Jesse Jackson Hails Obama Victory

Jesse Jackson praised Barack Obama's key victory last night as a "transformational moment" in American history, Reuters reports. "We knew this breakthrough was possible—we didn't know when or who," said the two-time presidential candidate, emphasizing the remarkable 53-year journey of African-Americans from a Mississippi lynching in 1955 to today.

"It is a fulfilling moment to be in Africa trying to reconcile two continents so savagely torn apart by the slave trade—as a son of America and Africa becomes the de facto Democratic Party nominee," Jackson said by phone from Tanzania, where he's attending a summit. "It says a lot about a growing, maturing, changing America." (More Jesse Jackson stories.)