11/7/2008 11:18:00 AM
In Times Square for Obama's historic win
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| Wild scenes of celebration erupted in Times Square on Tuesday as Barack Obama was confirmed as the next U.S. President. *Newscom photo
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Doug Dewar Jones
Where were you when you heard that Barack Obama had become the first black president in the history of the United States? Here, Bermudian Doug Dewar Jones shares his experience of being in New York on the night history was made. The most amazing thing, Mr. Jones writes, was not the euphoria, or the celebrations, it was the way people in Times Square were looking at each other, as if they were all, finally, "on the same page...part of the same society."
When news came through that Obama had won the election, a roar went up in New York that you could hear from the rooftops. I know because I happened to be on a rooftop. A couple of friends and I were taking a break from watching the coverage on CNN and had gone up to the balcony to take in the view. It was around 10.30pm; we were on 96th Street, Manhattan.
Suddenly the background hum of the city started to change, to amplify, swelling to a roar that could was deafening even from our perch high above the streets. We rushed downstairs to check the television. CNN had called it. Obama had been elected President of the United States.
We ran to get a subway to Times Square. Our carriage was empty except for a woman from Trinidad, Karina, who noticed the Obama pin on Emily's lapel. "Isn't this amazing?" Karina said. "I heard half an hour ago, and I just have to go and see this... I can't believe it. Never in my lifetime did I think this would happen."
Walking out onto the square, we were met with a scene like nothing I have ever experienced: thousands and thousands of people of all ages and races, dancing, cheering, jumping, whooping. There were tears in Karina's eyes. As we walked towards the big screens, a young black man wearing a tee shirt with black and white Stars and Stripes bearing "My President is Black" hugged all four of us. "We did it," he kept saying.
As Obama came on the screen to make his speech, the noise built to a crescendo, a sea of hands in the air, "O-BAM-A! O-BAM-A!" And then suddenly all went quiet. Obama began to speak... but alas! No sound on those Times Square screens. The crowd fell silent as people fumbled for their cellphones, calling people and getting them to put their phones up to the TV. The cheering was coming in waves now, synchronized to the speech.
He finished, and the crowd erupted. ERUPTED. Traffic was crawling by, horns blaring, people leaning out of windows, whooping, cheering. It was as if people were seeing each other for the first time. An astonishing variety of people were making a point of looking at each other, hugging each other, communicating, determined to share in this collective joy.
Next to me, a young black man began to dance to the rhythm of his friends' hand claps and beatboxing. A circle formed quickly. "ObAmaa... ObAmaa..." - the first dancer stopped and his friend replaced him. The chant continued. The second dancer stopped - and a young white girl jumped into the circle and did a jerky little robot dance, to louder cheers and laughs than ever.
As we walked back toward the subway at 3am, scenes like this were still playing out by the hundreds. I remember seeing a gang of 'street' looking Hispanic guys and a gang of 'street' looking black guys CHARGE each other, like a pitched battle in West Side Story, only instead of knives and fists, there were high-fives, hugs and tears.
The most striking thing however was not the cheers, the hugs, the dances or even the tears. It was the way people were looking at each other, as if for the first time they were all on the same page, united, part of the same society. And when the euphoria dies down and reality bites again, hopefully at least some of that feeling will still be there.
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