Barack Obama Makes History, Becomes Nation’s First Black President

By: Michael H. Cottman and Deborah Douglas

CHICAGO – Tears rolled from the faces of black people in Grant Park Tuesday and grown men succumbed to pent-up emotion as America made history by electing Barack Obama as the first black president of the United States.

In a profound and defining moment in American history, black people waved American flags and shouted “We Have Overcome,” in what will certainly begin a debate about race in America and the sudden shift in racial politics.

Once a nation that once embraced slavery, nearly 50 years after the civil rights movement, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and the Montgomery bus boycott, Obama, a black lawyer from Illinois, combined a high-tech campaign with a sophisticated, unprecedented grass-roots movement and mobilized a multicultural electorate to defeat Republican John McCain and win the White House, becoming America’s 44th president.

For many, Obama is an immediate symbol of hope for African-Americans who have suffered under what many feel was an insensitive Bush administration. For others, Obama’s words to black fathers about participating in the lives of their children could serve to uplift black communities from coast to coast.

And for some, the strength of Obama’s character may motivate more African-American men and women to run for public office in local, state and national elections. Obama is a former community activist from humble beginnings who has a vision to inspire a nation of civic activists.

An odyssey that began 20 months ago on a cold day in Springfield, Illinois and included a contentious primary battle with New York Sen. Hillary Clinton culminated Tuesday in an emotion-filled evening during which Obama, 47, outlined his vision for the country.

Barack Obama Makes History, Becomes Nation’s First Black President....