Monday, January 21, 2008

MLK Day

Can I just say today that regardless of how I end up casting my presidential vote, I am happy that our country's options include a person of color and a woman? I am not a political person. I hate getting into it with people over issues. It flusters me. I know what I stand for and what I'd like to see in this great country of ours, but not how to charge that vision with words or actions. There is a reason I've been outside the political process: I HAVE BEEN OUTSIDE THE POLITICAL PROCESS. What have I seen in my lifetime that would draw me into such an arena? Men of another generation arguing over the way things should be run. I felt as welcome in that dialog as a dandelion on a front lawn. So, yes, I want my daughter to see a woman in the highest office in the land. Maybe then, she will feel like a full-fledged participant in the way our country is run. I can imagine that people of color have the same wish for their children when they see a black man campaigning. For too long, we have accepted the cultural metaphors not just for power, but for human dignity. Pull out paper currency and whose faces do you see? Look for a flesh colored band-aid. What color is it? These are messages of domination so deeply ingrained in us as a people that many fail to see the problem. Is it any wonder, the hope I experience now in the primaries? A black man. A white woman. Running for President of the United States. Today is a day to dream.

2 comments:

Garden Goddess said...

Precise and power-full! Thanks, Jill, for this inspiring post. Peace, J

Angie K. Millgate said...

Nicely put, Jill. Thank you! You hit my exact experience right on the head. -Angie