I am a patriot
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Despite my two pairs of pants, two pairs of socks, two pairs of gloves, two thermal shirts, a sweater, scarf, hat, and ski coat -- I spent most of my time waiting for the Inauguration to begin by jumping up and down -- my toes were numb and I desperately wanted to start feeling them again. To be honest, there were a couple of times when I thought about ditching the mall and the masses and taking the metro back home to watch the inauguration in my heated apartment.
But I didn't -- and I'm glad. My memories will now always reflect back to how I felt as Aretha Franklin belted America in her understated sultriness -- (and that hat!!), Obama's speech, and that gorgeous benediction by Reverend Joseph Lowery. That voice weathered smooth by age and those words inspired by experience, made me so joyful. The reverend lit me on fire. His prayer could've come from the lips of Amos and Jeremiah. Indeed -- it is a time when we need such prophets.
Barack said many statements in his address that will continue to be dissected for weeks to come -- but no one can dissect the feeling so many of us had of the moment when we knew Obama was leading us to a much bigger understanding of politics and patriotism. I'm quite happy to be done with these "childish things." And if that means rejecting the false choice "between our safety and our ideals" -- then bring it on.
posted by Karyn at
12:19 PM
7 Comments:
This page has very low contrast and is very difficult to read. Either whiter type or lighter background, please.
Aretha Franklin is a fur whore. She victimizes the defenseless. There is no peace in that. She should never have been invited to participate. You need to re-examine your values.
Well, my friend, if you knew your bible you would know he was quoting Amos, Isaiah, Micah...
I agree with you on Joseph Lowery's prayer. That was a high point. It was a counterpoint to where Obama channeled Bush in defending "our way of life" and sounding very militant about those with whom we are in conflict. (The Daily Show did a great piece with excerpts from Bush speeches and Obama's inaugural.)
I also loved the prayer by Rev. V. Gene Robinson (Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire) for the nation and President Obama at the opening inaugural event (Lincoln Memorial).
He addressed the prayer to the “God of our many understandings”.
Here is some of it:
“Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic answers we've preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and our world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be fixed anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs as a nation must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion's God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.”
Lowerey was the highpoint for me too, especially when he quoted Big Bill Broonzy's "Get Back" Blues...
Rev. Lowery also quoted or sampled James Weldon Johnson's "Lift Every Voice and Sing" at the beginning several of Dr. King's speeches, some of which King may have sampled from Lowery in the first place, and Big Bill Broonzy's "Black, Brown, and White." It's great to have a wider range of expression and ideas back in play
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