the story of after the election

this is my favorite photo of the night. it reminds me of the future.. hope, smiling faces, diversity, cars and bikes... cities beautiful.

the rest have been posted at www.flickr.com/photos/vanessamiller
and on metromix detroit http://detroit.metromix.com/events/photogallery/party-pics-election-night/752843/content


Friends and Family,
Regardless of your political affiliations we are lucky to have witnessed history being made last night. I sat in a small jazz bar that was recently restored from the 1920's surrounded by about 60 friends, one block south of woodward, a few from Camptius Martius(the main square downtown Detroit). I walked in the moment CNN called an Obama victory and the entire city seemed to explode. People were dancing in the streets, waving flags, sparklers, obama signs and shirts. People were screaming the national anthem and strangers were hugging, there are few times in life when you can feel such energy and hope among a group of people. The area i was in, Capital Park, is impoverished, there is this small jazz bar open only on fridays and saturdays, across the street from a strip club, down a block is Detroits' Transit Terminal which is home to many homeless. On this eve Larry Mongo the Owner of Demongos (the bar i was at) played Obamas speech over loud speakers and messages of hope resonated across the old buildings. There was a roar of car horns and people so i rode my bike over to woodward and saw the closest to peaceful riots i have ever seen. There was talk of a bloodless revolution, and a man holding an obama sign was screaming "it only took one vote", over and over. Traffic was stopped and human beings in celebration, flooded the intersections. It all went on until about 1:30 when police closed woodward and the parties were returned to individual bars. I was lucky to witness this happen in Detroit, i was there with my camera and the beginning of my photos are on my blog vanessahooray.blogspot.com . I have to finish the rest today for metromix/freepress and i have many more stories.. but hooray guys... this is awesome.