USA, and I care little for their politics. But I must admit that my cynicism dissolved a little as I watched the crowd fully revel in the thrill of having a new leader. This seems like an odd thing to revel in, but I have never known Americans to believe in much of anything en-mass, and this fact alone was something special to observe. Smiling faces are contagious, and I, too, felt a slight tinge of hope.
Hope. Today, a large portion of the American population is riveted by a new found sense of hope, and another large portion is reveling in despair. The tables have been turned.
One extreme lead to its seeming opposite.
Perhaps.
At least I do not have to listen to people complaining about Bush anymore.
Related Pages:
Photo of Obama
Links to previous travelogue entries:
A crazed chorus of “Obamaaaaaaaa! Obamaaaaaa! Woooooooo! Screeeetch!” erupted outside my window last night on Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus. The sounds of an impromptu street celebration successfully usurped the quiet of the mild autumn evening. I walked out from my room to see what was going on:
Black girls were jumping up and down screeching, with bright white teeth shinning behind huge smiles; African American boys were shaking their fist in the air in victory; and an all out melee was quickly overtaking the Brooklyn streets. A more genuine excitement I am unsure if I have ever witnessed. These people were happy.
--------------
Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
in Brooklyn, New York City- November 5, 2008
Travelogue -- Travel Photos
--------------
Something was going on here. I have never known a presidential election in the USA to cause this much excitement and an all out show of faith in the system. These people really believed in this stuff. They really believed the ability of their new leader and that he can initiate change and make their lives better.
Symbols can bring hope. If Obama being the president can bring hope to a society that has traditionally felt beaten down, then good on them. Yes, a multi-racial man who has an African father can become president. It has been shown. As I witnessed the joy emitting from the mostly African American crowd in front of me, it was clear that the symbolism of this election meant something real. Something has been changed - at least symbolically - in America.
The USA is one of the least racist country that I have ever been in. I am glad that this has been so thoroughly shown by this election.
The people who crowded in the streets were feeling something that they has long laid dormant: hope. Dekalb Avenue was flooded with people jumping for joy as traffic came to a halt and masses of people swept across Brooklyn in a sea of victory. It was an all out celebration. The people in the streets jumped for joy about the dawning of a new day and the word “Obama” was on everybody’s lips.
"Obammmaaaaaaa!"
Cars were honking, fireworks were going off, and everybody was running wild. I was in the middle of a mirthful riot.
I stood in the crowd and watched as a spectator. I have a really difficult time relating to the people of the USA, and I care little for their politics. But I must admit that my cynicism dissolved a little as I watched the crowd fully revel in the thrill of having a new leader. This seems like an odd thing to revel in, but I have never known Americans to believe in much of anything en-mass, and this fact alone was something special to observe. Smiling faces are contagious, and I, too, felt a slight tinge of hope.
Hope. Today, a large portion of the American population is riveted by a new found sense of hope, and another large portion is reveling in despair. The tables have been turned.
One extreme lead to its seeming opposite.
Perhaps.
At least I do not have to listen to people complaining about Bush anymore.
Related Pages:
Photo of Obama
Links to previous travelogue entries:
Labels: americas, new-york-city, usa
posted by Wade Vagabond Journey.com at
10:39 PM
3 Comments:
I hope you are right. Sometimes the illusion of something can bring about the reality. If nothing else, the next four years will be interesting times. What is that so-called chinese curse?: "May you live in interesting times."
Another is "Be careful of what you wish for."
Bob L
Yeah, it was the excitement that really left an impression on me.
I have never really had much faith in any sort of political systems, and eas very surprised that so many people were dancing in the streets for a new leader.
Who wants a leader?
I don't really get it.
But I do know that from having real close contact with Obabma's family for over two years that he is a decent fellow, does not come from money, and has a completely different background than most world leaders.
It should prove interesting.
But you are correct. I am unsure how these excessive hopes will play themeselves out. Big hopes set the stage for big disappointment. I have watched these political celebrations in the streets of many countries, but the end results seldom ever lived up the expectations.
It was just really interesting to watch so many Americans believing in something.
These should be some interesting times.
Thanks for commenting, Bob!
Walk Slow,
Wade
The good news is that America has just elected a president with leadership, vision and great intelligence. President Obama will also choose a first rate economic team: individuals such as Larry Summers and Tim Geithner would be excellent choices for the position of Treasury Secretary. Obama and his team are fully aware of the very difficult economic and financial challenges that the country is facing and will work hard to resolve them.
However, Obama will inherit and economic and financial mess worse than anything the U.S. has faced in decades: the most severe recession in 50 years; the worst financial and banking crisis since the Great Depression; a ballooning fiscal deficit that may be as high as a trillion dollar in 2009 and 2010; a huge current account deficit; a financial system that is in a severe crisis and where deleveraging is still occurring at a very rapid pace, thus causing a worsening of the credit crunch; a household sector where millions of households are insolvent, into negative equity territory and on the verge of losing their homes; a serious risk of deflation as the slack in goods, labor and commodity markets becomes deeper; the risk that we will end in a deflationary liquidity trap as the Fed is fast approaching the zero-bound constraint for the Fed Funds rate; the risk of a severe debt deflation as the real value of nominal liabilities will rise given price deflation while the value of financial assets is still plunging. This is the bitter gift that the Bush administration has bequeathed to Obama and the Democrats.
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