(no subject)

[drydem]

There's a photograph, part of a montage of shots of people reacting to the election, on the front page of the Huffington Post. In it, Christine King Farris, Martin Luther King Jr.'s sister, smiles as she is being hugged from behind by another supporter at the Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. I can't look at that picture and not cry. I can't think about my country and not cry. Christine's brother was killed four months before Obama's seventh birthday, killed for speaking out against a racist system. And now, an African-American has been elected president of the United States.
That's the thing I keep coming back to. Living memory. Because it's one thing to think that at the founding of the country, it would have been impossible. It's one thing to think that the subject of racial slavery caused a great civil war in this country. Yes, the historical changes have been massive, but even more amazing is this. My mother grew up in North Carolina. When she was young, the public didn't think African-Americans were human enough to use the same water fountains, much less to lead the country. When she was 11 four black college students in her home town raised a national scandal by having the audacity to sit at a lunch counter rather than come to the back door for food. The pure audacity of wanting to have equal access to seats at lunch. And now, an African-American has been elected president of the United States(having carried Guilford County, North Carolina).
This is what keeps me going, what keeps me teaching, what gives me hope. That America, full of fear and despair, full of anger and violence, can take such huge steps to overcome things within a lifetime. I can only imagine what it must feel like to be Christine King Farris. I can really only imagine what it's like to be my mom. But I know for once, I am so proud of my country. We have so far to go, so much more to overcome before we can really claim to all be free, but as a great man said 'I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.' And now, for once, I believe.

Comments

[squishymeister.livejournal.com]

:)
Very moving post, thanks for sharing.

[nomdiplume.livejournal.com]

This is a beautiful thought, my friend. Thank you. If you will forgive my saying so, you should add some paragraph breaks. This clump of text discouraged me the first few times I glanced at it, but I'm grateful I took the time to read it through.

Big love.