Like Sam Cooke said.....

I had dreams of being crushed under the power of water hose aimed at a protesting crowd. I experienced images of attack dogs gnawing at my fleeting feet, walking miles and miles to work because on that day, I'd rather crawl than regulate myself to the rear of the bus.

But my reality was last night, standing on the corner of Linden Blvd watching cars zip back and forth honking non-stop. And even standing alone, single cars would slow long enough to shout the name that captivated our hearts, enraptured our communities, motivated our youth and mobilized a generation.

Obama.

I shook hands with strangers in the hood. We hugged. People screamed and cried and sighed and dreamed the impossible dream then woke up and said, "Yes we can."
And we did.

I lived the history that I've only read about. The folk my age have a real story about overcoming legitimately connected to that of our grandparents and great grandparents. We changed the world Tuesday.

The whole world.

For the first time, I stood on a line for two hours and I didn't care. I would have waited two more hours. In the rain. Or freezing cold. My feet hurt. So did my back. But nothing felt better than pulling that lever so that I could tell my kids that I voted for Barack Obama -- that I was part of the movement. So were you. This is our Civil Rights Movement, our desegregation, our abolition.
This movement was not about race, not about Bush, not about the undressing of the Republican Party. It's about salvation of our country, saved by a man that looks like me.
So last night was my sit-in, my March on Washington. We rejoiced on the street and clogged phone lines and embraced each other in a way that we haven't since the Towers crumbled. I always wanted to live in a day that my kids would read about in their history books and then I can sit them down and tell them what "really" happened.

I never thought I'd see this. I wasted a thought. Best thought I ever lost.



No randomness today....