Something happened on the way to writing this blog. I guess it was history with the historic election of Barrack Obama. It was easy to get sidetracked.
As a young person I had seen history unfold with the assassination of John Kennedy. I was in high school near Annapolis, Maryland at the time and went down to the Capitol with several of my friends to catch the caisson coming by. I saw Jackie Kennedy and the children go up the stairs. Heard the heavy beating of the drums. Felt the deep grief with the thousands gathered there, some folks up in the trees. And I heard the shooting of Oswald over the radio as we stood twelve deep along the curb.
“Good riddance,” someone said. The only breaking of silence on that solemn day.
I saw history with the Vietnam Protest March on Washington and later, the Poverty March with mules come all the way from the Deep South. Heard Coretta King speak. A tumultuous time.
Now a new president.
History is that way.
We live it every day.
That’s why I love to research and write about it. I love the history of the Pacific Northwest from 1800 to the 1930s. The Civil War. World War II. The Depression. Things really haven’t changed. But every once and a while, an ideal comes full circle and a promise is fulfilled.
JL Oakley Author of Historical Fiction 
Wow, someone said ‘good riddance’? That’s awful. I shudder to think what epithets will be said to Barack on TV screens on Jan 22 all around the country. There’s so much hate out there still.
That’s really cool you were a participant in that history. I always feel like a spectator out here in the Pacific. Nobody around here really seems to give a damn, except for every 4 years. I wish I was in NY or somewhere where the people were marching and causing a stir.
I can’t believe what that cop did to that poor man in Oakland just last week. Where is the sense of human decency in this country? Why do we let fear and violence be the norm, instead of forgiveness and compassion?
We need a new MLK, or Ghandi, or Messiah. I fear Barack just isn’t enough.
Heh, I meant the 20th. 22nd is the date a game I’ve been waiting for is coming out 🙂
The fun thing is to recognize history when it’s being made and to be able to link it back. The recent linkage has been linking the 2009 inauguration to the 1933 inauguration; a new president with an agenda for change taking office under desperate economic conditions. During the campaign and runup to the inauguration I enjoyed The News Hour’s use of presidential historians to give that flavor to the events.