The Next 4 (to 8) Years
Digg This!In 1776, Thomas Pain wrote, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” At this point in history the phrase does more than resonate. On January 20, 2009; I could not help but think of revolution. For so much of my life it seemed the phrase, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” was little more than pretty poetry on paper for my generation. That can no longer be our reality.
This is a time as it was in 1776 and as it was again in 1863. A time when we must come together now in pain, hardship, hope and compassion so, “that the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom….[1]” I sense we are at a time when that very essence of our identity as Americans is at stake. If we do nothing, the result of this neglect will last longer than the lives of the children I hope to have and the children they may have. Personally, this is the most painful part of our present reality.
I was raised by Kennedy Democrats. My parents were too young to vote for JFK, but he forever impacted their views on civic responsibility. The statement, “…ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,” was a maxim by which my sisters and I were (and are) expected to live our lives. More simply, we were raised to know that we will not get anywhere unless we go together. For more than a decade, I have watched our leaders bicker over which of our people should be served first rather than how best to serve all. Worse, we have pushed many problems off to tomorrow because they are daunting. Instead of serving each other as sisters and brothers, we wasted time confronting each other over our differences while promising to “get to it later.”
In this context, “later” was supposed to come well before everything fell apart. Now we know it could be too late. On January 20th and in the weeks prior, I took solace in watching our leaders – new and old – and the people I see daily. For the moment, we have stopped asking, “What are you going to do?” and are asking, “How will we do this together?” Our leaders acknowledge that our problems are real and coming together to put forth solutions that we can all benefit from. We have remembered that above all else we are a family and that all families must work in the present to plan for the future.
January 20, 2009 will be a defining moment in my life and in the history of this country. I see it as moment in which we came together and went forth in service to this beautiful family with respect and dignity to all. I do not know if this is coming to us from President Obama or if he is reflecting the hope and compassion of the nation he will lead. I believe we will go forth from this moment to do as Mother Jones instructed, “Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.” I have faith that he will continue to lead us as once she and women like Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Betty Ross and Sacagawea led us – to better ourselves by bettering our neighbors. As I sit at my keyboard today, I hope that purposefulness and respect will apply to all aspects of our society, but in particular to the daily and intimate choices we must make for our families.
[1] Abraham Lincoln. Speech at
