Joy Going Forward
Building our future with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz
If you want to be a well-informed citizen, or if you’re just curious, you read all you can about what’s going on in the world. But a decade of lies and threats from one of the major political parties wears out your spirit.
Do you remember imagining what our reality would look like, if we were all free to express it?
This vision came true this week at the Democratic Convention in Chicago. Reality was what it looked like, nothing fake or exaggerated, no threats, insults, or schemes.
For example, it was plain to see that the nearly 50,000 Democratic Convention participants were okay with women speaking, as well as with men. They were okay with the fact that humanity includes different colors, genders, spiritualties, shapes, ages, languages, and circumstances.
Their Presidential candidate is “Kamala Harris, for the people.”
Even in this huge, crowded space, it obviously felt safe to voice your experience and your opinion. The good will was so natural that, in these times we’ve just been through, it seemed remarkable.
The Democratic Party Convention of 2024 was the celebration of a hope powerful enough to last far beyond Inauguration Day on January 20, 2025. And we can handle this sudden, huge rush of optimism because we’re together. Our leaders are visionary but also realistic; they offer a clear way forward.
Michelle Obama said on Tuesday night,
This is our time to stand up for what we know in our hearts is right. To stand up not just for our basic freedoms but for decency and humanity — for basic respect, dignity, and empathy — for the values at the very foundation of this democracy.
You know what we need to do.
And on Thursday night, Kamala Harris told the crowd,
In unity, there is strength. You know, our opponents are out there every day denigrating America, talking about how terrible everything is. Well, my mother had another lesson she used to teach: Never let anyone tell you who you are. You show them who you are.
America, let us show each other and the world who we are and what we stand for: Freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness and endless possibilities.
Endless possibilities.
Have you ever picked up a book and found a few words from a century or more ago that speak to what’s on your mind today?
Recently I opened a new library book, Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People, by Tiya Miles. Reading the Preface, I was captivated by Tubman’s presence as a real woman, not just a myth. She persisted in carrying out the great task of her time, just as we are called upon to do today.
Tubman fought against spirit-testing obstacles as she worked to make freedom real for her people, at a time when freedom from slavery was still a concept widely and often violently opposed. She did what she had to do to keep her generous spirit strong and active.
Today, with the sounds and sights of the Democratic Convention still in the air across America, I can see how Tubman’s actions were fueled by joy. Both she and the new Democrats gathered in Chicago tell us the truth, “We’re not going back”.
Miles writes in Night Flyer,
Did she ever ponder giving in, giving up? Most of us would. But that was not how Harriet Tubman’s singular mind worked. Where others saw shut doors and unscalable brick walls, she dreamed into being tunnels and ladders. Submission to re-enslavement was not an option. And she did not face that [work] alone.
Thank you, Deda - my feelings exactly!
This is the most important election in my lifetime. Our country must fight to win this one. Thank you Deda for your wise words and counsel.