Future Ms. Justice?

Today’s been a hot bed of news for this nation.  Our President has nominated federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to become the nation’s first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.  This is sooooo cool.  Finally to have the possibility of two women again serving on the nation’s highest court (getting us closer to having women fill high positions.)  And the fact that she’s Hispanic is also really cool.  Her background of coming from poverty in Harlem to a federal appeals judge is what we’re taught is the American Dream.  Hopefully her nomination will fly through without many problems.  (And hopefully she’ll turn out to be a much more empathetic justice than some of the ones we have now!)

January 20, 2009- The Day That Changed The World

I’m writing this as I watch the President of the United States of America, President Barack Obama, begin the parade from the Capitol to the White House.  What a morning!  I’m a little ticked off at Chief Justice John Roberts for majorly screwing up the official swearing in, but that’s ok, I’m ticked at John Roberts for a lot these days. 

I cried a couple of times, because of the history of this day, I think.  I’m also so grateful that people like Georgia Congressman John Lewis was sitting right behind the President (ok tearing up again) to see this moment.  After being arrested and beaten during the 1960’s with Dr. King, Congressman Lewis has been my beacon of light and hope for quite some time. (again tearing up)

I’m going to go now to watch the parade.  And to Dr. King, I hope you know that there are many of us who are committed to making your dream possible.  We’re not quite there yet, but we’re going to keep on fighting and dreaming!

WordPress spelling error

Every time I write the words “Barack Obama” here in the postings on my blog, the spell check from WordPress says that the words are spelled wrong.  I finally got fed up and sent the powers that be a note stating that the 44th President of the United States name should be in the dictionary.  We’ll see how long it takes to be added!

A note to America on “Yes We Can”

Due to the generosity of some people I know, I am now the proud owner of a Barack Obama for President long sleeved shirt.  I have been wearing it all week, getting positive comments along the way.  But I got a reaction on Thursday afternoon, that I never could have expected.  I have been getting goosebumps every time I tell the story, and I’m getting goosebumps now as I type.

I had an appointment on Thursday afternoon with my oral surgeon.  (I have TMJ, which is also called lock jaw, and I’m being treated for it.)  Since it was my first visit with this particular doctor, I was sent to the waiting room to fill out the hundred pages of medical information.  And I took my seat and began to fill out the paperwork.  All of a sudden, I hear “Yes we can… Yes we did!…”  I look up to see where the voice was coming from.  There was a man of color (probably in his 50’s) sitting across from me, who had a big smile on his face.  He pointed to my shirt and just nodded in agreement.  I smiled back and said that I had been wearing the shirt with pride all week, and thank goodness for washing machines.  He laughed and simply said again “Yes we did, yes we did.”  He was called to see the doctor at that moment, so I didn’t have a chance to talk with him.

But at that moment, I KNEW truly what it meant to have Barack Obama be elected to be our next president.  If nothing else, it means that the conversation between the generations, between the races, between the genders, between people of different abilities and so on (as Barack Obama said in his speech in Chicago Tuesday night), now takes on a whole different meaning.  I don’t know if this gentleman and I would have talked before this election, not because we are of different races, but because I was doing the heavy paperwork.  But this election opened up something in each of us.  It has given us the freedom to communicate at a different level.  A deeper level.  And I for one am grateful for that.

And so to the gentleman at the doctor’s office.  Thank you for connecting with me, and “Yes we did…”

Today is that day

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.   I have a dream today!”

-Martin Luther King Jr. – delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

Today is that day!

(For full text AND video of this wonderful speech click here)

 

Election Day!!

I voted this afternoon, and it took me a couple of minutes after I filled out my ballot, before I could place it in the machine, not because there was a line, but because I wanted to take the time to breathe and realize the history of this vote.  (There were police there making sure no riots broke out in this little town I live in that has 2 stop lights, so I didn’t want to take a picture of my ballot and get arrested!)  So I just stood there looking at my ballot and thinking about how I would remember this moment and this day. 

I’m now watching the news to see who is going to become our next President.  I am so hopeful that Barack Obama is going to win.  I’m also so proud of all of the kids that I’ve had the privilege of mentoring, babysitting, being their teacher, etc.  that are now able to vote, that registered and then VOTED.  This makes me so proud!! 

It has also been really neat to hear the stories of the people who worked in the civil rights movement in the 60’s, who are both white and people of color, who are so excited that this time in America’s history has come.   Not because we could have a man of color as our president, but because the issue of race in America is something that America is finally tackling.  We’re making progress, slowly, but progress.  Next, I hope we can begin the conversation on the equality for women!

Presidential Debate #2- “blah, blah, blah”

All I’m hearing (I’m writing this as I watch the debate) is pretty much “blah blah blah blah” from both Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama.

If I’m really honest- If I were playing a drinking game (which I would never do because 1) excessive drinking is irresponsible and dangerous and 2) I’m allergic to alcohol) I’d be taking a swig every time John McCain said the words “My Friends.”  I would be passed out by now.  Does he even know how annoying that can get?

And Sen. Obama is about as inspiring as watching jello set.

The most interesting thing about the debate is watching Tom Brokaw get frustrated at the two men, because they’re not following the “rules of the debate.”  Good ‘Ol Tom, trying to keep things under control.

But still— today was blah blah blah.  With 4 weeks left, give me some excitement people.  I want to hear HOW YOU’RE GOING TO RUN THIS COUNTRY!!!!!

Oh and don’t forget to register to vote and then VOTE to let yourself be heard.  You can be sure I’M GOING TO VOTE!!!

Thoughts on our country

I was watching 60 minutes this week and Leslie Stahl interviewed Justice Antonin Scalia (of the US Supreme Court.)  Now I fundamentally disagree with Justice Scalia on just about everything, but I was really fascinated by his passion with which he really believes in the US Constitution and that he believes in his role in interpreting the Constitution.  I hate to say it, but it was actually inspiring to see someone so passionate about the laws of our country.  I think that’s what should be driving this upcoming election.  Which candidate is passionate about the laws and policies of our country.

When Gov. Palin talks, that’s what I see is missing.  I don’t see this passion for our COUNTRY.  I hear her talk about firing the executive chef, putting the governor’s jet on ebay and being an advocate for special needs children.  But she has no concept about what it means to represent our nation.  I think that John McCain has this passion, but again, fundamentally I disagree with almost everything he stands for, which is why week after week, I get more and more excited about seeing what Barack Obama and Joe Biden are putting forth.  I think that these two really care about America as a nation, the citizens of the country, the environment (locally and globally) and also how America is not just a lone nation, but also has an important role on the global stage.

“No Way, No How, No McCain”

No matter what you think of Hillary and Bill Clinton, in my opinion, Hillary Clinton’s speech ROCKED tonight!!!  It was all about why if you have certain values and ideals that are similar to the Democratic Party ideals, you should vote for Barack Obama and support the Democratic party.  When she asked the people at the convention and the people at home: “Were you in this campaign just for me?”  I have to admit that at that moment the true Democrat in me came out and I will do all I can to elect Sen. Obama, and I was prouder than I have ever been to be a woman and to have had the chance to at least vote once in my life for a woman for president!  Now on to campaigning for the issues!

Democratic National Convention

I watched the Democratic National Convention last night (Monday) on MSNBC.  I think this is probably the 10th convention that I’ve seen on tv.  Actually, I’ll say that this is the 10th one, given that my dad has watched them all of my life, and I got hooked on politics this way.  (And the convention in 1988 was especially memorable because George McGovern’s grandson was in my high school class, and George McGovern would pop into our Political Science classes all the time, which was really cool.)

 

Ok, back to last night… I was really moved by Sen. Kennedy’s speech. I think the fact that my parents AND my grandparents were active in the civil rights movementsin the 60’s and still today, had a huge impact on me.  And we had a picture of Bobby Kennedy hanging in our home.  So I guess I think of the Kennedys as still being a part of our nation’s center.  (Plus he is one of my Senators, and I have voted for him, so that makes me extra interested in what he was saying.)

But I was really motivated by Michelle Obama’s speech.  I guess I’d never really paid attention to her speeches before, but she really is inspiring!  And I did like the way that she incorporated the 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling that represented Hillary Clinton’s votes into her speech (Check out minute 9:08 of the video).  That made me feel special (since I voted for Hillary, and have been feeling a little bummed with the choice of Joe Biden as the VP choice.)

So Hillary gives her speech tonight.  Can’t wait to see what she has to say!!!