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Students filled the sidewalks in the Fan District and politicians fought back tears.

Broad Street was shut down from Belvidere to Lombardy streets while a crowd cheered and waved flags and Obama signs.  Richmond police estimated more than 2,000 people filled the street.

At one point, the block in front of the Siegel Center was filled wall to wall with happy people. Then the throng moved east down Broad, chanting, "No more Bush" and "Yes we can."  

Their numbers reduced to around 400, they gathered on the south side of Old City Hall and, facing the State Capitol, sang the Star-Spangled Banner. 

Emotions built up over two years of presidential campaigning erupted last night as Sen. Barack Obama's victory became a reality.

Troy Evans, 27, a Virginia Commonwealth University masters degree student, said he was driving down the street, saw the crowd and got out.  "I figured, why not get out of the car and celebrate and be with my people?"

He said,  " We're in a recession right now, people just want to see some type of change and they think Barack Obama is the person that'll give us that change."
 
Madeline Dell-Aria, 18, a  VCU student, said she found an Obama flag and turned it into a poncho-shirt.  "It's just so great and there's finally going to be some change. We all just started parading, impromptu parading," she said.
 
Students and young people streamed over both sides of Broad Street, stopping any cars in the process.  In front of an Obama office on Broad Street, kids hugged a few campaign volunteers who were in the doorway and asked for extra Obama signs. 

"I really never thought I would live to see this day," said former city Commonwealth's Attorney David Hicks. "It is truly a transformational moment in the history of our country."

Partying at the Paradise Lounge with supporters of mayor-elect Dwight Clinton Jones, Hicks reflected, too, on those who were not present.

"I can't help thinking of all the people who fought so hard for this day who are no longer with us."

Hundreds of people at the North Fifth Street nightspot screamed with delight and poked out text messages to friends.

"It was tears, cheers and no more fears," said former Mayor Rudy McCollum.

Farther away, in a small respite home in Chester where he is recuperating from a fall, civil rights legend the Rev. Wyatt T. Walker watched news broadcasts alone.

"I think it's time to celebrate," he said, seemingly prescient of the projections that would come minutes later on television.

Walker, 80, traveled with Martin Luther King for many years and was the longtime minister at Gillfield Baptist Church in Petersburg, followed by a pastorship in Harlem.

"I have always said that Obama is the realization of Dr. King's dream and he has won.

"It's a victory for America and a symbol that the culture of racism is in retreat."

Along Grace Street in the Fan, dozens of students celebrated on the sidewalks, honked horns, and hugged one another.

At Toad's Place, the crowd of hundreds -- black, white, young and old -- erupted when Virginia went blue, said Herbert Norman.

"I never thought I'd see an African-American president," said Norman. He came to the United States in 1978 from Gambia and voted for the first time in 1992 when he became a citizen.

"Now the work has just begun," Norman said, "He has to get the minds together -- forget the being a Republican, forget being a Democrat -- now is the time to work together."

Contact Bill McKelway at (804) 649-6601 or bmckelway@timesdispatch.com.

Contact Linda Dunham at (804) 775-8126 or ldunham@timesdispatch.com.

Staff videographer Chris Young contributed to this report.