Jack & Jill Politics

I got a great note from one of my friends, Tara, who lives in London. She was watching the BBC all night and was wondering what happened.”Did it air?” She asked. Well, actually it didn’t. I got to the studio early. Got mic’d up. Sat in front of the camera. Did a sound check with the BBC — and then waited as John McCain stole my time slot! I knew there was a reason I didn’t vote for that guy. Basically the BBC covered with McCain’s speech and then Obama’s acceptance and then planned to sign off for the night. No time for me. :-(

Which is too bad, because if there’s one thing I’ve noticed in media coverage is that there has not been much turning to a younger generation of black people (for example those who used the internet to inform & get out the vote, ahem)  for our opinions although I saw Tavis Smiley and Harold Ford on the Today show this am. I did appreciate the coverage last night from Spelman and Morehouse (two HBCUs in Atlanta) from a few media outlets.

No worries though — the rest of the night was fantastic as San Francisco erupted into full on, people dancing in the streets party mode. More on that later. Here’s how Tara described being an American abroad at this moment in history. Seems the party is not just here but worldwide, y’all.

How do I feel as an American abroad? I feel homesick for the first time in 8 years. I feel so proud to be an American, and that’s for the first time in more than 8 years. I’ve been alternating btwn smiles and tears all day as people who don’t know me – just know I’m American – come up and hug me, or say ‘congratulations’ or give me a thumbs up. One guy I work with said, ‘Finally Americans are getting the president they deserve’ and that’s so right – we have been so under-served by our president for the past 8 years, it’s affected our sense of self, it’s affected everything. I’ve spent my entire time in London making apologies for our president and now finally I can be proud and believe. Anyhow, I could go on and on and on but I won’t. Just one last thing – do not underestimate for a second the power this has outside the US – it is huge.