AWESOME!

Yesterday morning I woke up restless at 6 AM. I was nervous about voting and my anxiety was higher than ever.  I wasn’t feeling so great so I took the day off, and went back to bed until 10. I decided finally to get up and go vote. It was great. I was in an out and while there I didn’t see a single McCain supporter.  The rest of the day I spent exploring the city watching people vote. I drank coffee and read a book for two hours across the street from a polling place. People were happy and you could definitely feel the excitement.

Fast forward to the evening. I came home started reading doing my best to keep the television off until at least 7 PM. I gave in around 6 and I stayed up watching until 2 AM.  They announced the winner at 11. I was in shock. Obama actually did it. I could not stop crying, it felt like one of the most important moments in history that I have been alive to witness. I woke Alicia up and she was kind of out of it. I cried and I texted my friends. I tried to lay down and fall asleep but I was just waiting for Obama to give his speech that would excited the population even more.

His speech was wonderful. It’s so touching to see how many people wanted him to win this. While he was speaking things were starting to get loud outside. I could hear people screaming and loud bangs which I can only assume were fireworks. The loudness did not seem to quiet down. I told Alicia we should go walk around. It was 1 AM and rainy so she wasn’t quite into walking around. We decided on driving through the city. I had no idea how that experience would end up shaping my view on the process but it really changed me.

People were everywhere, even at 1 AM. Car horns were honking, we were screaming out of the window and high-fiving people walking down the street. We drove all around my neighborhood and so many people were outside or in the streets or on bicycles with one hand in the air screaming “Yes we did!” Me and Alicia were just driving around smiling ear to ear. We drove all the way to Mt. Vernon and from my neighborhood to Mt. Vernon it was all the same. People were happy and people were excited. In Baltimore — a city with very bizarre race relations it felt great. White people and black people were celebrating together. People were filming and photographing.  We were all unified. I just hope that we continue to feel unified.

If you didn’t believe in Obama that’s fine. At this point I’m sure he will do a great job. But I have to thank him for giving me a memory with Baltimore I will never forget. Ever.

Pictures of election night in Baltimore:

Charles Village.

Charles Village

There are plenty more photographs on Flickr that show the sheer amount of people that came outside of their homes to celebrate for Barack.