Barack Obama supporters of all ages flowed into the Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel to celebrate with their fellow Massachusetts Democrats as states across the country went blue in support of the Illinois senator who was declared president-elect Tuesday night.
‘This shows how far we came from hundreds of years ago to now,’ said Sheila Jean-Baptiste, a high school senior at the Social Justice Academy. ‘Our ancestors fought for this and we’ve shown them that whatever they went through, this shows growth and has empowered us.
‘There’s a future for us, people hear us and people want to help us,’ Jean-Baptiste said. ‘Barack is the person who’s going to do that, he is our change.’
Emerson College freshman Nicole Shelby was among a group of Emerson students who gathered in Copley Plaza after Obama’s victory was announced. A large group of Boston Police officers were standing by to disperse the celebrating students.
‘ ‘I know [Obama] can’t possibly fix everything right away,’ Shelby said. ‘But it’s cool to have something like this to celebrate.’
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry attended the rally and thanked his supporters for reelecting him for the fourth time, achieving a victory over Republican Senate hopeful Jeff Beatty. Kerry spoke about his early involvement in political activism ‘-‘- working for the Civil Rights Movement in the Deep South. He noted that this year was the fiftieth anniversary of the movement and the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War.
‘This campaign has been remarkable actually for how free it’s been from race as an issue,’ Kerry said. ‘I believe that tonight marks a moment of affirmation for the ability of most Americans to put the trash aside and vote for the truth and the future.’
Kerry campaign volunteer John Johnsen said this particular election encouraged a large voter turnout because the results were ‘really close to everyone’s hearts.’
‘People were just really attached to this [election].’ Johnsen, a Boston College senior, said. ‘There’s so much change going on in the country right now and I feel like that really grabbed hold of a lot of people.’
Ria Rana, who recently became a U.S. citizen after living in India and Saudi Arabia, worked to get students to sign pledges to vote.
‘I love to see people energized, especially young people.’ Rana, a first-time voter and community organizer at the University of Massachuestts-Boston, said. ‘Students really are interested.’
Harvard Law School communications Director Michael Jones said he already saw a change in the country at the polls.
‘As hopeful as we were in 2004, there was something magical about today seeing the lines wrapped around the building,’ Jones said. ‘Seeing the large amount of new voters coming to the polls . . . change is really happening.’
It wasn’t just those of voting age who turned out to celebrate, either, as Marlboro, Mass. resident Hannah Jarmolowski, 16, worked on the campaign and came out to the rally to show her support for Obama.
‘I’ve made phone calls and answered phones in [Kerry’s] office,’ she said.
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