It’s been little over a week now. My new sense of hope is settling in.\u00a0I have felt the swell of pride-I am adjusting to\u00a0my subtle shift in my own private universe.\u00a0I was so honored to have voted.\u00a0 Mine counted.\u00a0 It mattered.\u00a0 The day after the election, I traveled down\u00a0South.\u00a0 \u00a0I was overwhelmed by the sense of change that so many were feeling.\u00a0 It was obvious people were ready for something new.\u00a0 This cultivation of hope- en mass…in the south, in particular….though there were a few typical negative comments that only someone in the south could make and really mean.\u00a0 I am so honored this happened in my lifetime, in my daughter’s life time…..not so much for the impact of\u00a0race-( I have always believed people are people no matter the color-no matter the status)but more so for the message of hope.\u00a0 Yes, we can.\u00a0 Yes, you can.\u00a0 Yes, we did.<\/p>\n
I never cared much for commenting on politics.\u00a0 Certainly, in the last 8 years, I never cared for commenting on much of anything that has to do with\u00a0Government.\u00a0 I, for damn sure, never cared much for anyone telling me what to do with my money, my God or my womb.\u00a0Make love, not war. \u00a0I hate religion being used as a barometer for someones ignorance…or lack of acceptance.\u00a0 I don’t want anyone telling my child she will go to\u00a0hell or that someone died for her so she could be\u00a0saved.\u00a0\u00a0These things are private.\u00a0Besides, I have learned over the years, that many of these people use\u00a0the threat of religion to cover\u00a0up their\u00a0own demons. God will but I won’t.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I was embarrassed to be an American.\u00a0 Truth is, if I did not have a child in the school system, or live in a small town-I would comment more on the things that bother me- the unjust-the struggle-the hypocrisy of those who take authority and bend it to accommodate their own agenda…..I would comment more about what I really feel-but I don’t because I don’t not want my\u00a0child to\u00a0suffer the consequences. I grew up in a small town, and know all too well children get the brunt of a parent’s\u00a0public opinion.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I have been distressed and upset about the state of the state-the state of the world-and the moral compass of those who are supposed to be in charge.\u00a0But not this time. \u00a0And don’t fool me with a new face in a red skirt.\u00a0 This is not the voice of the women I know and respect. She does not represent the kind of woman I want breaking any glass ceiling or old rules.<\/p>\n
I might be naive.\u00a0 I might be fooled.\u00a0 But, I don’t think so.\u00a0 I think, this time, we got it right.\u00a0 We can be the change and we elected someone to lead the way.\u00a0 To quote Charlotte Observer columnist Tommy Tomlinson:<\/p>\n
“…..Obama means that words still matter,that a speech can be both politics and poetry, that ideas carried inside the beauty of language can still inspire.\u00a0 Obama means that today a teacher in a crumbling classroom of free-lunch kids can tell them they can\u00a0 be anything, and today maybe they will believe.\u00a0 Obama means that appealing to the worst in us is not always a winning play.\u00a0 Obama means maybe we can look at ourselves in a new way. Obama means that when we say all men and women are created equal, we might finally be ready to put a period at the end.”<\/p>\n
exhale.<\/p>\n