“The whole world is celebrating today, and rightfully so,” said Rev. Jackson, in a phone call from Tanzania to NNPA News Service. “It is a glorious, mountaintop moment in American history. It is a great victory for Barack, Michelle and a hard fought campaign. It is a greater victory for America, a redemptive moment, a transformative moment, and so we have reason to celebrate.”

Rev. Jackson, who was in Africa attending the annual Leon Sullivan Summit, said he cried when he heard the news; especially because of “the martyrs who paid such a big price for this moment.”

In Kenya, the homeland of Sen. Obama’s late father, exuberant celebrations took place after news of the win.

Mr. Obama is running in the general election against Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

“America needs to be proud of itself tonight,” said the Rev. Joseph Lowery, a civil rights icon and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “And I think America can be proud that the people have listened to the voice that leads us into a better future and not a voice that causes us to cling to the hostile, conflicting politics of the past.”

The root of this historic moment is steeped in slavery, Jim Crow, the struggle for civil rights and injustices and inequities that still prevail.

“Our nominee will be giving his acceptance speech on the 45th anniversary, August 28, of the ‘I Have a Dream Speech,’” observed Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), who as House majority whip is the highest ranking Black congressman. He was reflecting on the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Denver, where Mr. Obama will formally become the nominee. “I just think it’s kind of interesting for the first African American nominee to be laying out a vision for this country on the anniversary of that ‘I Have a Dream Speech’… poised to turn Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream about judgment of people (by) the content of their character rather than by the color of their skin. That to me is history worth living for,” Rep. Clyburn said.

It was during returns from the South Dakota and Montana primaries that Mr. Obama crossed the line of the 2,118 delegates needed to seize the Democratic nomination. Mrs. Clinton won South Dakota. He won Montana. But, it was the last minute decisions of super delegates—party leaders who could have cast their votes in either direction—that put him over the line.

Rep. Clyburn said he chose the Illinois senator over Sen. Clinton because of the impact that he has made on the electorate.

“He has conducted a campaign ... in such a way that it has elevated the political discourse in this country. He has energized voters like I have not seen since the 1960s. He has, in fact, helped to draw a new map for the Democratic Party nationally,” Rep. Clyburn said.

Mr. Obama surprised the nation, sweeping wins in such states as Iowa, a state with less than a three percent Black population. He inspired young people and Blacks to register and vote in record numbers. But, he struggled in states like Pennsylvania and West Virginia where working class White voters didn’t appear to take to his candidacy. Rep. Clyburn has advised Mr. Obama to tell these voters about the hardships of his life story, which the South Carolina Democrat said could create empathy and identification.

The celebrated win was initially dampened by Sen. Clinton’s refusal to concede. There was lobbying from Clinton supporters, notably Black businessman Bob Johnson and Clinton stalwart Lanny Davis, to put make her vice president on a “dream ticket.”

Former President Jimmy Carter told the U.K.-based Guardian that picking Mrs. Clinton would be “the worst mistake that could be made” because of her high negatives and the need for someone who complements him on experience, particularly in international and military affairs.

“If there were a realistic possibility for that, I think that she has muddied the waters … She was not conciliatory, she was not peaceful. She was still drawing a line in the sand. … In his speech, he was a statesman. And I think the contrast between the two candidates was never more obvious in that Sen. Clinton’s was the speech of a politician,” said Rev. Lowery, speaking before Sen. Clinton’s June 7 concession speech and the suspension of her campaign. “But, Barack was gracious; he complimented her beyond what anybody could expect.”

(Final Call staff contributed to this report.)