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April 2009
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My 89 year-old Grandmother, the Matriarch of the Jones Family, woke up this morning crying. She's so happy to have lived to see a "Negro" elected as President of the United States. If you knew the stories she's shared with our family. How she walked rather than pay money to take the trolley only to have to give up her seat to a white person. How when she finally did drink from a white fountain, which she sneaked and drank from, rather than the Colored fountain as was required, how surprised she was to find out that the water tasted the same. How she was born on the corner of Caroline and Pease. How her aunt, Virginia LeBlanc was the first May Queen of Jack Yates High School, which was housed at what is now, Ryan Middle School. That Mr. Ryan was the principal at Yates when Aunt Virginia was there. How Mrs. Hazel Young, my across the street neighbor who's 103 years old, taught Aunt Virginia. How Negroes could only attend two high schools in Houston, Jack Yates or Phyllis Wheatley, which is my Grandmother's alma mater. How she is a Golden Nugget. That even when I tried to get her to be more progressive and call us Blacks or African Americans, that she said she would always call us Negroes because her generation had to work so hard to be called Negroes; because we used to be called so much worse. That too many Negroes to count, lost their lives in the struggle to be free and live a dignified life. To my Grandmother, "anybody with any sense should feel good about Barack Obama's presidential win." Thank God for my Grandmother who taught us to appreciate the gifts which now exist. Jio woke me up this morning and asked me, Mom, Obama's the president, right? I smiled and said, Yes, Jio, he is. We woke up this morning. It's not a dream. USA Today'S Headline reads: America makes history Obama wins 'Change has come to America,' he says after election to the nation's highest office shatters racial barrier. In the words of the most precious person in my life, my 16 year-old son, Jiovanni: "The fact that Obama is elected is a great feat that we have overcome in America." Long Live America!!!!! And a great morning to you too!!!!! To coin a phrase from Calgon...OBAMA TAKE ME AWAY!!!!! I will sleep well tonight. Today is the first and best day of the rest of my life, my son's life, my family's life, and the rest of the world's life!!!!! I have the biggest grin on my face that I've ever had in all my life!!!!! I'm so proud to be an American!!!!! We have overcome the vestiges of slavery and hate. We've started a new chapter in the story of America!!!!! Fairy tales do come true!!!!! Good Night and Sweet Dreams!!!!! Congrats to most Democrats!!!!! You won, which means We won!!!!! You rode that Obama wave!!!!! Bravo. Again, congrats to my colleague, Adrian Garcia, the self-proclaimed "New Sherriff In Town!" I hear you talking!!!! Rick Noriega, we understand you were out-spent a gazillion to one. You ran a valiant race. I have no doubt you'll win your next race. I understand the outcome of County Judge Emmett and Bettencourt races. This is Texas. Hunker down is a new term of art. LOL. I even understand the Lampson race because Delay drew that district to be just what it ended up being tonight - heavily Republican. What I don't understand is the DA's race. The last numbers I saw had Obama winning Harris County. What happened to Bradford? We'll have to go back and dissect that one; but it won't be tonight because I'm too tired and have a consolidated council meeting in the morning. And before that, I have to get my child to school. It appeared there was a lot of straight party voting for the most part. So how do we explain the anomaly? Kelly Seigler who? All in all, I'm pleased with the various outcomes of the 2008 elections. I didn't get all my wishes but I got most of them. And lastly, my biggest wish was for an Obama/Biden White House. Dreams do come true. Most importantly, I now know the world will be a better, safer and fairer place for my child and all the other children of this world!!!!! They have now seen that no barrier is insurmountable, even after 221 years. I'm thankful to all the Americans who participated in this most wonderful of political processes - this particular process being the most historic of them all. We showed how we can make a difference!!!!! Americans generally and Texans specifically, Yes We Did!!!!!
Wow. We're living history. All I could do was hug my son and cry tears of joy. To see what I never thought possible in my lifetime was awe-inspiring. And to be able to share this historic moment with my son was even better. Off we go to DC for the Obama Inauguration. I only wish I had a video camera to capture it all. And his speech. What a speech it was. We are a world of inter-dependence. The sooner we learn that; the better. Obama is teaching us all. Yes We Can. And with him as OUR president, Yes We Will!!!!! Then there's our first lady, Michelle Obama. You Go Girl!!! And the Obama children, Sasha and Malia, who surely will keep the White House full of joy and laughter, as only children can do. What a beautiful family!!!!! Then there's Vice President Joe Biden and his beautiful wife, Jill. What a White House!!!!! What a country!!!!! With the Obama team, we saw the diversity that we are. A beautiful quilt of cultures, blended into the most perfect rhythm. Singing the chorus of unity, peace, prosperity and commonality. Democracy is GREAT!!!!! God Bless America!!!!! Land That I Love!!!!! Posted at 11:20 p.m. by Wendell Edwards at TSU. Even the middle of overwhelming joy, tears have their way showing up. "I can't cry anymore," a TSU graduate said as she wiped away what she hoped was her final tear. It was, by all accounts, a partisan crowd on campus. So you can imagine the eruption of joy when one of the networks announced Sen. Barack Obama had reached that magical number of 270, had won the presidency and his cemented his place in history. It was hard to not smile just seeing all the excitement. "It's a historical moment," said 21-year-old Tamika McKinely, a senior sociology major from Palmdale, California. "And to celebrate that with my African-American family, it really means something." In that moment of meaning, many called their parents, their grandparents, and great aunts and uncle; those folks from the generations of long ago, that had to endure racism and segregation and discrimination and humilation, for just being black. For them, it's hard not to cry, and no reason to stop, especially now that they lived long enough to see this happen. I'm told, that isone of the main reasons while the TSU student government wanted to have a community election watch party. "I wanted to be with my black family," said Octavia Jones, 21, a senior accounting major from Dallas. "This is something you just had to share together." Tears and all.
Pete Olson claimed victory tonight. It was about the same time John McCain was making his concession speech. In one respect his win is extraordinary in the face of Barack Obama's giant win. Olson said he is only one of two Republicans in the nation to gain a seat back. In another way, some may say, this win is not surprising. Olson was running in District 22, a district drawn by Tom Delay. It is known to be a conservative area and tonight the Republicans gained back a seat they had their eye on. Supporters here were chanting Pete's name. They had been watching the returns and knew their candidate was winning. Pete Olson's wife introduced him saying, "He is a father, a husband, a navy veteran, and now your next Congressman." The crowd cheered & held up signs. Olson told supporters, "This is your victory." He said it's now time to limit government, lower taxes and produce American oil so that we can reduce foreign dependency. I asked Olson if Congressman Nick Lampson had called him to concede. He said not that he knew of but he had not gone back to his office yet. Olson says he is looking forward to going to Washington and doing the work of the district.
by Lee McGuire WESTIN GALLERIA -- Ed Emmett has delivered his acceptance speech, formally admitting what we have known for hours: that he has won a full term as Harris County Judge. (His opponent, David Mincberg, has not yet called to concede, Emmett says. He decided to admit victory after election-day results continue to widen his lead.) Emmett said that county government will now be a mixture of Republicans and Democrats. He also said he expects some Republican elected officials who appear at this moment to be losing, to end up winning their races once all ballots are counted. A greater number of people voted straight-ticket Republican today than straight-ticket Democrat. This is wiping out Democrats early leads in some races. "Some people will go to bed tonight thinking that more Republicans lost than really did," Emmett said. "Some judges and some others will win." Adrian Garcia assumed the mantel of Harris County Sheriff elect, proclaiming from the podium "there's a new sheriff in town." Tears welled in the eyes of his many supporters who crowded into the CWA Union Hall on this night. The Garcia watch party started slowly, but the enthusiasm billowed up all evening long. Rucks Russell We're still waiting to hear from Harris County Judge Ed Emmett tonight. He's done a few interviews, but he has not yet said that he's "won" the race. Emmett is waiting for a few more precincts to report before he will say confidently that he has defeated Democrat David Mincberg in the race for county judge. So far, it looks good for Emmett. For now, the people at his watch party have paused to watch the big-screen TV, which is tuned to Sen. John McCain's concession speech. I think the highlight here was when Sarah Palin flashed on screen -- and everyone in this room applauded. They applauded again as McCain concluded his speech. Palin in 2012? I'm already getting text messages from Republican friends about that.... stay tuned. As a proud graduate of Alief Elsik High School and Olle Middle School, Alief is near and dear to me. Alief has grown since I graduated in 1984. There are students who thirst for education. Residents of Alief can now attend HCC with In-District tuition and fees which goes a long way towards providing affordable education to the future of our great City. HCC's landslide was a resounding 82%. In political terms, that's rare. With the rise of four year college tuition, HCC is the help students need to get them the education they deserve. It didn't make sense that some people, who happened to live in the Alief part of Houston, had to pay two to three times more for the exact same education of people who lived in other parts of Houston. Kudos to HCC for running a great campaign which will pay dividends to the Houston community. Blanche Brown of Houston is 74 years old and she wrote in an election memory book at This Is It Soul Food ..... the following,"I vote so that my great grand-children won't have to go to the cotton fields like I did to feed my family." Continue reading "After A Lifetime Of Waiting ......Celebration Is On!!!" Pete Olson just came out moments ago with his wife. The crowd went crazy chanting Pete's name. He thanked his supporters for all of their hardwork. He encouraged everyone to enjoy the free food here at Berryhill and to have a margarita! He wasn't ready to recognize victory just yet. But he has maintained a lead of about 10,000 votes all night. In fact, he just pulled ahead by about 13,000 votes. There are not as many people here as earlier. Could be that it is a school night and parents are getting home to their families..but the noise level and excitement has stayed about even here.
The applause gets louder and louder as each additional state is put in Senator Obama's win column. Here at This Is It Soul Food on West Gray ...... people are getting very excited...... Continue reading "Obama Supporters Feast On Food & Good News!!" by Lee McGuire WESTIN GALLERIA -- My cell phone doesn't work up here on the 24th floor, where Ed Emmett is having his election watch party. My mobile broadband card isn't much better. The Galleria Hotel has set up a wireless network here in the ballroom -- and a few hours ago I asked the staff if I could tap into it. "Sure," they said. "But there's a small charge." No problem. Ten bucks? Fifteen? How bad could it be? $700. Seven hundred dollars for wireless access! This has something to do with corporate rates. But for much less money I could run a hard-wire into the wall. That would be just $495. Now, the folks here at the Westin have been fantastic. They are professional and helpful and always asking if we need anything. The guys up here didn't set the rates. I'm glad I asked, though, otherwise your faithful blogger wouldn't have much of a job to come back to on Wednesday. |
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