Friends Make a Difference

We won! Is there anything sweeter than winning? Yes, winning big. And, indeed, how proud I am that Pennsylvania went by 10 points for Obama, even though Franklin County kept the same percentage of votes. Well our hard work resulted in many many more Democrats turning out but many, many more Republicans turned out too. It was fun to have some good conversations with people in my area about why I was supporting Obama. It's the first time I've really engaged with folks around here about politics. They were all civil exchanges.

A dear friend and education reformer Deborah Meier, came in from NYC to help on the campaign and right after she left, we welcomed friends from Sweden. They arrived so they could stand in Times Square on election night and feel the love.The Europeans really wanted the Bush era to end and a new era to begin in relations with the USA. Let's hope it really happens.

We had a great week with them in DC. We saw an amazing retrospective glass exhibit at the Renwick Gallery of the work of Lino Tagliapietra. Everyone should make an effort to see it. You will be dazzled by his feats of magic with glass.

And finally I want to hail my former co-workers who pulled together a little reunion at the Glen Echo Irish Inn in Maryland. What a wonderful, funny, smart and idealistic crew. It makes me feel good to see them doing well by doing good.

Is Anyone Wondering Where I am????

I'm deep in Organizing land and with the help of amazing and willing volunteers we'll up the vote for Obama in Franklin County. Will we win Franklin County? Probably not. BUT our effort may prove that every vote counts and happily more and more Democrats, union members, environmentalists and others want their votes to count. When this great movement pauses after election day I'll go back to art and politics will have to take a back seat.

Serena's Birthday

Friendship can be defined in many ways. Some people stay in touch weekly, daily, monthly...for us-living a continent apart-three times a year seems to be what we manage. But we're still friends, thinking of each other on birthdays, waiting for the card we remember to send, marveling at her wonderful valentine greetings that are creative and whimsical. So after seventy years how do I remember Serena?... the person who told me at 50 that she still feels as if she's seventeen. The person who suffered through a hurricane season at a Connecticut resort where we were both childrens' counselors. The person who sat next to me in college. The person with whom I double dated. She's had an adventurous life and not always a contented one. But she's made it through, contributes to her city, does art, has good childen. To me she'll always be my "best friend" of high school and college. I think of her often and as we enter our 70th year, I'll raise a glass to her health and long life and yes, happiness!

Talk to your Spouse and your Children

One thing I've lerned while I've been calling people to vote for Obama and Tony Barr is that not every household spends quality time talking politics. Imagine at this late date -- only a month away from the election -- wives tell me, "I don't know how he's voting. We haven't talked about the election." What the heck do they talk about? It reminds me of the time when our daughter went to college and learned that not every family watched the News Hour at dinner time. So all I can advise is talk to your children and to your husband about these most "private" issues. After all their minds are a terrible thing to waste.

Say It Isn't So...

Is it really possible that the American people will reject a smart person for president? I can't believe it.

Our banks are increasingly owned by Middle Eastern, Chinese,and even Russian banks. We're bailing out the money lenders instead of regulating them. Can you imagine that Sen. McCain with his steadfast adherence to outmoded freemarket models will be able to correct the situation? Or, heaven forbid, Ms. Palin? We need a thinker -- An FDR who understands that he has to first revive the economy by rebuilding infrastructure, improving our schools, and creating jobs that build incomes. The Republicans have consistently built this economy on the idea that citizens should be consumers first. So people shop for and buy useless Made in China items that clutter their homes and lives. We need to have a "correction" all right, and that correction is to get rid of these free marketeers.

A child said, What is the grass?

A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full
hands;
How could I answer the child?. . . .I do not know what it
is any more than he.

I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful
green stuff woven.

Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropped,
Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we
may see and remark, and say Whose?

Or I guess the grass is itself a child. . . .the produced babe
of the vegetation.

Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic,
And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow
zones,
Growing among black folks as among white,
Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the
same, I receive them the same.

And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves.

Tenderly will I use you curling grass,
It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men,
It may be if I had known them I would have loved them;
It may be you are from old people and from women, and
from offspring taken soon out of their mother's laps,
And here you are the mother's laps.

This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old
mothers,
Darker than the colorless beards of old men,
Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths.

O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues!
And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths
for nothing.

I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men
and women,
And the hints about old men and mothers, and the offspring
taken soon out of their laps.

What do you think has become of the young and old men?
What do you think has become of the women and
children?

They are alive and well somewhere;
The smallest sprouts show there is really no death,
And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait
at the end to arrest it,
And ceased the moment life appeared.

All goes onward and outward. . . .and nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what any one supposed, and
luckier.

by Walt Whitman

Remembering the March on Washington

Tonight, August 28, is the 45th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. I had been a college activist in the civil rights movement and had participated in two previous marches while I was in college: the children's march and the prayer pilgrimage, both spearheaded by peace activist Bayard Rustin. I was, by 1963, expecting my first child and working for the International Union of Electrical Workers. Because we were bringing in close to a thousand union marchers, my overprotective boss, Jim Carey, stationed me on the Ellipse, near the White House, to handle IUE logistics. He told me not to go to the mall. He was worried about police overreaction and the police were edgy about civil rights violence. I was so eager to get to the "action" however that I did manage to slowly work my way to the reflecting pool. There I witnessed the most wonderful collection of people of every race, dressed for an outing (no jeans and tee shirts), union people, church leaders, doctors, lawyers, legislators--all demanding long denied justice and rights for African American citizens. The singing and the speeches, especially Dr. King's will live with me forever. It was the most loving, peaceful demonstration that had ever been seen.

Today as I consider the nomination of Barack Obama I think with such joy how I have waited for this opportunity to see us overcome the prejudices of the past. We can seize this unique moment in history to create a better nation, indivisible, with justice for all. Will we do it? Yes we can.