"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled - Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.
I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the Vice-President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation's next First Lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House.
And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics - you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to - it belongs to you.
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington - it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to this cause.
It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered, and organised, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this Earth.
This is your victory.
I know you didn't do this just to win an election and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.
Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.
There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there.
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree.
And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for 221 years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers - in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity.
Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours: "We are not enemies, but friends… though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection."
And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president too.
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world - our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.
To those who would tear this world down - we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security - we support you.
And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
For that is the true genius of America - that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing - Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbour and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome". Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can.
Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.
"
I see I have some new followers. Welcome and thanks. If you don't know, this is the 'Keep It Real' section of the world wide web. LondonDiva has and always will be very opinionated. Some may get offended [so what], others like what I have to say.
wish you would' type syndrome. 
I know black women are incarcerated too, but let's be real here, the stats have always been and shown it's an issue amongst the men in our community. Why are they using or blaming their upbringing as reason for incarceration where the women I know who have had it worse have made something of themselves. Black men [and this is one of my biggest pet peeves with you all] You do bloody yap on a lot about
First Lady Michelle Obama.
Halle finally had her baby after how many years of rumours that she was pregnant and/or wanting to be.
After a 6 week whirlwind romance the unlikely pairing of Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon became official.
Beyoncé and Jay Z made it official.
Jamaica's great achievement at the Beijing 2008 Olympics breaking 3 world records with the star of the show being Usain Bolt.
Bernie Mac [my all time favourite comedian] and Isaac Hayes passing a day after one another on August 9th and 10th. RIP
Jennifer Hudson lost her mother, brother and nephew so tragically in October. RIP
Miriam Makeba passed away. RIP
Usher and Tameka Raymond welcomed their second son together. [This is Tameka's fifth child and she looks damn good for it too]
Two things I PERSONALLY never thought I'd see…A black president and a black winner on X Factor. OK to some X Factor isn't all that deep and the accomplishments between president to pop star are not comparable [of course not], but both in my opinion are indeed sweet. I've always said a black person could never win a reality TV show [especially where a majority of the voters were white in this country]. I wasn't even looking at it from a point of view that Alex should win because she's black, she was one of the best in the competition and won rightfully so, after being booted three years ago she came back and won her place.
The UK and US are similar in some instances with how some are viewed as people of colour in their respective countries. After Obama, people are saying well there's hope for a black Prime Minister in the UK. A lot of black people here realistically DO NOT think so. It's a different kind of being black in the UK than it is in the US and the racism in the UK and Europe are on a different level. I mean over there I'm still in awe that in magazines black women are in Tampax, Dove and Tide adverts and that black people actually feature in TV commercials. **GASP** So I am very surprised that a chocolate beauty like Alexandra won the show considering black women in the British music industry practically do not exist and the closest thing favoured is your mixed race Leona types. Estelle is the only one I can think of doing something in the industry right now and mainstream. Beverly Knight and Jamelia were dropped from their labels, and they seem to favour the ones who can pass like mixed race beauties Alesha Dixon and Leona Lewis more euro looking and more marketable.
All I hope and pray for is that Simon Cowell invests as much time and attention as he did with his Mariahesque Brit clone Leona by carting her off to the US to work with Neyo and get her on Oprah as he will with Alexandra. Alexandra is just as good if not just a tad bit better than Leona and deserves just as much time and attention from his camp. The build-up with Leona was insane. I hope Alexandra doesn't become like her fellow and yes I'll say it darker cohorts Beverly and Jamelia who were dropped because the crossover into mainstream wasn't fluid enough. I hope it doesn't become a situation where she'll have to venture solely on the black music scene just to make it. It shouldn't have to be that way especially if you have the talent. Don't get me wrong I'll class Leona as a sista, she may look fairer than say Halle and Alicia Keys whom we have no trouble labelling and accepting as black, who has the same white mother/black father that Leona has so it's no different to me.
I'm not saying in 2008 victories by Usian Bolt, Lewis Hamilton, President Elect Barack Obama and Alexandra Burke that the world is going to change, and that we are going to be welcomed with open arms. I for one don't want that I just want more tolerance and less discrimination. It's just nice that across the board we're branching out and being recognised and appreciated as a people from the islands to the US to the UK that as much as it's a huge boost for black people and people can see a more positive side instead of the typical negative images surrounding blacks. Of course there is a very long way to go and realistically I don't think things will change much. I don't care that we've got another pop star to add to the current list of black vocalists [and I mean that in the sense that it's not a case of 'oh lord another black singer. Is that all we can so sports and sing?'], I think all achievements should be welcomed and praised. I feel it's much better to have another one of us at the top of the charts that at the top of nearly every negative statistic known to man. 
Hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons says he didn't get emotional when he heard that Sen. Barack Obama had been elected president, but he did get inspired.
This is the picture that graces both of my computer screens at work and has done so since yesterday.
What in the world and what shame I feel, but it's the kind of shame I have to laugh at because at times as clever as I am, can be a total dizzy ditz.
Sasha right??? Lord this is going to be hard when I thought she was Malia for 2 years.
"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
That's how much it will cost me round trip to be in the same city as President Elect Barack Hussein Obama on January 20th.
I called my mother at 1:30am, both my parents are usually awake at this time, but she's headed to bed early so she can stay up late and watch every thing political to do with the US Election tomorrow. It's her birthday Nov 5th so wouldn't that be great to be alive in this day and times to see a BLACK man in the WHITE house along with Michelle, Malia and Sasha.
Let's just hope if it's in the favour of Obama I will be buying as many newspapers as possible to store away so one day I'll be able to show my children the day the first Black man became President of the United States of America and that if he can go for the biggest job spot going then there is nothing that is going to be able to hold them or us back in these days and times, and that what we once thought was unthinkable is indeed a sweet reality.
Hopefully I'll hear less about "man they ain't gonna hire no black person, they only hire whites", my retort would be "well it didn't stop Obama going for the biggest job opening in the world so what's your excuse??"