Exuberance. Pride. Emotion. Power. Excitement. Youth. Future.

"Today is the proudest day of my 19-year-old life." Temple University Student and first time voter, Philadelphia

"Today is a triumphant day for all black men everywhere. We've been through a lot, there's no more glass ceiling. ... We're graduating, we're becoming doctors, lawyers, whatever we want." Temple University student, Philadelphia

A huge crowd at Philly's City Hall celebrates Obama's victory:

 
Celebrating Obama's win | Philly | 11/05/2008 (I can't get this video to embed, so click on the link til I figure it out. It's so inspiring).

I am unappologetic that I was a Hillary Clinton supporter. When Barack Obama became the nominee I became a Barack Obama supporter. Because it was the right thing to do. And because I have a unique history within the Black Community.

In the beginning of my career I served with legendary civil rights activist  C. DeLores Tucker. She was my boss, mentor and friend. She had marched with Dr. King and was a close and loyal friend to the King family, especially Coretta Scott King. Through DeLores Tucker I was privileged to play a small role in major events that changed history.

No, I didn't march with her and Dr. King -- I was just a little kid then. But in the late 70's I worked with DeLores and Mrs. King, with Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, Julian Bond, Shirley Chisolm, Barbara Jordan, Bella Abzug, Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter, Fritz Mondale, Gloria Steinem, Maya Angelou ... the list goes on and on. It also includes Joe Biden. Who was on board from the beginning of his career.

All were courageous trail blazers in the civil rights crusade and the women's movement, in creating a voice for the disenfranchised in politics and government service. They welcomed me into their world, accepted and trusted me with their goals and their real selves, because C. DeLores Tucker trusted me with hers. It was the ride of a lifetime.

I traveled all over the country with them, to rallies and marches, meetings and soup kitchens, church suppers and coffee klatches, legislative caucuses and political campaigns. I worked for Jesse Jackson's Operation Push, then the RainbowPUSHCoalition (the template for the kind of community service Barack Obama would ultimately do in Chicago too).

 

There's something that must be said now about Jesse Jackson. He's made some major mistakes in his long career, but they must NEVER overshadow the enormous contributions he made to the Civil Rights Movement. Back in the day, Jesse Jackson was a member of an elite group of young Black men dedicated to helping Dr. King realize their collective dream.

Jackson was on that balcony standing next to Dr. King in Memphis on April 4, 1968 and felt, like many of us, despair that the dream might disappear into assassin's smoke. He made a promise to his dying mentor, to himself, to his people that he'd continue the fight.

Not a perfect man but a driven one, Jesse Jackson fought to carry out the dream and its mission to free Black America from oppression and racism. Dr. King wasn't a perfect man either. Nor is Barack Obama. Men engaged in such battles seldom are.

We've all got to learn to accept that our new leaders, like our old, are human beings. And we've got to learn therefore to expect excellence, not perfection.

So many of the original civil rights pioneers are gone now. But not Jesse Jackson. So last night, when I saw "Country Preacher" (his long time nickname), gray haired and with a grown son in congress, standing in that crowd in Grant Park not on a dais but surrounded by thousands of his fellow Americans, I was touched.

And when I saw those unabashed tears of pure joy streaming down Jesse Jackson's face, I began to cry too. It was a sight I will not soon forget. He surely was thinking of Dr. King and all those gone to glory, and how proud they'd have been to see the dream realized at last.

I felt that way largely because I learned one of life's most important lessons from Jesse and Mrs. King and DeLores Tucker and Joe Biden and all the celebrated pioneers for civil rights and human rights: it's not the color of your skin that counts -- it's the brightness of your spirit.

And, I would add, the lasting legacy of your dreams.