Yesterday while trying to catch up on my journal reading, a recent entry in Carly's journal caught my eye. She wrote about heritage, about the long road to the very real possibility that a black person could become the next president of these United States. She wrote about the history of black people in this country and her belief that she was casting her vote for Obama for all of those generation who preceded her, who fought, struggled, and often died to achieve the present in which we live.
One of her readers left Carly a well-intentioned comment that reads:
"Who you vote for is your choice but vote for the future and not the past. I'm not sure which Democrat should be in office but I know that whoever it is will not change the past but will impact the future. Look forward with hope for change for this country certainly needs it. Hugs"
I didn't take offense at the comment and neither did Carly. I know because she left her own comment that reads in part:
"I think my vote is for the future as well as the past. If you don't know your past you sure can't see your future."
Her words stuck a responsive chord in me. I share Carly's feelings of pride and hope and connection to my ancestors who are not here to see this new day in America. The past cannot be undone, but neither can it be ignored or forgotten. The blood shed, the tears cried, and the sacrifices made by those who came before me are not abstractions to be dismissed as no longer of significance. The past informs the present.
The commenter is right, the past cannot be changed but it can be repeated, played out over and over again unless we remember it truthfully and learn from it. On my first visit to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. I was struck by the importance of remembering, of recognizing the horrors of the past as a way of honoring those who suffered and memorializing that such horror must never happen again. However, in the flawed world that we live in, such horrors continue--Bosnia, Rwanda, Darfur, the list is long and seemingly never ending. Yet we must continue to struggle to remember, if we are to break the cycle of inhumanity to others whom we perceive as not us, as a "they" who is less than human, and fair game for destruction.
So I too will think of my African forefathers and mothers as I cast my vote for Barack Obama. But I also take pride that for the first time, a woman may be elected to the presidency. A piece of history that many of us choose to ignore or forget is the struggle that previous generations of women endured to achieve the relative equality that women now enjoy. The amendment giving women the right to vote nationally wasn't ratified until 1920, less than one hundred years ago. Strong women, brave women defied the conventions of their time to fight for a right that we now take for granted.
In 1913, a women's suffrage parade was attacked by a mob and many of the protesters were injured. The police stood by and did nothing to intervene and no one was ever arrested for attacking the protesting women.
Alice Paul, a leader of the suffragette movement, was imprisoned for her audacity in advocating for women having the right to vote. Kept in isolation for two weeks, she was fed nothing but bread and water in an attempt to break her spirit. In response, Alice went on a hunger strike; other imprisoned suffragettes followed suit. Can you imagine having the men in your family, your husband, brother, son, turn against you, physically chastise you, for daring to participate in the suffragette movement, for having the audacity to believe that women were entitled to full citizenship and participation in the governing of this country?
Remembrance isn't living in the past; it is honoring those who sacrificed so much to make our present. We can have no future if we allow ourselves to forget the past.
I went to YouTube to find a video of Helen Reddy singing "I Am Woman," a recording that she released in 1972. I was 17 and this anthem for women's equality really ignited my budding feminism. I found this video that uses the song as a commentary on the ongoing scourge of domestic violence. We've come a long way but the journey isn't over.
10 comments:
What a wonderful thoughtfully written journal this is. As you all vote I am sure whoever you vote for, will at the beginning of their Presidancy have many idealistic views for the future of the country. Unfortunately it seems to me that after a very short time they become so enmeshed by others around them that pretty soon things begin to go along in the same old way as before. My prayer will be that whoever is elected will have the courage to remain his or her own "man" sybil xx
I completely agree. It is the truest of aphorisms that those who don't know the past are condemned to repeat it. We are a particulary history-stupid nation, and it affects everything. Young whites, for example, who have only the vaguest idea, if any at all, of what it was like for blacks in this country for 300 years, develop resentments based on an incomplete view of the historical picture. Context is essential to understand the present.
You mention the Holocaust museum. We need a National Slavery Museum. So very few have the slightest notion of the horrors of the crossing, and of the complicity of the north in the process. It should be taught hand in hand with the Holocaust.
Great to have you back, Sheria, and your entry is as thought-provoking as always. There are so many things that we take for granted now, and it's important to remember how we got to where we're at.
Beth
I just finished "Dreams From My Father, " Barack's first book. The first third dealt with his growing up, the second third with his Chicago organizing, and the last third with his first trip to Kenya to meet that side of his family. It was well written, and shows how he has definitely had different experiences. Beth and I are going to vote for Barack in the primary here in Indiana, and will then see who the final nominee is before we determine our final vote in the fall.
Alas, I cannot comment much on the suffrage movement, it is kind of "alien" to me, but I did dance and lip-sinc to the video song, which made Beth laugh :o)
This is quite a moving entry ,..love Jan xx
A terriffic entry again(I salute you) your quite right of course you not only vote for the future b ut also to put the past in perspective. We had a woman Prime Minister and for quite sometime she was truley great, and an inspiration to many including men. Voting for Hope and change is a start.
Yasmin
xx
Wonderful entry as always Sheria. I think when the past is forgotten . . . history is bound to repeat itself and Lord knows we don't need any of those things repeated!!!
Marie
http://ayearatoakcottage.blogspot.com/
Your words ring true in this entry, Aimer. Win or lose, the fact that a black man and a woman are in the presidential race presents a historical moment in our age. It is only a matter of time that one or the other or both will become president of the United States of America.
What if Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama decided to unite and bring unity to the
Democrat Party by running as a team, one as president and the other as vice president? It is not likely, yet it would change the face of American history if such a team were elected, would it not?
You are absolutely correct when you mention the importance of remembrance of suffrage. As I mentioned in an email to you sometime ago, I remember when I was growing up in the 1960s and watching on TV the white southern police removing the minature United States flag from the hands of black men and women who were peacefully protesting for their rights under Martin Luther King.
Although there was much violence, injustice, wrong-doings and suffrage on black Americans, that image of having their American flags taken from them remains foremost in my mind. It was such a Nazi gesture on the part of the police. I remember thinking, "How could this happen in America?"
God Bless You, Aimer.
River
I have just read "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" which was so affecting, I have not recovered yet. It is from a book called "The Classic Slave Narratives" edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr. But I applaud everything you say about studying our past so we can move away from it into a more sane future. I also felt the need to pay tribute to the fact that a woman is making such a strong run to be our democratic candidate, but I am hoping she will also recognize the importance of recognizing a strong black candidate and am very fearful she won't. If she does not support Obama as the best candidate for this point in history, I fear for our country. People can't just vote for Hillary to scuttle his chances. That is racist. Even with her this is not going to be a triumph for women in my opinion. It is going to be the triumph of racism which will not help anyone. Women still have to make wise choices about the importance of support in opposition to taking the lead. Gerry
Thank you for your comment to that journal entry and thank you for posting this one. One thing about history it may be written in books but it is also alive and breathing as long as people remember to pass it down.
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