"To commemorate a past event you kill an animal and eat it. It's a ritual sacrifice. With pie." Anya, in "Pangs" Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Except we never really had much pie at our Thanksgivings. I think I was 24 the first time I had pumpkin pie. But I digress.
I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a roof over my head, heat, running water, suffrage, the Internet. I have wonderful friends and great parents.
And on Thanksgiving, I like to reflect not only on what I have that I'm thankful for, but on the story of Thanksgiving and on the courage of the people who made this country. The Pilgrims are not my favorite people in history, because Calvinism isn't my favorite thing, but to get on a boat and sail off to an unknown land to build the country you want takes guts. And the countless millions who followed, who came to this land both in search of opportunity and against their will. When I went to Berlin to study, I traveled in the relative luxury of an airplane, I had modern telecommunications to reach my loved ones at home, I'd studied the language for three years and I knew that I was going home again. My immigrant ancestors had none of that. They might never see the faces or hear the voices of their loved ones again. And yet they took that risk in the hopes of a better life for themselves and their descendants. And together they helped to build this country, a country that isn't perfect, but tries to be.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
A day four centuries in the making
In 1608, the Mayflower had yet to set sail, and Pochontas saved John Smith's life, only for her people to be repaid with theft and smallpox and generations of reservations and cultural repression.
In 1708, the Americas were dotted with colonies controlled by European powers. The chances that anyone who wasn't a landowning white man could vote were slim to none, even in places where voting existed.
In 1808, the importation of slaves to the United States was banned, but slavery continued. Women were virtually property, and Native Americans were being "resettled" to make way for Western expansion.
In 1908, women still couldn't vote and segregation was the norm. There were immigration quotas and exclusion acts.
In 2008, the United States of America elected its first non-white president.
What will 2108 bring?
What victories will we have won for our grandchildren?
I have hope today. Because I stood in a line that Susan B. Anthony wasn't allowed to, because Barack Obama will take an oath that Frederick Douglass was only allowed to witness, I have hope that even if it doesn't happen for me, we will win the fights we fight today. The seeds that we plant will bear fruit, and though the plow may callous our hands, our children and grandchildren will reap fields of justice. Someday, we will tell children that it used to be illegal to marry the person you loved, and they will look at us with incredulity. Someday, learning that people used to go bankrupt because of their medical bills will make our grandchildren shake their heads and wonder what on earth was wrong with us. Some day, we will judge people not on their race, on their gender, on their religion, but on their character.
Some day, we will have formed the perfect union that our founders dreamed of on a hot Philadelphia afternoon, because "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."1 I may not live to see it, but because I have lived to see the dreams of my ancestors come true, I have faith that my dreams will come true. Some day.
In 1708, the Americas were dotted with colonies controlled by European powers. The chances that anyone who wasn't a landowning white man could vote were slim to none, even in places where voting existed.
In 1808, the importation of slaves to the United States was banned, but slavery continued. Women were virtually property, and Native Americans were being "resettled" to make way for Western expansion.
In 1908, women still couldn't vote and segregation was the norm. There were immigration quotas and exclusion acts.
In 2008, the United States of America elected its first non-white president.
What will 2108 bring?
What victories will we have won for our grandchildren?
I have hope today. Because I stood in a line that Susan B. Anthony wasn't allowed to, because Barack Obama will take an oath that Frederick Douglass was only allowed to witness, I have hope that even if it doesn't happen for me, we will win the fights we fight today. The seeds that we plant will bear fruit, and though the plow may callous our hands, our children and grandchildren will reap fields of justice. Someday, we will tell children that it used to be illegal to marry the person you loved, and they will look at us with incredulity. Someday, learning that people used to go bankrupt because of their medical bills will make our grandchildren shake their heads and wonder what on earth was wrong with us. Some day, we will judge people not on their race, on their gender, on their religion, but on their character.
Some day, we will have formed the perfect union that our founders dreamed of on a hot Philadelphia afternoon, because "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.
I don't have the words
Let every child and every citizen and every new immigrant know that from this day forward everything really is possible in America. (Tom Friedman, today's NY Times)
"Hope" seems inadequate to describe what I feel. "Pride" equally so. I have never in my life felt the world to be so full of promise and potential as I do today. I have never felt so connected to the struggles of generations before me as I do right now.
Yesterday, I stood in line for 40 minutes to cast my ballot, for the first time in person. I took pictures with my cell phone and sent texts to twitter because I wanted to document it. In that line were men and women, young and old, all colors and ethnicities and we were all in that line in the hopes that we might help to make a more perfect union. And I thought about the fact that 100 years ago, I wouldn't have been allowed to be in that line. And that 50 years ago, I wasn't allowed to hold the job I have now. And that 40 years ago, men were shot for daring to hope that today might happen.
When it became clear that Senator Obama was about to become President-Elect Obama, I was so proud of America. As he says, in no other country in the world is his story even possible. And I was so afraid that I would be let down, that my hopes would be dashed, that there was enough lingering racism in this country that I would never get to write this blog post. But my fellow Americans rose above it and today I can stand in front of the world and I say I am an American and be proud of who we are.
I cried during his victory speech, during his story of Ann Nixon Cooper, the 106-year-old woman. To think how much the world has changed, what we've done, both as a nation and as a species. Do you think that our ancestors dreamed this world even in their most outlandish imaginings? I walked up the hill at work today, and I said "Do you know what happened, Mr. Douglass?"
I am so inspired, and so grateful, and so proud, and so full of hope.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Amen, Mr. President.
"Hope" seems inadequate to describe what I feel. "Pride" equally so. I have never in my life felt the world to be so full of promise and potential as I do today. I have never felt so connected to the struggles of generations before me as I do right now.
Yesterday, I stood in line for 40 minutes to cast my ballot, for the first time in person. I took pictures with my cell phone and sent texts to twitter because I wanted to document it. In that line were men and women, young and old, all colors and ethnicities and we were all in that line in the hopes that we might help to make a more perfect union. And I thought about the fact that 100 years ago, I wouldn't have been allowed to be in that line. And that 50 years ago, I wasn't allowed to hold the job I have now. And that 40 years ago, men were shot for daring to hope that today might happen.
When it became clear that Senator Obama was about to become President-Elect Obama, I was so proud of America. As he says, in no other country in the world is his story even possible. And I was so afraid that I would be let down, that my hopes would be dashed, that there was enough lingering racism in this country that I would never get to write this blog post. But my fellow Americans rose above it and today I can stand in front of the world and I say I am an American and be proud of who we are.
I cried during his victory speech, during his story of Ann Nixon Cooper, the 106-year-old woman. To think how much the world has changed, what we've done, both as a nation and as a species. Do you think that our ancestors dreamed this world even in their most outlandish imaginings? I walked up the hill at work today, and I said "Do you know what happened, Mr. Douglass?"
I am so inspired, and so grateful, and so proud, and so full of hope.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.
This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
Amen, Mr. President.
Monday, November 3, 2008
the final hours
I get to vote in person in a national election for the first time, which is exciting. I've voted in school board elections and the like, but never in a national election, because I've been away at school. I know myself well enough to know that I'm not likely to be up in time to be at the polls when they open at 7 AM. Though with the return of Eastern Standard Time, I suppose it's possible.
It's amazing, but 100 years ago, women couldn't vote. And now I'm going to go stand in line- in pants, sans chaperone- and cast my ballot for president. (Of course, as a DC resident, I'm still disenfranchised, but that's a whole different entry.) I want to bring the women of Seneca Falls forward in time so they can see me, to boost their spirits.
I just wish Election Day wasn't on a Tuesday, so I didn't have to spend 8 hours at work and worry about the lines at the polling place. And I know we'll all be glad when it's over, because this election has dragged on forever.
It's amazing, but 100 years ago, women couldn't vote. And now I'm going to go stand in line- in pants, sans chaperone- and cast my ballot for president. (Of course, as a DC resident, I'm still disenfranchised, but that's a whole different entry.) I want to bring the women of Seneca Falls forward in time so they can see me, to boost their spirits.
I just wish Election Day wasn't on a Tuesday, so I didn't have to spend 8 hours at work and worry about the lines at the polling place. And I know we'll all be glad when it's over, because this election has dragged on forever.
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