Higher and higher

When I went to vote on Tuesday, I brought Nate with me. As we walked through the parking lot, we heard singing. A woman was singing. A black woman was singing. She was singing a spiritual—a song of hope and faith. And she was walking slowly towards the polling place.

I stopped to let her go by. I turned to Nate, tears in my eyes, and said, “Remember this. Remember that woman, and her song.”

Of course, he asked why, but I didn’t want to explain the historical significance of the moment. He is five years old, and he lost a big chunk of his innocence when he lost his mom. I don’t think he needs to know about slavery just yet. I don’t know if he could understand. I don’t know if he would believe me.

We have done so very many things to be ashamed of.

He will learn history, in time. But for now, I am proud that Nathaniel has no idea why a black woman voting for a black man should be at all noteworthy. For him, this is the way things have always been.

And I am terribly, terribly proud that I lived to see this day.

It gives me just a little bit of hope for the future.

7 thoughts on “Higher and higher

  1. I cried all the way through Obama’s victory speech. I am proud that I got to vote for Obama and support his campaign. For the first time in eight years it made me feel proud to be an American.

  2. Here from Kalki’s. Oh, I love this post. And I do so hope he remembers that singing woman. It will be years before he can understand why he is supposed to remember. But when he does understand, he’ll be grateful that you helped him capture that moment.

  3. Dave,

    Such a lovely and clear picture of love and life not just this posting but the whole of the site. the future is bright and your son will know how important this election was to his future because you will tell him. we wil all tell him/them the children of hope that no matter what happens life is always worth the fight!

    Good job!

    Liz

Comments are closed.