A CHORUS OF JOY, A FEELING OF DISBELIEF: DID IT HAPPEN?

by Danny Schechter 

 

One of them came from a South African describing a visit that Barack Obama made to Robben Island, the prison to which Mandela and his fellow liberation fighters were condemned.

M&G: MANDELA WRITES OBAMA

 

 

NEWS DISSECTOR November 6, 2008

A CHORUS OF JOY, A FEELING OF DISBELIEF: DID IT HAPPEN?

First Posted 6 PM Wednesday.

WATCH THIS: NEWS DISSECTOR UNDER PRESSURE TO JOIN THIS BATTLE

THE WORDS OF LANGSTON HUGHES 1902-1967

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
READERS REFLECT ON OBAMA'S WIN
OBAMA'S CHALLENGES, PICKS TEAM
CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES, COME ON

Here's a song to get us going today:

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed -
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.


Memo to Langston Hughes in the Great Beyond: Maybe America IS Becoming America Again.

THE WHOLE COUNTRY WAS WATCHING

What a night last night. Nielson reports: From 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 ET the average audience was 78.5 million viewers. This compares to 59.2 million in 2004 and 61.6 million in 2000.

THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER

And yet as we consider the moment we are in, do remember the history of this day, Nov 5, the day Guy Fawkes tried to blow up Parliament in England

"Remember, Remember
The fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot.
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot."

We, all of us, may have blown up the American political system, non-violently. And by the way, had it not worked, there was a contingency ESCAPE plan in the works.

CONGRATULATIONS POURING IN

I have had letters from Denmark, Bulgaria and Indonesia and from across this country, an outpouring of words to accompany the outpouring of emotion.

We have to remember and deepen the meaning of November 4th, a day many of us never expected in our life times. It brought me back to Election Day l994, sitting in the headquarters of the African National Congress, a building which right wing racists had tried to blow up, sitting with the late Joe Slovo as South Africa went to the polls for the first time> He was one of Nelson Mandela' s closest comrades, formerly the most wanted man in the old South Africa, labeled a terrorist and worse and there he was on the eve of the big change, telling me that he had to "pinch myself to remember I am not dreaming."

I have been receiving moving letters today, reflective letters that can help us savor this moment in time and reflect on its meaning. One of them came from a South African describing a visit that Barack Obama made to Robben Island, the prison to which Mandela and his fellow liberation fighters were condemned.

M&G: MANDELA WRITES OBAMA

"Your victory has demonstrated that no person anywhere in the world should not dare to dream of wanting to change the world for a better place," Mandela said in a letter to Obama.

"We note and applaud your commitment to supporting the cause of peace and security around the world. We trust that you will also make it the mission of your presidency to combat the scourge of poverty and disease everywhere.

"We wish you strength and fortitude in the challenging days and years that lie ahead. We are sure you will ultimately achieve your dream of making the United States of America a full partner in a community of nations committed to peace and prosperity for all."

RE RE RE REMBEMBER

Another letter is from the photographer Steve Cagan in Celeveland who I traveled with to Vietnam while the war raged in l974:

" This morning, I heard a description of the victory party in Chicago last night on the radio. A reporter for National Public Radio described Jesse Jackson standing in the crowd, "tears streaming down him face." "Well, of course," I thought, "How could he not be overwhelmed?"

Tuesday I spent the day as a poll watcher for the Democrats, observing two precincts in Cleveland's near west side. I left the house before 5 AM and spent the entire day in the polling place, arriving at the house of friends to watch the results for a while after 9 PM. On the drive back to my area, I was listening to National Pubic Radio. Of course, I was pleased to hear that Obama was apparently headed for victory, but it was just short of my friends' house, when NPR called the state of Ohio for Obama for Ohio, that I lost control, and sat in the car crying, And the truth is, I've been crying off and on ever since. Why has this been so emotional for me?

First, perhaps the most important personal element is something the press has perhaps noted, but not given the attention it deserves: Obama's victory is the culmination of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. The 50s and 60s were important and formative years for us, and our personal experiences-as the ideals and values that led us into those activities and were strengthened by our participating in them-naturally inform our understanding of the meaning of this election.

I can't think about Obama without remembering being a high school student and riding my bike to monitor the Woolworth picket lines in the Bronx. Last night and today I've been thinking about all the marches, the picket lines, the sit-ins, the arrests. I've been thinking particularly about a night in 1967, the night before the Kentucky Derby, when we sat and sang civil rights songs for hours in a big African-American church in Louisville. We had arrived from Bloomington, Indiana, with a group of fellow graduate students from Indiana University to support demonstrations around the Derby for fair-housing rights in Louisville, and while the leaders met in an office, hundreds of people clapped and sang for hours. Finally, we students were sent off to occupy the first places on the lines at the racetrack. Of course, we were arrested immediately…

That was a period of an overwhelming optimism about the future-we KNEW we were on the verge of a new world, a world we were helping to create. In later years, of course, that optimism was cruelly beaten down, in a period that began with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and, we all hope, ended yesterday.

So the strongest reason for all the emotion I'm feeling is that while in the most important sense this electoral victory is only the opening of a door which Obama and the Democrats (and all of us) may or may not actually walk through, still both symbolically and materially this election is indeed the culmination of a struggle of decades. If my arithmetic is correct, Obama wasn't even born when the students sat down at that lunch counter-and certainly not when Rosa Parks sat down-but his election is the culmination of a stage in the struggle for justice and humanity that started back then, and that for some of us has been a central theme of our lives. How can we not weep for joy at that?"

RECONCILIATION: IS IT POSSIBLE?

Da'ud X Mohammad writes from Oregon where I held forth today over the airwaves of KBOO Radio in Portland:

The great poet Charles Bukowski wrote "good weather is like good women - it doesn't always happen, and when it does it doesn't always last."

* * * * *

On this morning after, I remembered back to Bobby Kennedy's 1968 victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel in LA like it was yesterday, and the excitement we all shared in, in our hope of taking his campaign from California all the way to the White House… and then the gunshots rang out broadcast live on local TV ended it all, 'til last night.

Just as "the shuttle Columbia began breaking up over California minutes before it disintegrated in the skies over Texas" broke the spell of 9/11, Barack's speech last night finally jolted us from stupor of the unresolved JKF and Dr. King, and Bobby, and Malcolm assassinations.

The election of Barack is the implied promise of justice for all like a sword that cuts both ways. Maybe some who would have otherwise gone to jail arbitrarily won't anymore. Some who might have otherwise escaped justice might instead be found guilty of their white collar and war crimes and be dealt with accordingly.

And to the likes of such losers as Joe Scarborough, Lou Dobbs and Rush Limbaugh, take note that President Mwai Kibaki declared Thursday a national holiday in Kenya.

"BRINGING BACK OUR AMERICA"

Janet Rogozinski writes from Maryland:

On November 4, 2008, the American people proved to themselves, their country and the world, that, Yes they can take back control of their country. It took the energy and commitment of Americans across this great land, and many in far reaches of this planet coming together as one voice for one shared purpose, electing an American President who we can believe in and trust to steward this nation and our people. But, the challenge now is to keep this spirit of commitment, the job for all of us began last night, when President-Elect Barack Obama said, "The Victory belongs to us and the challenges we face are the greatest in our life time….the road ahead is long and the climb will be steep, but we as a people we will get there….each of us must pitch in…..We rise and fall as one nation…this is our moment….this is our time….and out of the many, we are one".

And, as my friend Kate reminded me this morning, "One nation, under G-d, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

My message to all of you who believed along with me, when I sought early support for Obama, NOW WE HAVE TO KEEP THIS GREAT COUNTRY!!!! Each American needs to participate and give back. To get us back on track, Obama cannot do it alone. He couldn't win an election alone, he can't make the change we need alone.

A terrible plane crash in the middle of Mexico City last night, was a reminder of the violence that shakes our close neighbor and ally, Mexico. The life of a dedicated government officials were taken in a flash, with likely culprits, the devastating drug traffickers who have spread violence across the country. A war continues in Iraq and Afghanistan. We continue to lose sons and daughters. Jobs are being lost as we speak. The halls of our hospitals and emergency rooms are filled with people fighting for their lives, many uninsured, over worked healthcare workers, physicians doing the best they can. The schools of this great land have a lot of catching up to do. We need to give like we gave to win this election. We the people need to be put back on the agenda.

Yes we did, last night and now we can today.

Thank you very much for believing, hoping and contributing, now let's begin to make this country work again by the people. for the people and of the people.

This is the first day of a new beginning. Time to get to work.

JEWS REJECT LIEBERMAN, GO OBAMA

For those in my tribe, there was more good news:

Obama Wins, Jews Got Over Obamaphobia
Wednesday November 5, 2008 - By Rabbi Brad Hirschfield

Jewish voters went with their consciences and not with their fears in selecting Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. Exit polling indicates that about 77% of the Jewish vote went to Obama, which is a wonderful thing.

It's wonderful, not because we know for certain that Obama will be a better President than John McCain would have been. We do not - though now that he is elected, we all better hope he will be at least as good. It's wonderful because these numbers indicate that Jewish voters brought their usual voting values with them into the booth and not simply a great deal of baseless fear or racist suspicion.

The 76% is in line with past elections, indicating that Jewish voters did not change political course, despite earlier indications that they would do so in this election. It's not that I necessarily believe Jewish values and Democratic values are more in line with each other. In fact, I believe that the tradition which I follow is bigger than can be contained within the policies of any one party, and wiser than any single candidate.

IT WAS A REVOLT, NOT AN ELECTION

Writes William F. Brabenec:

"Yesterday wasn't an election for a new president.

For most Americans, black skin had little to do with the event.

Yesterday was a revolt.

Tuesday was a classic revolution.

Instead of muskets firing powder and shot, Americans Tuesday fired their .50 caliber ballots. They stormed the precincts and raised the original American flag over every polling booth in the land.

Americans revolted against Corporate America and against Wall Street and against the Federal Reserve and against Big Pharm and against the Power Elite and against Big Money and against all the social leaches who suck the financial blood from the 95% of people in this great land who struggle every day to live.

Americans didn't vote for President Obama because he was black. Americans didn't really vote for a president. They revolted - once again - to be free.

O say, can you see our flag finally flying without the dollar signs of corporatism in place of the stars! Without the banner of Empire flying over the White House! It's been a long time coming. But it's here.

Now, let's put our house in order and clean, reload and cock our ballots for the next attack.

And there will be a next one.

MILES RAPPOPORT OF DEMOS:

I woke up this morning feeling an enormous sense of pride. I am deeply proud of President-Elect Obama. He ran a campaign that was so much more than political strategy. He inspired people to vote, to volunteer, to contribute, to engage civically in a way that seemed all but impossible just moments ago. All of us at Demos applaud him, and we look forward to working with him as he confronts the incredible array of challenges that our country faces.

I also feel proud of the American electorate. We turned out in record numbers, in many cases braving long lines and other problems to be part of this historic moment. We have crossed an enormous racial barrier. And rejecting cynicism and division, we have given Obama a mandate to deal boldly with our problems, and an even greater gift: our trust and hope.

ROBERT BOROSAGE: "Hallelujah! And Now, The Work Begins

Americans wake today to a new dawn, a new possibility. You don't have to drink the Kool-Aid to appreciate how extraordinary this is. We will look at one another with new eyes. We are a better, bigger, more generous, more optimistic people than many - particularly Karl Rove's acolytes in the McCain campaign - assumed.