Posted Tuesday, November 4 at 11:11 am CT
by msnbc.com.
Filed under Field correspondents
The 16th Street Baptist Church, designated a national landmark, is seen February 20, 2006 in Birmingham, Alabama. Gonzales was in Birmingham to take part in the dedecation of the 16th Street Batptist Church as a national landmark. (Photo by Gary Tramontina/Getty Images)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – More than 45 years ago, the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., was the site of one of the most horrific attacks in the civil rights movement.
On Sept. 15, 1963, Ku Klux Klan members hid 19 sticks of dynamite underneath the church stairs. The explosion killed four young girls, whose only crime was the color of their skin.
Continued…
Posted Tuesday, November 4 at 11:01 am CT
by Bill Dedman.
Filed under Bronx
People were lined up early at the polling station at Public School 55 in the Bronx.
"I've never seen it like this," said pollworker Lenore Gardner. "When I got here at 20 after 5, they were already out there waiting." The polls opened at 6 a.m.
"The mothers are bringing in their sons," she said. "The girls, the come on their own. But the sons the mothers bring."
(See other posts from the Bronx.)
Posted Tuesday, November 4 at 05:00 am CT
by Bill Dedman.
Filed under Bronx
Validus Preparatory student Jaquan Arzu (John Makely / msnbc.com)
Tuesday is going to be a frustrating day for many students of all races, because they aren't old enough to vote.
"People around the world, they know what Nov. 4th is. In Russia they know what Nov. 4th is. I feel, dang, I can't vote in the biggest election that there is," said Jaquan Arzu, 16., a student at Validus Prep, a public school in the Bronx.
Arzu has been participating in months of school activities about the election, reading about the candidates, attending debate nights at New York University. And Tuesday? It's just a day off from school.
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Posted Tuesday, November 4 at 12:29 am CT
by Kari Huus.
Filed under Nashville
Matt Nemeth works the phones in Tennessee Victory Headquarters. (Jim Seida / msnbc.com)
On the evening before the historic 2008 elections, in an unmarked office on a strip populated with check cashing stores and discount liquor stores in the western reaches of the city, three volunteers were still working the phones on behalf of the McCain-Palin ticket and state and local Republicans.
This modest looking three-room operation, dubbed the Tennessee Victory Headquarters, is an odd outpost with a complex political mission. As a coordinating center for Tennessee counties, much of the energy expended here is spent calling outside the Nashville/Davidson County area, and even outside the state on behalf of Republican candidates.
Continued…
Posted Monday, November 3 at 08:21 pm CT
by Mike Stuckey.
Filed under Seattle
Bruce Gentry spent 20 years building skyscrapers in downtown Seattle. (John Brecher / msnbc.com)
History seems a foregone conclusion in the Emerald City.
On a cold, dark, damp election eve around Seattle’s downtown Pioneer Square, a handful of sidewalk interviews found little doubt that Sen. Barack Obama would become America’s first black president.
“The Republicans are done,” said a jovial Danny Hawkins, 51, a Seattle barber. “They’ve had their share.”
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Posted Monday, November 3 at 05:08 pm CT
by Bill Dedman.
Filed under Bronx
As part of the yearlong election studies at Validus Preparatory Academy, a public school in the Bronx, students have kept election journals.
Here is a page from the journal of senior Evelyn Fabian, a Hillary Clinton supporter, as she comments on the excerpted sermons of Sen. Obama's then-minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Click here for a larger view of the journal page.
(See other posts from the Bronx.)
Continued…
Posted Monday, November 3 at 04:46 pm CT
by Mike Stuckey.
Filed under Seattle
Law professor Henry McGee Jr. in his office at Seattle University. (John Brecher / msnbc.com)
Watching last-minute polls and analyses, Professor Henry McGee Jr. is
as confident as ever that Sen. Barack Obama will become the first black
president of the United States, but he’s also musing over some ironies
around Tuesday’s historic election.
Chatting at
lunchtime Monday in a campus office festooned with memorabilia from his
own career as a cutting edge African-American in U.S. academia, McGee
pointed to a news story he had just read. Despite predictions of a
sizable Obama victory, “the majority of white folks in the United
States will vote for John McCain,” said McGee. “I had never thought
about that.”
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Posted Monday, November 3 at 03:30 pm CT
by msnbc.com.
Filed under Field correspondents
The historic Apollo Theater in Harlem. (Frank Franklin II / AP file)
TODAYshow.com reporter Vidya Rao checks in from Harlem, where she finds residents of America's first black cultural capital electrified by Barack Obama’s role in a historic election.
Click here for her report. And check back for updates from NBC News correspondents in Harlem on Election Day.
Posted Monday, November 3 at 03:28 pm CT
by Bill Dedman.
Filed under Bronx
We asked the predominantly Hispanic and African-American students at Validus Preparatory Academy, a public school in the Bronx, to provide written responses to questions about race and the election. This is the school profiled in our article and video here: Obama's story resonates with Bronx students.
The questions: If an African-American man is elected president, will that change race relations in America? Is it a sign of real change? Will it bring about real change? What are your hopes and fears around race and ethnicity for yourself and your family?
Below are selected answers from the students:
I believe there are a lot of people that are still not prepared to accept the fact that what was once considered property may become the president. My fear is that Obama will be killed and harm will be done to his supporters.
Christie Logrono, 16, junior
-----
If an African-American is elected president, I think it would change race relations in America for the worst. It might be a sign of real change or cause mayhem. I don't honestly think African-Americans would know how to take it -- they might start to look down on people. If you wish to start another Civil War elect an African-American with an education.
Eric Caldwell, 17, junior
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Posted Friday, October 31 at 02:32 pm CT
by msnbc.com.
Filed under
No matter the outcome of Tuesday's vote, the 2008 election has been one for the history books, producing the first major party black candidate for president and the first woman on the GOP ticket, among other milestones.
Witnessing History, an msnbc.com special report, is an early attempt to bring some long-term perspective to the campaign and election.
Continued…
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