for what it's worth

Many people (and many friends of mine) disagreed with the way I voted in November. I've been called a "bleeding heart liberal," and my faith has been called into question multiple times. All to which I say "I have a right to vote the way I want." On occasion it irritates me, but usually I take people's opinions with a grain of sand. I am my own person, with my own thoughts, who lives my own life - without really caring what people think of me, or think of how I'm choosing to live my life. If you are already offended by what you've read, I suggest you stop now. This Tuesday is a BIG deal to me. Not only politically, but because the dream of Martin Luther King Jr is leaving its mark on our country. I have an incredible passion for MLK Jr, and an even bigger passion to see equality reached for ALL people in our country - regardless of their color, shape, or size. Having lived my entire life in the South, I've witnessed first hand bigotry from ignorant people, and the pain that it caused. The fact that people still act as though racism is okay makes me want to punch them. We live in a modern society that still enslaves its own people. We live in a modern society that still refuses to acknowledge that "all people are created equal." The founders of this very society got it. How did we stray so far away? When did we think it would be okay to oppress people for the sake of "all mankind?" When did it ever do them any good? And why are we still doing it?

On Tuesday, our new president takes office. You will see photos of his kids playing at the White House. And to that, I say this: deal with it. If you have issues with it, you have all freedom to move to elsewhere. I've never been more proud to live in the United States since November, and can't be more excited to see President Obama lead our country. It makes me stop and wonder where we might be if Martin Luther King, Jr had never dreamed.




"I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." - March on Washington, August 1963