"This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land
From California, to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf Stream Waters
This Land Was Made For You and Me...
In the Squares of the City-- By the Shadow of the Steeple
By the Relief Office-- I Saw My People
As They Stood There Hungry, I Stood There Asking
Is This Land Still Made For You and Me?"
Words and Muosic by Woody Guthrie
Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the WORLD gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in DC this past Sunday for an Inauguration concert celebration. From Shakira to Usher, Garth Brooks to U2 and Beyoncee to many others, the most remarkable moment for me was when Bruce Springsteen joined Pete Seeger in the song "This Land is Your Land." I found myself singing along as I made my way through the crowds, and for the first time, the reality of the lyrics began to sink in. As I looked into the colorful faces around me, people from every nation and creed, I noticed that EVERYONE was singing along to this timeless song. This land was made for You and Me.
Over the course of Inauguration weekend, I was moved by the abundant support America has received from our global neighbors, affirming our election of President Barack Hussein Obama! At an underground jazz club on Friday (where I shook the hand of world-renown saxophonist, David Murray), I met a group from France, who flew to DC for the Inauguration. Mr. Murray had also flown in from France for this memorable occasion. At the Canadian Embassy in DC a huge banner of Obama was hung outside, with the phrase "Canada supports Obama." While waiting for the inauguration parade to begin, I met people from Ethiopia and Eritrea all decked out in their country's colors, along with Obama buttons and paraphernalia. There was even a Native American man, dressed in his traditional feather headdress in honor of Obama. It is awe-inspiring to once again have the support of the global community and of our Native American brothers and sisters. For the first time in my adult life, I am truly honored to be an American.
Walking around DC by day and dancing up a storm by night with hundreds from my generation (from around the world), I can feel a shift in paradigm, I can feel CHANGE taking place. From my upbringing to be an honest, caring individual and from my social-justice/community service-based Jesuit education at Seattle University, it is change that I identify with. It is CHANGE that I am grateful for, and its underlying principles have fueled my career path. In the words of President Obama, from his inaugural address:
"And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty,
we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders,
nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect.
For the world has changed, and we must change with it."
To all my fellow IDAHOMIES, I say congratulations. I did not realize it, but this year we elected our FIRST DEMOCRAT since 1992 to the House of Representatives. That's a SEVENTEEN year gap!! His name is Walt Minnick, and this past Saturday, I had the fortune of meeting him with the StormoGipson family. We arrived at his office to pick up Inauguration tickets that the StormoGipson's had requested back in AUGUST, which goes to show how hopeful and certain they were that Obama would win. Walt happened to be in and generously offered us a personal tour of the Capitol Building. He took us through a labyrinth of underground hallways from his office building to the Capitol, bypassing security checkpoints and 'no trespassing' signs. We even got a sneak peek into the House Chamber where the State of the Union address takes place. I sat in one of the seats and marveled at the intricate architecture-- very colonial in style with much history embedded in the symbolic decor. There was even a marble *bas-relief of Moses, one of 23 honorable lawgivers depicted around the Chamber. Our meeting with Walt Minnick made the Spokesman Review news: http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/hbo/2009/jan/18/stormogipson-ready-inaugaration/
(*bas-relief (pronounced [baʁəljɛf] ("bah relief") in French; French for "low relief") or low relief is where the overall depth of a projecting image is shallow. The background is very compressed or completely flat, as on most coins, on which all images are in low-relief. (From Wikipedia))
Thank you to all my hosts this past week in Washington DC!! Rich and Melinda, former college roommates of Justin and Maj StormoGipson, were incredibly hospitable with a fascinating life story and inspiring sense of adventure.. Early in their marriage, they spontaneously moved to American Samoa for three years, where Rich took a job as the Assistant Attorney General and where their first child was born. At one point in Melinda's graduate studies, she lived in Egypt and did research in Somalia, so she had all sorts of stories for me about Eastern Africa, including Ethiopia! I saw a photo on their fridge of Rich rope swinging out into a river. It looked strikingly familiar, reminding me of my own photo rope swinging into the Macal River in Belize. Sure enough, Rich's photo was from Belize, though of a different river! Turns out Rich returned from that trip with THREE Bot Flies incubating under his skin. I had been warned about them!! The StormoGipson's also stayed with Rich and Melinda, and we enjoyed much laughter over evening meals. The company was sure a treat!
Atiq and Tuseef, my good friends from Seattle, also hosted me, this being the first time they have lived together with the responsibilities of COOKING, CLEANING and doing their own laundry! Speaking of CHANGE earlier, I was quite shocked, but DELIGHTED, to eat homemade chicken curry that Tuseef cooked. Tuseef COOKS!!!! Now I know that anything is possible. He and Atiq also took me and Michael Leigh out on the town DANCING until 4am every night. All of the clubs were hosting parties in honor of the Inauguration. The first one we attempted to go to ended up having a $100 cover for women and $200 for men! We ended up finding another great spot...for FREE. I even battled a cutie from North Carolina. He had led the whole dance floor in a hip hop line dance then ended up dancing beside me and somehow knew I was a B-girl. We battled for a bit, I threw in some salsa moves and he threw in some 'popping'. When he asked where I was from, he about DIED from shock when he found out I was from IDAHO. He blurted out something about potatoes. Anyway, a handful of people have a new respect for Idaho. :)
As I was walking home at 4am Inauguration eve, I saw parades of people already heading down to the Capitol to claim their spots. Tuseef and Atiq and I woke up an hour before the event and walked the thirty minutes from their place. We gathered with hundreds of others outside the gates on the north side of the Capitol, near the cannons. There were no big screens or speakers where we were at, so groups were huddled around their radios listening to the events. I loved seeing all the Southern women in their long fur coats, and envied their warmth on this bitter cold day. All in all, this past week has been incredibly memorable, and I am so thankful to have been a part of it. I return now to New York with my "Mr.President Barack Obama" button, completely exhausted, but completely content. As the StormoGipson's suggested, all we need now are buttons that say "I SURVIVED THE INAUGURATION!"
Peace and blessings,
Hana T.
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