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Dancing in the Street

by Genghis 11/5/2008 - 10:31 am   |

Walked home last tonight after a joyful election party in the West Village, NYC--good crowd, wonderful friends, incredible victory. Felt a bit melancholy, in the way you do after achieving something for which you have striven for so long. It's my birthday. November 5th. Marvelous birthday gift from the American voters. 37. Strange age to be. People shout gleefully on sidewalks. Cars honk happily on streets. High fives with strangers. Arrive at St. Marks Place in the East Village. Crowd on the corner. Cheering. Stand on a pay phone, take photos. Walk down St. Marks, winding through the crowd. Hapless cops make bullhorn shouts. Useless. People crowd the street, shouting and cheering. Mostly young. Some old. Cabs are trapped, honking, some with joy, some with frustration. Cops try to make way for traffic. Useless. Speak to a man who was arrested then freed, after shouts from the crowd. Cops yield, block off the street for celebration. Someone blasts music. From an apartment? Queen. We Are the Champions. People dance in the street. People dance on the fire escapes. American flags wave. Young men clamber onto cars, wave hands and flags. Crowd chanting: O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! Crowd singing: O say can you see... Speak to strangers. Dance. Cheer. Take more photos. Watch crowd. Feel alive.

Wish I could have been there.

by DF 11/5/2008 - 1:32 pm

Your clips of "dancing in the streets" are so much fun. I saw them wed morning and shared them with my brand new friends I crashed with in a hotel room. We woke up bright and early, unable to sleep as soon as we realized where we were and what had happened.

Why do we feel melancholy when we achieve something we have striven so long for? I know part of my melancholy now is that this campaign was an incredible journey and moving on to the next thing, however exciting, means leaving something behind. I wasn't feeling that Tuesday night though.... The love felt in the room I was in, in calls and texts, was unlike anything I had ever experienced. The exhiliration of winning, pride on what we accomplished, gratitude for the struggle of others, and the feeling that we were connected with so many millions of people. the opposite of a world divided. I was physically and emotionally exhausted from days of volunteering, and so proud, and feeling the perfection of the moment. It was later that I realized that Cleveland is Cleveland and the scale of celebration there couldn't be a match for real cities. (And real cities can't be a match for New York). This was a once in a lifetime moment, exsaggerated by the contrast with the last 8 years, and last two elections. It took me two days to see the youtube videos of harlem, east vill, times square, DC, SF, and all over the world and I selfishly wish I was there, everywhere, in every place, soaking up the emotional overload of the crowd, wrapping my brain around what happens to people when they experience the anti-trauma, the shock of positivity in lifetime of struggling to process disappointment and evil.

 

 

by AM 11/8/2008 - 4:31 pm

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