The Importance of Election Night

So it is November 4th, and the youth and I have our usual meeting that ends at 8:00. I don't get out of there until after 8:45, which is fine. It had been a very productive meeting, even if the turnout was small. The youth were interested in the election and we did talk about it for a while. It was an interesting discussion.
One of the youth, R, hadn't been able to make it that night. He was working late on a project, which he let me know about earlier in the evening. After I got home, and started watching the election night coverage (which I was anxious to see!), he texted to ask how the night went. I told him, and said hopefully he'd be able to make it next week (since it is Veteran's Day, we'll do a special dinner first). He was in complete agreement.
And then he started texting about the election. Firstly, I should mention that R has been very interested in all that's been going on. He submitted questions for the Town Hall-style debate, and seemed to be really engaged. His parents are Haitian, and so identifies himself as black. He's young and not yet able to vote.
It started out with "can you believe this is happening?" and then went on from there - he texted me every time there was a speech coming on (McCain, Obama), or after they were done. He commented on how good they were. And how amazing it was to see so many people in Chicago. And how he was so inspired.
I loved it. Firstly, that he would want to share this with me - and late into the night. I was honored. And entertained - since I'd made it clear that I was watching it all - but yet he still wanted to make sure I knew what was going on. It was awesome. It was a way to experience the election in a way that I'd never anticipated. It was sharing a unique moment in time with someone for whom it was even more important than for me.
Yesterday, the day after the election, I called one of the Elders, J, just to see how he was experiencing it. Mind you, this is a young man who had been saying that he was going to be President one day. J, too, comes from Haitian immigrant parents. It was interesting because he said he hadn't really gotten caught up in it all, until he saw how everyone else was reacting. That is what inspired him. That is what excited him. That is what gave him hope. That others were feeling the importance and the excitement of a new President who is blazing a new path for young men like J and like R. So I asked J if his goal was still to be President? And whether he was bummed he wouldn't be the first black president (ok, so I was being a bit facetious). And he said, well, Obama is the first half African-American one, so we still have a way to go.
For me, I'm excited that Obama is empowering these young men. I continue to hope that race will not play a role in our politics, even though I guess it will. But that, while these young men were young, it became clear that your race does not have to hold you back in this country. This is especially important considering the frequency with which these wonderful, inspiring, intelligent and giving young men experience racism, and often in an overt way.
I hope we continue to have these open discussions - we've always acknowledged race, and that there is still overt racism. For me, to deny that, would be to partake in it. But I hope, as Obama's Administration begins to be put together, he continues to inspire these young men, and that they continue acknowledge their race, but see that it doesn't define them. And I hope they continue to feel as though they can share these pieces with me, because they are treasures, and I'm honored to hold them.