From The Baltimore Sun
By Benjamin Todd Jealous

I looked around as the television screen flashed: “Obama projected winner of the presidency.” Some stood, in shock, unable to even applaud. Others hooted, high-fived, cheered and hugged, congratulating each other on what was obviously a communal victory. But it was the third response that was most captivating. They melted – some to the floor, some against the wall, some into another person’s arms. They sobbed with the force of centuries, unleashing tears of joy they never thought they’d get the chance to shed.

It couldn’t be real, could it? We couldn’t have overcome generations of prejudice and a legacy of slavery to elect a black American to the presidency, could we? There was a woman standing near me who, with pleading eyes, kept begging for reassurance. “It’s real, right? He won, right? They can’t take it away, right?”

No one can take it away. This moment was centuries in the making and the net result of three different movements. It cannot be taken away because it was not given. It was earned.

Youth turned out in droves. The 18- to 24-year-olds routinely dismissed as apathetic proved their worth and weight this election. They broke for Barack Obama 66 percent to 32 percent, a 34-point gap that contributed significantly to his victory.

This sort of preferential gap by age was unprecedented. The average gap from 1976 to 2004 was less than 2 points, with young people generally echoing the division of older demographics. Not this time. Young people disproportionately knocked on doors, worked phone banks, and posted Facebook messages – rallying for the first candidate of their lifetimes who actually spoke to them. They join the youth who came before them, in the Vietnam War protests and the civil rights era, to agitate for social progress. It’s a movement that deserves partial credit for the tremendous victory we celebrate.

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