Eugene Robinson: Stepping Into the Sunshine

[babylonsister]

Stepping Into the Sunshine
By Eugene Robinson


WASHINGTON -- I almost lost it Tuesday night when television cameras found the Rev. Jesse Jackson in the crowd at Chicago's Grant Park and I saw the tears streaming down his face. His brio and bluster were gone, replaced by what looked like awestruck humility and unrestrained joy. I remembered how young he was in 1968 when he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., moments before King was assassinated and hours before America's cities were set on fire.

I almost lost it again when I spoke with Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., one of the bravest leaders of the civil rights crusade, and asked whether he had ever dreamed he would live to see this day. As Lewis looked for words beyond "unimaginable," I thought of the beating he received on the Edmund Pettis Bridge and the scars his body still bears.

I did lose it, minutes before the television networks projected that Barack Obama would be the 44th president of the United States, when I called my parents in Orangeburg, S.C. I thought of the sacrifices they made and the struggles they endured so that my generation could climb higher. I felt so happy that they were here to savor this incredible moment.

I scraped myself back together, but then almost lost it again when I saw Obama standing there on the stage with his family -- wife Michelle, daughters Malia and Sasha, their outfits all color-coordinated in red and black. I thought of the mind-blowing imagery we will see when this young, beautiful black family becomes the nation's First Family.

Then, when Michelle's mother, brother and extended family came out, I thought about "the black family" as an institution -- how troubled it is, but also how resilient and how vital. And I found myself getting misty-eyed again when Barack and Michelle walked off the stage together, clinging to one another, partners about to embark on an adventure, full of possibility and peril, that will change this nation forever.

It's safe to say that I've never had such a deeply emotional reaction to a presidential election. I've found it hard to describe, though, just what it is that I'm feeling so strongly.

more...

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/11/stepping_into_the_sunshine.html

[polichick]

1. K&R Eugene Robinson pieces are always a pleasure, but this one is extra sweet...

I'm standing out in the sunshine with him!

[CADEMOCRAT7]

2. I agree, we are all standing in the sunshine with him ! Into the light now !!!

I so appreciate Eugene. This is very sweet... In the mornings, when reading the Washington Post, I look for Eugene !

[ErinBerin84]

3. Gene, feel free to lose it anytime in front of me, as far as I am concerned.

Plus, Gene regularly has to deal with fuckers like Scarborough and Tucker, and manages to be a good sport about it.

[angstlessk]

4. THIS is the OpEd I have been waiting for!

you go Eugene!!!

[ailsagirl]

5. "Stepping into the sunshine..." That's beautiful

:loveya:

[MISSDem]

6. I'm what they call "white", although I have blood of many races, probably,

running through my veins, Native American, I know, but I have never had such an emotional reaction to an election before either. I cried that night, too and I cried again reading this. Love his columns and this one was a real one to print off and keep.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. I always enjoy him when he's on Olbermann. One of my fave guests there.

[ailsagirl]

9. Yes-- he's gentle, thoughtful, witty, and sooo bright!! Super writer

I hope he continues to be on KO's program-- I like hearing what he has to say

[babydollhead]

8. I cried my ass off with relief. and hope!

I looked at my children and for the first time in a long time, wasn't embarrassed about the state of the world that they are growing up in. More than half of their lives have been under the bush slash and burn policies. I cried when I saw the pictures of how the world reacted. It feels good. Today I told them, "Hopeful and Happy won over Hateful and Scared. When I see spewings of Negativity, I think, "You are most welcome to join Hopeful and Happy with us, otherwise, kindly go back to your holes." There was social support for being stubborn, angry, stupid, hard-headed. Look at their poster boy,bush.