Even with all the talk about Obama, I thought this needed said........
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Some pictures are worth volumes more. Today I found a picture that stuck with me, and hit me hard where it counts, literally bringing me to tears. Many NPers know that I recently lost my mother very tragically. I just happened to run across this image at the same time something else was reminding me of my mother, and combining the two thoughts led me to a perspective on things I didn't have before - at least not to the same level I do now. My mother didn't grow up what most people would nowadays call "rich", but she certainly grew-up more toward the upper-end of middle-class for the times and was pampered in that aspect. My grandparents were a military officer/engineer and a tax lawyer, and my mother and her siblings grew-up (were literally raised by) nannies and household "staff". They grew-up in the 50's, and had a household staff that never consisted of anything other than African-American employees during a high-point in the fight for civil rights. My grandparents treated the staff the way they did (they later claimed) because they were "employees", but when you are a white family and you expect your all non-white staff to treat you as if you were an officer and they were military privates (they even insisted the maids dress as maids, and had all the staff even refer to the youngest children as "Sir" or "Ma'am"), is in my opinion just a step away from treating them as if they are indentured servants. My mother spent her late teen years, and most of her adult life fighting (sometimes very publicly, and sometimes behind the scenes) to extend the rights of all to be treated fairly and the same, rather it be race, gender, or otherwise. When I saw this picture today, I thought it moving, but I thought it was like so many others that were taken that November night when he won the election and on January 20th when he was sworn in. However, as I heard my mother's name mentioned again in a conversation I was having, as I looked at this photo, the photo took on a whole new perspective. Outside my aunts and uncles, and a set of great-grandparents who have out-lived all their own children, I have (sadly, considering I am only in my mid thirties) lost all of those in the generations above me, having lost both parents and both sets of grandparents over the years. While my mother's parents might not have cared (her mother, and birth father at least - she later remarried), most of those family members would have grinned ear-to-ear to see the day Obama was elected, and especially to watch him be sworn in. As I looked at this photo, I thought of the stories my mother used to tell me, both of those household staff she came to know and became closer with than she ever was with her own parents and of the battles she helped fight to see that those people's children and grandchildren grew-up in a more fair and equal world. Obama's victory was not only a victory for African-Americans, but for all minorities in this country. Even more so, it was a victory for all of the country in saying that anyone can strive to accomplish anything they want in this nation. Obama's slogan has been "Yes we can", and finally this country has responded by "Yes we will" and "Yes we did". We are not totally done with the fight to make it a totally open-minded and fair society, but this past November the majority spoke and said that is exactly what they wanted to do, and on January 20th we took one huge step in that direction by saying to the world "Yes we can" and "Yes we will". I had pride in what our nation did in November, and I was proud to be an American when Obama took that oath, but having seen this photograph, that pride is even stronger now then it was inauguration day. As I looked into the eyes of the woman in that photo, I could just imagine those staff that raised my mother, and imagined that any of them still living cried just like the woman in that image - and, ironically, most of them would probably be about the same age now as the woman in the photograph. More personally, I imagined my mother staring down from heaven with the biggest grin on her face as the inauguration took place. And, as I looked at this photo, I could almost swear I heard her voice saying "All those years of fighting to make it right for others was well worth it." I seriously believe Obama will go down in history not only as the first non-white-male president, but as a great president in his own right. His previously stated goals, along with what he has done in just the few days he has been in office, almost assure me of that fact. But, regardless of the final judgment of him as a president, those words I imagined my mother saying and those tears cried around the country will go down in history with or despite the man, because at that point we as a country changed forever; and, it was a change I never thought I'd live to see and that made me more proud of my country than I ever thought I could be.
The eyes and tears that got my attention:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3917677/displaymode/1107/s/2/framenumber/4/
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Some pictures are worth volumes more. Today I found a picture that stuck with me, and hit me hard where it counts, literally bringing me to tears. Many NPers know that I recently lost my mother very tragically. I just happened to run across this image at the same time something else was reminding me of my mother, and combining the two thoughts led me to a perspective on things I didn't have before - at least not to the same level I do now. My mother didn't grow up what most people would nowadays call "rich", but she certainly grew-up more toward the upper-end of middle-class for the times and was pampered in that aspect. My grandparents were a military officer/engineer and a tax lawyer, and my mother and her siblings grew-up (were literally raised by) nannies and household "staff". They grew-up in the 50's, and had a household staff that never consisted of anything other than African-American employees during a high-point in the fight for civil rights. My grandparents treated the staff the way they did (they later claimed) because they were "employees", but when you are a white family and you expect your all non-white staff to treat you as if you were an officer and they were military privates (they even insisted the maids dress as maids, and had all the staff even refer to the youngest children as "Sir" or "Ma'am"), is in my opinion just a step away from treating them as if they are indentured servants. My mother spent her late teen years, and most of her adult life fighting (sometimes very publicly, and sometimes behind the scenes) to extend the rights of all to be treated fairly and the same, rather it be race, gender, or otherwise. When I saw this picture today, I thought it moving, but I thought it was like so many others that were taken that November night when he won the election and on January 20th when he was sworn in. However, as I heard my mother's name mentioned again in a conversation I was having, as I looked at this photo, the photo took on a whole new perspective. Outside my aunts and uncles, and a set of great-grandparents who have out-lived all their own children, I have (sadly, considering I am only in my mid thirties) lost all of those in the generations above me, having lost both parents and both sets of grandparents over the years. While my mother's parents might not have cared (her mother, and birth father at least - she later remarried), most of those family members would have grinned ear-to-ear to see the day Obama was elected, and especially to watch him be sworn in. As I looked at this photo, I thought of the stories my mother used to tell me, both of those household staff she came to know and became closer with than she ever was with her own parents and of the battles she helped fight to see that those people's children and grandchildren grew-up in a more fair and equal world. Obama's victory was not only a victory for African-Americans, but for all minorities in this country. Even more so, it was a victory for all of the country in saying that anyone can strive to accomplish anything they want in this nation. Obama's slogan has been "Yes we can", and finally this country has responded by "Yes we will" and "Yes we did". We are not totally done with the fight to make it a totally open-minded and fair society, but this past November the majority spoke and said that is exactly what they wanted to do, and on January 20th we took one huge step in that direction by saying to the world "Yes we can" and "Yes we will". I had pride in what our nation did in November, and I was proud to be an American when Obama took that oath, but having seen this photograph, that pride is even stronger now then it was inauguration day. As I looked into the eyes of the woman in that photo, I could just imagine those staff that raised my mother, and imagined that any of them still living cried just like the woman in that image - and, ironically, most of them would probably be about the same age now as the woman in the photograph. More personally, I imagined my mother staring down from heaven with the biggest grin on her face as the inauguration took place. And, as I looked at this photo, I could almost swear I heard her voice saying "All those years of fighting to make it right for others was well worth it." I seriously believe Obama will go down in history not only as the first non-white-male president, but as a great president in his own right. His previously stated goals, along with what he has done in just the few days he has been in office, almost assure me of that fact. But, regardless of the final judgment of him as a president, those words I imagined my mother saying and those tears cried around the country will go down in history with or despite the man, because at that point we as a country changed forever; and, it was a change I never thought I'd live to see and that made me more proud of my country than I ever thought I could be.
The eyes and tears that got my attention:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3917677/displaymode/1107/s/2/framenumber/4/
Last edited:
