Last Night In New York City
[ 6 November 2008 ]
Last night was unbelievable. I was so excited as I watched the election results roll in, & then I started hearing people whooping in the street. I decided there was no way I was going to stay in, & so made my way up to Union Square to celebrate. This is what it was like.
People bursting into song, jumping up & down, chanting, dancing, banging drums & pots & pans, crowd-surfing, climbing statues, waving flags, hugging strangers, smiling & laughing. I have never seen anything like it in my entire life.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
Hell yes.
For those of you who want to extend the excitement all the way to their eardrums, you might like this mix by DJ Concept. It’s called Change Is Now, & I’ve been enjoying it all day! (I found it courtesy of my awesome friend Jake! Yay!)
What was the atmosphere like where you live?
Super-love & cupcakes,
Gala 
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My whole office just went for a celebratory lunch and clinked glasses.
I’m tired but WHOO HOO!
Luv
Poochie
Here in the UK, at school not many people actaully cared about it really, but me and my friend Lucy decided to draw flags on our hands and attatch as much red, white and blue to our uniform as possible, darn the consequences!! :D
Was really funny! Especially one sixth former who noticed and went on a rant about how gorgeous Barack Obama is! ;D
Great vid, Gala!
XxXxX
I love this video!! It made me cry (for like the billionth time in the last 24 hours, of course)!
I celebrated at my aunt’s house, which was PACKED with Obama volunteers. When he hit 270 electoral votes the place just exploded with cheers and we were all crying & hugging. We all stayed to watch his speech, cried some more. When I came home I had video messages, voicemails, & texts from friends around the world about how ecstatic they were, too!
In class today our professor asked for reactions & all people could do was cheer & clap! What a great day, what a wonderful time to be alive & be an American!
Obama winning is the most amazing thing to happen to this country in awhile.
I was crying last night I was so happy.
i always seem to watch videos that make me cry right after i do my makeup!
wonderful video, gala. i wish i could’ve been in nyc to see that. but i’m sure there’ll even be celebration at my university here in canada today!
Wow! It looks amazing!
It was like that in Nashville minus the crowd-surfing and drums. Lots of whooing, car horns, and that odd intimacy between strangers when something amazing is happening…
Tennessee may be a red state but Nashville is a blue dot. :) The Democratic HQ was bumping and the Republican one was full of empty tables with sad little hopeful balloons and table cloths—there were only like 6 people, hahaha, and that’s before the election was called for Obama!
It was a great night. One that I’ll remember forever. :]
Ah that video is amazing…I stayed up till 5.30 in the morning here in the UK to watch the election.
Must admit that when he made the speech i couldn’t help but cry, even watching this video brings tears…just a little…Im hard really, ahem..beer! yeah…
Wow! That is incredible. I couldn’t believe some of the footage of reactions across the world. It’s amazing that everyone is so united. I haven’t felt this proud to be American in my life. You’re moving here at a good time!
Here in CA the election was bittersweet because prop 8 passed (the gay marriage ban). I can’t imagine how it must feel to have already been married legally & suddenly have it taken away.
But we still had us an Obama party & the energy out in the streets was awesome!
I live in Orange County, CA and it was pretty much just me and my fiance cheering alone, and calling our friends. However, I’m heartbroken that the ban on gay marriage was passed…it’s evil and mean to vote away someone’s rights like that.
Also, can I just ask – do horns that loud and that frequent ALWAYS sounds in New York City? It sounds like total and utter chaos and I love it! But were they blaring out the national anthem or something?? Haha there were like a million all at once!
Also kudos to the awesome guy in the vid – “Have you got me? I got you! I got you!”
Lol! Awesome!!
XxXxX
how amazing!!! lol@1:53 hahaha
We don’t have cable in my apartment so my bf and I were refreshing CNN.com every few minutes! We watched McCain concede and Obama’s speech live, though! that was on CNN.com :)
Long time reader, first time commenter here. The video is great, and I’m glad NY came together in celebration for this momentous event in history! I’ve never seen anything like this before and I’ve lived in NY all my life!
I live uptown in NY and I was out by Harlem. To say that the atmosphere there was electric is an understatement. There was such a feeling of pride in the air standing amongst the history of the Black Renaissance and knowing that Barack Obama won handily. No recounts. People were hugging, dancing in the streets, high-fiving, and screaming (I was!). Words can’t describe it.
I’ll never forget it. Ever.
It was like this where I was as well…I am in a college town right now so basically it was hundreds of college kids rallying in the middle of the town. Good stuff.
The atmosphere where I live is pretty much normal. I live in a country of Colorado where the majority of people voted for McCain even if the state as a whole was in favor of Obama. But this city, eh, it wouldn’t be very lively even if McCain had won. Me and my parents are ecstatic, I’m sure my brothers are too though they do not live with us. My father was just reeling from his excitement, he said he became a loyal democrat the day Kennedy was assassinated and that he has been mostly unsatisfied with the state of the nation ever since, unfortunately. He definitely believes that will change now and I do too. Yesss I’m so happyyyy!! And that video makes me even happier, every time you post something about NYC I want to move there right away!
I’ll be honest, I was by myself in my bedroom when they announced it. I sobbed. I cried tears of joy for the first time in my life. I have the whole thing on tape, and I immediately updated my Facebook & LiveJournal with the good news. So, basically, my atmosphere was perfect. :D
i feel like crying just because of the fact that so much has changed since martin’s speech :) and it has changed for the good!
i spent last night hanging out with my boyfriend at his house and we were watching the election on tv & internet :) and we were damn happy that he won!
That must have been absolutely magical!
I’ve never seen so much interest here in the UK for an overseas election! If I’d been able to get the day off work today I would have joined many of my other friends in staying up for the results, as it was I let out a small squeal when I checked the news sites as soon as I woke up!
Wow! That video truly brought tears to my eyes. Thank you!
My city didn’t really celebrate.
I dind’t even know who won until this morning!
Nothing ever happens in Michigan.
New York is so much better.
Can’t wait until I go there for school!
Ohh, I love this so much! I’m in Georgia and my county voted overwhelmingly for McCain, but as soon as it was announced that Obama was the winner there was this huuuge cheer from all around – I live in a college dorm and the walls are paper thin! My roommates and I poked our heads outside the door and joined the throng of ecstatic Obama supporters running and screaming down the hallways. What a brilliant moment that was shared all around the country (and the world)!
·WOW·
How absolutely incredible!!
Thanks for posting it!
Where I live it wasn’t quite like that but you could feel a definitive change of vibe as the night progressed.
I have been EXTREMELY ecstatic every since, honestly. I would have fit right in with those crowds. I’ve just been jumping and dancing and laughing and even crying sometimes (happy tears)
I don’t know exactly what these feelings are…never felt this way before.
I’m just SO exhilarated to be in this country, to have moved here, to be part of this, I feel like there’s nowhere i rather be or live. I’m so proud :D
I live in Scotland, but as a homesick New Yorker, I am so happy to hear and see that!
But tonight is Guy Fawkes day, so I am pretending that all the fireworks and drunken fools running about tonight are for Obama!!!
Alexis – it’s the drivers way of celebrating! :) It’s not even that loud during traffic – that’s how joyous it was.
November 5th, 2008: happiest day on the WORLD so far in history. Hope everyone celebrates in true style, shrieks, happy tears, and hugs abound!
I live in south philly….I was showering when it was announced…when I got out I thought I’d set off the smoke alarm (it was a hot shower in a new home, and it was late so I was confused) but it was just car horns honking constantly. The entire area was screams and cheers and car honking for an hour. I had no idea what was going on.
You are SO lucky to have been in NYC for that,
I live in Chicago and while I wasn’t lucky enough to get tickets to the rally, just being in the city and feeling the excitement downtown was phenomenal! I’m so proud of my adopted city and my country, finally righting ourself after eight long years! GObama!
Rachel Radness – Oh my word, that must be awful for all those people. I’m very happy Obama won but you’re right, that’s very bittersweet.
Gala, that looks amazing! It must have been incredible to feel part of those celebrations. I happened to wake up at around 5.00 French time and when I heard the Radio 4 (UK spoken word station) presenters talking about McCain I thought “oh no”, but as soon as I heard the good news I grinned and had to text my mum :D There’s been graffiti springing up about Obama even over here, just last week a giant “Yes we can!” poster appeared at one of the tram stops. It’s amazing that this has been felt around the world.
I’m in Canada, but I still am deeply moved by this historic moment in history. I feel so blessed to be a part of this moment. Progress!
I was in Britain, on my sofa in the front of the TV with some knitting and a cup of tea. And that was pretty damn exciting. It must have been amazing to be right in the centre of it all!
So amazing!!! It was absolutely wonderful to see so many smiling faces and so much celebration last night on TV. I wish I could’ve been there!
I live in Canada and I was watching the election all day. I had my laptop open EVERYWHERE, starbucks, the lobby of my residence building, I brought it to my business computers lecture (my prof is originally from New York, so he was constantly coming to check on the results in between lecture material lol!)
I cried so much last night. Obama is the glimmer of hope (north) America needs after so many years of strife. It was an absolute relief when I saw those numbers. I was so offended when, during the McCain speech, they Boo-ed their present-elects name.
But like my friend and I were talking about last night, It’s going to be an absolute JOY to watch presidental addresses to the nation instead of frantically trying to change the channel, and ending up on some bowling championship coverage. It was extremely emotional watching his acceptance speech…I cried some more. Everytime they showed someones face in the crowd, it was hopeful. America needs hope.
Even on facebook, EVERYONE was celebrating; in the halls EVERYONE was celebrating. Lounges were full of people watching the results and cheering and jumping around and chanting like it was a sports game. Walking down the road last night to get celebratory malts, people were honking their horns and celebrating, holding out ‘Barack the Vote’ or ‘Hope’ Teeshirts with his face on it. And this craziness is in CANADA. People collected in Bars like there was a sports game and were celebrating….
It’s still kind of unbelieveable to me.
YES WE CAN!!!!
REPOSTED from the Vote thread –
In Seattle, people flocked to the streets. Kids set off firecrackers in the CD; people were marching around banging pots and pans and marching down the middle of the Ave with cardboard Obama cutouts. People drove around honking and screaming. Apparently throngs of people marched from the Hill to downtown. There was flag waving, crying and hugging. At the Big Time on the Ave, there was a huge crowd and people had noisemakers like it was NYE, and were cheering and hollering at the TV.
It was gleeful mêlée! I have never seen anything so inspiring!
Even though I live in the UK, I was so, so glad to hear that Obama won! I showed my support slyly by wearing blue eyeliner to school today ;)
Honestly, that video is the most amazing thing I’ve seen in a while.
WAHOO!!!!! THAT VIDEO IS TOTALLY RIGHT ON!!!!!!! (:
I celebrated with 3 friends in a living room and we were all beaming!
The first thing I did when I woke up this morning (7.30am GMT) was check. EVERYONE on facebook, a lot of my friends had celebratory statuses. Obviously, there wasn’t as much celebrating but I do know that a lot of people stayed up til 5am to hear the results. Amazing. The USA has done something right, it is a historic day and I am so… impressed (? Sounds a bit patronising of a whole nation but whatever) that America has managed to vote in a black president. I’m hoping he doesn’t get shot, as I suspect there will be attempts.
One word – AMAZING
Gala,
That video is amazing. I posted it to my journal, hope you don’t mind! (I’ve credited your site)
a) You were about 4 hours away from me last night
b) it’s a little less rowdy here, but all my friends & I had dance parties whenever we saw each other today.
c) That video is the most amazing thing I have literally ever seen. When they go into Star Spangled Banner, I started crying. I’ve goosebumps. Thank you for sharing.
d) DL’ing the mix, thanks!
I am beginning to see why you love New York so much. I can’t imagine Wellington being that excited about anything. It was nice to go see the guy fawkes display on the waterfront last night in Wellington, it added to the celebration.
There is no way I can give a shit about the NZ elections after this. I actually said to the boy last night “Who cares about the NZ elections, we’ve got Obama!”...have to keep reminding myself that America does, NZ doesn’t.
I hope Obama can live up to his expectations now. He’s got the whole world relying on him. That’s a scary position to be in.
I live Upstate in Albany and the reaction here was very similar! Cars were honking and people were shouting. Never in my life have I seen America this excited and celebratory. It was astounding to watch and made me feel so happy to experience me. We have lost so much love and faith in our country this past eight years…
BUT NOW IT“S BACK!
Ashley—
I live about an hour away! (Queensbury, in point of fact. My county went McCain, the bastards)
Nice to see another New Yorker. =D
I live out in the country, in the USA east coast mountains. I got up this morning to walk the dog down this misty riverside road—it was a gorgeous autumn morning. My neighbor, an old-timer, asked me who won. I told him I didn’t know—last night my sweetie and I sat by the fire and read books, then went to bed early. He didn’t know either.
I hear that if we went into town we could hang out in the courthouse and watch the election… but aside from that there hasn’t been much in the way of events. I guess people here just don’t pay much attention. I love not having a TV.
At the University of Michigan people were running all around the campus! Some of my friends ran around the entire campus TWICE, and there was a big march to the football stadium. There were people giving impromptu speeches, and lots-o-lots-o screaming and happiness.
^ ^HAHA!
I’m British so not only do we not seem to have any passion for who runs our country over here but, of course, it’s not our election to celebrate.
Except me.
All my friend know I’ve been hugely addicted to this ol’ election of yours and I came into form late this morning and when I asked why I simply giggled and said “Obama won..I was celebrating!” The teacher let me off and I spent the rest of my day running round telling the world that he had won! Yay!!!!! :)
Oh but it did annoy my RE teacher because She would have preferred Mccrain and the republitards (I’m so sorry to any whom may be offended) simply becuase I go to a Catholic school and they don’t like Obama’s policies on abortion and contraceptives etc. But I say rock on!
I mean it’s Palin’s daughter who’s pregnant right!
;)
Plus I saw this!
www.serastrawbridge.com/?p=782
It made me giggle lots!
;)
Unfortunately it wasn’t nearly as rambunctious here in Germany – the results came in at about 6AM! It was so easy to spot Americans around town though because that was the first thing you’d hear out of their mouths and I would automatically burst into excited conversation with them.
I set my alarm for 3:30AM and 7AM to check the results and was lucky enough to see Ohio (my state) go blue (at 3:30)- I even called my sister on Skype to celebrate! And then she told me to go to bed, haha!
I really do wish I could have experienced it back in the States though – I’m just glad I got to be a part of it SOMEHOW.
I’m full of glee today :)
Please please please everyone, do not use this as an excuse to stop being actively critical of our government. This is how Clinton did away with welfare and signed NAFTA . . .
Fighting for or against certain candidates at the time of elections only serves to distract from the greater cause worth fighting for. Change will not come from a president, but it CAN come from you!
Alexis — Taxi drivers DO like to blare their horns here but last night was… amazing. Haha.
By the way guys! I know we don’t all agree on politics, & it’s cool to express your opinion, but please be respectful… Thanks!
Obama’s a cutie: cache.boston.com/universal/sit…
I was at an election party in Toronto and even though we’re all libertarians and therefore not really excited about either candidate, we definitely felt proud of the American public for speaking their minds so clearly – it was amazing seeing so many people going out to vote and waiting in all those lines! Even in Toronto, we heard tons of honking and cheering outside :)
I was in the middle of a club meeting when the election results showing Obama was the president-elect came in. About 75% of the group stood up in and started cheering! It was amazing! I am disappointed in California though, prop 8 should not have passed. Why can’t the government just recognize the union between both gay couples and straight couples as civil unions and let their personal beliefs define them as marriage or not? I live in the fourth district of California and they still have not confirmed the House election results. It is nerve racking… The CNN results keeps the election between McClintock and Brown at 50/50!
However, the best thing about today is debating people on the issues and finding a new perspective on some of the issues without the pressures of party stereotyping or religious stereotyping!
I am so excited with the amount of my generation (the youth) who are so involved and passionate about politics!
my friends and i all watched it on tv and popped Champagne when we heard the big news!!!!!!
I’m from the UK & someone on the bus goes “Oh did you hear Obama won?” & no one really cared haha. It’s not such a big deal here, but you do hear a lot about it.
I was in DC last night. I took a bus to the White House to celebrate, and it was insane. Dancing, drums, screaming, jumping up and down… I loved every minute of it. I can’t wait for Inauguration Day!
you never ever ever mention politics in your blog. why do so now?
and i was hoping mccain wuld win.
Gala, thank you for this video! I’m in South Carolina currently, a place where the mood is unfortunately less than stellar over Obama’s deserved win. I haven’t commented before, but I felt I needed to share.
To see my fellow Americans in this public display of JOY in the very city which was targeted on 9/11 makes my heart soar. They were spontaneously high-fiving and dancing and singing The National Anthem in the streets last night. I wish I was there!
Last night was a wonderful night for many Americans, but REAL change won’t happen overnight. Let us all focus on keeping this spirit alive and using our mutual love and respect for each other to make our world a better place. We have yet to see if REAL change will come, but if enough of us are ready and willing to move forward – both vocally and with service to our country – that’s all it will take. I encourage everyone with a wish to make this great country even greater to get involved locally, regardless of your politics. There is so much now to do, so many challenges to surmount, so many scars from the past left to heal, but it is my hope that we can all be a part of this next chapter for a free, united America.
I’m at a small, very liberal college in a small, very liberal town, so think that on a smaller scale. Gives you hope for the human race, it does. I fell asleep at one in the morning to the sound of car horns and people screaming outside my window, and honestly I think it was the best night of sleep I’ve had in years. Even now you can still hear people occasionally just screaming in groups outside.
I have real hope for this thing. I really, really do.
Kristen – George Bush must’ve been pissed. LOL.
Gala!
Where in New York do you live? I just sent in my application to NYU for early decision. We could be neighbors! And do you just do your blog for work?
Here in Chile people were talking about it all day long; most of them where like “omfg, i can’t believe this happened in my life time”, and all were happy and hopeful about the future :) I almost cried of joy when I watched his speech…it was beyond words!
Is just incredible to live this, this is living history, a thing generations will remember for ever…
By the looks of the people in NY, I remember how things were when, in my country, the dictator Pinochet was kicked out of the power-by the people (people actually voted “yes” or “No” for him to stay). I was born the same year that election was made (1988), but we all know about it; the people against this horrible man had the chance to make a campaign…the slogan was “Chile, la alegria ya viene” (Chile, the joy is coming), songs where made…and when “no” won, parties were made in the streets, people hugged stangers (even cops, who were part of the regime), and everything was joyful…it was the return of the democracy, and people had made that choice! I have lived with that image, told by my parents, and now it happened again, yes, in another country, without a militar regime at all, but Obama still represents hope, change, democracy, and all that stuff, not only for northamericans, but to the whole world. The USA is the most powerful country in the world, and we had lost the good image that we had of it over the years. That is bad (what about the american dream?), but now, hopefully, it will return to be an example of a real democracy, where people of every position can achieve anything they want, where popular voices are hear, where life is good; an example to be followed, a sign that those things can be achieved by any country in the world. That’s very important for the people in undeveloped or in the road to development countries, like my own.
I’m thankful that I’m alive to see this.
I LOVE Barack Obama! I munched on homemade Obama rice crispies and gave random people hugs and danced jubilantly in the streets. For once in my life “I am proud to be an American”.
I think George Bush can’t wait to get out of there and I can’t blame him.
And I didn’t see anyone being disrespectful in their comments.
But anyway the mood was very somber here. We wanted an american hero as our american president.
No matter who won it would have been historic and no matter what, whether Obama turns out to be…not so..fabulous or okay at his job, America is going to be fine. We always stand fight for what’s ours and what’s right and we always stand together.
I’m surprised to see so many upstate New Yorkers! I live in Troy (home of Uncle Sam…who was actually a jerk, but whatever)...also the place where they accidentally printed out “Barack Osama” in the absentee ballots.
The grad students from my department got together with the kids in our sister department at someone’s apartment and we more or less set up our own command center – seriously there were about 5 laptops out with people reporting from different news websites and blogs every couple minutes while we flipped between the Daily Show, CNN and Fox (and a lot of food and alcohol).
To say that we were happy is an understatement – I also got a lot of pleasure out of laughing at my conservative republican family members. I’m really glad that I decided to vote this year and that I can feel like I was a part of what happened yesterday. Watching videos like the one you posted make me finally proud to be an American and to see so many people coming together…I’m not sure if I ever thought it could happen. Time to ditch the Canadian luggage tags: Now I can travel out of the country without embarrassment!
Now I just hope Obama is as good as we all seem to hope!
Wow it looked like a massive PARTY in Union Square! Thanks for the vid!
NZ news at 6pm was FULL of the election coverage, live reporters in DC and Chicago etc etc. It was nice to hear about another country other than NZ’s poopy election! Majority of people I’ve chatted to are happy that Obama won, and so am I! It will be interesting to see how much change comes out of America now.
It was sooo crazy! I cried like a baby last night! I couldn’t believe it! I’m so happy right now! We needed this. Really we did. Although we celebbrated all night in Long Island last night when i came into work today I had to hise my enthusiasm. I work in a stuffy Investment Bank and everyone here is pissed!
I watched the election coverage in my living room with a group of awesome ladies and we popped champagne when it was official! One of the ladies made Obama victory hats so we wore those too.
This is AMAZING!
Im from Australia, and have been following the race for months, and and so so happy/inspired to see the results.And so are many others over this side of the world. The change is HERE! It looks as though everyone is celebrating, and so they should! Week long, heck even month long, Obama-rama is called for!
Congratulations!!
God that is so funny! Americans – gotta love ‘em. So enthusiastic. Heehee!
Nadine — American enthusiasm is one of the reasons why I love being here so much :D
Oh my God, I wish I lived there!
I’m stuck in the conservative South, and when I showed up at school this morning everyone was shuffling around talking crap about how Obama cheated in the election, or about how he’s the Anitchrist. Honestly. But NYC on election night? Amazing! I’m going to watch that video again!
That video is awesome! I’m Canadian and I was watching the election on CBS, it was very cool to see the votes pouring in for Obama. I was however disappointing to see the people of Arizona booing Obama when McCain did his speech. No one booed McCain when Obama spoke!
I’ve paid some attention to the race and I’m very happy for the Americans! Congratulations USA!
I live in the mountains in Arizona where we found out at 9:30PM somehow. Everyone had been sitting around drinking coffee planning a long night of waiting, but we didn’t have to!
So there was an Obama party at the main theatre in town, which turned into everyone going to dance parties at the bars. Downtown was kind of insane, people were shouting and honking and hugging and banging on drums, at one point a whole parade of hippies in american flags ran down the street banging drums. We’re a smaller town so it was amazing to see that many people flooding the streets.
Also: Bexi, Arizona is not all McCain supporters, I promise. Our town has basically none, but the valley has millions of people so what can you do? They are having a “Arizona divorces McCain” rally in Phoenix to show support for Obama. :)
I was excited last night too!
But ‘round here in Georgia, there aren’t a whole lot of Obama supporters. Not in comparison to the McCain supporters. Oh well. (Sasha, I know how ya feel baby.)
( I love the South, I was born and raised here. But sometimes it just gets annoying!!)
I’m still excited. The boy and I were talking earlier about how we haven’t really had any historical moment happen in our lifetime (we’re both 20) yet (besides 9/11) and how this was gonna definitely definitely definitely (and obviously) be something for the history books!
A close friend at work and I were just dancing around work this morning before any customers came in. She said her phone was flooded with texts from her family in Memphis last night.=D
Gah. I’m just so excited. =D =D =D
end incoherent comment of excitement
Thank you so much for the video! It made me get choked up too, mainly because I realized that there are real people in the U.S. that are like me…here in Texas, its easy to feel like you are completely alone. I am also very sad about prop. 8; it just blows my mind how people feel about gay marriage. And it is ALL the fault of religion, if you take religion out of the picture, it is a non issue. I love you gay people!!!!!
When Obama reached 270, my parents and I popped open a bottle of champagne and toasted to the future of america!
When I first heard, I got sick.
I feel like the only sane person on my campus.
in new orleans people were setting off fireworks! in the french quarter, there was definitely a larger-than-normal amount of celebration going on.
Wow, that video is so moving.
I’m in Australia, but I sat all day and watched the results come in, and by the afternoon I was dancing around (albeit alone xD).
Obama’s speech made me cry a little, and that video you posted brought another tear to my eye.
It’s not that I’m such an Obama fanatic that anything to do with his victory makes me weep with joy :P, but the atmosphere and excitement and just.. unity of everyone? Just beautiful.
Renews my faith in America ^^
I have to say, I’m incredibly elated. In my corner of Oregon, not many people were for Obama, and I got a lot of hate for supporting him, but now I just can’t wait to see our country (hopefully!) changing over the next few years. I wish I could have been to see his acceptance speech in person!
I cried a little. This is the first presedential election I have been old enough to participate in and I read and read and read and researched and made an educated decision- and it was awesome to see my vote be a part of that landslide. It’s such an important election to be a part of, too. I know people all over the world are happy Obama won…
I guess you can’t vote…? Are you applying for American citizenship? I can only imagine how wild NYC was.
That video made a huge grin spread across my face, it’s so awesome!
I live in a sleepy town in england so didn’t hear much about it. High fived my mum this morning in celebration before leaving for school and my media teacher had written “GO OBAMA!” on the whiteboard but apart from that not much celebration.
Ahhh that video has made me want to go to NY even more!
I was in a bar in Chelsea. When it came on CNN that he had won the whole place erupted and went nuts! It was like New Year’s Eve. I didn’t get home until around 2am. I’m exhausted.
i live in london. i went to the goldsmiths university student union where they were broadcasting the elections on a big screen. we stayed there until 4am when we knew obama had it in the bag – crying, hugging, screaming, dancing, phoning everyone we knew. honestly, i was proud to be human. we went back to my friend’s flat and watched obama’s speech and cried, and the american exchange students we were with cried some more and lit sparklers and sang the national anthem.
i really felt like i was part of a massive, massive piece of history, and it was such an awe-inspiring feeling. today the london newspapers all have headlines like “CHANGE IS GOING TO COME”. it’s amazing. i’m so proud.
I’m in Chicago — it was incredible. I loved watching all of the general cynicism and apathy being transformed into pure joy and exhilaration last night. I felt patriotic for the first time in my life.
Claire – I know how you feel!
I was a bit surprised by how many people I know were like “But what does that have to do with us?” or “I didn’t even know who was running until today”.
That video makes me INCREDIBLY happy, thanks for posting it & making people everywhere feel like they were a little part of the celebrations!
Holy crap I’m crying again (tears of joy). Thank you. I was far away from big city excitement last night and but my neighborhood still was pretty zealous. People streamed out of their apartments last night banging pots and pans, singing and hugging, etc. Of course I was a baby the day the cold war ended but I think this makes it only the second time in life that I have ever seen people come together and celebrate like this, certainly the first time I will remember and hopefully not the last. It’s the first time in eight years that that I feel like something went right politically and that my vote actually mattered. It’s the first time in eight years that I feel like it might be o.k. to be an American again.
I love the guy who is screaming “I got you! I got you!”... haha!
your video is incredible, thank you for posting it! my boyfriend and i went home after voting last night to watch the returns on tv, and celebrated with red wine and pizza. it was lovely :D
i’m really looking forward to having a president i can truly look up to.
I cried and I don’t even live in America! I always cry during speeches and inspirational stuff though.
It would have been great to be a part of it.
my day was amazing. i actually put it to video. there are two versions, the flickr 90 second and the youtube five minute. it was such a great time and i think you’ll have fun watching us party in rhode island.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R78UNy…
This entire day has been amazing! The people at my school have been buzzing about the election all day, and it seems like every other person I saw had an Obama pin or a shirt or something to that degree. Your video is like today’s atmosphere x20, there’s so much energy and it’s really exciting! I’m saving the newspaper articles about it so I can show my kids someday – it’s hard to really grasp the importance of this election historically ._.
On the other hand, I’m really disappointed that Prop 8 (banning gay marriage in California, although it had been legalized there for some time) passed yesterday… Gala…write something about Prop 8? D:
That was amazing, it made me cry :)
On the sites I visit, most of my fellow Aussies(mostly goths and arty types) were celebrating about Obama’s win… hopefully this will be the start of the change that the US (and the world) need :)
Thanks for sharing, Gala!
Oh way to make me cry AGAIN today.
Living in South Carolina means the atmosphere was far from jubilant. I, however, could not stop smiling today. I am able, for the first time in my short life, to say that I am proud to be an American.
I am excited, yet torn. I live in Indiana, and I was so happy that a democrat won our state for the first time since 1964. On the other hand, everything here is so split. I am the only liberal in my family so I feel a bit outcast…my dad is actually angry at me for voting! (Even though he didn’t.) I also work with a lot of conservative people, so I have had to listen to their angry rants all day. So while I’m happy and excited, I wish I was in a place that was celebrating this great victory. The scene in New York looked amazing!
I popped open a bottle of champagne with my friends Erin and Bec in front of the TV in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia.
It is insanely awesome to have some good news on a world scale for once.
Thankyou for sharing that video, too. It is awesome to see the joy there!
Bailey — Nope, I can’t vote. I don’t know how that will all work out. I’m going to get a 3 year visa & then apply for residency. I don’t know if residents can vote, isn’t it only citizens?
Emilybean — Unfortunately, writing about Prop 8 doesn’t do anything, it would just be me venting & that’s not cool! It does make me sad though. Obviously marriage is something everyone should be entitled to!
I can’t tell you how much excitement and joy was in Chicago! Especially because Obama spoke in Grant Park. I would’ve killed to be there! But people were pretty much acting the same way here as in New York! It was beautiful and shocking (in a good way) and just overall, incredible :]]
living in massachusetts, most people are incredibly liberal, so i think you can imagine how excited everyone was and is! except for the freaking Boston Herald…with the headline “O-baby!”. give me a break. (For those of you who don’t know, the Herald is an EXTREMELY conservative newspaper, looked upon as somewhat trashy for its misleading headlines)
I don’t think I have ever in my life been able to say that I am proud to be an American. Today I woke up and found that I could.
I did a big happy dance when it was announced last night.
I’m an Australian, but I’m a permanent resident of the US (sadly in Greenville, SC haha). Gala, you are correct in thinking residents can’t vote. If we could I totally would have.
I love NY, we’re going there for Christmas the second year in a row. Can’t wait.
I was in Hong Kong about to jump on a plane to Dubai when I heard the news.
Elated
Excited
Energised
Euphoric… (but perhaps not as much so as a session with the iBod might induce)
The times they are a changing and it certainly is a great time to be alive.
Tomorrow really is a brand new day.
I live in Chicago, and while everybody is going on with their business like normal (I mean, it IS a Wednesday) I can’t help but feel like the city is absolutely electric. I grabbed tons of copies of the RedEye this morning to mail to family and friends. I had to put it away on the bus, though. Seeing pictures of him and his family really gets me choked up and I was afraid I was going to start crying and hugging people. I actually feel patriotic and hopeful. Today is the first day I’ve ever felt like hanging a flag.
On another note, I believe Malia and Sasha Obama get a puppy now. (Their family is soooo cute.)
I was in Union Square too!! I was walking home from my friend’s house near Madison Square and couldn’t help but get sucked into the mass celebration!! I saw one guy get arrested because he broke off some of the light globes when he climbed to the top of a light pole with a flag. It was so exciting! I couldn’t sleep because of all the car horns honking and people screaming all night! My boyfriend was in Grant Park and saw Obama’s speech live. What an amazing time for out country. I feel so proud to be here right now :-)
That video is amazing!
Last night, upon finding out that Obama had won, I cried- tears of relief.
We then went out and watched fireworks light up the harbour – for the first time Guy Fawkes Night felt truly celebratory!
Coming home and hearing about Prop 8 I cried again.
Such a huge step forward, and then a huge step backwards :(
too much for one day.
However, ending on a positive note..Yay Obama!
That man is going to do great things!
“Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us to the White House.” – Barack Obama. Cuuuuuute. :D
Initially this was a little novella about my November the 4th and how amazing it was to sit with my eyes glued to the television and color in all the States on a blank map with my blue & red crayons and jump around in excitement with my friend and drive around downtown honking & screaming & singing & dancing and stare in absolute silence in a room full of speechless people watching Obama’s speech and see grown men close to tears if they weren’t already crying.
I find, though, that all that’s best summed up in one ludicrously long run-on sentence.
There’s so much work to be done on the economy and welfare and health care and education and foreign policy, but this is a damn good start.
And, now I no longer have to feel compelled to act cool and hide my embarrassment when I hang out with the French foreign exchange student from my English class. (:
I was downtown, in a restaurant with my roommate watching, and when he won the who restaurant exploded! I started crying and my roommate was crying, we were talking to our grandmothers, my great grandma telling me about how her great grandfather was a slave, how she sharecropped, how my mother and her siblings had to leave Alabama because they were afraid of being killed.
It was just beautiful, I’m sure Harlem must have been amazing, then we went to Times Square, and it was crazy, everyone was just beaming and cheering, it felt like a 70’s Coca Cola commercial where everyone is holding hands, lol! My friend said in the Bronx today everyone was just smiling.
I didn’t expect to feel such excitement, since some of Obama’s policies I’m bothered by, but the symbol that he is to us and the world just made emotions come over me. I now feel American, and I am now proud to say so!
Being in Australia, I had to rush home as fast as I could from school as I could to watch the election. I turned on the t.v. and saw Obama giving his acceptance speech and the breathed the longest, sweetest, most heart-felt sigh of relief of my life. I was on the verg of tears as watched him… Today at school, at any random moment someone would say, ‘Obama’s won!’ And there’d be a little cheering and smiles all round. An American teacher at my school was wearing his Obama t-shirt and everyone kept stopping him in the corridor to talk about it. I feel so good. Watching that speech I knew I was watching something incredible that will be remembered for a long, long time.
When the election was announced, I was sprawled on top of the laps of six of my friends, who were squished buttcheek-to-buttcheek on the couch of one of my university’s common rooms. We screamed, hugged and cried. Screams and cheers erupted from all the housing buildings surrounding us, and the parties lasted well into the wee hours of the morning! :)
AN IMMENSE SIGH OF RELIEF!
I’m Canadian and now don’t have to fear that the boarder security won’t be increased excessively. And if it is, I hope the welcome I get will be more friendly.
Obama’s speech was inspirational. He doesn’t promise change, he encourages the people of the USA to work together as a whole to create change. It’s a wonderful beginning to the transformation of a troubled country.
Wish I could have been there celebrating with others. I spent it at home and cried when it was announced.
i still can’t believe it, this is SO great for america. they made the right choice and showed the rest of the world that “yes they can”. i also agree with what you said about loving america/n’s enthusiasm. i can’t articulate the feeling of being there, walking down the street or going to the grocery store fills me with contentment.
Here in France hope is in the air. We nearly only talk about american elections in the news, and as one french speaker said, it looks like Obama has been elected to be president of the world, instead of only USA... It’s like everybody in France is waiting for Obama to solve everything, from wars to crisis. Of course we’ll be a little or a lot disappointed, but well, hope is in the air, and it feels good !
For me, well, let’s just say I’m not a teary person but I can’t stop crying each time I see the news. Hope is in my heart now.
gala, ur video made me miss new york more than ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!
god bless america!
my celebration was a small one, me and my car rolling down the highway on my way home. i burst into tears and clapped for joy. we did it, america did it, we DID IT.
I’m not an American but I got goosebumps when they announced it and again when watching your video. It truly feels like a key moment in history. YAY!
Life went normal here today and last night…that was expected since we live in a rather conservative area.
I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off me that had been there for years when Obama won. As my brother said, “It’s like there is hope now.”
!!! The most important thing to realise is that the American Presidency affects the WHOLE WORLD. There has been so much anti-American sentiment in Europe for YEARS, and I don’t think many people quite trusted America to make the right decision, but they came through and I think that sentiment will just fade right away now.
The only thing is that here, personally I think they are making too much of a big deal of his being black. It almost implies that it they think the election result was positive racism. It’s the issues that matter. Now they are asking when the UK is going to have a black Prime Minister. It should just happen naturally, we don’t have to rush in an ethnic minority just to prove we’re not racist! But yeah whatevs. It’s a crazy thing to see peoples faith in humanity restored en masse! What’s going to happen now!?
Well… the same except occasionally some one would blurt out “ObamaObamaObama”... Usually me… Living in a small town sucks.
HELL YES. I was in NY as well, but Brooklyn—and you couldn’t tell the difference from Union Square, besides that there was obviously no park. Where I was, the crowd spent a lot of time directly in the middle of the street, or clustered down the yellow line in the middle (while holding onto their bikes!), and there was so much car-oriented high-fiving you wouldn’t believe. Even the garbage trucks and buses! And yelling and laughing and crying and two girls twirling flags on either side of the street like they were batons.
I’m not even American but everyone I know here in Canada is so extremely excited that Obama won. We all understand how the politics in the US affect the entire world, especially us since we’re neighbours, and we hope for better relations with the US now… Everytime I watch videos related to the election or read bits of speeches I get all teary, I’ve never felt this way about any election before!
I’ve got a headache from crying so much. I don’t think I will ever stop being happy about it. The phrase that comes to my mind sice President Obama got elected is “It’s a great time to be alive” I just fills me so much that the world is even excited.
thank you sooo much for posting this video. I’m 22 years old and have never been so proud of my country.
Awesome video :] I hear it was like that in downtown boston, but Winthrop was really quiet. Except for my neighbors, but their natural state is noisy…
even my 94-year-old grandmother volunteered at Obama Headquarters! this was my first time voting… and we did it!
this almost made me wanna cry. :)
Thank you for sharing that, Gala. The part where the entire crowd was singing The National Anthem gave me goosebumps. What an incredible night!!
Our small town was quiet (mostly reds here), but I danced around my living room, crying and happily singing. :) Glad you got to enjoy the festivities!!
To anyone who says the American dream is dead… you couldn’t be more wrong. I always know the USA had it in her, but we finally did it. I always dreamed of being a part of something amazing and revolutionary involving a new generation of Americans, like back in the 1960s, and it’s still hitting me that I’m living history right now.
That night still seems like a surreal dream – I’ve never felt that feeling before, and I don’t think I’ll ever feel it again. Words can’t even explain… Long live the red, white and blue, baby. :)
melbourne was in full obamarama!
i went to the birmingham in fitzroy where i watched the results roll in from 11am our time
they were selling hand made badges with his face on that said “i watched this handsome son of a bitch win at the birmingham” and a girl came later who had hand-drawn his face and “gobama!” on white shirts and singlets and was selling them. it was so fantastic. i cried in his speech and was so impressed with mccain’s humble speech as well. when obama mentioned the birmingham bridge, the crowd at the birmi went nuts.
after that we spent a lovely melbourne wednesday afternoon on the roof where the residents live above the pub. it was perfect!
I’ve actually been able to choke back my tears during this whole election….until now! That looked like sooo much fun and it made me sooo emotional to see perfect strangers hi-fiving in the middle of the city!!! Thank you for sharing this, it’s beautiful!
Well,I was at the HUGE Grant Park rally here in Chicago(the one where Obama made his acceptance speech).Total euphoria.We were crying,people were praying,hugging strangers in the street,singing for joy.No ill will anywhere-the fact that we crossed cultural boundaries and came together again as a country was felt every-where.It is a beautiful thing-having a sense of hope. Saying that I am Proud to be an American is something I haven’t been able to do in over 10 years but now I can hold my head high and say that without regret. Today is now friday and I’m still riding that joyful high:)
p.s.Both my mom & 85 yr old Grandmother Mabel voted for Obama.I was so proud of them*
I live in South Korea and while I’m not fluent enough to participate in many political debates with the locals, everyone from cab drivers, bartenders and business men have come up to me on the street to offer a pat on the back or a hearty thumbs up accompanied by the word “Obama!”
It’s especially poignant to me when I am so far from home and made so impotant by a language barrier, that one word can connect me with everyone I meet in an immediate union of hope and excitement.
“Obama!” says it all.
I live in Iowa canvassing and the atmosphere was amazingly similar, a group of twenty of us were dancing and chanting in the streets, we got ten people to vote that night and we joined a party of people on their porch to get election results and do an accapella version of “waiting on the world to change” it was the culmination of so many months of work for all of us and by the end there wasnt a dry eye in Des Moines
Well, I must say I’m not surprised. Of course, considering our choices, we weren’t going to be getting someone I approved of anyway. My family considered a write-in for Toby Keith (country singer, listen to his song ‘Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue’ to get why), but most ended up voting for McCain.
I think I might be the only one here who was glad that prop 8 passed (or, here in AZ, prop 102). Suffice to say, I’m extremely conservative.
While I don’t agree with Obama, he is our new president. And I will support him. I hope that he does us some good and changes my opinions, but… I’m not holding my breath. And, like I said, I wasn’t exactly a McCain supporter either.
I am from Finland and even here I celebrated with my friends and shared some tears cause whole thing was and is so moving! I stayd up all night till 5am (it was night here) and watched the elections from BBC (it was more funnier than usa channels).
I really hope that things will change now. No matter what, everything big that your president decide there moves also us here in good old Europe.
Love your blog btw. :)
Greetings from Oola, Finland.