Monday, January 19, 2009

Humbled by History

I was in tears this morning as I read our local newspaper. On one side of the page was a beautiful piece on the new AmericaIam museum exhibit in Philadelphia. This exhibit is a tribute to the African American experience. From the Doors of No Return, through the Emancipation Proclamation, through the life and teachings of Frederick Douglas, to the ballot box, to the Klu Klux Klan.

And on the facing page, was a spread detailing the Inauguration Celebration of Barak Obama. News coverage, online coverage, balls and concerts. The Disney Channel will be broadcasting the Kids' Inaugural. The inauguration of our first African American president. I'm not sure what amazes me more...that it's happening, a person of color leads our American people. Or that it's taken this long for it to happen.

The two stories, side by side, brought me to tears. Bring me to tears. Each time I think about it. I am so humbled by the men and women and youth and children who brought us to this day. I am so humbled by the legacy that they have left us. And I am so proud that my children are alive to witness it. To see what was only imagined, come true.

Can it be that Martin Luther King, Jr's dream has come? Is this the beginning of measuring the worth of our brothers and sister by the content of their character, and not the color of their skin?

1 comment:

  1. Hi Tracy, I hope so. Obama has inherited a mess and I fear that he will not be able to live up to everyone's larger than life expectations. He is a human being after all and I worry that what everyone expects of him is something no one can do and he is being set up for failure. Maybe I am to cynical.

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