10:58 AM Sunday, November 29, 2009
Little-Known Black History Fact: The Election of Barack Obama
Date: Wednesday, November 04, 2009, 5:23 am
By: Erica Taylor, The Tom Joyner Morning Show
November 4th, 2008: Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle - with their daughters, Sasha and Malia, in tow - gathered together and headed to the polls to cast their vote for president of the United States. The final hours drew close as the entire world waited to hear the official election results. Chicago’s Grant Park overflowed with over 1 million Obama supporters. And at the end of the day, voters were breathless until the final moment arrived when the nation welcomed its first black president, our 44th commander-in-chief – Barack Obama.
In the resounding 2008 election, the senator from Southside Chicago beat out his Republican opponent, Arizona Sen. John McCain, with 365 electoral votes, using technology as his pivotal tool for raising millions of dollars and reaching young voters.
And now one year later, America has begun to zero in on the president’s accomplishments, which include signing a $787 billion stimulus bill to ease the recession, which has reportedly saved 1 million jobs so far. He’s signed a State Children's Health Insurance Program bill, continuing coverage for 11 million children in lower-income families.
Despite opposition, President Obama mended international relations with leaders who were once resistant to the U.S. Our president has put more minorities in the history books, besides himself, including the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, Charles Bolden of NASA and at least five African-Americans in the White House. Happy anniversary, President Barack Obama – our first black president.
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The election of Barack Obama left) to the presidency is the subject of this morning's "Little-Known Black History Fact." (AP)
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