00:00The energy was so electric.
00:07We were just pinching ourselves left and right.
00:09I can remember that night when the votes were finally tallied and the announcement was made, crying with my mom in our living room.
00:16His campaign at the time was change, and for me that was something really, really big, just to be in that atmosphere and to be watching history.
00:23When President Obama was elected for the first time, I was actually working in Washington, D.C., and I lived just outside of D.C.
00:33I was in D.C. for the campaign, so I watched it with a lot of other campaign members.
00:39I was at home in the living room with my family.
00:42And when the decision finally came down, we just jumped up and hugged each other.
00:48And it was the first time for me that I really felt like I belonged in this country.
00:52It was the first time that I had voted for a president.
00:55And I got to vote for the first black president of the United States, which is nuts.
01:02To see my father move to tears, my mother move to tears, I knew what a special moment it was.
01:08I called my grandmother, who was at the time in her 70s. As a young child, she picked cotton.
01:14I don't think that they ever thought in their lives they would ever see a black president in a black family in the White House.
01:21So it was really special for me to share that particular moment with them.
01:25It was just a really amazing experience just to see how far we've come.
01:29It meant that black people mattered.
01:32I felt really empowered. You know, this was definitely a monumental moment for a lot of us.
01:37Just to see a black president in office meant a lot.
01:40For me, it meant that my vote really counted and it stood for something.
01:44And it was just a really, a really proud moment to be a black person in general.
01:48Can he stay for one more term, please?
01:51I'm going to miss him so much and Michelle and the babies and all of them.
01:56But I'm so proud that I was able to live through an incredible eight year run.
02:03Music
02:06.
02:08.
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