I was born in Albany, Georgia. I was baptized at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Albany, Georgia. It's my (and Ray Charles') hometown. My mom emailed me this morning to tell me that Albany was on the front page of the New York Times.

Growing up, I saw some pretty terrible displays of racism in Albany. I heard people that I knew and, in some cases, relatives of mine say derogatory things about black people. And from a very young age, it made me mad. Livid, actually. I couldn't understand it and I remember coming back to Texas after a Georgia visit and telling my mom that I finally knew what the meanest people in the world were called. They were called "racists" and I told her that I didn't ever want to be friends with people who were like that.

Which is why this story about Albany from the front page of The New York Times has reduced me, yet again, to tears.

I'm not the only one though. My best friend Chrissy, who lives in London now, is pregnant with her first child. She voted for Obama, as she's still a US citizen. I got this from her this morning:

And I am still on an emotional high. I saw probably the sweetest thing I have ever seen in my life. At the newsagent near my office, I went in to get a bottle of OJ this morning and there was an African woman in there holding hands with her little boy - probably 3-4 years old. They were in front of the newspaper racks, and she was pointing at the front pages saying 'His daddy was from Africa like your daddy. You stay a good boy and grow up to be a good, honest man and you can become something special, too'. Amanda, I fucking lost it! I couldn't hold back the tears as I walked the rest of the way to work. This is a VERY big thing - more than just a figurehead for our government. It's setting a new standard for millions of people. Amazing, just totally amazing.

So I cried over that. I cried watching the speech last night. I cried seeing 'your buddy' Jesse Jackson crying. I cried at the fact I got a text message from you saying you were crying. And I'm about to start crying now just thinking about all this crying.

For a bit of comic relief (and maybe giving me a chance to stop crying tears of joy for like ten minutes), I relay this from my friend Adam (via Dave):

Favorite thing I've read so far from a random Twitterer:
"I'm totally shitfaced on hope right now, you guys. Someone hold my hair while I get my audacity on."

Truer words never spoken.

But then it's back to crying as I look at the text message that my mom sent me the moment they called the election for Obama:


"You can breathe now. I am proud of you and your generation. I love you and thank you for voting"


And finally, if you ever wondered what is the easiest way to become a former friend of mine, Myspace-wise, let me offer you a perfect example:

Welcome to The Socialist Republic Of America!
God help usall. Barack Hussean Obama was just elected President. Guard your wallet. We're about to have the biggest tax increase in the history of the USA. My prediction, the stock market will crash upon this news. I'm all about helping out the poor, I just think it should be done through the church, not the gov. I fully expect accusations of being a racist. Fire away.

Though our Myspace friendship was brief, I wish you all the luck with your hate-mongering, which presumably you will be able to sneak in between typing lessons and English 101. Happy trails, retard.

YES, WE CAN and indeed YES, WE DID.

The Mavs beat the Spurs, the Spurs are winless so far this season, I'm riding out my last three days of my two weeks notice at a job I hate before I head into a job I love and last night, Barack Obama was voted President of the United States of America.


Today, most assuredly, does not suck.