Of course, we are hit with the question of infinite dollar amount: what does this all mean?
At the moment, nothing wrong with rolling in it. Jump around in it. Splash up and down in it - do backstrokes, hand-stands and float real nice in it. Nothing wrong with shedding about 400 years of tears. Nothing wrong with the wait to exhale now over - now exhale. We can all revel in this historic moment. African Americans can now claim the mountaintop. Struggles have come full circle. The fruits of much labor, blood, real sweat and real grief are now born. The country can now officially cleanse itself and turn into a new chapter.
This wasn't just about the economy. There was something more to it. Something beyond our collective comprehension.
It's also time to get on the bus. Time to hit the ground running tomorrow, fam. Real business begins tomorrow. Let it out tonight, slim. Peace on that. We understand.
One cannot shake the feeling that we are now in a new universe. A parallel dimension. Another planet. It's better than all the TV shows and sci-fi spoofs and thrillers. It's more than better - it's real. No more is it the embedded fantasy of a Hollywood writer's imagination. Nor is it a dispossessed demographic offering up the mantle of "first Black President" to an Arkansas Caucasian. This one's on us.
But, eerily, due to the high stakes of the moment, the grave geo-political situation before us, the time to celebrate and wax poetic will be limited. It will probably end very abruptly on January 21, 2009, when President Barack Obama commences his grand plan to fix what, at the moment, appears unfixable. Grandparents who thought they'd never live to see this will have to wipe tears quick; mothers and fathers who thought such a moment was mere figment of pipe dreams will have to mute the jubilation. John McCain's concession speech contained the memo (while failing to address main man as "President-elect"): so, you won. now what? for starters - no more excuses. show us what you people got. We observe the "boos" and consternation of a very non-diverse crowd in Phoenix, their world turned completely upside down, their uni-cultural tunnel vision shattered. In order to cope, they must first accept the inevitability of what America will become - on the real: what it already is.
There is a message, underscored by the tone of the crowd that fears catching up. It implicitly states the obvious. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Keep a cool head at all times. The real business begins. It's a whole new universe. Full of possibilities, but full of dangerous twists and turns. The real work begins.
We must now all get on the bus ... or some may get left behind. And, we must collectively counsel those who arrive on this bus but have trouble accepting the magnitude of what it represents. The symbolism of Spike Lee's indy take on the Million Man March resonates on this night. Chris Rock's recent verbal hit on Flava Flav is loud and clear. The paradigm is shifting ... and shifting rather dramatically. Word on the street is young brothers who now "want to be like Barack" as they watch this much more sophisticated, intelligent, hyper-academic and cool-pose professional persona unfold. Yes: it will be somewhat difficult to lament the social, political and economic hurdles before us with the image of a very literate and intellectual Black man as President. In a very sudden way - almost overnight - "smart" will be cool. The idiocracy may have, very well, been put on permanent hiatus. And: "Tyrone" has been officially "Deconstructed." There is a new kind of brother in town. A new kind of man symbolizing a new way of being.
Through this very national and emotional discharge, we can no longer deny how we feel. We must now accept being our brother and/or sister's keeper. The nation finds serious definition in this moment. It witnesses its rebirth. Our ancestors work overtime.