OMG!

So I am just amazed at all of this. I can remember just a year ago saying, "If there was going to be a first black president, it would probably be a republican." I'm so glad that I was wrong. Granted, if stuff hits the fan in four years, it might be different for a woman, but I'm not going to think about that horrifying possibility right now. Anyway, just from having done all the research I've been doing now and over the summer on the foundings of slavery and the civil war era really makes this moment extremely emotional for me. It's bittersweet because of a huge loss across the board as far as gay marriage was concerned, but I guess we can't have the first black president and gay marriage in one night. What are we, the Netherlands? I still can't believe there was such a huge historic event happening just a few hours away from me in Grant Park. I really wish now that I had been there. I guess I'll go out of my way to go to the rally for the first woman president that I actually want to vote for.

As an ending note, here is Obama's amazing speech, "A More Perfect Union", from after the whole Jeremiah Wright brouhaha. This was what really sealed the deal for me. He spoke to the American people about the tense and complex issue of race like we were adults. Like we were people who could move in the right direction, who could understand these issues and really turn things around. Like we could see that things aren't black and white. Like we could try to understand, forgive, and heal.