Election Day 2008
My aunt died yesterday.
My aunt was my mother's sister. She was the last living link in my family to my parents' generation.
Barack Obama was elected President of the United States yesterday. Barack Obama is black.
In 1963 my mother packed lunches for the people from her neighborhood who were going to the March on Washington. My mother was active in the civil rights movement in those days, so much so a family legend is that she and my father received letters with names of "undesirables who should be avoided" one time and my mom was on it. They got the letter because my dad was in the military. So both mom and dad served their country, assuming you think helping reduce racial inequality was a service to this country. I do. If you don't, I don't care.
My aunt is gone now. I'm not sure what she thought of my mom's politics at that time. It's a conversation I never had. I didn't have many conversations with my aunt as a grown up, assuming one can consider my current state of being "grown up". I only saw her once in the last 20 years or so. She did communicate to me some information that was vital to my experiences in Finland and Sweden this past summer. I am forever indebted to her for that. I hope her exit from the planet was easy and painless. I hope her children are holding up as best they can.
When Obama was declared the winner last night I thought about my mom. I miss her terribly every day. Last night it was worse because I wanted to talk to her about it. Not as an advocate for whatever Obama is going to do, but just to ask her if she ever thought electing a black man was going to be possible in my lifetime way back when she packed those lunches, signed those petitions, went to those rallies and got those idiotic letters from the government.
Obviously, it wasn't possible in her lifetime seeing as how she's been dead for eight years and all.
Do not interpret this as an endorsement of the positions of our President-elect. It is not. Nor is my non-endorsement a condemnation. I leave political analyses to my intellectual betters. This is just about a connection that happened in my head at this moment in time. Nothing more.
Madeleine, say hi to Helen for me.
My aunt was my mother's sister. She was the last living link in my family to my parents' generation.
Barack Obama was elected President of the United States yesterday. Barack Obama is black.
In 1963 my mother packed lunches for the people from her neighborhood who were going to the March on Washington. My mother was active in the civil rights movement in those days, so much so a family legend is that she and my father received letters with names of "undesirables who should be avoided" one time and my mom was on it. They got the letter because my dad was in the military. So both mom and dad served their country, assuming you think helping reduce racial inequality was a service to this country. I do. If you don't, I don't care.
My aunt is gone now. I'm not sure what she thought of my mom's politics at that time. It's a conversation I never had. I didn't have many conversations with my aunt as a grown up, assuming one can consider my current state of being "grown up". I only saw her once in the last 20 years or so. She did communicate to me some information that was vital to my experiences in Finland and Sweden this past summer. I am forever indebted to her for that. I hope her exit from the planet was easy and painless. I hope her children are holding up as best they can.
When Obama was declared the winner last night I thought about my mom. I miss her terribly every day. Last night it was worse because I wanted to talk to her about it. Not as an advocate for whatever Obama is going to do, but just to ask her if she ever thought electing a black man was going to be possible in my lifetime way back when she packed those lunches, signed those petitions, went to those rallies and got those idiotic letters from the government.
Obviously, it wasn't possible in her lifetime seeing as how she's been dead for eight years and all.
Do not interpret this as an endorsement of the positions of our President-elect. It is not. Nor is my non-endorsement a condemnation. I leave political analyses to my intellectual betters. This is just about a connection that happened in my head at this moment in time. Nothing more.
Madeleine, say hi to Helen for me.
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