November 4th 2008 Election Night

On November 4th 2008 around six o' clock, my friend and I were one of the first to arrive at the Ballroom for the viewing of the 2008 election results. The room seemed ready for an audience, there was a big screen displaying a local news channel and chairs organized in a multiple of rows. Soon people began to arrive and the atmosphere was friendly, even Ben and Jerrys ice cream came to support the event by passing out free samples. More and More people arrived, soon there were not enough seats for everyone. Time had past and it was nearing ten 0' clock and I still had work to complete, but something just would not let me leave. Especially when I heard that NBC was going to put us on television, everyone began to call their family members, including me.
During the viewing not only was the crowd eating delicious ice cream, and listening to the television but other things was going on as well. For instance there was a panel discussing the importance of the 2008 election, current Howard students informing the crowd on improvements in the polls in different states, a trivia question game about the 2008 election, and of course Howard had WHBC radio station playing hit songs, which the crowd would remix to make a reference to Obama. However, no matter what was going on all stopped when a poll closed and some results were revealed, all eyes and ears were then focused on the screen. I can't exactly remember what time it was, but I do remember the exact moment of when the screen flashed in BIG letters that Barack Obama was the United States new president. Chaos filled the ballroom, people shouted,cried, prayed, jumped, danced, sang,the moment was unforgettable. Dr. Carr spoke a few inspirational words along with our current president and the Mr. Howard University. At the end everyone in the ballroom silenced for prayer and then we sung the Black national anthem together. Afterwards my friends and I ran outside, we hugged everyone we knew and telephoned our family/friends. We even screamed Obama at random people and surprisingly they responded in the same manner. Eventually we gathered around the flag pole in the rain to join hands and sing. No one cared that it was raining because our president was now black.