You can hardly doubt it. The audience for the triumph of Barack Obama was global. This was not just the most significant presidential election for Americans but for the whole world. More people sat up throughout the night in Africa, given the time differences, waiting to hear whether their cousin had made it to the top than there are Americans in America. You cannot doubt it.
Barack Obama's victory is not merely symbolic because at that level of power there is no way you do not wield the power. The young African-American (a first generation American citizen at that) first triumphed over self-doubt on his way to the ultimate goal. Those who have read his first book, Dreams From My Father know this. You can bet that those who have managed to read that book in Africa were all awake awaiting the verdict on that night…You cannot doubt it. His victory is a post modern one….the global reach of instant information has never been as immediate and accessible as it is today and his role as the first multi-racial President of the USA tailored his appeal to the world to the demands of instant global communication…. So the World sat up with eyes glued to the television screens and watched the drama unfold…..in hotel rooms…in bars that stayed open until 6:00 AM…… in living rooms and bedrooms…the little box was the
pathway to the morality of universal hope.
Out of my version of the night's experience this portfolio of television images came; grainy and blurred but
immediate and instantaneous in their assurance that the miracle had happened…THIS IS WHAT THE WORLD SAW….. |