It's been a while since I posted. Laziness, not enough time or energy, so much going on that I've been paralyzed by having too much to say. Who knows?
The election is over and we're now into the transition period. Barack Obama is going to be my new president and I am absolutely over the moon about it. Not because I think it's evidence that racism has lost it's grip on America. I don't. But perhaps this is another step in a long marathon for African Americans and other minorities.
There was a message going around before the election that I think sums this up beautifully.
Rosa sat so that Martin could march so that Barack could run.
Mark and I didn't want to be alone the night of the election, so we went up to Maryland to celebrate or commiserate with our friends. It was a whole new experience of media overload. We had three computers going, each watching multiple websites and on the television we flipped through the channels until we found someone who seemed to speak sense and didn't shout. When the race was finally called at about 11 pm, I started crying and didn't stop until after midnight. That's my strongest memory of the night. And Obama's beautifully crafted and delivered speech.
Mark noticed a phrase "The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America -- I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you -- we as a people will get there." He thought that it was a subtle reference to a Martin Luther King speech. On April 3, 1963 Dr King gave his "I have been to the mountaintop" speech. in it, he concludes: "And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. " Reading these together, I can see a progression of the promise. 40 years ago, African Americans could only dream of a mythical hope. 40 years later, an African American can embody and deliver on that promise.
Am amazing journey in 40 years, eh? Of course, I'm particularly attune to 1968 and the intervening 40 years. And this 40th anniversary makes me hopeful and excited about what I might see before I leave this earth. 40 years ago, nobody would have anticipated an African American president. So I'm not even going to speculate on what we might see in the next 40 years. But I'm hopeful that Brarack Obama will not be the last president of color.
And in other news, my work life has been turned upside down. For a variety of reasons, my staff has been more than doubled, which is resulting in some very long hours and intense planning sessions and conversations with my new staff. I have quite a job ahead of me proving to some of them that I don't have horns. In a strange way, I'm looking forward to the challenge, but I'm also not under any illusion that success is certain. We'll see.
And the training regime has ratcheted up again. Last week saw 9 workouts, three on one day. I also worked a 10 hour day that day and stupidly didn't eat dinner, so I was toast by half way through the last workout. I had to arrange four changes of clothes that day - I guess arranging two meals was a little too much.
This week ends with a race for Mark and I. I'm doing a half marathon and Mark's up for his first marathon. Very exciting!
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