The World Outside and the Post-Election Portland Fervor

Portland

Yesterday I drove to downtown Portland for a 7 pm Thymos meeting.  It was my first time out of the hospital since Tuesday when my daughter was born.  Usually eastbound traffic is bad around 4:30, terrible from 5 until around 5:45, and progressively better after that.  However, when I left my house around 6:30 yesterday, it was like rush hour.

I called a friend and asked him why it was so busy.  My friend explained to me that ever since Obama had won the election, Portland had been in a frenzy.  People couldn’t stop talking about his win at the office.  They were marching around Pioneer Courthouse Square just to celebrate, an unusual event in a town known for its protests against the system. People were driving around the East Side, honking horns and showing their support for our first African American President-elect.   Portland was electrified by the news of the election, and people wanted to get out and share the news with everyone else.  Lots of clubs and organizations around Portland were holding short-notice get-togethers so that people could out and talk to one another.  It was one of the most exciting times that people had ever experienced.

This is going to be a milestone that everyone is going to remember.  I watched the news from the hospital room and will never forget because of the significance in my family life, but I think every American is going to remember where he or she was and what he or she was doing when Barack Obama won the 2008 election for President of the United States of America.  It’s a win that demonstrates that every office is open to everyone, regardless of race.  The most powerful man in the world will be an African American president of a country that once enslaved people of his race.  How many stories of social change can compare with that?

(picture from here)

Related posts:

1. Get out and vote!