Obama Victory Sets Off Jubilation

From Harlem, to Atlanta (where the Martin Luther King Jr. was born), to Oakland, Americans Black, White, Brown, Yellow and Red celebrated President Elect Barack Obama's victory with tears, the honking of horns, screams of joy, arms lifted skyward — and memories of civil rights struggles past.

An estimated 100,000 people who had crowded into Grant Park in Chicago to greet President-elect Obama erupted in cheers and jubilantly waved American flags as TV news announced he had been elected the first Black president. The crowd included Oprah Winfrey, Spike Lee, Kerry Washington and Jesse Jackson who had tears streaming down his face.

Gatherings in churches and homes spilled outdoors, with people dancing in the streets. In Harlem, the roar of thousands of people gathered in a plaza near the legendary Apollo Theater could be heard blocks away. On the other side of the nation, in Oakland, traffic stopped in Jack London Square as celebrating drivers honked and crowds took to the streets, dancing to the music of a live band.

In the nation's capital, hundreds of residents spilled into the streets near the White House. Along U Street, once known as America's Black Broadway for its thriving Black-owned shops and theaters, men stood on car roofs, waving American flags and Obama posters. Nearby, at historically Black Howard University, hundreds of students erupted in cheers, broke into song and chanted, "Yes, we did!"

Elsewhere, there were smaller, quieter celebrations. In Cleveland, Obama supporters gathered at a house party and held champagne flutes above their heads for a toast. In Tampa, cheers and applause broke out in a crowded bar as the TV called the race for Obama. The blare of cars honking outside floated through the bar's open front door.

At Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. King preached, Representative John Lewis, a civil rights hero, was emotional as he took the pulpit before Obama's victory was announced. He said he was hardly able to believe that 40 years after he was left beaten and bloody on an Alabama bridge as he marched for the right for Blacks to vote, he had cast a ballot for Obama. As the news of a projected Obama victory flashed across a TV screen, men in the crowd pumped their fists and bowed their heads. Women wept as they embraced their children, and many in the crowd high-fived and raised their arms. They prayed for the president-elect before singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing," regarded as the Black national anthem.

Now, when we tell my young people they can be anything they want to be, that includes president of the United States.