Dancing with the Donkeys

Writing for the new Richmond.com here's an excerpt of my election analysis from a local perspective.

After Sen. John McCain’s generous concession speech played to a national television audience, President-elect Barack Obama said, “It’s been a long time coming ... change has come to America.”

Obama’s obvious reference to the 1964 Sam Cooke prophetic anthem, “A Change Gonna Come,” played well to the adoring crowd in Chicago’s Grant Park.

Meanwhile, in Richmond, there was dancing in the street. Broad Street was shut down, blocked for a while by a spontaneous victory celebration in the Virginia Commonwealth University area. And, at the Paradise Lounge on 5th Street, a more traditional victory party played out to celebrate the victory of Mayor-elect Dwight Jones.

Click here to read the entire piece.

Note: Of course, music aficionados remember that Cooke (born in Mississippi) was a Chicago gospel/soul singer. Click on the YouTube box above to hear Cooke sing “A Change Gonna Come.”

Obama, who had usually avoided using Civil Rights Era language and images during the campaign, also referenced the words of Martin Luther King's last speech. And, more trivia: Grant Park was significant to Baby Boomers in Chicago with a long memory -- it was the scene of much of the mayhem outside the 1968 Democratic convention, when antiwar demonstrators were beaten up by policemen.

Other recommended reads:

• Chris Bopst has written an excellent piece about his reaction to the election. Click here for Bopst's Sound Advice 11/6, "The New Majority."