This red text has two purposes, both of which, are symbolic: 1. The color of writer's error or revision & 2. The color of S.O.S., or rescue...which is preciely where I am at and what I need.
In between the variety of the spices in my life, I have continued to pursue this first "piece" to reconnect me back to the academic world. It still hasn't become what I know it could become...so I'm essentially stuck.
This "And" vs. "But" notion is extremely interesting to me, but the more identify the differences, the more I also uncover some similarties, and thus, the thesis gets murky. What do you think? Look at Bush in 2001 and compare in 2009--does anything jump our you? (Forget the ands and buts.)
I think I've looked at the language too much and now forget the range of feelings or thoughts I had about our President during that time...so, I'm using my first SOS. Please help.
Off the top of your head, did you notice a shift in the Bush administration from the early to the late years?
Today, on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, these mild January East Coast winds remind me of much harsher, colder January winds a year ago. My wife and I made the trip to our nation’s plaza, outside the Capitol Building to witness the swearing in and Presidential Inauguration of our 44th President of the Unites States, Barack Obama.
I will never forget the numbness in my toes, the shallow chill-like-ice breath in such stark contrast to the immeasurable human warmth that radiated from every person on the National Mall. I remember standing next to an African-American gentleman, who stood there—pressed against me, holding an American flag with his daughter on his shoulders—anxiously awaiting the ceremony to begin. That moment is frozen in my memory: the pure joy, excitement from this man, from hundreds—thousands just like him. In spite of bone-chilling weather, masses upon masses of people; everyone was so happy, so honored to be a part of this historic moment.
“America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.”
-the final words of the new President’s inauguration speech.
With a lump in my throat, I glanced over at that man with his little girl on his shoulders. He was crying. Not sobbing, but that proud kind of crying you experience, where your face is almost stone cold, your nostrils might flare a bit, and you have a steady, strong, stream of tears down the sides of your face. I looked over in the other direction and this African-American woman (she must have been 65 at least) was bundled up and sobbing. There I stood right next to her, I was a total [white] stranger and she reached over to my hand and grabbed it with both of hers, hard. She didn’t even have gloves on. She looked at me and cried, “We did it, I never, never thought I would see anything like this. I’m so happy.”
Words seem flat when trying to describe that moment, but one thing that I couldn’t shake was this moment’s echo of Dr. King’s famous march on Washington in 1963. President Obama’s words and energy seemed to answer the famous “I Have a Dream” speech:
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
I think in our world of political pundits, billions of blogs, media celebrity, and the like, it may be harder and rarer for the average individual to experience a living, breathing, inspirational American symbol or image. I’ve seen the American flag hundreds of times and have always been proud of my country. Yet after seeing thousands upon thousands of the most diverse people waving flags on January 20, 2009…I will never view that flag in the same way ever again.
No matter what our 44th President is able to achieve or fails to achieve while in office; our country is all the better for his election.
I'm not one for regurgitating questions in an evolving sort-of way...okay, maybe I am. The discussions on a most recent blog posting, took on a very thought-provoking notion of our society's loss of culture however, and I just can't help myself.
I won't reiterate that particular jargon here (please read it), but several well-thought-out theories and comments on our [national] cultural identity over the past decade led me to re-clarify my own interpretation of cultural icons or images.
The argument was three-fold:
1. There was a noticeable decline of "new" cultural icons created in the last decade when compared to previous decades.
2. The last decade showed a more varied, less "monolithic culture" than perceived in previous decades.
3. Our current era, there is less variety in "the powers that be" that end up creating or distributing ideas, images and the like through media.
I say all of these assessments are true, at least to some extent.
What I think we must first distinguish between is culture and image. Culture is as culture does and what ever is happening or not happening, and however we are reacting or not reacting; that determines what our culture is currently.
I definitely agree that in this past decade, there is most definitely a perceived loss of "mainstream" images that reflect our current culture (And no...your Obama family poster you bought on the sidewalk of 34th and 8th doesn't count.) And because media is so varied (blogs, Google, Twitter, movies, cable, etc.) that variety of images and icons seem too numerous to catalogue properly.
What is at such juxtaposition with this notion, however, is that the media makers are becoming monolithic. (I mean, look at ClearChannel or Fox, or Wal Mart...) Could these image and icon creators may be creating an era of perceived diversity? Or have these monolithic media giants helped to spur on a counter-culture of image and icon makers?
This circular discussion is made up of many points, for sure. One thing I think most of us could agree on perhaps is that this past decade's culture might be harder to label or summarize than previous decades.
Of course perception is poised in progress, so I assume that in 2035, our view of 2000-2009 might shake out even further.
