Thoughts

In January of 2002, I went to Africa for the first time. My parents took us to a place close to their hearts, Senegal. We met great people, ate strange food, and swam in the western waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

We also went to a place that changed me. A little piece of land just a short boat ride away from Dakar, called Goree Island. I still don't like talking about it.


Many tourists go here. The island is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site:

Gorée island is the historic site on the West African coast where hundreds of thousands of captured men, women and children were rounded up in chains to be shipped to servitude in the New World. This infamous spot is now a universal shrine, where all of us, from every continent, may come and commemorate, in sorrow, the tragedy once inflicted by human beings like us on so many of our own kind. This is why UNESCO has put Gorée island on its World Heritage List ever since 1978. Gorée's significance and symbolism directly concern us all.
-Kiochiro Matsuura, Director General, UNESCO

This place kicked me in the gut, and I can still feel it. I am sure that the other tourists who were posing on those pretty red steps thought I was some kind of freak -- as soon as I saw that 'door of no return' I lost it. Overwhelming tears. Sniffling. Red eyes. That horrible I-think-I-might-lose-my-lunch feeling in the pit of my stomach. Bad stuff happened in that place. Really bad stuff. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

That place still haunts me.

----

In January 2009, I sat in my home and watched my country inaugurate our first African American President. And as I listened to Rev. Joseph Lowery give the benediction -- a man who knew Martin Luther King, Jr. -- I had tears once again. Overwhelming tears. But, this time they were good tears.

I attended a lecture last week (one of the perks of living in a university town!) about the life and work of Dr. King. The lecturer said, in regards to the election of our new president, that we deserve to be proud of ourselves. And I agree, we do.

But, he also reminded us that we are not there yet. The work is not over. Several small incidences over the last week have reminded me of that.

Last week was an emotional one for me. It was so good in many ways, but really tough in other ways. The celebrations of the inauguration and the 80th birthday of Dr. King were cause for great celebration. But, when the celebrations are over, there is still work to be done. There are still more Goree Islands out there where stuff is happening that shouldn't be.

Let's celebrate, but then let's get back to work.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.





-b

A little R and R

It's been a long week...good in many ways, tough in others. I'm hatching a post in my brain, but the creativity is not yet cooperating. For those of you who haven't read this post yet, do it! What a great referral post. Good things are happening folks!

We are off to the coast this weekend for a little yurt fun. I've got a stack of books and a bag of marshmallows -- don't get in my way!

peace.

-b

That all those who love justice and mercy say amen. Say amen.

-Rev. Joseph Lowery

January 20, 2009

Drum Major

"And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.

If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school.

I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others.

I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody.

I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question.

I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry.

And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked.

I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison.

I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that's all I want to say.

If I can help somebody as I pass along,
If I can cheer somebody with a word or song,
If I can show somebody he's traveling wrong,
Then my living will not be in vain.
If I can do my duty as a Christian ought,
If I can bring salvation to a world once wrought,
If I can spread the message as the master taught,
Then my living will not be in vain.

Yes, Jesus, I want to be on your right or your left side, not for any selfish reason. I want to be on your right or your left side, not in terms of some political kingdom or ambition. But I just want to be there in love and in justice and in truth and in commitment to others, so that we can make of this old world a new world."

-Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, on 4 February 1968.

Distracting myself

So, after all that fuss about a stroller, I actually bought one. Only, it wasn't the one I had initially wanted. It is better! And I found it on Craigslist which satisfied both my desire for a used item (no need to add another new thing to the amount of stuff already on earth!) and my desire for something inexpensive (no need to spend all my hard earned money!). I really got lucky.

You see, part of the problem with Craigslist is that it only really works in bigger metropolitan areas. Around here, you get a lot of dumb stuff....and three days later, the same stuff is posted again. And three days later, again. Even so, I check it every once in a while in the hopes that someone is offering trade $1000 cash for my pencil collection (still hasn't happened, but I am holding out hope).

Well, Tuesday was my lucky day. Not only was there a great stroller offered, but it was offered for a great price. And it is the same brand (Peg Perego) as the car seat my sister has lent us. And it is the same color as the carseat. And it has a reversible handle. And it lays flat. And it has an adjustable handle. And one of those boot things (I call it a sleeping bag attachment, because I am classy like that). And it looks brand new. And did I mention it was a great price? I looked it up online, and this stroller sells new for $299-$450. It is a much nicer stroller than we would have ever been able to afford. And it is now ours!

The truth is, the waiting hurts. And spending my time looking at baby things is a nice distraction right now. Please don't think that I am a vain woman who needs expensive or trendy things to make me the cool mommy. For now, looking at baby things helps me to plan for the future time when there is a baby in our arms. Somehow, having a few things ready for baby makes it seem more real. Especially when the waiting gets tough. I have no growing belly to look at, no ultrasound pics on the fridge, no due date to anticipate.

For now, it's just us and our stroller.

-b

We're back, we're ready to party, and I want a stroller!

We've had a few days to recover from our little road trip to Pasadena. We were glad to see the sun and be away from snow. Oh yeah, and visit our family!

We spent a little time in Little Ethiopia one day, and I was able to pick up some great spices so that I can create my own Ethiopian delicacies. Well, at least I can attempt to. In fact, we are having friends over tonight to celebrate Ethiopian Christmas and they are getting some of my home cooking. I don't think that any of them have eaten Ethiopian food before, so they won't really know if mine is all that bad (right?). Don't worry, though, I did purchase the injera and a few side dishes at an Ethiopian restaurant. I'm not ready to try my hand at injera just yet.

We went to the Rose Parade --- way better than our town's parade (which is really 12 kids on bikes, 7 dogs, and a fire truck). Highlight of the Rose Parade for me wasn't actually the parade (although it was mighty fine), but finding someone pushing their little one in the stroller I like! I've only seen the stroller online and I had no idea if it was actually that cool. This woman (whom I have never met and thankfully wasn't too freaked out at a total stranger pouncing on her with tons of questions) loved the stroller and confirmed my choice! I'm pretty frugal (read:cheap) and I don't want to spend a bunch of money on baby stuff (because most of it we can beg, borrow, or find used), but I love that this stroller has a reversible seat so Baby D can look at our pretty faces while we stroll merrily down the lane. What do you think of it? (Besides that fact that it only comes in bright red or lime green -- I've come to terms with this fact, and you will too.)

I think I use parenthesis too much (maybe?).

-b