November 5, 2008

Shortly after Senator McCain’s concession speech last night, I called my father, whom I’ve discussed before in the pages of this blog. He fought on the front lines of the civil rights movement in Mississippi in the 1960s and along with my mother was instrumental in the twenty-year extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He recently turned 70 years old, and though he hasn’t stopped fighting for justice–mostly in the field of labor law these days–the predations that began with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 have taken their toll.

So rather than share my thoughts on last night’s events, I’ll share his:

“You know how people say, ‘I never dreamed I would see something like this in my lifetime’?

“Well, I did.

“And then there came a time when I stopped dreaming, because things changed.

“And tonight I’m dreaming again. I’m so excited about the future, and so full of hope.

“And Faustus, you’ve got a great country ahead of you.”