ere
MEANING:preposition, conjunction: Before (earlier in time).
Throngs of celebrating masses with damp cheeks and revived energy, pumping fists and chanting--"Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!"--and not-so-subtly clad in the primary colors of our American flag, blending seamlessly with those waving the very icon itself that, for the first time in recent memory, represented unity and not armchair patriotism. That moment, there, watching, feeling the carnal reverberations of shared belief, of participation and proximity; there, listening to the static surge, the howls of relief and optimism; there, no longer showered with pundit-fueled barbs, ignorant accusations, advertisements sticky with mud; there, basking in the brief, awesome silence that follows a landslide, the real people finally allowed to speak for themselves in words and action; there, enveloped with imagery of a man, of a black man, of a true orator, of a poet, predicting his emergence; there, lofting hope like autumn leaves, hugging the newly crisp air, smiling.
That--those people in Grant Park, the private celebrations in apartments and homes, next door and across the nation--is change. Celebration. People smiling, screaming in euphoria, giddy with excitement--feelings made foreign by repressive government, Machiavellian tactics, and complacent attitudes. Yesterday our victory was not just electing a president that defies racial barriers and trumpets progressive change. It too was electing hope over fear, in that most personal of ways, when individuals connect to each other and collectively dissolve throes of depression.
Yes. We can.
