“Was not their mistake once more bred of the life of slavery that they had been living?—a life which was always looking upon everything, except mankind, animate and inanimate—‘nature,’ as people used to call it—as one thing, and mankind as another, it was natural to people thinking in this way, that they should try to make ‘nature’ their slave, since they thought ‘nature’ was something outside them” — William Morris


Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Immense

The moment: Obama's. An immense wave of sanity and clarity just passed through the US of A. There's been something in the air for weeks—it was this. Many eyes have tears in them—two of them are in my face...

Never been so involved in any election in my life. I made about 900 phone calls to undecided voters and others, and to get out the vote. Obama created a gigantic movement, as well inspiring people to vote. It was like being part of a gigantic democracy rave. I couldn't stop thinking of my man Shelley:

Rise like lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number;
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you—
Ye are many—they are few. (The Mask of Anarchy)


My interactions with people will fill my mind for some time to come. I'll try to post on them here. I've spoken with people from Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Missouri.

A special shout out to Briana, a 20-year-old woman from Denver. Amazingly, she was voting at a school I know well near my sister in law's house. I walked her through her first time voting. She was so into voting for Obama and she was very nervous. One of the Latinas who swung it in CO.

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