Yesterday was a really really really good day. I can’t remember the last time I felt so patriotic, when I felt so hopeful, and when I cried such happy tears. Democracy and civility have been missing from our world in these United States of America. Four years with a man who put our nation at risk repeatedly and governed from a place of ego and division rather than a place of community, justice, and principle. I’m so happy to put those four years behind us. I burst into tears when J Lo belted out “this land is your land” during the inauguration ceremony. I was reminded of elementary school when we sang this song, when we saluted the flag every morning with pure innocent reverence, when we believed that we were ONE NATION UNDER GOD INDIVISIBLE WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. I felt that yesterday. I can’t even remember the last time I cried; it’s almost like I have been holding my breath, sucking all the emotions in, and just putting one foot in front of the other. I feel as if a giant weight has lifted off of my chest, and I can breathe again.
I have quickly grown tired of the “political” discussions both with people I agree with and people I don’t. At some point along the way, none of it was about politics anymore….it was about WHO ARE WE AS HUMAN BEINGS? Are we a people that puts up with racism, division, rhetoric, lies, violence? Or are we the melting pot that I have always dreamed America to be? Are we a country the recognizes, welcomes and embraces differences? Are we a country in which children can have a vision of a better world, in which children can dream big dreams about their futures, and in which children can go to bed comforted in the fact that they live in a nation that is of the people, by the people, and for the people —- alllllll the people? The events of 2020 - the pandemic, Black Lives Matter, climate change, inequity…. none of these things have gone away; there is still a tremendous amount of work to be done to address these gigantic problems, but……. I FEEL HOPEFUL. I feel hopeful that there is now a team in place that recognizes science, that recognizes inequity, that WELCOMES diversity, and that will, to the best of their abilities, address these issues head on.
The WOMEN yesterday ….wow. The women. Kamala Harris - THE FIRST WOMAN VICE PRESIDENT. - Dr. Jill Biden, Lady Gaga, J. Lo, and, stealing the show - Amanda Gorman, the 22 year old poet laureate, wearing a bright yellow coat, a red hat, and shining brighter than the sun. Her smile could light up the whole world; her words bold and beautiful. She is inspiration embodied and a vision of what our future looks like. I want to read and re read and share and post and like and love HER POEM
When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade
We've braved the belly of the beast
We've learned that quiet isn't always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn't always just-ice
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it
Somehow we do it
Somehow we've weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn't broken
but simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one
And yes we are far from polished
far from pristine
but that doesn't mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect
We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us
but what stands before us
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another
We seek harm to none and harmony for all
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew
That even as we hurt, we hoped
That even as we tired, we tried
That we'll forever be tied together, victorious
Not because we will never again know defeat
but because we will never again sow division
Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid
If we're to live up to our own time
Then victory won't lie in the blade
But in all the bridges we've made
That is the promise to glade
The hill we climb
If only we dare
It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it's the past we step into
and how we repair it
We've seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy
And this effort very nearly succeeded
But while democracy can be periodically delayed
it can never be permanently defeated
In this truth
in this faith we trust
For while we have our eyes on the future
history has its eyes on us
This is the era of just redemption
We feared at its inception
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was
but move to what shall be
A country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold,
fierce and free
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation
Our blunders become their burdens
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy
and change our children's birthright
So let us leave behind a country
better than the one we were left with
Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,
we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,
we will rise from the windswept northeast
where our forefathers first realized revolution
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,
we will rise from the sunbaked south
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
and every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we're brave enough to see it
If only we're brave enough to be it
As I digest this over and over, read it aloud, roll it around on my tongue, I feel the pride of a mother, a woman, a human being, an American. I feel pride in the incredible diversity and wonder of this country, the United States of America. I feel the pride that this young woman has found her voice at the wee age of 22, that she, a “skinny black girl” as she describes herself has so much compassion and passion and confidence and conviction and love AT HER VERY CORE in spite of everything, and I FEEL HOPE. I feel an overwhelming gratitude that our world can be a better place for the next generation, even for my own generation. FOR THERE IS ALWAYS LIGHT, IF ONLY WE’RE BRAVE ENOUGH TO SEE IT. IF ONLY WE’RE BRAVE ENOUGH TO BE IT.