Good morning. A lot is happening in my small world right now so I can not start regular posting quite yet. But I am really excited to get going when I can. I will fill in the gap at that time, maybe mid-February.
One fun thing is a small piece of news that you may not have seen: Barack Obama is President of the United States. I was running around Green Lake just before his swearing in and listened to person after person on NPR talk about how this was the most important historical event in their lifetime. Since I was on a long slog, I thought about all of the “most important” historical events in my lifetime: watching the landing on the moon with my parents in front of the television, listening to the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show (again with my parents in front of the television), learning about JFK being assassinated (that was hard to type), Nixon resigning, the six-day war, the hostages in Iran for over a year, the Alaska Lands Bill being signed by Jimmy Carter, Clinton being elected both the first and the second time, and I realized that although they were all major events, they really were less important than Barack Obama becoming our President.
So I will join the chorus. Tuesday was the most important historical event in my lifetime.
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I have re-posted below the Letter to the Editor that we got published (it was a group effort) in the Seattle Times the day before the election.
Let’s show them
From Paul Revere’s midnight ride and the signing of the Declaration of Independence to Abraham Lincoln’s fighting for the Emancipation Proclamation and the battlefields where American soldiers have died in defense of other people’s freedoms, our country has held true to the principle that everyone has the right to a life free of injustice. More than anything else we stand for, this freedom is the American dream and is recognized as such around the world.
We have struggled with ourselves to protect this dream; in fact, our country’s history can be seen as an ongoing internal battle against intolerance, greed, hatred and bigotry. Our progress has not been smooth and gradual, or even continuous, but with giant steps forward, homeostasis punctuated by volcanic changes.
In 1870 a major triumph — the 15th Amendment — extended voting rights to men of all race and color, but not to women. It took us another 50 years to take that step. And despite the 15th Amendment, the battle to vote regardless of race or color wasn’t assured until passage of the National Voting Rights Act of 1965. Even now, women do not get equal pay for equal work.
We have fought hard to hang on to our dream. Americans have shed tears, lost lives and suffered to bring about these changes.
Now we have the chance to step forward again. People of every political stripe share an almost palpable national excitement, even angst, as the nation undergoes something akin to birthing pains. Regardless of political party, we should be proud and mark the moment when we elect our first black president. It is a milestone in our journey to be the country we aspire to and a reminder to our friends and our enemies abroad why we are such a great country.
– Joel Horn, Seattle
Posted in Current Events.
By Joel Horn November 3, 2008
3 Responses
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Hi Joel and welcome back. I would add some other important historical days including when Lehman Brothers imploded and 9/11. Probably because I live in New York.
Joel, I agree on the historic nature and the inspirational quality of the day, and the reality of Obama as president. Not just the first African American – but how many others raised by a single mother? Who else had an immigrant father and a fleet of step and half siblings to their name? How many of us have been through tough times early in life that have held us back – maybe in our own minds more than for others – and for all of us Obama is such a model of reflection, discipline, passion, kindness, strength, and personal growth over fear, regret, and small thinking.
I was running a conference on global health with mainly international attendees on the morning of the inauguration. There was unanimous consensus that the proceedings should be postponed so we all could watch this amazing moment.
On a more quotidian note, today’s sunrise over the Cascades and Olympics was stunning. Did you capture it from 122 N. 59th? Look forward to tracking your stories, news and insights more regularly, and posting too.
Hey there jackson, I am waiting for some things to settle before I start posting again, maybe March. Glad to see you on the site. We’ll fire it up again, hope you are well.
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