Hey All,<\/p>\n
First off, I know….me too.<\/p>\n
Nothing can describe how scared I am for our futures as Americans. Nothing can describe the rage and disappointment I feel towards those Americans who were cowed by fear, believed the deceit and lies of this Bush II Administration. I have openly wondered whether I can return to an America that hates so many things about who I am and would seek to oppress them into law, the constitution, and onto the courts for a lifetime.<\/p>\n
But I can be proud that democracy worked in America, even though I disagree with what a small majority of my fellow Americans said. I can be sadnessed by a loss, but proud of the fight. And that we have the right and responsibility to fight another day — and to fight harder and with even more resolve than the day before.<\/p>\n
It’s been 36 hours of self-reflection. It’s been 36 hours of deciding whether I care anymore. It’s been 36 hours of deciding whether I would even want to identify myself as an American to all I know. It’s been 36 hours since I removed the American flag hanging in my apartment.<\/p>\n
But I will put that flag back up.
\nI will still identify as an American — as one working for change
\nI still do care — now more than ever.<\/p>\n
We lost. And it hurts now more than ever. The challenge now is to focus on the future. Now is the time to rise even further.<\/p>\n
We have 2 years to lay the base for success in Congress and in governorships and state legislatures. We have 2 years to make the case to America that they need to take a more open view and more honest assessment of what is happening in America and in the world around us. We have 2 years to educate America about perception — not about our perception of the world — but on how the world percieves us. And in the meantime, we must carefully straddle the line between not appearing to be obstructionists, but by clearly defining a new strategy and new way of being that helps Americans see more clearly that Democrats and the brand of Democracy we offer should be the one of choice.<\/p>\n
Even if we cannot hear America singing loudly, they cannot muffle her song. She’ll sing loudly again one day.<\/p>\n
I read this poem everytime I suffer a setback. I’ll share it with you all here.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Still I Rise by Dr. Maya Angelou<\/b>
\nYou may write me down in history
\nWith your bitter, twisted lies,
\nYou may trod me in the very dirt
\nBut still, like dust, I’ll rise.<\/p>\n
Does my sassiness upset you?
\nWhy are you beset with gloom?
\n‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
\nPumping in my living room.<\/p>\n
Just like moons and like suns,
\nWith the certainty of tides,
\nJust like hopes springing high,
\nStill I’ll rise.<\/p>\n
Did you want to see me broken?
\nBowed head and lowered eyes?
\nShoulders falling down like teardrops.
\nWeakened by my soulful cries.<\/p>\n
Does my haughtiness offend you?
\nDon’t you take it awful hard
\n‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
\nDiggin’ in my own back yard.<\/p>\n
You may shoot me with your words,
\nYou may cut me with your eyes,
\nYou may kill me with your hatefulness,
\nBut still, like air, I’ll rise.<\/p>\n
Does my sexiness upset you?
\nDoes it come as a surprise
\nThat I dance like I’ve got diamonds
\nAt the meeting of my thighs?<\/p>\n
Out of the huts of history’s shame
\nI rise
\nUp from a past that’s rooted in pain
\nI rise
\nI’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
\nWelling and swelling I bear in the tide.
\nLeaving behind nights of terror and fear
\nI rise
\nInto a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
\nI rise
\nBringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
\nI am the dream and the hope of the slave.
\nI rise
\nI rise
\nI rise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hey All, First off, I know….me too. Nothing can describe how scared I am for our futures as Americans. Nothing can describe the rage and disappointment I feel towards those Americans who were cowed by fear, believed the deceit and lies of this Bush II Administration. I have openly wondered whether I can return to … Continue reading Focus on the Future!<\/span>