Today is a day to be marked, to mark your emotions on this day, to mark what is happening in the world today, to mark what has happenend before today.
Today I mark the election of the first Black President of the United States. I see a marble Abraham Lincoln looking benevolently down and I hear the words of Martin Luther King through the voices of his friends and peers. I mark the history, not the politics, being made today.
Today, I mark the people that are mentioned when we talk about today. The Tuskegee Airmen, who wanted only to die for their country like everyone else. The Little Rock 9, who only wanted to go to school like everyone else. Rosa Parks, who only wanted to sit down on the bus. Thurgood Marshall, who only wanted to fight for his people in the highest court. Jesse Owen, who only wanted to save the world by running as fast he could. Jackie Robinson, who only wanted to play a game. And then that group we all try to run away from, that group that haunts our history, but we do not hear their shackles shaking. That group that was enslaved in our country. The group that men felt so strongly about they were willing to die just to keep that group enslaved. The group who had to develop their own language, their own religion just to survive. I mark them in our not too distant history. I mark them and wonder if what we have done has come to late to save our souls.
Today, I mark the last 8 years. An attack on our country that murdered 3,000. A war that was waged irresponsibly, murdering another 3,000 of our people and hundreds of thousands of others. Today I mark the people who were collecting houses in 2000 and who are now collecting unemployment checks. I mark them. I mark the people that the media highlighted through the long and arduous election process, the people that the candidates hugged or not. I mark the people who couldn't afford to go to the hospital, and I wonder if they are still with us. I wonder if they are well. I wonder if they feel hope now.
Today, I mark the transition from a man who lamented not being able to be a dictator to a man who wants everyone to pitch in, and I wonder if we can. I mark this cliff that we are looking over. Will you mark where you stand or will you jump over the edge into something new and grand. I mark your response. I mark your feelings.
I mark how eerily everything worked out in this election. A fairytale story ending the day after Martin Luther King Day on the steps of a house built by slaves in a mall that was used as a slave market. But I cannot be 100% happy. My own life has taught me that fairytales aren't what they seem to be in books. Nothing will work out perfectly, and I mark the impossibly high hopes placed on this new President as he carries the weight of his race as well as his country. I do wonder what today would be like if we were electing a woman rather than a Black man. Not Hillary necessarily but a woman. Would there be as much rejoicing? I mark my thought: Probably not. But would it not be just as victorious? Have not women been enslaved? Are there not still women who are?
I mark my fears today. I mark my fears that we have once again gotten cocky and that we feel that nothing could possibly harm this charismatic man whom we have elected. But I am afraid for his safety today, I am. And I mark it.
All days should be marked so long as you are not six feet under, but some days should be marked a bit more than others. Not all days were created equal. I mark today. I mark it in the hopes that someday I can look back on this moment and remember the real emotions that surrounded it, so that I can remember Obama rather than OBAMA. I mark it. And that is all.
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joriejc2's journal
