After years of war and a genocide that left 2.5 million dead, the first day of a referendum on Southern Sudan's independence was a stunning triumph—now being tested by reports of violence. John Avlon talks to jubilant Sudanese voters on the ground at a moment of unaccustomed celebration.
Senator John Kerry greets a southern Sudanese woman, holding a picture of South Sudan's late rebel leader John Garang, outside a polling station in Juba on Jan. 9.
