When I got up this morning the sun was just rising over the hill which is near our house and I quickly grabbed my camera and caught this shot. As I took the photo I thought of the day ahead and how much hope was rising with the sun at that moment. Millions of Americans have invested so much hope and faith in one man who would be sworn in today as their 44th President.....and make history as the first African American to step into that job. That this was happening the day after the United States had celebrated Martin Luther King day makes it even more poignant, meaningful and emotional. I am old enough to remember John Kennedy as President and how as a teenager living in England he inspired us all......even people like me who at that time had never set foot on the North American Continent. It seemed most people around the World were inspired by him. We wished that our Prime Minister was more like him. When he said "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" (I probably didn't get that quite right), it felt as though he was speaking to all the people of the World, not just Americans! When Barack Obama speaks, I feel the same way.
I grew up in a predominantly white country. Growing up British is something that evokes so much emotions that are hard to describe. Back in the 1950's and 1960's there were not many people of colour or different ethnic backgrounds living in Britain. The ones who did come to the UK from countries such as Jamaica, India, and Hong Kong settled mostly in the Southern cities such as London or Birmingham. Certainly in my home city of Newcastle it was rare to have a person of a different background living in our neighbourhoods.
So as a I became a teenager and branched out into the world of clubs, pubs and dances, I was suprised to discover that there was actually a large 'foreign' group of people living amongst us, and many of them happened to be black! Most of them were University students. One of my best friends worked in the Newcastle University Library and so was able to get tickets to all their Saturday night dances. On one particular night I was introduced to a tall, handsome black guy. My friend knew him from seeing him in the library. She liked him. He asked me to dance......and from that night on we were a couple! Over the next six months we spent as much time as possible with each other and I was happy......except for one thing.....I knew that my Mother would have a hard time accepting him simply because of his colour. It's not that she was a racist, it's simply because mixed racial couples were not considered acceptable in the UK at that time. There was no segregation as there was in the USA ......in fact segregation was looked down on and considered a terrible thing......but there was this underlying, unspoken, attitude of "it's not the British way"! And so it was that I never brought my African boyfriend home to meet my family! To this day I regret it because I know that if she had met him, my Mother would have liked him, and yes, she would have eventually accepted him because she loved me. As it was we slowly drifted apart, but I know that years later he became a Professor of Geography and head of the Social Studies Department at Freetown University in his home country of Sierra Leone! When I look at and hear Barack Obama, I see that Professor (even with the age difference)! Thank God that attitudes, even in the UK, have changed!
As my husband and I watched today's events unfold I quickly wrote down some of my feelings about what we were witnessing. They are random, but here are some of those thoughts;
Hope, high expectations riding on this man.....I just wish him well that he can fulfill some of those expectations. I'm nervous. God keep him and his family safe! So much emotion. People weeping with joy. So many people how can they keep them all safe? Some images from Selma, Alabama coming on. What thoughts are going through their heads? The changes we have all seen over the past 50 or so years. Martin Luther King is looking down and he's smiling. I've just seen someone in the crowd waving a huge flag, the USA on one side, the Canadian flag on the other! Love it! Which channel to watch? We've been going between about five channels trying to decide on the best coverage....we settle for ABC with Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer. I'm wearing red, white and blue with two Obama buttons pinned to my sweater. They were sent to me by an American friend in Florida. I'm going to preserve them both for my two nephews, one of whom lives in the States. My husband took a photo of me in front of the TV when Obama was on. I'm holding a Canadian flag. I'm proud to be British, living in Canada, a country I love, but this day I'm a citizen of the World who is filled with hope and thankfullness that I have lived to see the day that Americans had the courage to vote for real change. Someone in the crowd is holding up a sign that says it all..."we have overcome!" The reverend who gave the benediction was fantastic. He made me openly cry. The shots of the crowds is amazing! Reminds me of the crowds that gather in London whenever there is a big Royal event, like the day Charles and Diana married, or celebration such as the Queen's Golden Jubilee. Michelle Obama looks beautiful dressed in yellow, but isn't she cold? She should have had something warmer on I think! At least a coat that she could close! One of my final thoughts written down was;
Can't remember being this excited or involved in American politics since Kennedy, and later to a far lesser extent, Carter then Clinton!A great day for sure!
