I'm Actually Not Mad

My 'Tell 'Em Why You're Mad, Perf" post has been in hibernation for a few weeks but don't think I got lazy and forgot about you all. My mind has been focused on the presidential election and more recently in the jubilation in our election of Barack Obama as our new president. Also, I'm actually not mad.

The purpose of this post is not to tell you about my feelings; that just serves as a layer so that this post isn't that short. My girlfriend sent me a link to the pictures of Barack Obama and his family and friends on election night. It's totally different looking at the photos instead of the videos. I did not feel the need to tear up when CNN Breaking News flashed across my screen, as I did at my polling place or just as I looked at the photos from that night. Here's the link to the photos.

The first family showing each other love?!?! What's this?!?!

If Obama changed Black History Month to a longer 31 day month, I wouldn't be mad though. Since America already thinks that race relations come with the job.


two times. Read more!

The Voter Experience (Grambo)

I got up at 6:20, bright (dark, really. damn daylight savings!) and early. I struggled to get myself out of bed to shower. I got dressed listening to MSNBC's "Morning Joe", which gets on my nerves every now and then, mostly because Joe Scarborough is generally obnoxious. I had my usual breakfast and then sat down in front of the TV. I had afforded myself a little bit of time because I told my boss that I would be voting, but that wasn't why I wasn't moving to head to my polling location, which happened to be my old elementary school. I felt the heavy burden of civic duty (roll your eyes, it's fine. Perf said that he almost cried!) and I realized that I was actually going to pull the lever for Obama. Shoot. And to top it all off I couldn't find my glasses.

I got to the polls and a woman directed me to the registration table and then my ward's line. Listening to Lupe Fiasco and swaying anxiously, I felt like I was going to explode. "Hurry up! It's not that hard!" I thought as the lined inched forward. Behind me I hear a noise and then a bunch of people gasp. An elderly black man's walker had just flipped and sent the poor guy tumbling down. A bunch of people went to help him up and brought him water, etc. He was fine. I hoped that would be the only exciting thing that happened here.

As I was called under the curtain, I could finally see it right before my eyes. BARACK OBAMA for president, it read. Then, a slight panic. I had never voted in person before, and I had no freaking clue how to enter my choice. It was an electronic machine, but not a touch-screen, and the big wall of choices didn't really indicate what to do. There was a series of numbers below the wall, but I couldn't figure those out either. Ha. So much for civic duty. After regaining my breath, I realized that all you had to do was push the little box under the candidates name. It lit up. Relief. I chose all the other democrats down the line (with the exception of my old soccer coach. gotta support the team!) and pressed submit. Ding! I was done. Phew. I could now partake in the school bake sale.

Now, we wait.

If you would like to share your election day story, please leave a comment! We would love to hear from you! Read more!

The Voter Experience (Perf)

I set my alarm for 5:35 am so that I would be able to wake up and vote. I had been told by older friends and my parents that it use to take them 15 minutes tops to vote; however, I decided to ignore this information.

I hop out of bed somewhat refreshed because this glorious day had arrived, somewhat sluggish because it was 5:45 am (you know a brother has to hit the snooze button at least twice) and somewhat astonished that even I could wake up that early. The astonishment left me quickly once I realized the task at hand.

I opened my door to see my roommate who had passed out on our recliner in the living room.

"Son, let's do the damn thing!"

It took him a bit to put it together but we were on our way out by 5:53. Public School 138 is only a block from our Crown Heights residence so we were on line by 5:55. And it was nothing short of amazing. Had we gotten there at 6:00 instead, we would have been at the end of the line that went from the middle of the block at the school's entrance to the end of it.

After being on line for about 10 minutes, we started hearing people talk about how great this was; to have this many people care, to have this many people vote but more specifically, to have this many people of color vote. I took every breathe as slow as I could so that the moment would last longer. It sounds pretty corny but I've never felt that way before. And just as I thought that the moment couldn't get any more theatrical, an older black man pulls up in his coupe and begins videotaping the people on line. What a good idea, I thought, I should have carried my camera along for the event.

He then reached in his car and turned on his sound system. Sam Cooke's "A Change Gon Come" blasts out from his car speakers. It was one of the most moving things that I have ever witnessed. Many of the voters started singing, humming, yelling out and agreeing with the song's message. I was on the verge of tears but held back because I wouldn't have been able to stop myself.



We finally get inside and have more lines to wait on. (Make sure you know the Election District you live in because it'll make your voting experience that much easier. You can do so by typing in "Election District [your state's name]" into any search engine.) The actual voting was the easier and least stressful part of the process. You pull the lever, twist your knobs and pull the lever back. We left at about 6:50 and went on with the rest of our mornings.

When I got off of the train for work this morning, I decided to get 6 newspapers: New York Times, New York Post, Daily News, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and of course, the free Metro paper. I figured that it'd be cool to look back on and possibly save for my children (crazy, I know). Tomorrow I plan on buying the same versions of all of those papers to see the before and after of the election; hopefully tomorrow's papers have America's decision.

I'm excited about it all. I hope you are too. Please get out there and vote if you haven't already; it's exhilarating!


two times for Barack Obama.

P.S. Have fun bobbing ya head to Obama's favorite music: Barack Music Read more!