Both of you

I know that this message will only be read by Jason and Emily. Check out Richard Dahlstrom, he wrote an amazing book called O2 and his blog is awesome. Check it out.

Today and Tommorow

I am going to date this blog entry for 1-19-09, MLK Day. The most important observed holiday outisde of Christmas and Easter, in my opinion.

One of the most powerful messgaes ever delivered in this or any nation was Dr. Kings I have a dream speech. On January 20th a significant chunk of that dream will be realized. Dr. King dreamed of an America where black children and white children would hold hands as brother and sister, he dreamed a place where the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners would be in fellowship and community with one another, and he dreamed of a place where we would all join hands and join in singing the old negro spritual, free at last, free at last, thank God almighty we are free at last. His dream was unity.

Inaguration day 2009 is a day this country will remember forever and there are so many to thank. Dr. King for his dream that inspired a nation. Rosa Parks for not giving up her seat. The U.S. supreme court in 1954 declaring that segragation is schools was illegal. The Little Rock 9 who in 1957 became the first black students at an all white school. The freedom riders who left the north on buses to fight segragation in the south. Medgar Evers and all of those who lost their lives fighting for the cause of civil rights. The work of JFK and his brother Robert in supporting civil rights. And to all of those who stood up, marched, refused to give up their seat, took beatings and spoke out against segregation whose names we will never know. Our nation is indebted to all of you and on Inaguration day we should be honoring you as much as our president elect.

As I look to our future, I am for the first time in many years proud to be an American. Being 50 years removed from the beginning of the civil rights movement and about 2 hours from the inaguration of our first African American President I am experiencing joy as Dr. Kings dream is becoming a reality for our nation. We still have a long way to go and although segregation is no longer around, rascism is alive and well. We should never stop working toward and longing for the day when as Dr. King dreamed people will not be judge by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I hope on inaguration day we all take a break and really celebrate. Celebrate change in a country that needed it so badly, celebrate the first black president being sworn in, in a nation that 50 years ago wouldnt let him go to school with the man who will be his vice president, and celebrate hope, a powerful thing that kept Dr. Kings dream going all those years and is finally being realized in a nation that needs hope so badly.

Jason

I adressed this post to you Jason because you are the only one in the world who reads my blog. I have an idea, what if we set aside a two week period to eat nothing but rice and beans as an act of solidarity with the worlds poorest inhabitants. If the poorest of the poor get meals, its usually rice and beans. I think this could be a cool experience. Let me know what you think.

A sad truth

This past weekend I went and saw the movie, The Secret Life of Bees. (I highly recommend it.) This film was set in the South in the sixties right around the time the Civil Rights movement was starting to gain a head of steam. As I watched this movie and thought about Obama's candidacy for the highest office in the land I was overcome with emotion as I thought about how far we have come as a nation. This emotion came to a climax on Tuesday night when Obama was elected President. From Tuesday on I really started to believe that this nation may be turning a corner, where race is no longer a divisive thing. I began to believe that maybe we are almost to a place where, as the great Dr. King described, people wont be judged on the color of their skin but by the content of their character. These thoughts came to a screeching halt today when I went grocery shopping. I was walking through the aisles when I was approach by a conservative evangelical friend of mine who knew I preffered Barack Obama to his John McCain, he shook my hand and said, "On monday morning every white person in America is to report to the cotton fields to work." Part of me wanted to punch him in the face, but instead I told him that was the least funny, and most offensive thing I have heard in my entire life. How could someone make light of a beautiful historic moment in our country's history by making such an obtuse rascist remark? The thing that bothers me most is that this individual who holds this deep seeded racisim claims to follow the same Jesus I follow. Something isnt right. Before Tuesday night I had little hope in America, after Tuesday night hope began to build, and today Ive started to lose it again. America, land of ignorance.

First Blog

This is my first attempt at blogging. I created a blog so that I could easily read friends' blogs, as well as blogs from some pretty intelligent folks I have never met. I look forward to learning how to navigate this interesting world of blogging, and using my blog to openly question and wonder.