from 52 to 48 with love
i am completely humbled to be a part of this moment in history.
my mother raised me here in memphis, telling me all about how wrong it felt to her that African Americans could only go to the Zoo on tuesdays. and telling me about getting in trouble with the nuns at school because she argued that the Muslim friend of hers from down the street could not possibly be going to hell.
my mother raised me with a staunch sense of human rights - so much so that i took it even further and have to call her out on things sometimes. (you did a good job, mom!.)
the other night as Obama was projected the winner, my mom called and i completely broke down, cried gut-wrenching sobs for nearly an hour. to see this happen, to have helped make this happen, and for my mother to still be alive and sharing it with me, is truly a moment of a lifetime.
in the days since, one thing i have run across truly hits in a place deep down that i hope we all can continue to access and work with, bringing long-lasting progress to this world. here it is:
i know that there are many who are scared of what an Obama presidency means, and for all different reasons. i believe the most important thing is to reach out, as you would to a crying child, provide comfort, love, and understanding - and then join hands and together work to change things. here's my hand, let's do it!
This entry was posted on Friday, November 7th, 2008 at 11:03 am and is filed under Journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
November 11th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Lorin...a very good blog. and indeed, it was a momentous day. there will be people who will try to argue about the outcome...but never let them take your joy from you.
thinking back, it was a very traumatic time to live through. it was bad enough about jfk and then his brother being shot down . but for me, it was most painful was when martin luther king was killed in memphis. i was ashamed to be an american, and i was sad and embarrassed to be from memphis. the clincher was that evening when he was killed, your dad and i went to the officers club....a colonel's wife came out and yelled, "I'M FROM MEMPHIS . THE CITY THAT KILLS N------" sad, sad.
but there has not been an exciting election since jfk was elected.we have come far since then... but now we need to work together and make blessed things happen. mom