We emerged from watching the election results into the heart of the Lower East Side of Manhattan. A noise from a cheering crowd was audible from around the corner and my friends took off to see what was going on.
People had enveloped the street from all sides and brought traffic to a halt. The spirit of the crowd was pure joy and disbelief at such good fortune. A huge weight had been lifted as the starkest contrast between political moods had taken place. There was so much joy people didn’t even know how to express it. Some were making noise however they could, banging wooden spoons on pots. Some felt that they needed to climb on top of things. Every car had to stop for the crowd whether they liked it or not, cars were now props for people to climb on top of and demonstrate the revolution. One person climbed on top of a bus.
Someone I was with climbed on to the back of my bike and as I rode down the street, I contemplated the hopefulness of the country in which I now reside.
The entire city seemed overjoyed, every person you passed on the street was eligible for a high five. It felt like a shared victory, something everyone could take credit for.
This mood, which I think is shared in all of urban America, is the greatest success of this election.
