11-NOV-2008
What the ????
Snow??? What a change a day can make! By late Monday afternoon the white stuff was gone, but the morning had been a bit of a shock. Hope autumn plans to return...
10-NOV-2008
a late autumn
As if even Mother Nature wanted to put up bunting to celebrate our new President, she allowed Autumn 2008, in the Detroit area at least, to linger longer than usual. Not only did we have three days in a row of sun and temperatures of 70 F/21 C degrees from November 4-6, but most of the leaves were still on the trees and brilliantly colorful. But they must have been holding on by a thread because by Sunday many of the trees were bare and our front lawn was covered in leaves. However, the human celebration continues...
07-NOV-2008
what she has seen...
Best viewed in original size.
Mrs. Jackson is 95 years old. She was born in 1913, the same year as my mother, who died in 2002. She has seen so much in her lifetime, but one thing Mrs. Jackson never expected to see was a black President, especially one from whom she had received a kiss.
Whenever Barack and/or Michelle came to Detroit for campaign appearances, they often stopped by a senior center where Mrs. Jackson likes to go. One time a man sitting close to Mrs. Jackson, yelled out, "Hey, Senator Obama, how about coming over to say hi to my mother and the woman next to her. They are 98 and 95 years old!" Barack said, "I sure will! It would be an honor." He came over to where these two women were sitting and gave each one a warm hug and kiss.
Mrs. Jackson didn't tell me this story; her daughter Julie did. Mrs. Jackson, a former teacher, is not one to blow her own horn. But she never forgets. Oh, how I wish I could see what she has seen, both good and bad. If I could, I think I would live in a perpetual state of awe.
06-NOV-2008
the dawning of a New Day
This composite photo is best viewed in Original size.
Barack Obama, just elected on November 4, 2008 to be 44th President of the United States, the first African American President in history, starts his victory speech to over 250,000 supporters in Chicago's Grant Park by saying:
"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our Founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer...It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve, to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks on August 28, 1963 to over 250,000 people who had marched on Washington, DC with the cry, "Jobs and Freedom." As I listened to our newly elected President speak last night, these words of Dr. King came to mind:
"I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
"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.'
"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
"I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
"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."
05-NOV-2008
President-elect Barack Obama!!!
I have wept more tears of joy tonight (Tuesday) than I knew I had in me. It started at 11:01 p.m. EST when the TV networks projected that Barack Obama had won the election and was going to be the 44th President of the United States of America. My tears continued through his acceptance speech in front of over 250,000 people in Chicago's Grant Park, and did not stop until Jim Lehrer of PBS said goodnight at 12:40 a.m.
How long will it take for me to believe that Americans have voted an African-American into the highest office in the land? In my lifetime I saw black men, women and children hosed, beaten, jailed and killed just for trying to get the vote. And now, a black man has been elected President. I only wish my parents were alive to see this day. It makes me so proud to be an American. May we be worthy of the hope and promise that this day brings. And may we come together as a people to support this man whom I believe could well become one of the greatest Presidents in our history. May he remain safe.
This is one of the photos I took at the Labor Day rally with then-Senator Obama in Detroit's Hart Plaza.
CLICK HERE to see my Labor Day Rally photo gallery. And
CLICK HERE to see my Election Day 2008 photo gallery.
How will I ever sleep tonight???
03-NOV-2008
Don't forget to vote!!!
This is my get-out-the-vote PaD entry...biased as it is ;~)
What happens on Tuesday, November 4 will impact not just the United States but the entire world. And what is needed is a President who will reach out to international friends and foes alike, who will choose diplomacy not military might to resolve differences, pull our troops out of Iraq and give that beleaguered country back to its people, insist that ALL prisoners be treated according to the rules of the Geneva Convention, stop spying on our own citizens at home and abroad, stop giving tax breaks to the richest individuals and corporations, make health care coverage available to all, help our young people go to college without taking on excessive debt, help bridge our differences while respecting each one's uniqueness, listen to and respect the will of the people, and always remember that ours is a government that works best from the bottom up rather than the top down.
May the 44th President of the United States lead us back to who we can and should be as a nation. May we reclaim our soul.
02-NOV-2008
sometimes even I get blue
I sometimes worry that people think I'm too upbeat or "inspirational," as many folks like to say. Well, the truth is I have my low times too, those times when nothing seems to go right. I had one a couple of days ago, but when I woke up the next morning things seemed OK again. Ebbs and flows, Ed calls them. Of course I prefer the flows but it takes both for life to stay in balance. One thing that helps is if I take a photo of the low points. Somehow that makes it feel worthwhile. Kind of reminds me of my mother's frequently repeated philosophy that if you could get a good story out of a terrible experience, it would have been worth it. For me, it's a photo not a story but it amounts to the same thing. Do you feel that way too?
